MedWorm.com provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest items from the 'Neurocase' source. Sun, 21 Mar 2010 15:31:25 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3314527&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20178033%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Dichter GS, Sikich L, Mahorney S, Felder JN, Lam KS, Turner-Brown L, Bodfish J Autism is characterized by abnormal prefrontal brain activation during cognitive control, a potential biomarker of repetitive behaviors. In this proof-of-principle study, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to examine brain activity during an oddball task in two high-functioning males with autism before and after 12 weeks of treatment with citalopram, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. One participant showed marked reductions in repetitive behaviors whereas the other showed mild worsening. Brain activation in relevant prefrontal regions increased in only the participant whose repetitive behavior symptoms improved. These findings suggest that fMRI may elucidate potential mech... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3314527 Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3314527 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3314526&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20178034%26dopt%3DAbstract Conclusion: DBS in the ALIC-NA failed to effectively address mild vocal and motor tics in a patient with TS and severe comorbid OCD. PMID: 20178034 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3314526 Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3314526 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3314525&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20178035%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Shinoura N, Onodera T, Kurokawa K, Tsukada M, Yamada R, Tabei Y, Koizumi T, Yagi K The present study describes a case of a right-handed 74-year-old woman with a brain tumor who showed conversion of speech to Sutra, a Buddhist prayer, which was stored in the right hemisphere according to the Wada test. After surgery, relative improvement in the speech disorder was observed, and frequency of speech production of simple normal words with normal phonology increased. These observations indicate that damage to left temporal lobe resulted in conversion of speech to Sutra, and that Sutra was stored in this patient's right hemisphere. PMID: 20178035 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3314525 Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3314525 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3292262&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20169503%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Renner KH, Beversdorf DQ Experimental stressors impair performance on tasks requiring certain types of cognitive flexibility, an effect that may be mediated by the noradrenergic system. The goal of this experiment was to examine the effects of psychological stress on cognitive flexibility in problem solving and immediate memory with a more naturalistic psychological stressor, and examine the interaction between subject ability and the cognitive effects of psychological stress. Twenty subjects performed the compound remote associates task (CRA) and a number series recall task after watching the first 30 minutes of 'Saving Private Ryan' and after the first 30 minutes of 'Shrek', with condition order and test version order counterbalanced. An interaction effect was observed betwe... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3292262 Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3292262 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3222240&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20112159%26dopt%3DAbstract This study first demonstrates that there are changes in the intracortical excitatory and inhibitory circuits in this neurobehavioral syndrome, that lead to cortical hypoexcitability. The modulation in GABAergic activity may result in excitability changes in those cholinergic cortical networks that are involved in SAI. TMS may provide important information on connections between the thalamus and cortex and may help in better understanding the role of the thalamo-cortical relationship in behavioural changes associated with thalamic stroke. PMID: 20112159 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3222240 Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3222240 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3216923&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20104387%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Davis C, Heidler-Gary J, Gottesman RF, Crinion J, Newhart M, Moghekar A, Soloman D, Rigamonti D, Cloutman L, Hillis AE Accumulating evidence indicates action naming may rely more on frontal-subcortical circuits, and noun naming may rely more on temporal cortex. Therefore, noun versus action fluency might distinguish frontal and subcortical dementias from cortical dementias primarily affecting temporal and/or parietal cortex such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). We hypothesized patients with subcortical dementia, e.g., normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) and patients with dementias predominantly affecting frontal cortex, e.g., behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bv-FTD) and progressive nonfluent aphasia (PNFA) have more difficulty on action fluency versus noun fluency (e.g.... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3216923 Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3216923 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3216922&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20104388%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Boucart M, Moroni C, Despretz P, Pasquier F, Fabre-Thorpe M We tested rapid-categorization in a patient who was impaired in face and object recognition. Photographs of natural scenes were displayed for 100 ms. Participants had to press a key when they saw an animal among various objects as distractors or human faces among animal faces as distractors. Though the patient was impaired at figure/ground segregation, recognized very few objects and faces, she categorized animals and faces with a performance ranging between 70 and 86% correct. Displaying pictures in isolation did not improve performance. The results suggest that rapid categorization can be accomplished on the basis of coarse information without overt recognition. PMID: 20104388 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3216922 Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3216922 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3216921&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20104389%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Demeyere N, Lestou V, Humphreys GW There is a long and ongoing debate about whether subitizing and counting are separable processes. In the present paper we report a single case, MH, who presents with a dissociation in subitizing and counting. MH was spared in his ability to enumerate small numbers accurately along with a marked inability to count larger numbers. We show that non-visual counting was intact and visual counting improved when a motor record of counting could be maintained. Moreover, when larger numbers of items were spatially grouped into 2 subitizable units, performance dramatically improved. However, color grouping did not aid MH's performance, despite his being sensitive to color segmentation. In addition, MH made more re-visits of inspected locations than con... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3216921 Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3216921 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3216920&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20104390%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Olson IR, Berryhill ME, Drowos DB, Brown L, Chatterjee A Patients with memory disorders have severely restricted learning and memory. For instance, patients with anterograde amnesia can learn motor procedures and retain some restricted ability to learn new words and factual information. However, such learning is inflexible and frequently inaccessible to conscious awareness. Here we present a case of patient AC596, a 25-year-old male with severe episodic memory impairments, presumably due to anoxia during a preterm birth. In contrast to his poor episodic memory, he exhibits savant-like memory for calendar information that can be flexibly accessed by day, month, and year cues. He also has the ability to recollect the exact date of a wide range of personal experiences over the pa... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3216920 Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3216920 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3216919&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20104391%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Cosentino G, Giglia G, Palermo A, Panetta ML, Lo Baido R, Brighina F, Fierro B Previous studies of auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia found that the hallucinations were reduced by the application of transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Here we describe a case of traumatic brain injury associated with continuous music hallucinations. An MRI scan showed a structural lesion of the right temporal pole and a PET scan indicated a hyperactive area of the posterior right temporal lobe. We hypothesized that rTMS applied to the right temporal area would reduce this activity and the corresponding hallucinations. The patient's music hallucinations were significantly reduced by rTMS treatment. A PET scan following treatment also indicated that rTMS treatment reduced brain activi... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3216919 Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3216919 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3198332&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20087814%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Momeni P, Detucci K, Straub RE, Weinberger DR, Davies P, Grafman J, Hardy J, Huey ED Schizophrenia has been linked to a region on chromosome 17q21 in Latino populations (Escamilla et al., 2009). Mutations of a gene at this location (GRN) are associated with frontotemporal dementia. A recent study demonstrated that patients with frontotemporal dementia who presented with symptoms of schizophrenia show neuropathological findings consistent with GRN mutations, but were not tested for GRN mutations (Velakoulis, Walterfang, Mocellin, Pantelis, & McLean, 2009). The current study describes a Latino family in which two siblings have schizophrenia and one has frontotemporal dementia. We sequenced GRN in one of the siblings with frontotemporal dementia and one of the siblings with s... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3198332 Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3198332 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3176219&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20069502%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Faber R, Azad A, Reinsvold R Here we present a patient with an isolated paracallosal brain lesion who exhibited behavioral changes associated with the corpus callosum syndrome (CCS) including features of the alien hand syndrome (AHS). The CCS is also known as the split-brain syndrome, the syndrome of hemisphere disconnection, the syndrome of brain bisection and the syndrome of the cerebral commissures. Because most reported cases of CCS were caused by tumors which extended beyond the corpus callosum (CC) and did not always induce a complete disconnection, there was much controversy about the role of the CC and the existence of a specific CCS. Aside from surgically based cases, the full complement of the CCS is infrequently clinically encountered. The patient described has a cl... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3176219 Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3176219 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3101570&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20013480%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Hanna-Pladdy B, Heilman KM Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) are often impaired when performing motor acts and in the acquisition of new motor skills. However, the role of dopamine in developing plans for skill acquisition is unclear. To assess the role of dopamine on the planning of actions, we tested 12 PD and 12 matched normal participants on two skill acquisition tasks matched for motor demands, but varying in requirements for planning. The participants with PD were tested on these tasks when they were on and off dopaminergic medications. To minimize influence of movement related deficits, the subjects used a computer track-pointer that generated the required straight lines when the subjects applied a slight force and clicked the track-pointer to initiate and terminat... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3101570 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3101570 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3069828&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19967597%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Suh MK, Kim EJ, Lee BH, Seo SW, Chin J, Kang SJ, Na DL Posterior fusiform gyrus (BA 37) is responsible for Hanja (ideogram) alexia in stroke patients. Patients with semantic dementia (SD) have lesions in the basal temporal area. The close proximity in these two lesions and the fact that reading ideograms requires holistic processing as is necessary in recognition of objects, suggests a possibility that ideogram alexia/agraphia may occur in patients with SD. We established and carried out Hanja and Hangul (phonogram) reading/writing tasks on six SD patients and nine Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients as control to see if these two patient groups show dissociation in the two sets of tests. SPM analysis was performed on the SD patients' PET images to look for any dysfunctions in t... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3069828 Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3069828 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3069827&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19967598%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Handratta V, Hsu E, Vento J, Yang C, Tanev K Chronic traumatic brain injury (CTBI) is associated with contact sports such as boxing. CTBI results from repetitive blows to the head rather than from a single impact. CTBI individuals present with motor symptoms (incoordination, spasticity, parkinsonism), cognitive impairment (executive dysfunction, memory deficits) and neuropsychiatric symptoms (irritability, affective disturbances). The structural and functional neuroimaging findings and clinical presentation of a CTBI case are described. We propose hypotheses about the pathophysiology of the observed neuroimaging findings and their relationship to the neuropsychiatric symptoms of the patients. PMID: 19967598 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3069827 Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3069827 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3069826&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19967599%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Vitali P, Tettamanti M, Abutalebi J, Ansaldo AI, Perani D, Cappa SF, Joanette Y Structural Equation Modelling analysis of three longitudinal er-fMRI sessions was used to test the impact of phonological training and of the generalization process on the pattern of brain connectivity during overt picture naming in two chronic anomic patients. Phonological training yielded a positive effect on the trained material. Six months after the training, a generalization of the positive impact on the untrained items was also observed. Connectivity analysis showed that training and generalization effects shared paralleled cortical patterns of functional integration. These findings may represent the neurophysiological correlate of the training-induced cognitive strategies for the compensatio... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3069826 Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3069826 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3029324&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19937506%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Shinoura N, Suzuki Y, Tsukada M, Yoshida M, Yamada R, Tabei Y, Saito K, Koizumi T, Yagi K The functional characteristics of the left inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF) remain unclear. The present study describes a case of a right-handed 74-year-old woman with a brain tumor who showed marked deterioration in object naming ability after invasion of the tumor into the medial region of the left posterior (middle and inferior) temporal lobe just beside the atrium of the lateral ventricle. Diffusion tensor imaging showed possible interruption of the left ILF after invasion of tumor at this site. By contrast, the left superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) remained intact after invasion of tumor, and the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF) was already disrupted prior to t... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3029324 Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3029324 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3017337&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19927259%26dopt%3DAbstract In this study, hand clenching rapidly deteriorated due to surgical manipulation during awake surgery and instantly recovered not by hand clenching alone but by combined movement of hand clenching and elbow flexion. Postoperative fMRI (functional MRI) showed a smaller area activated by combined movement of hand clenching and elbow flexion than the sum of areas activated by hand clenching alone and elbow flexion alone. Conversely, the activated area by combined movement of hand clenching and elbow flexion was almost the same as the sum of areas by hand clenching alone and elbow flexion alone in fMRI of normal volunteers. These findings indicate reorganization of the motor area by combined movement including the motor function of previous transient weakness, and might suggest the effectivenes... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3017337 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3017337 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3017336&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19927260%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Devinsky J, Sacks O, Devinsky O A 51-year-old right-handed man developed hypersexuality after a second right temporal lobectomy to treat epilepsy. His hypersexuality started with increased marital intercourse and masturbation but he later downloaded child pornography. Hyperphagia and distractibility, other features of the Kluver-Bucy syndrome, also developed. Resection of the amygdala and/or temporal lobe neocortical areas that inhibit other limbic areas may contribute to the pathogenesis of hypersexuality. Neurological factors mitigate the criminal responsibility for hypersexual activity in patients with Kluver-Bucy syndrome. Most previously reported patients were never charged with a crime despite uninvited physical contact in some instances. Our patient was convicted and im... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3017336 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3017336 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3017335&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19927261%26dopt%3DAbstract We describe a 5-year-old male child with cerebellar vermis hypoplasia who presented a severe linguistic deficit. On language testing, verbal production was almost absent, while comprehension was partially spared. Digit span was markedly reduced. An extensive examination of phonological short-term memory confirmed a deficit at this level. Positron Emission Tomography revealed hypometabolism both in the cerebellum and the supratentorial areas involved in language function. This finding supports the hypothesis that the cerebellum is included in a cerebro-cerebellar network, that underlies the phonological short-term memory, whose integrity is necessary for language acquisition. PMID: 19927261 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3017335 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3017335 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3017334&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19927262%26dopt%3DAbstract In this study, we report the case of a patient experiencing hallucinations of faces that could be reliably precipitated by looking at trees. Using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), we found that face hallucinations were associated with increased and decreased neural activity in a number of cortical regions. Within the same fusiform face area, however, we found significant decreased and increased neural activity according to whether the patient was experiencing hallucinations or veridical perception of faces, respectively. These findings may indicate key differences in how hallucinatory and veridical perceptions lead to the same phenomenological experience of seeing faces. PMID: 19927262 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3017334 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3017334 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2981560&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19899013%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Brang D, Ramachandran VS JS was a grapheme-color synesthete in whom numerals and letters of the alphabet consistently evoked colors. In the first set of experiments we showed that the color - in a consistent and reliable manner - was most pronounced in the left visual field and in central vision. In the second experiment we devised a novel test for eidetic imagery and showed that his self-report of enhanced imagery could be verified experimentally. The implications of these findings for the level at which synesthesia occurs, the 'enhanced cross-activation' model, and the mechanisms of visual memory are discussed. PMID: 19899013 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2981560 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 2981560 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2971007&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19894183%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Lee JI, Kim JH, Lee BH, Kim GM, Kim SH, Yoon DS, Seo SW, Na DL Callosal disconnection signs are closely related to asymmetric hemispheric specialization of cognitive functions. Although extinction is more commonly associated with the right parietotemporal lesion, it may occur following lesions of the corpus callosum. After an infarction involving the left splenium, a 58-year-old right-handed man had no disconnection symptoms that had been reported earlier, but showed visual extinction with left or right visual hemifield dominant stimuli. Our results suggest that dominance specific visual extinction might be another disconnection sign associated with splenial lesion. PMID: 19894183 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2971007 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 2971007 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2947194&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19866390%26dopt%3DAbstract Conclusion: family history of late onset dementia, APOEepsilon4 status, combined features of semantic dementia and progressive non-fluent aphasia present early in illness, or generalized seizures, may indicate AD as the underlying pathology of semantic dementia. PMID: 19866390 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2947194 Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100 2947194 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2947193&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19866391%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Kim JS, Song IU, Shim YS, Park JW, Yoo JY, Kim YI, Lee KS Several clinical studies have demonstrated that patients with essential tremor (ET) may have cognitive deficits; however, detailed neuropsychological assessments in comparison with motor tasks in patients with ET have not been reported. We conducted a prospective study to determine the correlation of cognition with age, disease duration, and motor task severity in patients with ET. Forty-seven patients with ET who underwent clinical assessment using the Fahn-Tolosa-Marin clinical rating scale and detailed neuropsychological investigation were included. Cognitive decline was significantly correlated with age at the time of examination, educational status, and tremor severity; cognitive decline however, was not related to... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2947193 Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100 2947193 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2778998&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19736599%26dopt%3DAbstract We report longitudinal (2 year) actigraphy results for a patient who met diagnostic criteria for FTD and his family caregiver. The subject and his family caregiver wore Actiwatches continuously for 2 weeks at 1-year intervals. The findings suggest that with disease progression there is worsening in multiple areas of rest-activity measures for the patient and a negative impact on sleep quality for the family caregiver. PMID: 19736599 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2778998 Sun, 06 Sep 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2778998 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2679219&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19657971%26dopt%3DAbstract We report the first published case study of a suddenly occurring panic attack in a patient with no prior history of panic disorder during combined functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI, 1.5 Tesla) and electrocardiogram (ECG) recording. The single case was a 46-year-old woman who developed a panic attack near the planned end of the fMRI acquisition session, which therefore had to be aborted. Correlational analysis of heart rate fluctuations and fMRI data revealed a significant negative association in the left middle temporal gyrus. Additionally, regions-of-interest (ROI) analyses indicated significant positive associations in the left amygdala, and trends towards significance in the right amygdala and left insula. PMID: 19657971 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neuroca... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2679219 Sun, 02 Aug 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2679219 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2679218&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19657972%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Ramachandran VS, Brang D, McGeoch PD Following limb amputation patients continue to feel the vivid presence of a phantom limb. A majority of patients also experience pain in the phantom and sometimes (as in our case DS) the pain is severe. Remarkably we find that optically 'resurrecting' the phantom with a mirror and using a lens to make the phantom appear to shrink caused the pain to 'shrink' as well. PMID: 19657972 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2679218 Sun, 02 Aug 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2679218 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2614133&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19606387%26dopt%3DAbstract We present the neurological and neuropsychological features of a patient with partial cerebellar agenesis (TZ), together with SPECT perfusion and fMRI activation during a finger tapping task. TZ shows only mild cerebellar signs, while neuropsychological testing discloses severe deficits in many domains, in accordance with the theorized role of the cerebellum in cognition. FMRI and SPECT demonstrate an activation and a symmetrical perfusion of the cerebellar remnants, that can be related to the residual cerebellar motor function. The left frontal and parieto-temporal cortex hypoperfusion can explain the severe cognitive impairment and could be linked to the abnormal cerebellar development. PMID: 19606387 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2614133 Tue, 14 Jul 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2614133 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2589182&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19585348%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Kawashima N, Mita T This case report describes an amputee (patient A.S., a 60-year-old male forelimb amputee) who had an extraordinary experience with a phantom limb. He complained that he could not move the wrist of his phantom limb because a metal bar was perceived to be grasped by the hand. As a solution for removing the metal bar, we invited the patient to undergo mirror reflection-induced visual feedback therapy. The patient reported that the metal bar previously grasped by his hand was successfully removed from the phantom during the course of therapy. Interestingly, this experience was accompanied by profound changes in the EMG modulation in the residual wrist muscles. In this article, the possible mechanisms underlying this interesting phenomenon will be discussed. ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2589182 Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2589182 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2589181&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19585349%26dopt%3DAbstract We describe the investigation of speech automatisms in a man with progressive nonfluent aphasia and apraxias. Occurrence of the automatisms yes and right, were analysed across a range of speech tasks varying in length, propositionality, lexical and articulatory complexity, whether tasks engaged internal generation or external triggering and articulatory distortions, and while completing pantomimes/gestures. No differences were found in occurrence across most tasks but there was a significant interaction between automatism production and apraxic speech errors and during limb praxic tasks, suggesting that production of the automatism was unrelated to linguistic or lexical variables, but was related to the presence of speech apraxia coupled with disinhibition. PMID: 19585349 [PubMed - as ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2589181 Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2589181 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2589180&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19585350%26dopt%3DAbstract We report preliminary behavioral, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and brain volumetric data from PI. fMRI data collected while PI recited the first 540 digits of pi (i.e., during retrieval) revealed increased activity in medial frontal gyrus and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Encoding of a novel string of 100 random digits activated motor association areas, midline frontal regions, and visual association areas. Volumetric analyses indicated an increased volume of the right subgenual cingulate, a brain region implicated in emotion, mentalizing, and autonomic arousal. Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI) testing indicated that PI is of average intelligence, and performance on mirror tracing, rotor pursuit, and the Silverman and Eals Location Memory Task revealed n... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2589180 Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2589180 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2589179&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19585351%26dopt%3DAbstract We report on a case of a 51-year-old right-handed female, L.S., with a developmental history of deep dyslexia in order to test the neuropsychological models using a visual half-field semantic priming paradigm. Word targets were primed either by a highly associated word (e.g., CLEAN-DIRTY), a weakly associated word (e.g., CLEAN-TIDY), or an unrelated word (e.g., CLEAN-FAMILY) projected to either the same or opposite visual field (VF) as the target. In normals, RVF-left hemisphere primes result in high associate priming regardless of target location (ipsilateral or contralateral to the prime), whereas LVF-right hemisphere primes produce both high and low associate priming across both target location conditions (Hutchinson, Whitman, Abeare & Raiter, 2003). In contrast, L.S. showed hyperpr... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2589179 Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2589179 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2589178&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19585352%26dopt%3DAbstract We report the case of a 69-year-old woman with cerebral infarction in the left anterior cingulate cortex and corpus callosum. She showed hyperlexia, which was a distinctive reading phenomenon, as well as ambient echolalia. Clinical features also included complex disorders such as visual groping, compulsive manipulation of tools, and callosal disconnection syndrome. She read words written on the cover of a book and repeated words emanating from unrelated conversations around her or from hospital announcements. The combination of these two features due to a focal lesion has never been reported previously. The supplementary motor area may control the execution of established subroutines according to external and internal inputs. Hyperlexia as well as the compulsive manipulation of tools could... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2589178 Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2589178 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2589177&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19585353%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Tyrone ME, Atkinson JR, Marshall J, Woll B Speech and sign production both require precise coordination of multiple articulators. The characteristics of dysarthria following ataxia have been well-documented, but less is known about the consequences of ataxia for sign language, which uses the hands and arms as articulators. This is the first study to examine ataxic dysarthria in a sign language user. What is novel in this research is that the limbs are employed for both linguistic and non-linguistic movements. Notably, sign production deficits broadly resembled ataxic dysarthria, while non-linguistic movement deficits were similar to those previously reported for ataxic limb movement. PMID: 19585353 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2589177 Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2589177 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2571450&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19568984%26dopt%3DAbstract We report a new case of a right temporal pole variant of frontotemporal dementia (Rtv-FTLD), MD, who presented a slowly progressive deterioration of the recognition of familiar and famous people. We thoroughly investigated MD's face processing and semantic abilities, including a neuroimaging investigation. This analysis revealed a cross-modal person-based deficit together with a more general semantic alteration. However, there was no evidence of impairment in face perception, including holistic processing, or of an abnormal pattern of brain activation in face-sensitive cortical areas. We discuss the nature of face processing in the Rtv-FTLD and the context of a person-based semantic defect. PMID: 19568984 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2571450 Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2571450 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2534729&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19544142%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Striemer C, Gingerich T, Striemer D, Dixon M Previous research indicates that individuals with congenital prosopagnosia (CP) fail to demonstrate significant priming from faces to related names in covert recognition tasks. The interpretation has been that CP precludes the ability to acquire face representations. In the current study we replicated this important finding. In addition, we also demonstrated significant 'true face effect' in a CP patient, where face primes that matched the probe names facilitated reaction times compared to unrelated face primes. These data suggest that some individuals with CP may possess degraded face representations that facilitate the priming of a person's identity, but not semantic associates. PMID: 19544142 [PubMed - as supplied by publishe... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2534729 Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2534729 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2534727&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19544143%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Gatignol P, Duffau H, Capelle L, Plaza M Two bilingual patients had World Health Organization Grade II Gliomas removed from a language area, one in the left mesiofronto-cingular region and one in the left postero-temporal region. They performed a picture naming task in their two languages before their surgery and afterwards. Both patients showed slowness in naming in their first language but different patterns of naming performance across their first and second language. Their patterns depended upon the site of their lesion and their language experience. These data, from brain-damaged, bilingual adult patients, contribute to the neuropsychological literature on brain organization and plasticity, and highlight the importance of assessing naming speed to obtain a better understa... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2534727 Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2534727 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2534725&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19544144%26dopt%3DAbstract We describe a patient with brain biopsy features suggestive of CBD whose course was complicated by complex partial seizures with secondary generalization. Thus, the occurrence of seizures in a patient with dementia should not exclude the diagnosis of CBD. PMID: 19544144 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2534725 Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2534725 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2534731&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19536693%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Auclair L, Noulhiane M, Raibaut P, Amarenco G We studied the involvement of the parietal cortex in interpersonal body representation in a left parietal stroke patient. We used tasks assessing different types of body representations and localization of object parts. The patient performed normally on all tasks of body knowledge. However, she was unable to locate body parts on another person or on body representations. In contrast, she pointed correctly to the same body parts on herself or object representations. The data support the important role of the left parietal cortex in the transformation of intrinsic spatial coding of body parts localization in extrinsic body part coordinates. PMID: 19536693 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2534731 Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2534731 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2534733&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19484656%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Yiannopoulou KG, Kounenou D, Papageorgiou CC Limbic psychotic trigger reaction (LPTR) includes paroxysmal, motiveless, unplanned felonies, all committed during flat affect, autonomic arousal and a fleeting de novo psychosis. It is considered as a form of non-convulsive behavioural seizures (NCBS). A transient limbic hyperactivation is probably implicated that impairs prefrontal monitoring but preserves memory for the acts. LPTR may, however, not be limited to felonies which have attracted forensic attention. There may exist many more 'merely' social misbehaviours, undetected and untreated as a 'sleeper' case. This kind of possible undetected LPTR cases, exemplified by a patient who suffers from paroxysmal hallucinations triggering her to attempt to commit infanticide, is prese... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2534733 Thu, 28 May 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2534733 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2534736&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19382038%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Rathbone CJ, Moulin CJ, Conway MA A case of retrograde amnesia, PJM, elucidated the relationship between self, episodic memory and autobiographical knowledge. Results from a variety of measures including the I Am Memory Task (IAM Task), where memories are cued by self-generated self concepts, demonstrate that PJM has a coherent, continuous sense of self, despite having lost episodic memories for an 18-month period. Her use of conceptual autobiographical knowledge, in episodic tasks and to support aspects of identity, shows how autobiographical knowledge can support the self when episodic memories are inaccessible. These results are discussed with relation to current neuropsychological models of self and memory. PMID: 19382038 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Ne... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2534736 Mon, 20 Apr 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2534736 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2534735&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19382039%26dopt%3DAbstract We present neuropsychological data from an 81-year-old individual who was followed over a six-year period, initially as a healthy control participant. She performed above age-adjusted cutoff scores for impairment on most neuropsychological tests, including learning and memory measures, until the final assessment when she received a diagnosis of probable Alzheimer's disease (AD). Despite generally normal scores on individual cognitive tests, her cognitive profile revealed increasingly large cognitive discrepancies when contrasting verbal versus visuospatial tasks, and complex versus basic-level tasks. The present case provides intriguing evidence that cognitive-discrepancy measures could improve our ability to detect subtle changes in cognition at the earliest, preclinical stages of AD. ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2534735 Mon, 20 Apr 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2534735 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2534739&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19370478%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Haslam C, Kay J, Tree J, Baron R In this paper we report findings from a systematic investigation of spelling performance in three patients - PR, RH and AC - who despite their different medical diagnoses showed a very consistent pattern of dysgraphia, more typical of graphemic buffer disorder. Systematic investigation of the features characteristic of this disorder in Study 1 confirmed the presence of length effects in spelling, classic errors (i.e., letter substitution, omission, addition, transposition), a bow-shaped curve in the serial position of errors and consistency in substitution of consonants and vowels. However, in addition to this clear pattern of graphemic buffer impairment, evidence of regularity effects and phonologically plausible errors in spelling raised ques... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2534739 Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2534739 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2534738&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19370479%26dopt%3DAbstract This study extends previous research by indicating that BG dysfunction may not only affect production processes and sequencing, as was found in previous investigations, but may lead to a breakdown of semantic relationships of arithmetic facts. PMID: 19370479 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2534738 Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2534738 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2534737&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19370480%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Khurshid S, Longin H, Crucian GP, Barrett AM Monocular patching might improve perceptual-attentional, not motor-intentional deficits in a patient with chronic post-stroke left spatial neglect. Performing a line-cancellation task, his omission errors were associated with a perceptual-attentional 'where' deficit, while perseverative errors were associated with 'aiming' motor-intentional bias. Contralesional patching had no effect on the omissions (p = .871), whereas ipsilesional patching reduced left-sided omissions compared with the unpatched condition (p = .016). Neither patching condition altered perseverative errors. Further research is needed to examine whether targeting treatments to spatial neglect symptoms (omissions, perseveration) results in improved outcomes. PMID... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2534737 Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2534737 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2310870&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19343581%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Mirowska-Guzel D, Seniow J, Sułek A, Leśniak M, Członkowska A Two years prior to diagnosis of Kennedy's disease (KD), a 53-year-old man began experiencing neurological symptoms, including nasal speech, postural tremor, tremor in the upper extremities, and muscle weakness. Genetic analysis revealed 46 CAG repeats in the androgen receptor gene. The patient's altered social conduct and complaints of forgetfulness led to a neuropsychological assessment. A mild impairment in visuospatial and visuoconstructive abilities, visual short-term memory, and a personality disorder were detected. Although cognition and behaviour in KD are typically normal, our findings suggest that the disease may cause mild cognitive and behavioural changes as part of the disease's clinica... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2310870 Thu, 02 Apr 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2310870 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2289520&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19308794%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Tranel D, Bechara A We have reported previously that there appears to be an intriguing sex-related functional asymmetry of the prefrontal cortices, especially the ventromedial sector, in regard to social conduct, emotional processing, and decision-making, whereby the right-sided sector is important in men but not women and the left-sided sector is important in women but not men. The amygdala is another structure that has been widely implicated in emotion processing and social decision-making, and the question arises as to whether the amygdala, in a manner akin to what has been observed for the prefrontal cortex, might have sex-related functional asymmetry in regard to social and emotional functions. A preliminary test of this question was carried out in the current study, wher... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2289520 Mon, 23 Mar 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2289520 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2278412&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19296397%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Kim HJ, Craik FI, Luo L, Ween JE Prospective memory (PM) is the ability to carry out a planned intention at a future time. We studied PM deficits in a group of community-dwelling stroke survivors compared with normal controls. Twelve stroke patients and 12 matched controls performed a series of tests assessing executive function, prospective (PM) and retrospective memory (RM). Patients performed less well than controls on laboratory measures of PM and associative RM; they also showed deficits on standard tests of RM and executive control. The groups did not differ on more structured clinical measures of executive function, RM, PM or self-rated PM and RM. The results are discussed in terms of an impairment in the ability to 'self-initiate' effortful cognitive processes. PMI... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2278412 Wed, 18 Mar 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2278412 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2278415&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19291529%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Clare L, van Paasschen J, Evans SJ, Parkinson C, Woods RT, Linden DE An individual, goal-oriented cognitive rehabilitation intervention was conducted with AB, a 77-year-old woman with MCI. Outcomes were evaluated using a client-centred measure of goal achievement and an experimental associative learning task testing a skill practised in the intervention. Pre- and post-intervention fMRI scans were compared to examine changes in brain activation. Following intervention, AB showed improved performance on rehabilitation goals and on the associative learning task. There were significant decreases in brain activation in sensory areas and significant increases in memory-related areas. Both client-centred measures and fMRI may assist in detecting clinically-meaningful changes resultin... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2278415 Mon, 16 Mar 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2278415 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2252476&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19274572%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Morady K, Humphreys GW In the present paper we show that, in patients with poor semantic representations, the naming of real objects can improve when naming takes place after patients have been asked to use the objects, compared with when they name the objects either from vision or from touch alone, or together. In addition, the patients were strongly affected by action when required to name objects that were used correctly or incorrectly by the examiner. The data suggest that actions can be cued directly from sensory-motor associations, and that patients can then name on the basis of the evoked action. PMID: 19274572 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2252476 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2252476 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2252475&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19274573%26dopt%3DAbstract We describe the case of a 53-year-old, right-handed man with a history of bipolar disorder who presented with language and behavior impairments characteristic of FTLD, then developed motor symptoms consistent with a second diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Though the patient had never created visual art before, he developed a compulsion for painting beginning at the earliest stages of his disease, and continued producing art daily until he could no longer lift a paintbrush because of his motor deficits. Upon autopsy, he was found to have ubiquitin and TDP43-positive inclusions with MND pathology. This case study details the patient's longitudinal neuropsychological, emotional, behavioral, and motor symptoms, along with structural imaging, neurologic, and neuropathologic findings.... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2252475 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2252475 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2252473&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19274574%26dopt%3DAbstract We present the case of a right-handed patient who received surgical treatment for a left frontal WHO grade II glioma invading the left inferior and middle frontal gyri, the head of the caudate nucleus, the anterior limb of the internal capsule and the anterior insula, in direct contact also with the anterior-superior part of the lentiform nucleus. The tumor resection was guided by direct electrical stimulation on brain areas, while the patient was awake. Adding a narrative production task to the neuropsychological assessment, we compared pre-, peri- and post-surgical language skills in order to analyze the effects of the tumor infiltration and the consequences of the left IFG resection, an area known to be involved in various language and cognitive processes. We showed that the tumor infil... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2252473 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2252473 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2252472&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19274575%26dopt%3DAbstract Conclusions: The scale was able to clearly differentiate patients with OCD from healthy controls. This finding suggests that the FrSBe can be used not only in neurologic patients but also in psychiatric cases such as refractory OCD. PMID: 19274575 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2252472 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2252472 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2234655&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19253088%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Matthews BR, Chang CC, De May M, Engstrom J, Miller BL Recent functional neuroimaging studies implicate the network of mesolimbic structures known to be active in reward processing as the neural substrate of pleasure associated with listening to music. Psychoacoustic and lesion studies suggest that there is a widely distributed cortical network involved in processing discreet musical variables. Here we present the case of a young man with auditory agnosia as the consequence of cortical neurodegeneration who continues to experience pleasure when exposed to music. In a series of musical tasks, the subject was unable to accurately identify any of the perceptual components of music beyond simple pitch discrimination, including musical variables known to impact the perception of af... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2234655 Fri, 27 Feb 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2234655 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2223808&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19241219%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Hertrich I, Dietrich S, Moos A, Trouvain J, Ackermann H Blind individuals may learn to understand ultra-fast synthetic speech at a rate of up to about 25 syllables per second (syl)/s, an accomplishment by far exceeding the maximum performance level of normal-sighted listeners (8-10 syl/s). The present study indicates that this exceptional skill engages distinct regions of the central-visual system. Hemodynamic brain activation during listening to moderately- (8 syl/s) and ultra-fast speech (16 syl/s) was measured in a blind individual and six normal-sighted controls. Moderately-fast speech activated posterior and anterior 'language zones' in all subjects. Regarding ultra-fast tokens, the controls showed exclusive activation of supratemporal regions whereas the blind participan... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2223808 Wed, 25 Feb 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2223808 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2223806&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19241281%26dopt%3DAbstract This study shows that our active event-related paradigm allowed to identify voluntary brain activity in a patient who would behaviorally be diagnosed as comatose. PMID: 19241281 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2223806 Wed, 25 Feb 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2223806 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2205630&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19229733%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Brousseau G, Buchanan L, Saunders C There are several group and case studies that investigate developmental dyslexia in children, and acquired and developmental reading disabilities in adults. To date however, there are few detailed investigations on cases of early acquired dyslexia. The purpose of this study was to examine such a case (participant referred to as SP). The goals of this investigation were to compare SP's reading impairments to the major subtypes of dyslexia, establish SP's specific reading deficits, and consider the neuropsychological variables that may impact on SP's reading disability. PMID: 19229733 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2205630 Thu, 19 Feb 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2205630 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2178024&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19204849%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Hixson JD, Kirsch HE Epilepsy creates significant morbidity, disability, and loss of productivity worldwide. Although unpredictable seizures define epilepsy, the cognitive and emotional difficulties encountered by people with epilepsy may have an even greater impact on everyday function. Epilepsy is associated with lower quality of life (QOL); while this is partially attributable to ongoing seizures, QOL is independently affected by comorbid affective disorders like depression and anxiety. These can accompany all types of epilepsy, but may be especially noteworthy in partial epilepsy syndromes with foci in the frontal or temporal lobes. There is growing evidence that epileptogenic lesions disrupt cortical networks that carry out emotional processing. In addition to epilepsy it... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2178024 Mon, 09 Feb 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2178024 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2141954&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19172430%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Katzenstein JM, Oghalai JS, Tonini R, Baker D, Haymond J, Caudle SE This case study describes the neurocognitive presentation of a child with identified genetic abnormalities of trisomy 6 and monosomy 21 who was evaluated as part of a standard medical protocol for cochlear implantation following diagnosis of profound sensorineural hearing loss. This child received neurocognitive testing prior to cochlear implantation and approximately 12 months post-activation of his cochlear implant. While he has not fully developed oral language, his presentation suggested improvement in overall skills since the activation of the cochlear implant; however, less than would be expected for a typically developing child. PMID: 19172430 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2141954 Mon, 26 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2141954 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2141953&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19172431%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Procacci NM, Stanford TR, Wittenberg GF Much work indicates that parietal cortex mediates the transformation of visual information into the motor commands necessary for successful performance of many unimanual tasks. Accumulating evidence suggests that parietal cortex also mediates the coordination of bimanual movements, during which the natural tendency is to couple the limbs temporally. However, the extent to which parietal oculomotor and/or visual processes contribute to temporal coupling of the limbs during bimanual task performance is unknown. In the current study, we monitored the eye movements of a patient with a left parietal infarction as she performed a series of bimanual visuomotor tasks. We demonstrate the impact of an ipsilesional (leftward) orientation bias on he... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2141953 Mon, 26 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2141953 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2141952&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19172432%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Kipps CM, Mioshi E, Hodges JR Social functioning in FTD is profoundly affected, and forms the basis for the clinical diagnosis of the behavioural variant of the disease (bv-FTD). In particular, there are deficits in emotional processing, but the inter-relationship of such deficits to other aspects of social functioning remains unclear. We studied patients with bv-FTD (n = 14) and AD (n = 14), and compared their performance on a test of emotion recognition with their scores on two carer-based assessments: the Disability Assessment for Dementia (DAD) of activities in daily living (ADL), and the Cambridge Behavioural Inventory (CBI). The bv-FTD group had significantly greater impairments in ADLs, and had higher scores on the CBI, compared to the AD group. Despite a deficit in emo... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2141952 Mon, 26 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2141952 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2122442&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19153869%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Skidmore FM, Drago V, Pav B, Foster PS, Mackman C, Heilman KM When interacting with objects in their environment, patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) often make hypometric movements (e.g., micrographia). The purpose of this study was to learn if patients with PD, in the absence of overt actions or environmental stimuli, have egocentric (body-centered) conceptual (representational) hypometria. Actions can take place in either proximal or distal peri-personal space. Normally, the right hemisphere has a distal and the right a proximal attentional bias. We also want to learn if a patient with onset of disease in the right hemisphere would have a greater conceptual action hypometria than individuals with left hemispheric onset. Seventeen subjects with PD and 15 age-matched contr... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2122442 Mon, 19 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2122442 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2122441&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19153870%26dopt%3DAbstract We report a 4-year-old child with severe semi-lobar holoprosencephaly (HPE) not expected to survive after birth. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed agenesis of the corpus callosum, absence of the third ventricle, fused thalami and basal ganglia. To investigate sensory function, visual, auditory and somatosensory evoked potential and imaging studies were carried out. The visual response evoked by human face stimuli evoked larger responses over the left side of the holosphere as compared to responses evoked by checkerboard pattern, while auditory evoked potentials were evident over the frontal regions to both pure tones and speech stimuli. No consistent scalp somatosensory evoked potentials were evident. This case demonstrates that electrophysiological measures are able to identify an... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2122441 Mon, 19 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2122441 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2122440&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19153871%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Paiement P, Champoux F, Bacon BA, Mercier C, Gagne JP, Lassonde M, Lepore F The aim of this study was to investigate cortical activation in response to binaural stimulus presentations in an individual (FX) with a circumscribed traumatic hemorrhagic lesion of the right inferior colliculus. FX and control subjects were exposed to complex sounds while undergoing a functional magnetic resonance imaging assessment. Whereas normally-hearing individuals show well-balanced bilateral activation patterns in response to binaural auditory stimulation, the same stimuli produced stronger activation in the left hemisphere in FX. Combined with previous data, these findings reinforce the notion that the inferior colliculus is an essential auditory relay and that its loss cannot be significantl... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2122440 Mon, 19 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2122440 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2122439&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19153872%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Arguedas D, Batchelor J The 18q deletion syndrome (18q-) is a chromosomal disorder involving deletion of the distal segment of chromosome 18. Typifying features include poor cerebral myelination, reduced intellectual functioning and developmental delay. The present study reports the case of an 8-year-old girl diagnosed with 18q-, whose genetic analysis revealed a break at q21.3. Comprehensive neuropsychological testing indicated impaired functioning across most cognitive domains. However, verbal abilities were intact. Given the preservation of verbal skills on a background of relatively global impairment, CB's genetic and cognitive profile has implications for delineation of neuropsychological features associated with specific breakpoints in 18q-. PMID: 19153872 [PubMed - ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2122439 Mon, 19 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2122439 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2053902&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19090413%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Nickl-Jockschat T, Kunert HJ, Herpertz-Dahlmann B, Grozinger M DIDMOAD or Wolfram syndrome is a hereditary disorder characterized by early onset diabetes and optic atrophy. Besides these features, a variety of other symptoms have been described including psychiatrical abnormalities leading to hospitalization in about 25% of all patients. To our knowledge, until now, a detailed characterization of these psychiatric symptoms does not exist. Here we describe a 21-year-old male patient with deficits of frontal lobe function, such as impaired impulse control and learning deficits. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain showed a bilateral optic atrophy, but no signs of frontal brain atrophy. Neuropsychological tests revealed performance deficits in complex planning (e.g., Tow... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2053902 Wed, 17 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2053902 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2053901&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19090414%26dopt%3DAbstract We present the rare case of an adult patient, FS, who had a right anterior temporal lobe resection during infancy to treat intractable epilepsy, and underwent a cognitive evaluation 19 years later. Given the paucity of literature on long-term outcomes for infants who receive neurosurgery for epilepsy, this case provides valuable information for both clinicians and patients. What little literature exists on infant and child surgical outcomes for epilepsy suggests a variable course, with several areas of possible cognitive and social difficulty. FS's assessment at the age of 21 revealed only mild difficulties with memory, sequencing, and visual imagery, and spared intellectual functioning, working memory, problem-solving and social cognition, along with a high level of socioeconomic function... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2053901 Wed, 17 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2053901 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2053900&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19090415%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Brandt KR, Gardiner JM, Vargha-Khadem F, Baddeley AD, Mishkin M In a re-examination of the recognition memory of Jon, a young adult with developmental amnesia due to perinatal hippocampal damage, we used a test procedure that provides estimates of the separate contributions to recognition of recollection and familiarity. Comparison between Jon and his controls revealed that, whereas he was unimpaired in the familiarity process, he showed abnormally low levels of recollection, supporting the view that the hippocampus mediates the latter process selectively. PMID: 19090415 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2053900 Wed, 17 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2053900 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2041057&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19085559%26dopt%3DAbstract We report the findings of relative hyperperfusion by Tc-99m HMPAO SPECT in the medial orbitofrontal cortex and anterior temporal lobe in four affected family members carrying a presenilin 1 mutation. SPECT of the four individuals was compared to an age-matched normal database. We speculate that the findings of relative medial orbitofrontal and anterior temporal lobe hyperperfusion may be a marker of early onset Alzheimer's disease in this family. PMID: 19085559 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2041057 Mon, 15 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2041057 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2028570&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19065283%26dopt%3DAbstract We report the association between finger agnosia and gesture imitation deficits in a right-handed, right-hemisphere damaged patient with Gerstmann's syndrome (GS), a neuropsychological syndrome characterized by finger and toe agnosia, left-right disorientation and dyscalculia. No language deficits were found. The patient showed a gestural imitation deficit that specifically involved finger movements and postures. The association between finger recognition and imitation deficits suggests that both static and dynamic aspects of finger representations are impaired in GS. We suggest that GS is a disorder of body representation that involves hands and fingers, that is, the non-facial body parts most involved in social interactions. PMID: 19065283 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source:... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2028570 Mon, 08 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2028570 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2028569&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19065284%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Morady K, Humphreys GW The term 'action disorganisation syndrome' has been used to describe patients with selective impairments in carrying out multi-step everyday tasks, which are not linked to motor deficits. We used a range of everyday life tasks to examine the effects on a patient with ADS of having related distractors present during task performance. The presence of related distractors increased omission errors in the patient. In a second experiment we assessed whether we could mimic this pattern of deficit when normal participants carried out the everyday tasks and a secondary task was imposed to place demands on executive processes. Secondary task load produced a general increase in errors in the controls and reduced the number of self-correcting responses, but there we... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2028569 Mon, 08 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2028569 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1992450&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19031338%26dopt%3DAbstract The objective was to determine whether the VOSP was useful to discriminate damage to the ventral and the dorsal visual pathways. Both patients failed almost all the VOSP subtests, and the battery did not permit confirmation of the integrity of the ventral pathway. In addition, certain subtests evaluating dorsal function were nearly completed, probably due to a compensation strategy. Thus, evaluation using VOSP does not discriminate between predominantly ventral and predominantly dorsal clinical forms of posterior cortical atrophy. PMID: 19031338 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1992450 Mon, 24 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1992450 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1992449&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19031339%26dopt%3DAbstract We report that a right brain damaged patient with neglect demonstrated a significant gradient favouring the ipsilesional side on a visual search task as well as an auditory search task in which the target was a frequency modulated tone amongst steady distractor tones. No such asymmetry was apparent in the auditory search performance of a control patient with a right hemisphere lesion but no neglect. The results suggest that the spatial bias in attention exhibited by neglect patients affects stimulus processing even when spatial information is irrelevant to the task. PMID: 19031339 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1992449 Mon, 24 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1992449 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1969993&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19012166%26dopt%3DAbstract We describe a 28-year-old, right-handed male diagnosed with a left temporo-frontal glioma. It was decided to manage him expectantly due to the low level of suspicion of malignancy and the close proximity of the lesion to critical language function centers. Language functional MRI (fMRI) tests were performed twice within the ensuing 2 years before surgical intervention. Regional brain activation was measured within the temporal and frontal lobes. Laterality index (LI) was calculated based on the corresponding number of activated voxels. The main finding is that over time, prior to resection of the enlarged tumor, the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) changed from being strongly left lateralized in the first fMRI exam to being bilateral in the second fMRI exam, mainly due to larger activation in ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1969993 Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:44:53 +0100 1969993 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1969992&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19012167%26dopt%3DAbstract We report a case of a male patient who showed personality changes and marked social problems after a traumatic brain injury. Although suspected to have lesions in the orbitofrontal cortex because of the typical characteristics of his behavioural change, lesions were not apparent using conventional imaging techniques. However, investigation using high-resolution MRI revealed lesions in the orbitofrontal cortex. Our case suggests that standard MRI scanning techniques may have only limited power. Hence, we stress the important role played by qualitative assessments of emotion, personality, and social behaviour in evaluating sequelae of traumatic orbitofrontal injuries. PMID: 19012167 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1969992 Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:44:53 +0100 1969992 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1969991&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19012168%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Miwa H, Kondo T Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) occasionally show food cravings and/or compulsive eating that result in significant, undesired weight gain. Dopamine replacement therapy may be the cause of this type of eating disorder. We evaluated 60 consecutive patients to see if they had any alteration of eating patterns after starting levodopa. Among them, five (8.3%) patients exhibited characteristic alterations of food preference following the start of dopamine replacement therapy. One patient showed an undesirable weight gain. Of the five patients exhibiting food preference alterations, all showed increased preference to consume sweet snacks, although this alteration was not always associated with hyperphagia (eating too much). This type of dietary alteration was ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1969991 Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:44:53 +0100 1969991 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1969990&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19012169%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Zucco GM, Militello C, Doty RL Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is a controversial disorder characterized by a diverse set of debilitating symptoms purportedly induced by environmental chemicals. Many cases of putative MCS are believed to have a strong psychogenic component, making it difficult to differentiate between organic and psychogenic causes. In this case report we describe a procedure that can aid in this differentiation. A patient who met a strict set of criteria for MCS was tested on two test occasions. On the first, the patient was found to have no olfactory dysfunction, as determined from standardized olfactory tests. On the second, odorants, as well as a blank stimulus, were presented to the patient with instructions as to whether they were harmful or harmless... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1969990 Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:44:53 +0100 1969990 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1969989&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19012170%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Crutch SJ, Warrington EK An investigation of non-verbal auditory comprehension in two patients with global aphasia following stroke is reported. The primary aim of the investigation was to establish whether refractory access disorders can affect non-verbal input modalities. All previous reports of refractoriness, a cognitive syndrome characterized by response inconsistency, sensitivity to temporal factors and insensitivity to item frequency, have involved comprehension tasks which have a verbal component. Two main experiments are described. The first consists of a novel sound-to-picture and sound-to-word matching task in which comprehension of environmental sounds is probed under conditions of semantic relatedness and semantic unrelatedness. In addition to the two stroke patie... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1969989 Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:44:53 +0100 1969989 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1969988&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19012171%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Sato H, Patterson K, Fushimi T, Maxim J, Bryan K A Japanese-speaking stroke patient with disrupted phonology but relatively good semantics was severely impaired in nonword reading, with better preserved and imageability-modulated word-reading in both kanji and kana. This basic similarity of reading in the two Japanese scripts was accompanied by the following differences: (i) distinct error patterns (prominent semantic errors for kanji vs. phonological errors for kana); (ii) a more pronounced imageability effect for kanji; and (iii) a remarkable pseudohomophone advantage for kana. The combination of deep dyslexia for kanji and phonological dyslexia for kana in a single patient suggests that these are not two distinct reading disorders. PMID: 19012171 [PubMed - in process] (... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1969988 Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:44:53 +0100 1969988 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1930827&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18979358%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: PMID: 18979358 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1930827 Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:22:20 +0100 1930827 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1880691&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18855221%26dopt%3DAbstract We report the case of HK who presented with dynamic aphasia. The study had two goals: first, as HK was assessed over a longer period of time, changes in his performances could be documented which were relevant for the interpretation of the underlying disorder. The present study is the first to document changes across time and improvements of some of the skills involved in language production. Second, further investigations were carried out to clarify HK's underlying deficits. He was unimpaired on a number of 'verbal planning' tasks which argues for the preservation of those specific processes of verbal planning which Levelt (1989) termed 'microplanning'. It is suggested that HK's performance may be best described as an impairment at the level of 'macroplanning'. The deficit may lie in the ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1880691 Tue, 14 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1880691 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1873484&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18850462%26dopt%3DAbstract Conclusion: Patients presenting typical pareidolias need to be probed for underlying OCD. This approach may have material impact on treatment decisions, with good response of the aforementioned condition to serotonin reuptake inhibitors. PMID: 18850462 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1873484 Fri, 10 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1873484 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1868912&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18846472%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: PMID: 18846472 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1868912 Fri, 10 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1868912 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1841613&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18825573%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Baird AD, McKay RT We explored potential contributing psychological factors in a patient ('XF') with focal retrograde amnesia, within the framework proposed by Kopelman (2000, Cognitive Neuropsychology, 17, 585). In particular, we investigated the psychological trait of self-enhancement. We constructed a self-report questionnaire measure of self-enhancement and compared XF's score on this measure with the scores of 61 control participants. XF was found to have a significantly greater level of self-enhancement than the entire control group, and also than a smaller sample of age- and sex-matched controls. We propose that heightened self-enhancement may reflect a premorbid tendency that potentially predisposes individuals to develop retrograde amnesia. PMID: 18825573 [PubMed ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1841613 Tue, 30 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1841613 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1838078&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18821168%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Ramachandran VS, Brang D We discuss experiments on two individuals in whom specific textures (e.g., denim, wax, sandpaper, silk, etc.) evoked equally distinct emotions (e.g., depression, embarrassment, relief, and contentment, respectively). The test/retest consistency after 8 months was 100%. A video camera recorded subjects' facial expressions and skin conductance responses (SCR) were monitored as they palpated different textures. Evaluators' ratings significantly correlated with the valence of synesthetes' subjective reports, and SCR was significantly enhanced for negative synesthetic emotions. We suggest this effect arises from increased cross-activation between somatosensory cortex and insula for 'basic' emotions and fronto-limbic hyperactivation for more subtle emotions.... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1838078 Sat, 27 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1838078 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1838076&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18821269%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Floris G, Cannas A, Melis M, Solla P, Marrosu MG The authors describe the case of a 70-year-old male who developed a peculiar syndrome characterized by pathological gambling (PG), delusional parasitosis and adipsia with mild frontal symptoms. Onset of the syndrome followed a cerebral haematoma involving hypothalamic and bilateral ventromedial prefrontal areas. The potential manifestation of PG following a lesion in the above areas may contribute towards furthering the understanding of pathological conditions underlying this disorder. PMID: 18821269 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1838076 Sat, 27 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1838076 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1838077&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18821169%26dopt%3DAbstract This article describes a patient with a history of presences subsequent to a 'mild' closed head injury who reported strong experiences during an electroencephalographic screening within a very quiet and darkened setting at the end of a day of neuropsychological assessments. The right-sided presence was preceded by the sensation of an 'electric shock' through the right hand and then both hands. Whole body 'icy coldness' and then vibrations 'moved' through her entire body. The experiences were concomitant with paroxysmal irregular 4-5-Hz activity over the temporal lobes. This case illustrates that many sensed presences might be similar to 'epileptic auras' for patients who also display elevated complex partial epileptic-like experiences following closed head injuries and that close attention... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1838077 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1838077 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1833737&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18819025%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Beversdorf DQ, Hughes JD, Heilman KM Patients with right posterior temporoparietal cortical lesions often exhibit extinction to tactile double simultaneous stimuli (EDSS). It is not known whether sensory unawareness-extinction results from suppression of sensory input into the somatosensory cortex (SI), inhibition of SI, or interference which prevents SI output from activating and being fully processed by association areas. A patient with EDSS due to a right temporal stroke sparing SI and posterior parietal cortex and eight age-matched healthy controls were studied with fMRI during tactile stimulation. The volume of activation of SI during tactile stimulation of the right hand, the left hand and both hands was measured and the patient's volume of activation was compared to tha... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1833737 Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1833737 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1798809&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18792838%26dopt%3DAbstract We describe a patient who, after right hemisphere damage, showed severe, persistent, pure representational neglect but no evidence of perceptual neglect and no deficits in spatial working memory when evaluated with a traditional clinical test (Corsi Block Tapping test). This finding provides evidence against a full explanation of representational neglect within the context of visuo-spatial working memory. Indeed, this patient showed a peculiar deficit in navigational tasks requiring re-orientation in a novel environment by means of his mental representation of the environment. Since no representational neglect was observed in tests requiring mental representation of single or multiple objects (i.e., o'clock test) we suggest that in our patient representational neglect is caused by damage t... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1798809 Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:20:48 +0100 1798809 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1798808&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18792839%26dopt%3DAbstract We report two patients with acquired phonological dyslexia who have great difficulty reading affixed words. Experiment 1 demonstrates that both patients' reading performance is influenced by the apparent morphological status of words by comparing the patients' reading of suffixed and pseudo-suffixed words. Experiment 2 was designed to examine reading performance of both regularly and irregularly inflected words. Experiment 3 examines the patients' reading of derivational forms with particular emphasis of the role of 'semantic transparency'. Experiment 4 tested both patients' reading of prefixed words. Finally, Experiment 5 examined performance on a lexical decision task using affixed words. These data support models in which regularly formed inflections and semantically transparent derived... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1798808 Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:20:48 +0100 1798808 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1798807&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18792840%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Rode G, Revol P, Rossetti Y, Vallar G A quantitative assessment of a distortion involving the left side of space, both in two-dimensional (drawing), and three-dimensional (modeling), visuo-constructional tasks is reported in a patient with a right temporoparieto-occipital lesion, and left hemianopia, without visuospatial neglect. In drawing and clay modeling of objects the patient exhibited a disproportionate enlargement of the left-hand side of objects. Matching perceptually two rectangles, the patient underestimated the left side of the stimulus. In a visuomotor task requiring the reproduction of horizontal extent, the patient exhibited a leftward overextension. Observations in two right-brain-damaged patients by Rode, Michel, Rossetti, Boisson, and Vallar (2006, Neurology, ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1798807 Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:20:48 +0100 1798807 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1760529&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18766979%26dopt%3DAbstract We present the case of a patient, who, although almost recovered from her aphasia, showed a selective inability to produce any kind of overlearned sequences. Her cognitive profile was intact except for her short-term memory span. Results are discussed in terms of a possible relation between an impairment in phonological processes, mediated by the short-term memory store, and automatic speech production. PMID: 18766979 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1760529 Tue, 02 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1760529 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1760528&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18766980%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Beversdorf DQ, Carpenter AL, Miller RF, Cios JS, Hillier A The noradrenergic system modulates performance on tasks dependent on semantic and associative network flexibility (NF) in individuals without neurodevelopmental diagnoses in experiments using a beta-adrenergic antagonist, propranolol. Some studies suggest drugs decreasing noradrenergic activity are beneficial in ASD. In individuals without neurodevelopmental diagnoses, propranolol is beneficial only for difficult NF-dependent problems. However, in populations with altered noradrenergic regulation, propranolol also benefits performance for simple problems. Due to decreased flexibility of access to networks in ASD, we wished to examine the effect of propranolol on NF in ASD. ASD subjects benefited from propranolol on sim... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1760528 Tue, 02 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1760528 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1760527&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18766981%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Barbarulo AM, Pappata S, Puoti G, Prinster A, Grossi D, Cotrufo R, Salvatore M, Trojano L Acquired disorders of gesture imitation are amenable to treatment, but with poor generalisation toward gestures not included in the training program. We investigated the neural basis of this item-specific recovery in a patient with a slowly progressive posterior cortical atrophy, by means of an fMRI study comparing imitation of rehabilitated and not-rehabilitated gestures. Results suggested that in our patient gesture imitation recruited the mirror system and additional areas relevant to gesture analysis and preparation. Imitation of rehabilitated gestures activated the mirror neuron system, and also left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and putamen, and the right anterior temporal cortex. ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1760527 Tue, 02 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1760527 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1760526&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18766982%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Kunz S, Beblo T, Driessen M, Woermann F Alcohol addiction is typically associated with intense alcohol craving triggered by internal or environmental cues linked with past alcohol use. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to record cerebral correlates of craving in an alcoholic patient. Craving was evoked by highly individual cues associated with past alcohol use and was assessed before (T1) and after an 8-month period of psychotherapy (T2). To control for effects of life event memories related to non alcoholic cravings, the patient provided two events from periods of his life when he experienced caffeine craving. We detected activation of the superior temporal lobe during recall of a highly alcohol craving situation (T1 minus T2), whereas we did not observe an... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1760526 Tue, 02 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1760526 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1760525&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18766983%26dopt%3DAbstract We present a 71-year-old woman with a slowly progressive disturbance of speech perception due to pure word deafness. MRI revealed degeneration of the temporal lobes. A magnetoencephalographic investigation using alternating single tone stimulation showed that N100 was followed by a second transient response and was abnormally prolonged up to 600-700 ms. We conclude that auditory processing is disturbed at long latency ranges following the N100, which may result in the clinical presentation of pure word deafness. PMID: 18766983 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1760525 Tue, 02 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1760525 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1710315&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18704832%26dopt%3DAbstract We report the case of a woman who displayed impaired object recognition following a severe head injury. Her elementary visual functions were substantially preserved, allowing her a coherent percept. On the other hand, she was impaired in accessing stored knowledge from both visual and verbal input. In particular, she showed a dramatic dissociation between fully preserved access to functional knowledge, and severely impaired access to perceptual knowledge so that she could describe what objects are for, but not how they are. Our findings from this case suggest that different categories of object knowledge are represented independently in separate units within the semantic system. PMID: 18704832 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1710315 Sun, 17 Aug 2008 13:54:52 +0100 1710315 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1710314&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18704833%26dopt%3DAbstract In this report we describe a patient affected by fronto-temporal dementia (FTD), who showed all the personality changes of GS without having epilepsy, and suggest that clinicians should be aware of several other features in FTD, such as hyposexuality and hypergraphia, which are usually not noted during the diagnostic evaluation. PMID: 18704833 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1710314 Sun, 17 Aug 2008 13:54:52 +0100 1710314 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1710313&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18704834%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Law SP, Wong W, Yeung O, Weekes BS This paper reports the influence of age-of-acquisition (AoA) effects on the oral reading accuracy of a Chinese brain-injured individual, FWL, who has anomia and dyslexia resulting from moderate-to-severe semantic deficits. We found an effect of the phonological consistency of a character and tentative evidence for an interaction between AoA and consistency. These observations converge on previous reports of an effect of AoA on reading and spelling of alphabetic scripts and in the reading of Japanese Kanji, a non-alphabetic script. An effect of AoA is also the expected outcome of the arbitrary mapping hypothesis which assumes that the locus of the AoA effect resides in the connection between levels of representations in the lexical processing ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1710313 Sun, 17 Aug 2008 13:54:52 +0100 1710313 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1657533&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18654931%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Boutin D, Lassonde M, Robert M, Vanassing P, Ellemberg D The goal of this study was to measure the neurophysiological and cognitive functions of a sport-concussed child and to longitudinally assess the recovery pattern. An 8-year-old girl suffered a concussion while playing soccer. Visual evoked potentials (VEPs) were recorded at 7 weeks pre-injury and 24 h, 7, 22, 32 and 55 weeks post-injury. A neuropsychological assessment performed at 24 h post-injury reveals cognitive impairments, mainly attentional, that resolved within 22 weeks. VEPs and spectral analyses confirm the presence of cortical impairments up to 1 year post-injury, especially affecting vigilance and attention, which were reflected in school performance. PMID: 18654931 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (So... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1657533 Fri, 25 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1657533 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1646777&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18645736%26dopt%3DAbstract We report a PDD patient with a decline of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in the posterior cingulate cortex, precunei, and bilateral parietotemporal association cortex, as determined by single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) using the easy Z-scores imaging system (e-ZIS). Upon administration of donepezil, both the rCBF and MMSE score increased. The effectiveness of donepezil may vary based on the rCBF pattern in PDD. PMID: 18645736 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1646777 Mon, 21 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1646777 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1597335&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18609005%26dopt%3DAbstract Conclusion: Detailed neuropsychological testing may be useful in patients presenting with dAVFs in order to identify cognitive impairment, which may be out of proportion to imaging findings. Recognition of dAVF-associated cognitive impairment may lead to more aggressive, timely treatment in patients with otherwise lower-risk lesions. This detailed testing can also provide a baseline in order to document cognitive recovery after fistula repair. PMID: 18609005 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1597335 Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1597335 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1544685&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18569726%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Markowitsch HJ Jurisprudence will profit considerably from methods and applications of the neurosciences. In fact, it is proposed that the neurosciences will provide unique possibilities and advantages in understanding motivations and causes for staying lawful or for becoming unlawful. Neuroscientific models on brain-behavior interactions have profited considerably from the advent of neuroimaging techniques and genetic analyses. Furthermore, advances in interdisciplinary investigations, which combine conventional psychological and sociological explorations with biological examinations, provide refined insights into the question 'What makes us tick?' (Weiskrantz, 1973, British Journal of Psychology, 64, 511-520). The search for such interactions from the time of the nineteenth ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1544685 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:49:00 +0100 1544685 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1544684&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18569727%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Dressing H, Sartorius A, Meyer-Lindenberg A This review outlines recent neurobiological findings in humans relevant for the practice of law and forensic psychiatry. We focus on offenders with antisocial personality disorder and on sex offenders. In addition, the impact of risk polymorphisms in monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A), previously related to violence in interaction with the environment, on brain structure and function and on personality traits in healthy persons are presented. While increasing knowledge of functional and structural alterations provides a better understanding of the neurobiological underpinnings of delinquent behaviour, antisocial and violent behaviour arises from a complex pattern of biological, psychological, social and situational factors, precluding a sta... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1544684 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:49:00 +0100 1544684 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1544683&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18569728%26dopt%3DAbstract We report a case of a delusional patient who had killed two of her children in an attempted 'extended suicide'. She was convinced of a genetic defect that caused autobiographical memory and emotional deficits and made life 'senseless'. Neuropsychological tests revealed dysfunctions in remembering emotional details of personal episodes and theory of mind. Water positron emission tomography (15O) with a paradigm used in a former study by Fink et al. (1996) with healthy controls elicited abnormal activations during autobiographical memory retrieval characterised by a lack of prefrontal and limbic activity. We conclude that these imaging findings reflect neural correlates of the self-reported and objectified autobiographical dysfunctions. Furthermore, they indicate that beliefs or prejudices m... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1544683 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:49:00 +0100 1544683 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1544682&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18569729%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Pontius AA Limbic psychotic trigger reaction (LPTR) includes paroxysmal, out-of-character, motiveless, unplanned felonies (or similarly bizarre social misbehavior), all committed during flat affect, autonomic arousal and a fleeting de novo psychosis. A transient limbic hyperactivation is implicated that impairs prefrontal monitoring (judgment, planning, intent, volition, emotional participation) but preserves memory for the acts. It is hypothesized that LPTR implicates an atavistic regression to a limbic 'paleo-consciousness', exemplified by a 24th patient (parental infanticide), presented herein. He had closed head injury and borderline abnormal posterior brain pathology (EEG/CT), which might have contributed to his unusually numerous visual hallucinations. PMID: 18569729... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1544682 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:49:00 +0100 1544682 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1544681&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18569730%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Reinders AA Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is probably the most disputed of psychiatric diagnoses and of psychological forensic evaluations in the legal arena. The iatrogenic proponents assert that DID phenomena originate from psychotherapeutic treatment while traumagenic proponents state that DID develops after severe and chronic childhood trauma. In addition, DID that is simulated with malingering intentions, but not stimulated by psychotherapeutic treatment, may be called pseudogenic. With DID gaining more interest among the general public it can be expected that the number of pseudogenic cases will grow and the need to distinguish between traumagenic, iatrogenic or pseudogenic DID will increase accordingly. This paper discusses whether brain imaging studies can infor... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1544681 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:49:00 +0100 1544681 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1544680&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18569731%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Kozel FA, Trivedi MH A number of critical issues must be addressed in order to develop and properly apply a functional brain imaging test. Diagnostic tests involve making a judgment for a single person. As a result, functional brain imaging tests must also be evaluated at the individual level. The population examined in determining the evidence for the accuracy of the test and the specific question being tested should be clearly described so that the test can be applied appropriately. The accuracy of the test must also be established in order to know the degree of confidence to accord a result. Incorporating what has been learned with medical diagnostic test development will enable legitimate and significant neuropsychiatric functional brain imaging tests to be developed in th... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1544680 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:49:00 +0100 1544680 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1544679&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18569732%26dopt%3DAbstract This study presents a systematic strategy for testing the cognitive basis of deception models, and a qualitative approach to single-subject truth-verification fMRI tests. PMID: 18569732 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1544679 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:49:00 +0100 1544679 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1544678&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18569733%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Spence SA, Kaylor-Hughes CJ Lying is ubiquitous and has acquired many names. In 'natural experiments', both pathological lying and truthfulness implicate prefrontal cortices. Recently, the advent of functional neuroimaging has allowed investigators to study deception in the non-pathological state. Prefrontal cortices are again implicated, although the regions identified vary across experiments. Forensic application of such technology (to the detection of deceit) requires the solution of tractable technical problems. Whether we 'should' detect deception remains an ethical problem: one for societies to resolve. However, such a procedure would only appear to be ethical when subjects volunteer to participate, as might occur during the investigation of alleged miscarriages of justi... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1544678 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:49:00 +0100 1544678 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1544677&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18569734%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Bles M, Haynes JD Many conventional techniques for revealing concealed information have focused on detecting whether a person is responding truthfully to specific questions, typically using some form of lie detector. However, lie detection has faced a number of criticisms and it is still unclear to what degree conventional lie detectors can be used to reveal concealed knowledge in applied real-world settings. Here, we review the key problems with conventional lie-detection technology and critically discuss the potential of novel techniques that aim to directly read concealed mental states out of patterns of brain activity. PMID: 18569734 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1544677 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:49:00 +0100 1544677 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1544676&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18569735%26dopt%3DAbstract This article aims at identifying neurobiological factors underlying this association. It is concluded that the neurobiological correlates of impulsive aggression act through their effects on the ability to modulate impulsive expression more generally, and that sex-related differences in the neurobiological correlates of impulse control and emotion regulation mediate sex differences in direct aggression. A model is proposed that relates impulse control and its neurobiological correlates to sex differences in direct aggression. PMID: 18569735 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1544676 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:49:00 +0100 1544676 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1544675&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18569736%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Adam J, Baulac M, Hauw JJ, Laplane D, Duyckaerts C A 59-year-old patient presented with compulsive behaviors and lasting apathy after carbon monoxide intoxication. The apathy could be overcome by external stimulation (self-activation deficit). There was severe neuronal loss bilaterally in the anterior part of the pallidum and in the substantia nigra, pars reticulata. This first clinico-pathological case of a self-activation deficit illustrates the dissociation between motor and behavioral symptoms in lesions of the pallido-nigral complex, with the behavioral symptoms being related to lesions of the substantia nigra, pars reticulata and of the anterior part of the pallidum. PMID: 18569736 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1544675 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:49:00 +0100 1544675 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1544674&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18569737%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Hamilton AC, Coslett HB Patients with 'refractory semantic access deficits' demonstrate several unique features that make them important sources of insight into the organization of semantic representations. Here we attempt to replicate several novel findings from single-case studies reported in the literature. Patient UM-103 displays the cardinal features of a 'refractory semantic access deficit' and showed many of the same effects of semantic relatedness reported in the literature. However, when probing concrete and abstract words, this patient revealed very different patterns of performance compared to two previously reported patients. We discuss the implications of our data for models of semantic organization of abstract and concrete words. PMID: 18569737 [PubMed - in p... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1544674 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:49:00 +0100 1544674 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1544673&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18569738%26dopt%3DAbstract We describe a 56-year-old woman with Alzheimer's disease with left hemispatial neglect and left homonymous hemianopsia with macular sparing considered a manifestation of Alzheimer's disease resulting from severe degenerative change in the right primary visual cortex. Hemispatial neglect normally results from brain damage to the right cerebral hemisphere. Homonymous hemianopsia is commonly the result of localized brain disease, especially cerebral infarction or hemorrhage. To our knowledge, a patient with Alzheimer's disease showing hemispatial neglect and homonymous hemianopsia with macular sparing has not previously been reported. PMID: 18569738 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1544673 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:49:00 +0100 1544673 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1544672&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18569739%26dopt%3DAbstract We report a case of an individual with vitamin B12 deficiency presenting with personality, emotional and behavioral changes. Neuropsychological tests revealed disproportionate disturbance of executive functions. Single photon emission tomography (Tc99m HMPAO) showed right fronto-temporo-parietal hypoperfusion. After vitamin B12 injections, the patient's executive and behavioral dysfunction disappeared and performance on neuropsychological tests was once again in the normal range. PMID: 18569739 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1544672 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:49:00 +0100 1544672 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1544671&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18569740%26dopt%3DAbstract We describe 1-year follow-up study of a child, aged 9.6 years, with CT1 defect, on oral supplementation with L-arginine, a precursor of creatine synthesis. Under supplementation, he showed a noticeable improvement of neurological, language and behavioral status and an increase of brain creatine and phosphocreatine documented with magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The results suggest that children with CT1 disorder show some residual adaptive plasticity for certain functions even at quite an advanced age. Further trials with higher L-arginine dosages and more protracted treatment are encouraged. PMID: 18569740 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1544671 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:49:00 +0100 1544671 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1544670&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18569741%26dopt%3DAbstract We report a case with an isolated progressive speech articulation deficit and brain involvement restricted to the left superior frontal gyrus. This case suggests that slowly progressive AOS may be a clinical disorder distinct from primary progressive aphasia, and that it can occur without language disorders or bucco-facial apraxia. Our findings highlight the importance of the left hemisphere in speech articulatory deficits and suggest that the left superior frontal gyrus plays a crucial role in specific articulatory processes. PMID: 18569741 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1544670 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:49:00 +0100 1544670 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1544669&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18569742%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Osiurak F, Aubin G, Allain P, Jarry C, Richard I, Le Gall D It has been suggested that both conceptual knowledge and the ability to infer function from structure can support object use. By contrast, we propose that object use requires solely the ability to reason about technical ends. Technical ends (e.g., cutting) are not purposes (e.g., eating), but the technical way to achieve them. This perspective suggests that there is no mutual relationship between technical ends and purposes since the same purpose (e.g., writing) can be achieved thanks to distinct technical ends (graving, tracing), and, inversely, the same technical end (e.g., tracing) can achieve different purposes (making up, writing). Thus, conceptual knowledge might determine which technical end is usually associat... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1544669 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:49:00 +0100 1544669 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1544668&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18569743%26dopt%3DAbstract We report the case of OTM who presented with dynamic aphasia following a stroke that occurred in the left basal ganglia. He showed drastically reduced spontaneous speech in the context of well preserved naming, repetition and comprehension skills. OTM was particularly impaired in generating words, sentences and phrases when cued by a stimulus allowing many response options. By contrast, when a single response was strongly suggested by a stimulus, he could generate verbal responses adequately. OTM's non-verbal response generation abilities varied across tasks. He performed in the normal range in a motor movement generation test and he produced as many figures as controls when tested on a figural fluency task. He showed, however, many perseverations on this test. Moreover in a random number ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1544668 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:49:00 +0100 1544668 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1544667&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18569744%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Seubert J, Humphreys GW, Muller HJ, Gramann K Spatial information processing with respect to an egocentric reference frame has been shown to recruit a fronto-parietal network along the dorsal stream. The present study investigates how brain lesions in the relevant areas affect the ability to navigate through computer-simulated tunnels shown from a first person perspective. Our results suggest that parietal, but not frontal, patients are impaired in this task. They confused the direction of tunnel turns more frequently and made less accurate judgments about the location of the end position. Errors in map drawing suggest that the impairment may be linked to deficits in updating cognitive heading in the absence of corresponding perceptual information from the virtual environment.... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1544667 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:49:00 +0100 1544667 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203127&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17852756%26dopt%3DAbstract CONCLUSION: We propose that these cases illustrate that while there may be a slow evolution in bvFTD, it is possible that some cases who meet current criteria may not have a neurodegenerative syndrome. If correct, this hypothesis has important implications for the current diagnostic criteria. A potential hierarchy for diagnostic certainty in bvFTD is suggested. PMID: 17852756 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203127 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203127 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203126&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17886000%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Beversdorf DQ, Sharma UK, Phillips NN, Notestine MA, Slivka AP, Friedman NM, Schneider SL, Nagaraja HN, Hillier A Previous research suggests that the noradrenergic system modulates flexibility of access to the lexical-semantic network, with propranolol benefiting normal subjects in lexical-semantic problem solving tasks. Patients with Broca's aphasia with anomia have impaired ability to access appropriate verbal output for a given visual stimulus in a naming task. Therefore, we tested naming in a pilot study of chronic Broca's aphasia patients with anomia after propranolol and after placebo in a double-blinded crossover manner. Naming was better after propranolol than after placebo, suggesting a potential benefit from propranolol in chronic Broca's aphasia with anomia. Larger ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203126 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203126 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203125&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17886001%26dopt%3DAbstract We report an investigation of phonological priming of a picture naming task in an anomic aphasic, PB, using caffeine as a pharmacological manipulation. We compare her results to controls on a similar paradigm testing the hypothesis that qualitative results in controls would carry over to the damaged brain demonstrating a "graceful degradation" in performance. When primed with words phonologically related to a target, PB made more word retrieval failures on caffeine as a function of related primes (controls make fewer) and fewer word retrieval failures as a function of unrelated primes (controls make more). The results thus supported the rejection of the hypothesis and we conclude that the use of the pharmacological manipulation provides a sensitive test for the graceful degradation of func... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203125 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203125 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203124&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17886002%26dopt%3DAbstract This study evaluated the effects of moderate to severe brain injury on cognitive task performance and cortical activation. Five participants completed a Stroop task while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at two time points post- injury. Results revealed activation within regions typically activated during a Stroop task (the region of interest: ROI), though variability among participants was evident. Regions outside of the ROI were activated among all participants, to a greater degree than was present within the ROIs. This finding may indicate that recruitment of outside regions was necessary for successful task completion at both time points, and may suggest functional plasticity in cognitive task completion. PMID: 17886002 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Neurocas... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203124 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203124 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203123&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17924281%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Kitadono K, Humphreys GW The 'rubber hand' illusion was induced in a patient showing unilateral visual neglect, with the patient experiencing a shift in the felt position of his right hand towards a contralesional rubber hand. Immediately following the illusion, there were short- lasting reductions in neglect for bisecting about the midline and for cancelling multiple stimuli. No effects were found on the ability to encode briefly presented visual stimuli on the contralesional side. The data demonstrate that the illusion can temporarily alter some aspects of neglect, without altering basic visual encoding. The underlying mechanisms, and the relations to other rehabilitation procedures, are discussed. PMID: 17924281 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203123 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203123 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203122&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17943614%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Leonard M, Godfrey A, Silberhorn M, Conroy M, Donnelly S, Meagher D, Olaighin G The usefulness of motor subtypes of delirium is unclear due to inconsistency in subtyping methods and a lack of validation with objective measures of motor activity levels. We studied patients with hyperactive, hypoactive, and mixed presentations of delirium were studied with 24-h accelerometer-based monitoring. The procedures were well tolerated and motor presentations were readily distinguished using the accelerometer-based measurements. The system was capable of identifying static versus dynamic activity and the frequency of changes in posture. Electronic motion analysis concurs with observed gross movement and can distinguish motorically defined subtypes according to quantitative and qualitativ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203122 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203122 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203121&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17999343%26dopt%3DAbstract This study has been conducted in order to investigate the extent to which some characteristics of dyscalculia may be common to dyslexia. Seven multiple single-cases were studied: two children with dyslexia only, two with dyscalculia only, and three more children with comorbidity of dyslexia and dyscalculia. Each participant was assessed with a standardized comprehensive battery of arithmetical, reading, and cognitive tests. We observed that a clinical impairment in mental and written calculations, arithmetical facts retrieval, number comparison, number alignment, and identification of arithmetical signs may appear with a normal reading capacity and independently of a short-term verbal memory deficit. These findings add convergent support to the evidence mainly obtained from group compariso... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203121 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203121 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203120&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17999344%26dopt%3DAbstract We report a case of episodic amnesia in which the anatomical basis of injury was investigated by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Two months after an adult male suffered severe closed head injury, conventional magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) revealed only a right superior frontal lesion. However, 14 years later, DTI revealed structural anomalies not visible on CMRI involving limbic white matter tracts, notably the fornix, which could explain the amnesia. PMID: 17999344 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203120 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203120 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203119&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17999345%26dopt%3DAbstract We examined the role of the fronto-parietal cortex in top-down modulation of perceptual grouping by proximity, collinearity, and similarity, by recording event related brain potentials from two patients with fronto-parietal lesions and eight controls. We found that grouping by proximity and collinearity in the controls was indexed by short-latency activities over the medial occipital cortex and long-latency activities over the occipito-parietal areas. For the patients, however, both the short- and long-latency activities were eliminated or weakened. The results suggest that the fronto-parietal network is involved in facilitation of both the early and late grouping processes in the human brain. PMID: 17999345 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203119 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203119 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203118&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17999346%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: PMID: 17999346 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203118 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203118 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203138&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17786771%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Negash S, Boeve BF, Geda YE, Smith GE, Knopman DS, Ivnik RJ, Howard DV, Howard JH, Petersen RC The present study investigated two forms of implicit learning in patients with corticobasal syndrome (CBS): contextual cueing and sequence learning. The former primarily implicates the medial temporal lobe system, and the latter, fronto-striatal-cerebellar circuits. Results revealed relatively preserved contextual cueing in patients with CBS. By contrast, sequence learning showed impairments, which seemed to reflect inability to execute correct responses in the presence of intact learning of the sequence. These findings provide the first characterization of implicit learning systems in CBS, and show that the two systems are differentially affected in patients with CBS. PMID: 1778... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203138 Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203138 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203137&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17786772%26dopt%3DAbstract We report a patient (FBI) in whom a category specific deep dyslexia was demonstrated. The patient was globally dysphasic with dyslexia and dysgraphia, and his dyslexic syndrome was characterised by a dramatic loss of phonological processing together with a partial loss of whole word reading. In the context of an overall poor level of reading accuracy, concrete words were read better than abstract words. Within this concrete word vocabulary, living items were read more accurately that non-living items. Perhaps most strikingly, he also had a remarkably preserved written proper noun vocabulary. A series of experiments explored the relationship between FBI's comprehension of the spoken and written word, and in each a significant category-by-modality interaction was demonstrated. His comprehens... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203137 Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203137 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203136&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17786773%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Ishizuka K, Hillier A, Beversdorf DQ Cognitive flexibility is affected by stress. The cold pressor test is a known adrenergic stressor that impairs memory, but the effect on cognitive flexibility is unknown. Sixteen subjects were given cognitive flexibility and memory tasks with and without one hand immersed in cold water. Memory was impaired in the cold pressor condition but there was no effect on cognitive flexibility. The lack of a cold pressor effect on cognitive flexibility may result from an isolated effect on the peripheral noradrenergic system, whereas indirect effects due to nociception on memory may occur. PMID: 17786773 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203136 Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203136 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203135&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17786774%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Crucian GP, Heilman K, Junco E, Maraist M, Owens WE, Foote KD, Okun MS Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) have dysfunction in frontal-basal ganglia networks. Many of these patients have difficulties with mental processing speed, response inhibition, and shifting between different conceptual sets, suggesting frontal-executive dysfunction. Since frontal lobe dysfunction is associated with disengagement deficits such as perseveration and echopraxia we wanted to learn if patients with PD demonstrated defective response inhibition. Using a brief clinical test called the crossed response inhibition (CRI) task we assessed patients with PD (n = 17), and a group of age matched controls (n = 30). In addition to the CRI, subjects were asked to perform two tests of frontal lobe functi... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203135 Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203135 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203134&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17786775%26dopt%3DAbstract We describe a patient who developed a facial apraxia including an impaired ability to voluntarily generate facial expressions with relative sparing of spontaneous emotional faces. Her ability to interpret the facial expressions of others was also severely impaired. Despite these deficits, the patient had normal affect and normal speech, including expressive and receptive emotional prosody. As patients with corticobasal degeneration are known to manifest both orofacial apraxia and visuospatial dysfunction this patient's expressive and receptive deficits may be independent manifestations of the same underlying disease process. Alternatively, these functions may share a common neuroanatomic substrate that degenerates with CBD. PMID: 17786775 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] (Source: Neuroca... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203134 Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203134 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203133&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17786776%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Breier JI, Maher LM, Schmadeke S, Hasan KM, Papanicolaou AC A patient with chronic aphasia underwent functional imaging during a language comprehension task using magnetoencephalography (MEG) before and after constraint induced language therapy (CILT). In the pre- and immediate post-treatment (TX) scans MEG activity sources were observed within right hemisphere only, and were located in areas homotopic to left hemisphere language areas. There was a significant increase in activation in these areas between the two sessions. This change was not observed in an age-matched patient with chronic aphasia who underwent sequential language testing and MEG scanning across a similar time period without being administered therapy. In the 3-month post-TX scan bilateral activation was obser... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203133 Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203133 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203132&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17786777%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Tamura I, Kitagawa M, Otsuki M, Kikuchi S, Tashiro K, Dubois B A 72-year-old man with pure topographical disorientation following a focal hemorrhage in the right forceps major of splenium was assessed at 2 weeks and 3 months after the onset. Initially, he could identify familiar buildings and landmarks, but noted topographical disorientation, dysfunction in sense of quarters, and in visuo-spatial function. The improvement of topographical disorientation was attained in 3 months, while the inability of the sense of quarters and manipulating visuo-spatial information remained unchanged. These results suggested the heading disorientation was accompanied with impaired sense of quarters, although disabled sense of quarters continued beyond the recovery of heading disorientation. ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203132 Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203132 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203131&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17786778%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Ramachandran VS, McGeoch PD, Williams L, Arcilla G Central post-stroke pain syndrome develops in a minority of patients following a stroke. The most usual causative lesion involves the lateral thalamus. The classic presentation is of severe, unrelenting pain that involves the entire contralateral half of the body. It is largely refractory to current treatments. We found that in two patients with this condition their pain was substantially improved by vestibular caloric stimulation, whereas placebo procedures had no effect. We proposed that this is because vestibular stimulation activates the posterior insula, which in turn inhibits the generation of pain in the anterior cingulate. PMID: 17786778 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203131 Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203131 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203130&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17786779%26dopt%3DAbstract We present the case of a 10-year-old boy with no prior psychiatric history and no prior exposure to glucocorticoid medication who received a single 5-week course of glucocorticoids for an acute asthma flare. Beginning during steroid treatment, and persisting for over 3 years after stopping treatment, he showed a significant decline from his pre-morbid academic performance and estimated IQ, verified by longitudinally administered testing and school records. Neuropsychological tests that are sensitive to glucocorticoid-induced cognitive impairments revealed global cognitive deficits consistent with primary hippocampal and prefrontal cortical dysfunction. The patient has a fraternal twin brother, who had previously achieved academic milestones in parallel with him; the patient began falling b... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203130 Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203130 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203129&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17786780%26dopt%3DAbstract We present a patient with a right anterior cingulate infarct who presented with an alexithymia-like disorder. Event-related potentials revealed an abnormality of emotional face perception in the right cerebral hemisphere. We suggest that the anterior cingulate lesion induced a deficit of emotion processing including emotional face perception probably due to an interference in a critical node of a large-scale network subserving affective control of behavior. PMID: 17786780 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203129 Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203129 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203128&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17786781%26dopt%3DAbstract We report a French-speaking aphasic, who switched paradoxically from his mother tongue (French) to a second language (German) which he had learned at school but barely mastered and hardly ever spoke, and kept using German most of the time. We tried to understand the mechanism responsible for that phenomenon by reviewing the actual hypothesis of multi-language organization. We concluded, in line with previous reports, that our case used his metalinguistic knowledge to compensate for his inability to access his linguistic skills. PMID: 17786781 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203128 Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203128 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203145&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17566938%26dopt%3DAbstract We report a patient with a focal degenerative disorder and very circumscribed neuropsychological deficits, the evolution of which we were able to study over a lengthy period. For years, he presented with only a speech production impediment that clinical observations and experimental studies enabled us to identify as a phonological buffer disorder. Subsequently, he developed agrammatism that appeared to be largely due to his inability to produce pronouns and auxiliary verbs. Remarkably, throughout our studies, even when he was virtually rendered mute, his ability to name objects on demand in writing remained intact. We discuss his case from clinical and theoretical perspectives. PMID: 17566938 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203145 Sun, 01 Apr 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203145 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203144&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17566939%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Hillier A, Beversdorf DQ, Raymer AM, Williamson DJ, Heilman KM Blunted facial expressions and diminished expressions of emotional prosody associated with Parkinson's disease (PD) could be attributed to motor rigidity/akinesia. Although impaired recognition of emotional faces and prosody in PD suggests emotional dysfunction is not entirely motor-efferent, comprehension might depend upon imitation with motor feedback. Thus, to learn if patients with PD have an emotional conceptual defect, we examined their ratings for the emotional connotations of words on a 1-9 scale for valence and arousal. When compared to control participants the valence (positive-negative) and arousal (excited-calm) ratings of the PD patients were blunted, but their ratings of the control expense words (exp... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203144 Sun, 01 Apr 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203144 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203143&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17566940%26dopt%3DAbstract This study documents a case study of a synaesthete, TD, who broadly fits this profile. TD reports that the same colours are elicited from physically different representations of number (digits, dice patterns and finger counting) provided that they share the same numerosity. The authenticity of his synaesthesia is established using Stroop-like priming and interference paradigms. Not only does synaesthetic colour interfere with veridical colour judgements, but also veridical colours can interfere with numerosity judgments. This suggests a close bi-directional coupling between numerosity and colour. Together, these findings constrain theories concerning the neural basis of synaesthesia. PMID: 17566940 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203143 Sun, 01 Apr 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203143 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203142&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17566941%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Metin B, Melda B, Birsen I Lesions limited to the insulate cortex can manifest clinically in various forms due to the extensive connections in the area. In this paper, we present a 66-year-old patient who presented to our out-patient clinic with complaints of diminished pleasure in taste and persistent taste of rotten melon. These symptoms were linked to an infarction involving the left anterior insulate cortex. The role of the insular region on cortical processing of taste sensation is discussed, together with a review of the literature on insular infarctions. PMID: 17566941 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203142 Sun, 01 Apr 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203142 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203141&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17566942%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Hepner IJ, Mohamed A, Fulham MJ, Miller LA According to Consolidation Theory (Squire, 1992, Psychological Review, 99, 195; Squire & Alvarez, 1995, Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 5, 169), the mesial temporal lobes have a time-limited role in the maintenance, storage and retrieval of retrograde declarative memories, such that they are not necessary for recalling remote memories. In contrast, proponents of the Multiple Trace Theory (Fuji, Moscovitch, & Nadel, 2000, Handbook of neuropsychology, 2nd ed., p 223, Amsterdam, New York: Elsevier; Nadel & Moscovitch, 1999, Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 7, 217) posit that the mesial temporal lobe (MTL) is necessary for remembering detailed autobiographical and topographical material from all time periods. A third theory o... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203141 Sun, 01 Apr 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203141 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203140&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17566943%26dopt%3DAbstract In this study we examine the locus of a prospective memory deficit in an individual with multiple sclerosis. Extensive psychometric and neuropsychological testing revealed above average to superior general intelligence, retrospective and autobiographical memory, short-term/working memory and executive functions. In contrast, the individual demonstrated poor prospective memory on a variety of measures incorporating naturalistic, self-report, and laboratory methods. This deficit appeared to arise from a disruption of processes underlying strategic monitoring. These data clearly demonstrate that impaired prospective memory can exist in the presence of an otherwise intact neuropsychological profile. PMID: 17566943 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203140 Sun, 01 Apr 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203140 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1203139&cid=s_36801_25_f&fid=36801&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17566944%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Shinoura N, Suzuki Y, Tsukada M, Katsuki S, Yamada R, Tabei Y, Saito K, Yagi K Function of the inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF), which connects the anterior temporal and occipital lobes, has not been clearly demonstrated in the human brain. A 47-year-old woman with visual memory disturbance as demonstrated by the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised presented with possible brain tumor in the right temporal lobe. Diffusion tensor imaging showed partial disconnection of the right ILF, indicating that function of the ILF is highly involved in visual memory. PMID: 17566944 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1203139 Sun, 01 Apr 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1203139