Frontiers in neuroscience
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Frontiers in neuroscience · Jan 2016
Retracted PublicationAtorvastatin May Attenuate Recurrence of Chronic Subdural Hematoma.
Chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) is a common form of intracranial hemorrhage with a substantial recurrence rate. Atorvastatin may reduce CSDH via its anti-inflammatory and pro-angiogenesis effects, but its effectiveness for preventing recurrent CSDH has never been explored. We hypothesized that atorvastatin is effective in reducing recurrence of CSDH after surgery and identified determining factors predictive of hematoma recurrence. ⋯ Atorvastatin administration may decrease the risks of recurrence.Patients with severe brain atrophy and bilateral CSDH are prone to the recurrence.
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Frontiers in neuroscience · Jan 2016
Prediction of STN-DBS Electrode Implantation Track in Parkinson's Disease by Using Local Field Potentials.
Optimal electrophysiological placement of the DBS electrode may lead to better long term clinical outcomes. Inter-subject anatomical variability and limitations in stereotaxic neuroimaging increase the complexity of physiological mapping performed in the operating room. Microelectrode single unit neuronal recording remains the most common intraoperative mapping technique, but requires significant expertise and is fraught by potential technical difficulties including robust measurement of the signal. ⋯ Individual beta band (11-32 Hz) and the range of high frequency oscillations (200-450 Hz) provided prediction accuracies of 72 and 68% respectively. The best prediction result obtained with monopolar LFP data was 68%. These results establish the initial evidence that LFPs can be strategically fused with computational intelligence in the operating room for STN localization and the selection of the track for chronic DBS electrode implantation.
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Frontiers in neuroscience · Jan 2016
ReviewCB2 Cannabinoid Receptor As Potential Target against Alzheimer's Disease.
The CB2 receptor is one of the components of the endogenous cannabinoid system, a complex network of signaling molecules and receptors involved in the homeostatic control of several physiological functions. Accumulated evidence suggests a role for CB2 receptors in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and indicates their potential as a therapeutic target against this neurodegenerative disease. ⋯ CB2 receptor activation also improves cognitive impairment in animal models of AD. This review discusses available data regarding the role of CB2 receptors in AD and the potential usefulness of specific agonists of these receptors against AD.
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Frontiers in neuroscience · Jan 2016
One-Class Support Vector Machines Identify the Language and Default Mode Regions As Common Patterns of Structural Alterations in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
The identification of reliable brain endophenotypes of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has been hampered to date by the heterogeneity in the neuroanatomical abnormalities detected in this condition. To handle the complexity of neuroimaging data and to convert brain images in informative biomarkers of pathology, multivariate analysis techniques based on Support Vector Machines (SVM) have been widely used in several disease conditions. They are usually trained to distinguish patients from healthy control subjects by making a binary classification. ⋯ Notably, the ASD vs. controls discrimination results were maximized when evaluated on the subsamples of subjects with NVIQ ≥ 70, leading to AUC = 0.81 for the male and AUC = 0.72 for the female populations, respectively. Language regions and regions from the default mode network-posterior cingulate cortex, pars opercularis and pars triangularis of the inferior frontal gyrus, and transverse temporal gyrus-contributed most to distinguishing individuals with ASD from controls, arguing for the crucial role of these areas in the ASD pathophysiology. The observed brain patterns associate preschoolers with ASD independently of their age, gender and NVIQ and therefore they are expected to constitute part of the ASD brain endophenotype.
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Frontiers in neuroscience · Jan 2016
ReviewVariation in Gene Expression in Autism Spectrum Disorders: An Extensive Review of Transcriptomic Studies.
Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are a group of complex neurodevelopmental conditions that present in early childhood and have a current estimated prevalence of about 1 in 68 US children, 1 in 42 boys. ASDs are heterogeneous, and arise from epigenetic, genetic and environmental origins, yet, the exact etiology of ASDs still remains unknown. Individuals with ASDs are characterized by having deficits in social interaction, impaired communication and a range of stereotyped and repetitive behaviors. ⋯ Some studies use gene expression to attempt to separate autism into different subtypes. An updated list of genes shown to be significantly dysregulated in individuals with autism from all recent ASD expression studies will help further research isolate any patterns useful for diagnosis or understanding the mechanisms involved. The functional relevance of transcriptomic studies as a method of classifying and diagnosing ASD cannot be underestimated despite the possible limitations of transcriptomic studies.