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. Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:43:28 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5581437&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%3D22229711%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Gil-Ruiz N, Osorio RS, Cruz I, Agüera-Ortiz L, Olazarán J, Sacks H, Alvarez-Linera J, Martínez-Martín P, The Alzheimer Center Of The Queen Sofia Foundation Multidisciplinary Therapy Group Abstract The term 'mirror sign' refers to the inability to recognize the reflection of oneself in a mirror, while the ability to recognize others' faces often remains intact. In this article, we present a case of an 85-year-old woman, with probable Lewy body dementia, who stably exhibited a delusional 'mirror sign' for a period of 9 months. Following a straightforward, ecological, non-pharmacological intervention, her 'mirror sign' delusion was no longer present. PMID: 22229711 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5581437 Tue, 10 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100 5581437 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5581440&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%3D22229550%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Abbate C, Trimarchi PD, Salvi GP, Quarenghi AM, Vergani C, Luzzatti C Abstract This paper reports the case of a patient, M.P., who developed delusion of inanimate doubles, without Capgras syndrome, after traumatic brain injury. His delusional symptoms were studied longitudinally and the cognitive impairments associated with delusion were investigated. Data suggest that M.P. did 'perceive' the actual differences between doubles and originals rather than 'confabulate' them. The cognitive profile, characterized by retrograde episodic amnesia, but neither object processing impairment nor confabulations, supports this hypothesis. The study examines the nature of object misidentification based on Ellis' and Staton's account and proposes a new account based on concurrent unbiased... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5581440 Mon, 09 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100 5581440 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5581439&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%3D22229646%26dopt%3DAbstract We present structural imaging, diffusion tensor imaging, and language data on a patient with a large left-sided stroke and severely damaged left AF who showed intact word repetition and relatively intact sentence repetition performance. Specifically, his sentence repetition is more fluent and grammatical, with less hesitation than spontaneous speech, and with rare omissions only during the longest sentences. These results challenge classical theories that maintain the left AF is the dominant language processing pathway or mechanism for repetition. PMID: 22229646 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5581439 Mon, 09 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100 5581439 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5581438&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%3D22229671%26dopt%3DAbstract This article reports the striking quantitative electroencephalography, sLORETA results, and experimental elicitation of similar subjective experiences in a middle-aged woman who has been distressed by these classic phenomena that began after a head injury. She exhibited a chronic electrical anomaly over the right temporoinsular region. The rotation of a small pinwheel near her while she 'concentrated' upon it was associated with increased coherence between the left and right temporal lobes and concurrent activation of the left prefrontal region. The occurrence of the unusual phenomena and marked 'sadness' was associated with increased geomagnetic activity; she reported a similar mood when these variations were simulated experimentally. Our quantitative measurements suggest people displayin... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5581438 Mon, 09 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100 5581438 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5581442&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%3D22224448%26dopt%3DAbstract In this study, we describe the case of a 42-year-old woman (LT) affected by juvenile PD, treated with both l-DOPA and dopamine agonists, who showed a sudden onset of pathological gambling (PG), as the only neuropsychiatric symptom. We assessed LT with a full neuropsychological battery and the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), in order to describe her specific failure in decision making. LT's performance on the IGT is compared with that of 15 non-demented PD patients under therapy with dopamine agonists and no behavioral dysregulations and with that of 16 age- and education-matched healthy subjects. Results showed fully preserved memory, executive functions, and reasoning abilities for LT, but a remarkable and stable impairment in the IGT. Performance of LT on the IGT is significantly lower than th... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5581442 Fri, 06 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100 5581442 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5581441&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%3D22224482%26dopt%3DAbstract We reported a case of an elderly female patient affected by musical hallucinations (MHs) as the unique symptom of a right temporal ischemic stroke. A functional magnetic resonance imaging examination was performed in the patient and in five age- and sex-matched normal controls (NC) to detect the complex neural substrate subserving MHs in such a context. Although an activation pattern involving the primary auditory cortex and the temporal associative areas bilaterally was found in the patient and NC, a significant increased activation mostly located in right temporal cortex (in the ischemic area), was observed in the patient. Further functional neuroimaging studies should be performed to detect the complex neural pathways underlying MHs and to find out differences between these hallucinatio... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5581441 Fri, 06 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100 5581441 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5539931&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%3D22191690%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Arciero S, Kempf C, Bernard F, Gosselin N Abstract Central pontine and extrapontine myelinolysis (CPEM) is a rare neurological condition usually due to rapid correction of hyponatremia. CPEM is mainly characterized by motor deficits (typically quadraparesis or extrapyramidal features) but neurobehavioral symptoms were also reported in the literature. However, very few studies on the neuropsychological and functional performance in daily activities have been performed in this population. In this case study, a 55-year-old woman had neuropsychology and functional evaluations prior and after the first manifestations of CPEM. The patient presented motor impairments characterized by parkinsonism symptoms and decreased dexterity. Several neurobehavioral deficits were observed inc... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5539931 Thu, 22 Dec 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5539931 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5539932&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%3D22181323%26dopt%3DAbstract Conclusions: While most autopsy-confirmed PSP cases present with one of the five well-described syndromes, there are cases that may present as bvFTD. In these, at least one cardinal symptom or sign of PSP later emerges, associated with smaller midbrain volume and increased pons/midbrain ratio. Thus underlying PSP pathology should be considered in these cases. PMID: 22181323 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5539932 Tue, 20 Dec 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5539932 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5518379&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%3D22150407%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Woon FL, Allen MD, Miller CH, Hedges DW Abstract Clinical use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is limited by a relative absence of fMRI task development, standardization, and normative performance databases. We investigated the fMRI-based verbal fluency test (f-VFT) by quantitatively evaluating brain activation patterns in OCD participants (8 females and 4 males) compared with a normative database (16 females and 16 males). At the group level, OCD participants and references had highly similar activation in left-hemisphere language regions, including the precentral/premotor cortex, thalamus, basal ganglia, and inferior frontal gyrus/frontal operculum. At the interindividual level, however, the OCD group had highly varia... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5518379 Mon, 12 Dec 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5518379 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5518380&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%3D22150361%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Chow TW, Links KA, Masterman DL, Mendez MF, Vinters HV Abstract Insular degeneration has been linked to symptoms of frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Presented in this case is a patient exhibiting semantic variant primary progressive aphasia, behavioral disturbance. Upon autopsy, he was found to have severe insular atrophy. In addition, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors were ineffective in reducing symptoms of obsessive-compulsive behaviors or emotional blunting. This case suggests that Seeley et al.'s (2007 , Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders, 21, S50) hypothesis that von Economo neurons and fork cell-rich brain regions, particularly in the insula, are targeted in additional subtypes of FTD beyond the behavioral variant. PMID: 22150361 [PubMed - as suppl... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5518380 Thu, 08 Dec 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5518380 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5518381&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%3D22145931%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Losoi H, Kettunen JE, Laihosalo M, Ruuskanen EI, Dastidar P, Koivisto AM, Jehkonen M Abstract The purpose of this study was to assess the predictors of functional outcome after right hemisphere stroke at 6-month follow up in patients with or without thrombolytic treatment. Thrombolysis did not predict functional outcome in instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). Lower acute phase basic activities of daily living (ADL) measured by the Barthel Index was a statistically significant predictor of IADL when adjusted for age and education (p = .015) and had borderline significance (p = .076) as a predictor of functional outcome when adjusted for severity of stroke at admission. When stroke severity was taken into account also higher age became a statistically significant ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5518381 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5518381 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5518383&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%3D22136591%26dopt%3DAbstract This report describes a 73-year-old woman with a right inferior parietal lesion who on 'where' tasks (line bisection and midline pointing) demonstrated ipsilesional neglect, but on 'what' tests (gap vs. no-gap detection cancellation and clothing tape removal) demonstrated contralesional neglect. This 'what' and 'where' directional dissociation provides evidence for independent 'what' and 'where' attentional networks; however, the reason this parietal lesion causes this contralesional vs. ipsilesional spatial attentional 'what' and 'where' dichotomy remains to be determined. PMID: 22136591 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5518383 Mon, 05 Dec 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5518383 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5518382&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%3D22136615%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Habermeyer B, Händel N, Lemoine P, Klarhöfer M, Seifritz E, Dittmann V, Graf M Abstract Pedophilia is characterized by a persistent sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Treatment with anti-androgen agents, such as luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH) agonists, reduces testosterone levels and thereby sexual drive and arousal. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to compare visual erotic stimulation pre- and on-treatment with the LH-RH agonist leuprolide acetate in the case of homosexual pedophilia. The pre-treatment contrasts of the erotic pictures against the respective neutral pictures showed an activation of the right amygdala and adjacent parahippocampal gyrus that decreased significantly under treatment with leuprolide acetate. Our sin... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5518382 Mon, 05 Dec 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5518382 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5518384&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%3D22136569%26dopt%3DAbstract We describe the case of a patient with late onset fronto-temporal dementia (FTD), who presented with typical personality changes, but also perseverative and confabulatory behaviors while performing the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test. We hypothesize that the progressive atrophy of orbitobasal, medial, and dorsolateral frontal cortices may give rise to both confabulations and perseverations in the non-verbal domain. In agreement with previous studies, reporting atypical profiles, this case report underlines the clinical heterogeneity of FTD. Authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. PMID: 22136569 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5518384 Fri, 02 Dec 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5518384 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5447949&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%3D22111962%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Breier JI, Juranek J, Papanicolaou AC Abstract A patient with chronic aphasia secondary to unilateral stroke in the left hemisphere underwent language testing, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and functional imaging using magnetoencephalography (MEG) at four time points: 3 weeks prior to, immediately prior to, immediately after, and 3 months after Constraint Induced Language Therapy (CILT). Performance on language tests involving visual naming and repetition of spoken sentences improved between the immediately prior to and immediately after CILT testing sessions, but not between the pre-CILT sessions. MEG activation in putative pre-morbid language areas of the left hemisphere and homotopic areas of the right hemisphere increased immediately after therapy, as did integrity w... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5447949 Sat, 26 Nov 2011 14:55:11 +0100 5447949 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5447948&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%3D22111963%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: PMID: 22111963 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5447948 Sat, 26 Nov 2011 14:55:00 +0100 5447948 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5447947&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%3D22111964%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: PMID: 22111964 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5447947 Sat, 26 Nov 2011 14:54:49 +0100 5447947 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5447946&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%3D22115465%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Ramachandran VS, Miller L, Livingstone MS, Brang D Abstract The claim that some individuals see colored halos or auras around faces has long been part of popular folklore. Here we report on a 23-year-old man (subject TK) diagnosed with Asperger's disorder, who began to consistently experience colors around individuals at the age of 10. TK's colors are based on the individual's identity and emotional connotation. We interpret these experiences as a form of synesthesia, and confirm their authenticity through a target detection paradigm. Additionally, we investigate TK's claim that emotions evoke highly specific colors, allowing him, despite his Asperger's, to introspect on emotions and recognize them in others. PMID: 22115465 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5447946 Fri, 25 Nov 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5447946 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5447945&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%3D22117108%26dopt%3DAbstract We report the case of a 20-year-old man with a germinoma around the bilateral ventriculus lateralis who exhibited ambient echolalia. Clinical features included instinctive grasp reaction and compulsive manipulation of tools in his right hand. Speech or mental deterioration has been cited as a cause of ambient echolalia, but neither dementia nor aphasia was present. We propose that ambient echolalia in our case could be interpreted as a disinhibition of pre-existing essentially intact motor subroutines due to damage of the medial frontal lobe. PMID: 22117108 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5447945 Fri, 25 Nov 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5447945 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5447944&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%3D22117176%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Valkonen-Korhonen M, Tarkka IM, Pääkkönen A, Purhonen M Abstract The auditory processing is diversely impaired in patients with the first-episode psychosis. During acute phase we previously reported reduced amplitudes in attention-dependent auditory evoked electrical brain potentials but not in those of early automatic components. Here seven first-episode patients at the disease onset and 5 years later were studied and compared to control subjects. At follow-up, also the unattended auditory stimuli elicited reduced amplitudes both in primary sensory component (N100, p = .043) and in automatic deviance detection (N200, p = .013) as compared to acute phase. Patients' psychopathology had improved, however they still showed alterations in components detecting automatic stim... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5447944 Fri, 25 Nov 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5447944 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5447950&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%3D22111936%26dopt%3DAbstract We present the case of a 45-year-old hypertensive male who, 9 months after a hemorrhagic stroke involving the left lateral posterior nucleus of the thalamus developed persistent sound-tactile, sound-color, and grapheme-gustatory synesthesias. Moreover, the patient noted that even thinking about a sensory stimulus could trigger the experience of another sensory modality, a conceptual type of synesthesia. PMID: 22111936 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5447950 Thu, 24 Nov 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5447950 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5428849&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%3D22082460%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Narayanan A, White CA, Saklayen SS, Abduljalil A, Schmalbrock P, Pepper TH, Lander BN, Beversdorf DQ Abstract Recent research revealed decreased access to semantic and associative networks in acute cocaine withdrawal. In autism, such behavioral outcomes are associated with decreased functional connectivity using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Therefore, we wished to determine whether connectivity is also decreased in acute cocaine withdrawal. Eight subjects in acute cocaine withdrawal were compared to controls for connectivity in language areas while performing a task involving categorization of words according to semantic and phonological relatedness. Acute withdrawal subjects had significantly less overall connectivity during semantic relatedness, and a trend tow... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5428849 Mon, 14 Nov 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5428849 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5428852&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%3D22059937%26dopt%3DAbstract We report the case of a 20-year-old man with pervasive developmental disorder presenting with SIB non-responsive to antipsychotic medication. Positron emission tomography showed a right temporoparietal hypometabolic focal lesion suggestive of an epileptic focus. Two weeks after initiation of levetiracetam (Keppra®), SIB disappeared, without recurrence 24 months later. Levetiracetam (Keppra®) may be beneficial for such patients. We thank the nurse's team for the careful clinical observation, the patient's family for their availability, and the Fondation Handicap Mental et Societé for the encouragement provided. We also wish to thank Dr. G. Foletti and Dr. M. Seeck for their helpful advice, Mrs. Genevieve Nicoud for her support in bibliography, and Federico Carminati for technical assis... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5428852 Mon, 07 Nov 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5428852 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5428851&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%3D22060011%26dopt%3DAbstract We present a case of acquired auditory-visual synesthesia and its neurophysiological investigation in a healthy 42-year-old woman. She started experiencing persistent positive and intermittent negative visual phenomena at age 37 followed by auditory-visual synesthesia. Her neurophysiological investigation included video-EEG, fMRI, and MEG. Auditory stimuli (700 Hz, 50 ms duration, 0.5 s ISI) were presented binaurally at 60 db above the hearing threshold in a dark room. The patient had bilateral symmetrical auditory-evoked neuromagnetic responses followed by an occipital-evoked field 16.3 ms later. The activation of occipital cortex following auditory stimuli may represent recruitment of existing cross-modal sensory pathways. Supported in part by an Unrestricted Grant from Research to Prev... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5428851 Mon, 07 Nov 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5428851 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5428850&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%3D22060063%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Lee SE, Seeley WW, Poorzand P, Rademakers R, Karydas A, Stanley CM, Miller BL, Rankin KP Abstract In 2009, inclusions containing the fused in sarcoma (FUS) protein were identified as a third major molecular class of pathology underlying the behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) syndrome. Due to the low prevalence of FUS pathology, few clinical descriptions have been published and none provides information about specific social-emotional deficits despite evidence for severe behavioral manifestations in this disorder. We evaluated a patient with bvFTD due to FUS pathology using a comprehensive battery of cognitive and social- emotional tests. A structural MRI scan and genetic tests for tau, progranulin, and FUS mutations were also performed. The patient showed p... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5428850 Mon, 07 Nov 2011 05:00:00 +0100 5428850 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5383856&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%3D22044211%26dopt%3DAbstract We report a pilot investigation into the utility of screening tools in Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). The Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination-Revised (ACE-R), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and the novel Computer-Administered Neuropsychological Screen for Mild Cognitive Impairment (CANS-MCI) were administered to 20 elderly controls and 15 MCI cases. Non-parametric Mann-Whitney U-tests showed significant differences between groups (p < .0001) on the CANS-MCI and MoCA. The ACE-R and MoCA total scores showed high sensitivity (90%) to MCI. Area under the curve was consistently significant in discriminating controls and MCI for memory scores across all screening instruments. A useful profile of quantitative and qualitative information pertaining to cognitive functioning in MCI ca... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5383856 Wed, 02 Nov 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5383856 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5363954&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%3D22026812%26dopt%3DAbstract This report describes a 61-year-old man who volunteered as a healthy control participant in a longitudinal research study and was followed up for 5 years. During that time he showed a gradual decline in posterior cortical functions including visuoperceptual, visuospatial, and literacy impairments in the context of intact verbal episodic memory. Structural image analysis revealed atrophy which was initially most marked in inferior temporal and posterior parietal cortices before spreading to occipital cortices and subsequently to more anterior regions. Based on the clinical, neuropsychological and neuroimaging features, a diagnosis of PCA was made. The present case represents a unique opportunity to study and visualize the evolution of PCA from the very earliest symptomatic stages. PMID:... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5363954 Tue, 25 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5363954 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5363953&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%3D22026916%26dopt%3DAbstract We examined this claim and the effects of imagined touch by the unimpaired arm. Assessments were made using three-dimensional tracking of reaching trajectories towards targets in conditions of light and darkness. Both actual and imagined touching significantly reduced movement error and jerk, specifically for targets located in regions that both hands would be able to reach. PMID: 22026916 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5363953 Tue, 25 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5363953 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5349584&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%3D22023051%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Park HR, Badzakova-Trajkov G, Waldie KE Abstract The aim of this study was to identify the neural substrates of an adult English-German bilingual with dyslexia (in both languages) during lexical decision-making using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). A lexical decision task with five conditions in a block design was employed (nonverbal shape judgment, lettercase judgment, regular word judgment, irregular word judgment, and nonword judgment), and the activation was compared to a non-dyslexic control bilingual and a control monolingual participant. Both of the control participants matched the dyslexic bilingual BK on age, sex, IQ, handedness, and education level. Results indicated that the bilingual adult with dyslexia was strongly right lateralized for stimuli t... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5349584 Tue, 25 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5349584 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5349585&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%3D22013983%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Woods AJ, Mennemeier M, Garcia-Rill E, Huitt T, Chelette KC, McCullough G, Munn T, Brown G, Kiser TS Abstract The relationship between arousal, perception, and visual neglect was examined in this case study. Cold pressor stimulation (CPS: immersing the foot in iced water) was used to manipulate arousal and to determine its effects on contralesional neglect, perception of stimulus intensity (magnitude estimation), reaction time, and an electrophysiological correlate of ascending reticular activating system activity (i.e., the P50 potential). Measures that normalized from baseline following CPS included contralesional neglect on a clock drawing test, perception of stimulus magnitude, and P50 amplitude. The P50 amplitude returned to its abnormally low baseline level 20 min af... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5349585 Fri, 21 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5349585 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5334263&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%3D22011126%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Assefa D, Haque FN, Wong AH Abstract The amygdalae are an important part of fear and anxiety circuits in the mammalian brain, involved in the encoding and storage of fear memories. In this case report we discuss a 26-year-old male patient with a temporal lobe meningioma that presented with unilateral abducens palsy, deep-seated headaches, and persistent psychiatric symptoms including depression and anticipatory anxiety. The patient's psychiatric symptoms and clinical diagnosis provided the impetus for the eventual diagnostic imaging and discovery of the intracranial lesion. PMID: 22011126 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5334263 Thu, 20 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5334263 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5334262&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%3D22011167%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Balani AB, Soto D, Humphreys GW Abstract A single case study of a patient (FK) with utilization disorder following bilateral damage to medial frontal and anterior temporal cortices is reported. FK had to localize a search target following presentation of an earlier verbal or visual cue. Search was strongly affected by semantic/visual associations between the cue and search items. Although FK was unable to name the hue of an incongruent Stroop word, his attention was drawn to a color in the display matching the hue of the cue word. FK's ability to inhibit a response activated by the cueing of attention was impaired. There is dissociation between top-down attention cueing and response inhibition. PMID: 22011167 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5334262 Thu, 20 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5334262 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5334261&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%3D22011212%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Katz WF, Garst DM, Briggs RW, Cheshkov S, Ringe W, Gopinath KS, Goyal A, Allen G Abstract Foreign accent syndrome (FAS) is a rare disorder characterized by the emergence of a perceived foreign accent following brain damage. Despite decades of study, little is known about the neural substrates involved in this disorder. In this case study, MRI images of the brain were obtained during a speech task for an American English-speaking monolingual female who presented with FAS of unknown etiology and was thought to sound 'Swedish' or 'Eastern European'. On the basis of MR structural imaging, the patient was noted to have frontal lobe atrophy. An fMRI picture-naming task designed to broadly engage the speech motor network revealed predominantly left-hemisphere involvement, includi... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5334261 Thu, 20 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5334261 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5334264&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%3D22007842%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Boot BP, Partridge B, Hall W Abstract In this paper we question the guidance offered to neurologists by the Ethics, Law and Humanities Committee of the American Academy of Neurology ( Larriviere, Williams, Rizzo & Bonnie, 2009 ) on how to respond to requests for "neuroenhancement": the use of pharmaceuticals to enhance cognitive function in cognitively normal people. The guidance assumes that the benefits of using neuroenhancers will prove to outweigh the risks in the absence of any evidence that this is the case. However, the principle of nonmaleficence dictates that the use of these drugs by healthy people should not be condoned before reliable evidence for their short and long term safety and efficacy is at hand. The proposed ethical framework for neuroenhancement p... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5334264 Tue, 18 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5334264 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5334266&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%3D21985031%26dopt%3DAbstract We present behavioral and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) findings of a 20-year-old female with narcolepsy who completed a standardized fMRI-adapted face memory task both 'off' and 'on' modafinil compared to a normative sample (N = 38). The patient showed poor recognition performance off modafinil (z = -2.03) but intact performance on modafinil (z = 0.78). fMRI results showed atypical activation during memory encoding off modafinil, with frontal lobe hypoactivity, but hippocampal hyperactivity, whereas all brain regions showed more normalized activation on modafinil. Results from this limited study suggest hippocampal and frontal alterations in individuals with narcolepsy. Further, the results suggest the hypothesis that modafinil may affect brain activation in some ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5334266 Mon, 10 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5334266 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5334265&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%3D21985692%26dopt%3DAbstract Conclusions: Overall this unilateral right AC was effective for the treatment of this woman's disorders with minimal adverse side effects. PMID: 21985692 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5334265 Mon, 10 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5334265 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5284592&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%3D21506044%26dopt%3DAbstract We present novel evidence for specific, disruptive effects of multi-step task demands on the production of everyday life tasks in two patients with Action Disorganization Syndrome (ADS). Experiment 1 demonstrated that the patients were impaired at carrying out everyday life tasks but improved when they instructed the examiner to perform the tasks. Experiments 2 and 3 showed that the patients improved in their own performance when the demands were reduced - by eliminating the need to use their own task schema (Experiment 2) and by reducing the need for error monitoring (Experiment 3). Experiment 4 reduced sequential effects in task performance further by having patients perform the same individual actions as before but now out of the task context. The data indicate that ADS patients are vul... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5284592 Sat, 01 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5284592 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5284591&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%3D21714736%26dopt%3DAbstract We report an individual with a massive left-hemisphere lesion, who showed reverse patterns of dissociations between word and number processing in two modalities (auditory comprehension and written production). His performance in auditory comprehension was perfect for words, but severely impaired for numbers. In written production, he performed significantly better at writing numbers (both Arabic numbers and word numbers) than writing words. His visual comprehension fell into normal range for words and numbers while his oral production was at floor for both. This case profile adds further evidence to the functional/neural segregation of word and number processing systems. PMID: 21714736 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5284591 Sat, 01 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5284591 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5284590&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%3D21714738%26dopt%3DAbstract We report a patient who showed selective impairment of emotional experience only in listening to music, that is musical anhednia. A 71-year-old right-handed man developed an infarction in the right parietal lobe. He found himself unable to experience emotion in listening to music, even to which he had listened pleasantly before the illness. In neuropsychological assessments, his intellectual, memory, and constructional abilities were normal. Speech audiometry and recognition of environmental sounds were within normal limits. Neuromusicological assessments revealed no abnormality in the perception of elementary components of music, expression and emotion perception of music. Brain MRI identified the infarct lesion in the right inferior parietal lobule. These findings suggest that emotional ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5284590 Sat, 01 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5284590 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5284589&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%3D21714740%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Rosenbaum RS, Carson N, Abraham N, Bowles B, Kwan D, Köhler S, Svoboda E, Levine B, Richards B Abstract A current debate in the literature is whether all declarative memories and associated memory processes rely on the same neural substrate. Here, we show that H.C., a developmental amnesic person with selective bilateral hippocampal volume loss, has a mild deficit in personal episodic memory, and a more pronounced deficit in public event memory; semantic memory for personal and general knowledge was unimpaired. This was accompanied by a subtle difference in impairment between recollection and familiarity on lab-based tests of recognition memory. Strikingly, H.C.'s recognition did not benefit from a levels-of-processing manipulation. Thus, not all types of declarative memo... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5284589 Sat, 01 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5284589 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5284588&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%3D21967282%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Kennedy P Abstract In many brain areas, modulations in neuronal firing rates are thought to code information. However, in electrophysiological recording experiments, especially recordings in human patients, the type of information that is coded by a neuron's discharge patterns is often not known, or difficult to determine. From our long experience with chronic recordings in humans, we have come to suspect that such unexplained modulations in firing rates are often due to state changes in the subject. We here present two case studies, with extensive data in one subject to illustrate the point that a change in the subject's emotions, such as sudden fear, surprise, or happiness, may trigger substantial changes in firing rates. PMID: 21967282 [PubMed - in process] (Source:... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5284588 Sat, 01 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5284588 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5284587&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%3D21967283%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Paiement P, Champoux F, Lassonde M, Mensour B, Leroux JM, Bacon BA, Lepore F Abstract Injuries at various levels of the auditory system have been shown to lead to functional reorganization of the auditory pathways. In particular, it has recently been shown that such reorganization can occur in callosal agenesis. The pattern of cortical activity following callosotomy is however still unknown, but behavioral results suggest that it could be significantly different from that observed in callosal agenesis. We aimed to confirm this hypothesis by investigating fMRI responses to complex sounds presented binaurally and monaurally in a callosotomized patient. In the binaural condition, the callosotomized subject showed patterns of auditory cortical activation that were similar to t... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5284587 Sat, 01 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5284587 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5284593&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%3D21958419%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Kettunen JE, Laihosalo M, Ollikainen J, Dastidar P, Nurmi L, Koivisto AM, Jehkonen M Abstract Right hemisphere (RH) infarct patients have a tendency to begin visual scanning from the right side of a given stimulus. Our aim was to find out whether RH patients with (T+) or without (T-) thrombolytic treatment and healthy controls differ in their starting points in three cancellation tasks. Our sample comprised of 77 patients and 62 controls. Thirty-four patients received thrombolysis. Rightward orientation bias was more evident in the T- group than in the T+ group. The T+ group showed a robust tendency to start all cancellation tasks more often on the right side than the controls. Regardless of whether they had visual neglect, patients in the T+ group showed still defective... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5284593 Fri, 30 Sep 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5284593 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5268958&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%3D21942937%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Hellwig S, Dykierek P, Hellwig B, Zwernemann S, Meyer PT Abstract A common condition in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is unawareness of deficits. Different concepts try to elucidate the nature of this symptom. An essential question relates to the interaction of organic and psychogenic factors. Here we present a patient who displayed her cognitive deficits as attention-seeking behaviour. There was a history of histrionic personality disorder according to ICD-10 criteria. Unexpectedly, the final diagnosis after extensive diagnostic work-up was AD. The unusual coincidence of AD and a histrionic personality disorder hampered the clinical process of diagnosing dementia. We discuss unawareness as a complex concept incorporating neuroanatomical, psychiatric, and psychosocial aspects. ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5268958 Fri, 23 Sep 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5268958 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5268957&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%3D21942993%26dopt%3DAbstract We report a case of long lasting phantosmia that disappeared under anti-depressive treatment, raising the question to what extent certain forms of qualitative olfactory disorders are an early symptom of depression. PMID: 21942993 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5268957 Fri, 23 Sep 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5268957 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5249858&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%3D21936740%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Cappelletti M, Leff AP, Price CJ Abstract We investigated the neural systems that support number processing in a patient (JL) who had damage to the left ventral occipito-temporal cortex (LvOT). JL had severely impaired written word recognition but he was remarkably accurate in number tasks, albeit slower than normal. This suggests LvOT activation is necessary for efficient but not for accurate number decisions. Here we investigated how JL made accurate number decisions using fMRI; we compared JL's brain activation to that in healthy controls and in two patients with frontal lobe damage who, like JL, made slow but accurate responses in number tasks. For semantic relative to perceptual decisions on numbers, JL did not activate the left occipito-temporal area that was involve... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5249858 Thu, 22 Sep 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5249858 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5249859&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%3D21936640%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Kondo M, Mori T, Makino K, Okazaki T, Hachisuka K Abstract A 54-year-old art teacher, experienced a right putaminal hemorrhage, and thereafter suffered severe left hemiplegia and unilateral spatial neglect, and was transferred to the rehabilitation department of the University Hospital 1 month after the onset. Although the unilateral spatial neglect was improving, the patient was unable to paint the left quarter of a watercolor, but there was no error in line drawing. The occurrence of errors only in a watercolor suggests that the neural process for painting a watercolor is different from that of line drawing. PMID: 21936640 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5249859 Wed, 21 Sep 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5249859 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5235768&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%3D21919560%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Schilbach L, Weiss PH, Kuhn J, Timmermann L, Klosterk Tter J, Huff W Abstract Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is an effective treatment for Parkinson's disease, but can lead to adverse effects including psychiatric disturbance. Little is known about the risk factors and treatment options for such effects. Here, we describe a patient who reproducibly developed stimulation-induced hypomania when using ventrally located electrodes and responded well to pharmacological intervention while leaving the stimulation parameters unchanged to preserve motor benefits. In spite of clinical remission, [(15)O]-positron-emission-tomography (PET) demonstrated activation patterns similar to those reported during mania. This case, therefore, highlights an importa... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5235768 Thu, 15 Sep 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5235768 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5235767&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%3D21919564%26dopt%3DAbstract In this study we describe visuospatial working memory and visual mental imagery of a child with Cerebral Palsy. Beyond a moderate impairment of visuomotor integration skills, cognitive level and memory span, poor performance emerged in figures reconstruction, in memorizing matrix patterns and movements along a path. No such deficits were observed in recalling figures and their positions on a grid and learning groups of words using a visual imagery strategy. This case highlights that impaired action execution impairs performance in imagery tasks as well, but not when alternative strategies (e.g., verbal encoding) can be adopted. Results are discussed considering recent evidence on working memory and visual imagery links, and their role in motor rehabilitation training. PMID: 21919564 [P... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5235767 Thu, 15 Sep 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5235767 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5196609&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%3D21879993%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Cotelli M, Calabria M, Manenti R, Rosini S, Maioli C, Zanetti O, Miniussi C Abstract In patients with cognitive deficits, brain stimulation has been shown to restore cognition ( Miniussi et al., 2008 , Brain Stimulation, 1, 326). The aim of this study was to assess whether repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) could improve memory performance in an individual with amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI). Stimulation of the left parietal cortex increased accuracy in an association memory task, and this improvement was still significant 24 weeks after stimulation began. These findings indicate that rTMS to the left parietal cortex improved memory performance in aMCI. PMID: 21879993 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5196609 Wed, 31 Aug 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5196609 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5196608&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%3D21879994%26dopt%3DAbstract Conclusions: Diagnostic steps that contributed the most to the final diagnosis were the family meeting and the functional neuroimaging evaluation. PMID: 21879994 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5196608 Wed, 31 Aug 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5196608 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5196607&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%3D21879995%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Mariën P, Tops W, Crols R, Jonkers R, De Deyn PP, Verhoeven J Abstract This paper for the first time reports detailed neurolinguistic findings in a patient with Neuro-Sweet syndrome. In this patient the presenting symptoms of central nervous system (CNS) involvement primarily consisted of a selective grammar deficit restricted to spontaneous speech. On MRI a left prefrontal ischemic stroke (superior part BA 6) and two small subcortical left parietal infarctions were found. Neurolinguistic analyses, however, did not reveal a profile consistent with any observations of agrammatism caused by structural damage to the language areas critically involved in grammatical processing. It is hypothesized that selectively distorted grammar might reflect disruption of the frontosubcort... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5196607 Wed, 31 Aug 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5196607 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5196606&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%3D21879996%26dopt%3DAbstract This study supports the existence of primary blast-induced neurotrauma in humans and introduces a neuroimaging technique with potential to discriminate multiple-blast TBI. We would like to thank J.G. for sharing his story with us, Elizabeth Selgrade and Gregory McCarthy for helpful discussions regarding the project, and Christopher Lascola for providing a neuroradiology consult. We would also like to acknowledge the contributions of the Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center workgroup (members include Jean C. Beckham, Patrick S. Calhoun, Rita M. Davison, A. Meade Eggleston, John A. Fairbank, Kimberly T. Green, Angela C. Kirby, Harold Kudler, Jeffrey M. Hoerle, Christine E. Marx, Scott D. Moore, Victoria Payne, Mary C. Pender, Jennifer L. Strauss, Kristy K. Str... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5196606 Wed, 31 Aug 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5196606 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5144078&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%3D21830864%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Canzano L, Piccardi L, Bureca I, Guariglia C Abstract Buchwald (1878 ) used the term 'mirror writing' to indicate writing in the reverse direction to what is normal in a particular language and in which the individual letters are also reversed. Cases of healthy individuals (i.e., Leonardo da Vinci and Lewis Carroll) as well as brain-damaged patients have been described in the literature. Here, we report the case of PM, a 70-year-old right-handed woman who showed right hemiplegia and mirror writing following a stroke in the left lenticular nucleus and internal capsulae. PM underwent a complete neuropsychological evaluation, which included copying, dictation and spontaneous writing in both hemispaces with both hands. She was also tested for topographical disorientation, visu... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5144078 Tue, 09 Aug 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5144078 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5071152&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%3D21787244%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Roser ME, Corballis MC, Jansari A, Fulford J, Benattayallah A, Adams WM We investigated whether abnormalities in the structural organization of the corpus callosum in the presence of curvilinear lipoma are associated with increased facilitation of response time to bilateral stimuli, an effect known as the redundancy gain (RG). A patient (A.J.) with a curvilinear lipoma of the corpus callosum, his genetically-identical twin, and age-matched control participants made speeded responses to luminant stimuli. Structural organization of callosal regions was assessed with diffusion-tensor imaging. A.J. was found to have reduced structural integrity in the splenium of the corpus callosum and produced a large RG suggestive of neural summation. PMID: 21787244 [PubMed - as supplied by... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5071152 Mon, 25 Jul 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5071152 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5071151&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%3D21787245%26dopt%3DAbstract This study raises the question if acute neglect can recover to a degree in which driving may be possible. PMID: 21787245 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5071151 Mon, 25 Jul 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5071151 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5071150&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%3D21787247%26dopt%3DAbstract We report a single-case study, EB, who experiences synaesthetic sensations of color from tactile stimulation. Developmental synaesthesia is typically characterized by the consistency of synaesthetic pairings over time, in that stimuli tend to generate the same synaesthetic responses on different occasions. Here we demonstrate that EB's touch-color associations are significantly more consistent over time compared to a group of non-synaesthete controls, but that this comes in the face of surprisingly high consistency among non-synaesthetes themselves, for certain tactile stimuli. We show, too, that EB's touch-color correspondences are guided by an implicit rule system, and that this system is shared by non-synaesthetes. Both synaesthetes and non-synaesthetes are sensitive to tactile qualitie... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5071150 Mon, 25 Jul 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5071150 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5071155&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%3D21780986%26dopt%3DAbstract Conclusions.rTMS induces changes in Broca's area and this effect can be potentially used to improve language function in tumors located at or close to eloquent cortical areas . PMID: 21780986 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5071155 Sun, 24 Jul 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5071155 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5071154&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%3D21780988%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Nordvik JE, Schanke AK, Walhovd K, Fjell A, Grydeland H, Landrø NI Cognitive impairment is a well-known consequence of acquired brain injuries, including stroke. Computerized cognitive training (CCT) is a rehabilitation approach intended to enhance cognitive functioning. It is unclear whether CCT leads to generalized cognitive improvements in daily life functioning, or if the subjects improve performance only on the exercises involved in the training. The current study explores whether fractional anisotropy (FA), a measure of white matter microstructure, may serve as an indirect biological indicator of enhanced neuropsychological functioning, particularly working memory, following CCT. The findings suggest a possible relationship between changes in FA measures and working mem... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5071154 Sun, 24 Jul 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5071154 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5071153&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%3D21780992%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Preston C, Newport R The existence of independent and dissociable representations of the body within the brain for perception (body image) and action (body schema) is currently under debate. Although demonstrations in which fake limbs are incorporated into the body image but not body schema are commonplace, such findings can be explained due to the strength of the illusion rather than autonomous representations. The current study, however, offers striking evidence in favor of a clear dissociation in a patient with visual neglect, such that different fake limbs were incorporated into the body image and body schema simultaneously. PMID: 21780992 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5071153 Sun, 24 Jul 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5071153 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5071156&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%3D21749274%26dopt%3DAbstract This study was supported by the 'Association pour le Recherche sur le Cancer' (ARC-France Subvention Libre no. 3184). We gratefully thank the patients for their participation to this study. We also thank the two anonymous reviewers for their stimulating comments about the present work. PMID: 21749274 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5071156 Tue, 12 Jul 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5071156 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4975235&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%3D21667395%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Miller BL, Viskontas IV PMID: 21667395 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975235 Tue, 31 May 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4975235 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4975234&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%3D21667396%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Rosen HJ Patients with neurological disorders are often partially or completely unaware of the deficits caused by their disease. This impairment is referred to as anosognosia, and it is very common in neurodegenerative disease, particularly in frontotemporal dementia. Anosognosia has significant impacts on function and quality of life for patients with neurodegenerative disease and their caregivers, but the phenomenon has received little formal study, especially in non-Alzheimer's (non-AD) dementias. Furthermore, few studies have attempted to systematically verify the potential role of specific cognitive impairments in producing anosognosia. As a result, the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are poorly understood. Episodic memory likely plays an important role. In addition... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975234 Tue, 31 May 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4975234 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4975233&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%3D21667397%26dopt%3DAbstract We present a case study of a patient with acquired prefrontal lesion involving mainly ventromedial and orbital structures (VM-PFD). The patient showed behavioral and emotional disturbances one year after the injury. In a follow-up examination seven years later, we evaluated her performance in tasks found theoretically to be sensitive to orbital and medial lesions. In contrast to our hypothesis, her performance was in the normal range. We suggest that a possible explanation for her magnificent recovery may include a high cognitive reserve and the specific characteristics of her injury. PMID: 21667397 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975233 Tue, 31 May 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4975233 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4878897&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%3D21614723%26dopt%3DAbstract We report the therapeutic utility of rTMS in a 48-year-old patient with a 20-year history of severe depression (five suicidal gestures and previous failure of ECT) and internal AVH. First, 20 Hz rTMS to the left prefrontal cortex for 3 weeks significantly improved depression (BDI-II: 89% change, lasting 14 months along with weekly/bi-weekly maintenance treatments), but AVH remained unchanged. The patient also underwent a further course of the left temporo-parietal 1 Hz rTMS and amelioration of AVH severity was achieved (PSYRATS-AH: 53% change) and maintained at 1-year follow-up. AVH respond to rTMS in disorders other than schizophrenia. Furthermore, targeted rTMS to different brain regions can address diverse symptoms in neuropsychiatric conditions. PMID: 21614723 [PubMed - as supplied... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4878897 Tue, 24 May 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4878897 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4878899&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%3D21598175%26dopt%3DAbstract We report the unusual case of a woman with right upper limb phocomelia who, post-amputation of her right hand following trauma, sprouted a phantom hand that contained five digits, including a phantom thumb and index finger that had been absent since her birth. These two phantom digits were initially half normal size, however, more than three decades later, with mirror visual feedback treatment, she was able to elongate them to normal length. This suggests that a hardwired representation of a complete hand had always been present in her brain, but inhibited by the presence of afferents from the phocomelic hand. Amputation of the phocomelic hand then led to disinhibition of this dormant representation, and the emergence of a phantom hand with five fingers, which was then further enhanced by ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4878899 Tue, 17 May 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4878899 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4878898&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%3D21598176%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Lepach AC, Petermann F The 22q11 deletion syndrome (DS) is a common genetic disorder, and a Nonverbal Learning Disorder (NLD) is considered as a predominant part of the phenotype. The focus of our study was to investigate the role of learning in this NLD characteristic. We compared results of children and adolescents with 22q11 DS; with non-syndromal NLD and with memory disorders on multi-trial verbal and nonverbal learning tests. Better verbal and worse nonverbal IQs were significantly discrepant for the 22q11 DS sample and for the NLD sample; the memory sample had a FS-IQ in the normal range with lower verbal IQ. General IQ was lowest for the 22q11 DS group. Similar differences in normal verbal and worse nonverbal learning resulted for the 22q11 sample and NLD-sample, while ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4878898 Tue, 17 May 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4878898 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4878900&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%3D21590585%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Farris EA, Odegard TN, Miller HL, Ring J, Allen G, Black J Individuals with dyslexia often demonstrate bilateral inferior frontal lobe activation while performing basic reading tasks. To investigate these findings, functional connectivity analyses were conducted on fMRI data collected from children with dyslexia, who did and did not respond well to treatment, and from non-impaired readers. Analysis of active and resting-state fMRI data across 15 participants revealed functional connections between the inferior frontal regions in non-impaired readers and treatment responders, but not in treatment non-responders. Analyses incorporating DTI data revealed associations with anterior corpus callosum structures. These results suggest that bilateral frontal functional connectivity is ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4878900 Sat, 14 May 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4878900 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4827821&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%3D21547846%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Fehr T, Wallace GL, Erhard P, Herrmann M Savants and prodigies are individuals with exceptional skills in particular mental domains. In the present study we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine neural correlates of calendar calculation in two individuals, a savant with Asperger's disorder and a self-taught mathematical prodigy. If there is a modular neural organization of exceptional performance in a specific mental domain, calendar calculation should be reflected in a considerable overlap in the recruitment of brain circuits across expert individuals. However, considerable individual differences in activation patterns during calendar calculation were noted. The present results indicate that activation patterns produced by complex mental processing, such as ca... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4827821 Mon, 02 May 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4827821 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4827969&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%3D21506042%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Olsson CJ, Nyberg L An intriguing quality of our brain is that when actions are imagined, corresponding brain regions are recruited as when the actions are actually performed. It has been hypothesized that the similarity between real and simulated actions depends on the nature of motor representations. Here we tested this hypothesis by examining S.D., who never used her legs but is an elite wheel chair athlete. Controls recruited motor brain regions during imagery of stair walking and frontal regions during imagery of wheel chair slalom. S.D. showed the opposite pattern. Thus, brain simulation of actions may be grounded in specific physical experiences. PMID: 21506042 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4827969 Sun, 17 Apr 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4827969 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4827860&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%3D21506043%26dopt%3DAbstract This article aims to provide a starting point for interdisciplinary exchange by reviewing three philosophical debates about the nature of the self in light of contemporary work in cognitive neuroscience. Continental rationalist and British empiricist approaches to the unity of the self are discussed in relation to earlier work on split-brain patients, and to more recent work on "mental time travel" and the default mode network; the phenomenological movement, and the central concept of intentionality, are discussed in relation to interoceptive accounts of emotion and to the mirror neuron system; and ongoing philosophical debates about agency and autonomy are discussed in relation to recent work on action awareness and on insight in clinical populations such as addicts and patients with fron... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4827860 Sun, 17 Apr 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4827860 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4827840&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%3D21506044%26dopt%3DAbstract We present novel evidence for specific, disruptive effects of multi-step task demands on the production of everyday life tasks in two patients with Action Disorganisation Syndrome (ADS). Experiment 1 demonstrated that the patients were impaired at carrying out everyday life tasks but improved when they instructed the examiner to perform the tasks. Experiments 2 and 3 showed that the patients improved in their own performance when the demands were reduced - by eliminating the need to use their own task schema (Experiment 2) and by reducing the need for error monitoring (Experiment 3). Experiment 4 reduced sequential effects in task performance further by having patients perform the same individual actions as before but now out of the task context. The data indicate that ADS patients are vul... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4827840 Sun, 17 Apr 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4827840 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4669377&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%3D21432722%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Ebner NC, Gluth S, Johnson MR, Raye CL, Mitchell KJ, Johnson MK This functional magnetic resonance imaging study examined medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) activity as young and older participants rated an unknown young and older person, and themselves, on personality characteristics. For both young and older participants, there was greater activation in ventral mPFC (anterior cingulate) when they made judgments about own-age than other-age individuals. Additionally, across target age and participant age, there was greater activity in a more anterior region of ventral mPFC (largely medial frontal gyrus, anterior cingulate) when participants rated others than when they rated themselves. We discuss potential interpretations of these findings in the context of previous results sugg... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4669377 Tue, 22 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4669377 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4669336&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%3D21432723%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Sturm VE, Levenson RW We investigated alexithymia, a deficit in the ability to identify and describe one's emotions, in a sample that included patients with neurodegenerative disease and healthy controls. In addition, we investigated the relationship that alexithymia has with behavioral disturbance and with regional gray matter volumes. Alexithymia was examined with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20, behavioral disturbance was assessed with the Neuropsychiatric Inventory, and regional gray matter volumes were obtained from structural magnetic resonance images. Group analyses revealed higher levels of alexithymia in patients than controls. Alexithymia scores were positively correlated with behavioral disturbance (apathy and informant distress, in particular) and negatively corre... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4669336 Tue, 22 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4669336 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4494902&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%3D21294045%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Lee BH, Kwon SU, Kwon JC, Baek MJ, Lee KH, Kim GH, Heilman KM, Na DL Patients with left unilateral neglect misbisect lines toward the right. To discriminate between contralesional unawareness and ipsilesional hyperattention hypotheses for this ipsilesional bias, we performed the line quadrisection test on 18 patients with and 25 without neglect, and 24 normal controls. Overall the patients with neglect were unbiased when performing the left quadrisection task, but erred rightward on the right quadrisection task. These results suggest that the ipsilesional bisection errors produced by patients with neglect are primarily influenced by ipsilesional hyperattention rather than contralesional unawareness. However, further analyses showed heterogeneity of performance in left quadrise... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4494902 Wed, 02 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4494902 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4361645&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%3D21225490%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Conson M, Salzano S, Grossi D A striking special ability in arranging picture stories was reported in an Asperger child (C.M.) showing an exceptional performance on Wechsler picture arrangement subtest. Neuropsychological examination did not disclose visuoperceptual and spatial defects, or working memory, attention and executive disorders, but revealed an attentional bias towards local details of complex structures. A specific assessment of C.M.'s understanding of picture stories demonstrated that, with respect to normal controls, he showed an enhanced ability to detect causal links among elements of a story. These findings provide support to the hypothesis that savantism can be related to strong systemizing in autism. PMID: 21225490 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (So... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4361645 Mon, 10 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4361645 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4361646&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%3D21213180%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Bueno VF, Brunoni AR, Boggio PS, Bensenor IM, Fregni F Depression following stroke (PSD) affects up to 33% of patients and is associated with increased mortality. Antidepressant drugs have several side effects; therefore novel treatments are needed. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has induced mood and cognitive gain in several neuropsychiatric conditions but has not been tested for PSD to date. Here, we report a patient with significant mood and cognitive impairment who showed marked amelioration of these symptoms following anodal stimulation (2 mA per 30 minutes per 10 days) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. We discuss the possible mechanisms of tDCS in improving PSD. This initial preliminary data is useful to encourage further controlled trials on ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4361646 Thu, 06 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4361646 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4361651&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%3D21207313%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Rogalsky C, Love T, Driscoll D, Anderson SW, Hickok G The discovery of mirror neurons in macaque has led to a resurrection of motor theories of speech perception. Although the majority of lesion and functional imaging studies have associated perception with the temporal lobes, it has also been proposed that the 'human mirror system', which prominently includes Broca's area, is the neurophysiological substrate of speech perception. Although numerous studies have demonstrated a tight link between sensory and motor speech processes, few have directly assessed the critical prediction of mirror neuron theories of speech perception, namely that damage to the human mirror system should cause severe deficits in speech perception. The present study measured speech perception abilities ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4361651 Tue, 04 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4361651 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4361650&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%3D21207314%26dopt%3DAbstract Conclusions: Severe amnesia has been associated with an affection of the structures of the paramedian thalamic territory. Presently, the role of the dorsomedial nucleus remains controversial, with the suggestion that memory deficits observed in this type of lesion could be secondary to executive function deficits. In our case, the patient with the most severe dysexecutive deficit presented the most severe memory impairments. PMID: 21207314 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4361650 Tue, 04 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4361650 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4361649&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%3D21207315%26dopt%3DAbstract This study reports on language outcomes and neurophysiological measures reflecting the efficiency of the brain's capacity to process semantic information in a 14-year-old female following treatment, which included fractionated cranial radiation dosages, for medulloblastoma at age 10 years 3 months. The findings suggest processing skills on par with her peers and stability in general language skill over the 4 years post-treatment. PMID: 21207315 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4361649 Tue, 04 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4361649 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4361648&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%3D21207316%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Uddin LQ One of the defining characteristics of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is difficulty with social interaction and communication with others, or interpersonal interaction. Accordingly, the majority of research efforts to date have focused on understanding the brain mechanisms underlying the deficits in social cognition and language associated with ASD. However, recent empirical and theoretical work has begun to reveal increasing evidence for altered self-representation, or intrapersonal cognition in ASD. Here we review recent studies of the self in ASD, focusing on paradigms examining 'physical' aspects of the self, including self-recognition, agency and perspective taking, and 'psychological' aspects of the self, including self-knowledge and autobiograp... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4361648 Tue, 04 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4361648 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4361647&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%3D21207317%26dopt%3DAbstract We report data examining the relations between endogenous allocation of visual attention and effects of motor-preparation on attention. We tested a patient with a spatial bias in perceptual report following damage to the left inferior parietal lobe and superior temporal gyrus. Previously we have shown that the spatial bias in report can be reduced when a movement is planned to where a target falls in the contralesional field, while the bias is exacerbated when a movement is planned to the ipsilesional side (Kitadono & Humphreys, 2007, Cognitive Neuropsychology, 24). Here we pitted the effects of planning a movement to the contra- or ipsilesional side against the effects of endogenous visual attention, manipulated by varying the probability of where a target would fall. In a no-movement... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4361647 Tue, 04 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4361647 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4287839&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%3D21161818%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Cicourel AV Four incontrovertible 'facts' are assumed for human emergence, survival and notion of a self: (1) the existence of neurobiological structures and mechanisms, (2) employment of cognitive problem solving mechanisms, (3) adoption of physiologically based emotional displays, and (4) aquisition of communal socio-culture knowledge through caregiver 'scaffolding' activities and situated practices. The 'self', therefore, is only viable with the simultaneous evolution of neurobiological, cognitive, emotional, and socio-cultural structures and processes. An emergent self presupposes an integration and continual interaction of a developing memory system, continual acquisition and reproduction of cognitive problem solving mechanisms and emotional displays, and acquisition and ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4287839 Wed, 15 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4287839 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4231692&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%3D21113846%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: PMID: 21113846 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4231692 Wed, 01 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4231692 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4116966&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%3D20981620%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Di Paola M, Moscatelli A, Bigler ED, Caltagirone C, Carlesimo GA A deficit of declarative memory is a common sequela after a hypoxic episode. While the role of gray matter changes (i.e., atrophy of hippocampal formation) as mainly responsible for memory loss has been emphasized, the role of the white matter damage has so far been neglected. The present study was aimed at evaluating whether white matter damage, within the neural circuitry responsible for declarative memory functioning, is present in anoxic patients. We assessed, by means of voxel-based morphometry, the integrity of white matter regions in five patients with hypoxic amnesia. When anoxic patients were compared to healthy controls, significantly less white matter density was detected in the fornix, anterior portio... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4116966 Tue, 26 Oct 2010 23:00:00 +0100 4116966 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4018729&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%3D20859826%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Lauterbach EC, Sharone Kuppuswamy P, Greenway LL Sequential therapeutic trials for catatonoid frontal signs in clinically-evident frontotemporal dementia (n = 2) revealed differential benefits for lorazepam, amantadine, memantine, pramipexole, aripiprazole, quetiapine, citalopram, and donepezil, although certain signs also worsened. Citalopram and donepezil were poorly tolerated. Ramelteon was without effect. While memantine appeared to improve cognition in case 1, this remains to be established by more reliable neuropsychological testing. Parkinsonism (case 2) responded to pramipexole, but not amantadine or levodopa. Possible relationships of catatonoid signs requiring future confirmation include insufficient GABA-A (multiple signs) and D2 (mutism) and excessive NMDA (immobil... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4018729 Thu, 30 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100 4018729 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3959054&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%3D20830644%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Morsella E, Berger CC, Krieger SC A primary aspect of the self is the sense of agency - the sense that one is causing an action. In the spirit of recent reductionistic approaches to other complex, multifaceted phenomena (e.g., working memory; cf. Johnson & Johnson, 2009), we attempt to unravel the sense of agency by investigating its most basic components, without invoking high-level conceptual or 'central executive' processes. After considering the high-level components of agency, we examine the cognitive and neural underpinnings of its low-level components, which include basic consciousness and subjective urges (e.g., the urge to breathe when holding one's breath). Regarding urges, a quantitative review revealed that certain inter-representational dynamics (conflicts bet... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3959054 Wed, 08 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3959054 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3959043&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%3D20830645%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Naito E, Matsumoto R, Hagura N, Oouchida Y, Tomimoto H, Hanakawa T Prompted by our neuroimaging findings in 60 normal people, we examined whether focal damage to the hand section of precentral motor regions impairs hand kinesthesia in a patient, and investigated brain regions related to recovery of kinesthetic function. The damage impaired contralateral kinesthesia. The peri-lesional cerebral motor region, together with the ipsilateral intermediate cerebellum, participated in the recovered kinesthetic processing. The study confirmed the importance of precentral motor regions in human kinesthesia, and indicated a contribution of the peri-lesional cerebral region in recovered kinesthesia after precentral damage, which conceptually fits with cases of recovery of motor function. ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3959043 Tue, 07 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3959043 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3959071&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%3D20824572%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Diamond BJ, Mayes AR, Meudell PR Six individuals with amnesia and matched healthy controls participated. There were two objectives. First, determine whether physiological activity at encoding relates to whether a word shows autonomic priming or is recognized. Second, propose a model for understanding relationships between recognition and autonomic priming. In amnesics, 'unrecognized' words were associated with better autonomic discrimination and lower levels of physiological activity at encoding. In healthy participants and amnesics, 'recognized' words were associated with poorer autonomic priming and higher levels of physiological activity at encoding. A state-dependent, activation-fractionation-inhibition model is proposed involving an orienting response elicited by preferen... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3959071 Mon, 06 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3959071 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3959062&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%3D20824573%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Kloesel B, Czarnecki K, Muir JJ, Keller AS Posterior alien hand syndrome is a new addition to a poorly understood group of movement disorders. Historically, anatomical lesions causing uncontrolled limb movement and a feeling of foreignness were found to be located in the corpus callosum or frontal lobe. Recent case reports, however, demonstrate the typical symptoms of alien hand syndrome with lesions located in the parietal/occipital lobes. Disturbance of normal function in these regions tends to produce less complex motor activity, such as hand levitation, along with a sensory component characterized by feeling of estrangement. We discuss a patient who presented with unusual symptoms following an outpatient procedure and was found to have posterior alien hand syndrome. PM... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3959062 Mon, 06 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3959062 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3959078&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%3D20818576%26dopt%3DAbstract We report the rare case of a patient, JNR, with history of mixed handedness, developmental dyslexia, dysgraphia, and attentional deficits associated with a Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome and a small subcortical frontal lesion involving the left arcuate fasciculus. In adulthood, he suffered a large right perisylvian stroke and developed atypical conduction aphasia with deficits in input and output phonological processing and poor auditory-verbal short-term memory. Lexical-semantic processing for single words was intact, but he was unable to access meaning in sentence comprehension and repetition. Reading and writing deficits worsened after the stroke and he presented a combination of developmental and acquired dysgraphia and dyslexia with mixed lexical and phonological processing deficits. This... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3959078 Fri, 03 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3959078 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3959106&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%3D20818539%26dopt%3DAbstract In this study we explored the role of the MDNT pathway, by comparing six patients with MDNT lesions, with 14 controls, on tests of general olfactory ability (i.e., odor acuity, discrimination, naming, recognition memory and hedonic judgement), visual control and neuropsychological tests, and tests of olfactory attention. The MDNT patients performed normally on most general olfactory tests but showed varying impairments on tests of olfactory attention. These findings suggest that the MDNT pathway is involved, either specifically or generically, in mediating human olfactory attention. PMID: 20818539 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3959106 Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3959106 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3959098&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%3D20818540%26dopt%3DAbstract This study contributes to the growing characterisation of PCA whose atypical early visual symptoms are often heterogeneous and frequently under-recognised. PMID: 20818540 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3959098 Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3959098 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3959091&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%3D20818541%26dopt%3DAbstract In this study, we describe a 58-year-old male patient (FZ) with a right-amygdala lesion after temporal lobe infarction. FZ is unable to recognize fearful facial expressions. Instead, he consistently misinterprets expressions of fear for expressions of surprise. Employing EEG/ERP measures, we investigated whether presentation of fearful and surprised facial expressions would lead to different response patterns. We also measured ERPs to aversively conditioned and unconditioned fearful faces. We compared ERPs elicited by supraliminally and subliminally presented conditioned fearful faces (CS+), unconditioned fearful faces (CS-) and surprised faces. Despite FZ's inability to recognize fearful facial expressions in emotion recognition tasks, ERP components showed different response patterns to ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3959091 Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3959091 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3959085&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%3D20818542%26dopt%3DAbstract Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge this pattern of language disturbance, which mirrors dynamic aphasia induced by frontal lesions, has not previously been described with thalamic injury. The thalamus has strong connections with the frontal lobe and rather than degradation of lexical-semantic representations, this patient's thalamic lesion probably induced frontal lobe dysfunction with a failure to spontaneously active lexical semantic representations. PMID: 20818542 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3959085 Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3959085 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3959132&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%3D20812137%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Chrysikou EG, Giovannetti T, Wambach DM, Lyon AC, Grossman M, Libon DJ Semantic dementia (SD) is characterized by a dramatic loss of conceptual knowledge about the meaning of words and the identity of objects. Previous research has suggested that SD patients' knowledge is differentially influenced by the disease and may decline at different degrees depending on a patient's everyday familiarity with certain items. However, no study has examined (a) semantic knowledge deterioration and (b) the potential significance of autobiographical experience for the maintenance of object concepts in the same cohort of SD patients by using comprehensive assessments of different aspects of object knowledge across an experience-based, distributed semantic memory network. Here, we tested four S... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3959132 Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3959132 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3959125&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%3D20812138%26dopt%3DAbstract We report a 90-year-old man with abrupt onset of the mirror sign after a minor right hemispheric ischemic stroke. Neuropsychological testing revealed preserved cognitive capacities, except for mild to moderate impairment of visuospatial skills, suggesting right hemisphere dysfunction. Neuroimaging showed a small right dorsolateral frontal infarct, and bifrontal encephalomalacia, consistent with a past history of head trauma. Scattered ischemic white matter lesions in posterior periventricular regions were also seen. It seems that the mirror sign is a multifactorial phenomenon that usually requires right hemispheric dysfunction (perceptual abnormalities, loss of familiarity) and frontal damage (loss of judgement and inability to correct wrong beliefs). The right frontal dorsolateral prefron... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3959125 Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3959125 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3959118&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%3D20812139%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Dent K, Humphreys GW Two experiments examined extinction to stimuli presented either with contracting or expanding motion. Experiment 1 used solid shapes which either increased or decreased in size rapidly, consistent with looming motion. Experiment 2 employed random dots so that stimulus size was not confounded with type of motion. In both experiments extinction was modulated by the type of motion presented, with extinction most evident when a contracting object was in the weaker visual field. In addition, in Experiment 2 there was evidence for grouping modulating extinction, when there were looming stimuli in both fields. The results suggest that looming motion is a powerful determinant of stimulus salience in selective attention. PMID: 20812139 [PubMed - as supplied by ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3959118 Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3959118 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3959112&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%3D20812140%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Martelli M, Arduino LS, Daini R Neglect dyslexia is a reading disorder often associated with right-sided brain lesions. In reading single words, errors are mostly substitutions or omissions of letters that occupy the left-sided positions. Typically, these errors have been thought to depend on a single mechanism. Conversely, we propose that they are due to different mechanisms. In particular, a visuo-spatial mechanism is responsible for omissions and a perceptual integration process for substitution errors. We measured the performance of six patients with both neglect and neglect dyslexia, analyzing their reading errors as a function of letter spacing. According to our conjecture, letter spacing should increase omissions by moving part of the string further in the unattended sp... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3959112 Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3959112 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3913454&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%3D20799135%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Bakheit AM, Frost J, Ackroyd E Developmental stammering is relatively common in the adult population. Stammering has a poor prognosis when it persists beyond adolescence and spontaneous or treatment-induced remission is very rare in adults. In this communication we report a case of life-long developmental stammering that resolved completely after the onset of a posterior circulation stroke and we speculate on the reason for this. PMID: 20799135 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3913454 Tue, 24 Aug 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3913454 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3807565&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%3D20672222%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Cohen ML, Burtis B, Kwon JC, Williamson J, Heilman KM Patients without sensory neglect might demonstrate a spatial deviation when drawing. To better understand the mechanism of this deviation, we examined a 61-year-old woman with probable posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) who on imaging showed right hemisphere atrophy and dysfunction. When drawing a clock she correctly made a circle, but when writing the numbers deviated to the left. A blindfolded midsagittal plane pointing test revealed that her leftward deviation was action-intentional rather than perceptual-attentional. This action-intentional deviation was made manifest by altering visual feedback such as having her focus her attention on the clock numbers. PMID: 20672222 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neu... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3807565 Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3807565 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3807564&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%3D20672223%26dopt%3DAbstract This article describes the case of a patient with corticobasal syndrome, who showed severe ideomotor and visuoconstructional apraxia along with handwriting difficulties more marked for letters and words than for digits and numbers. For alphabetical script, these difficulties were less marked when graphic motor patterns were activated with a model, whilst for digits IV's graphic productions were better in dictation. Moreover, IV's graphic production was negatively influenced by graphomotor complexity for letters but not for numbers. IV is the first reported case of a patient with severe limb apraxia, who also showed peripheral agraphia, with dissociation in alphabetical and numerical notation codes resulting from a specific deficit in the activation of graphomotor programs. PMID: 206722... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3807564 Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3807564 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3807563&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%3D20672224%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Riddoch MJ, Riveros R, Humphreys GW Patients with extinction show a characteristic impairment in the identification of objects when two items are presented simultaneously, typically reporting the ipsilesional item only. The effect is thought to be due to a spatial bias advantaging the ipsilesional item under conditions of competing concurrent stimulation. Action relations between objects can result in recovery from extinction as the object pair may be perceived as a single group rather than competing perceptual units. However, objects interacting together can also have implied motion. Here we test whether implied motion is necessary to generate recovery from extinction. We varied orthogonally whether animate and inanimate objects were paired together in positions related or un... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3807563 Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3807563 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3763120&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%3D20635305%26dopt%3DAbstract In this study we describe a patient (FR) with left frontal lesions due to a cerebrovascular disorder of embolic origin. Beyond a general slowness, FR showed deficits in simple multiplication only when problems were presented in a mixed operations list (multiplication, addition, and subtraction), while no such deficits were observed for the same multiplication problems in blocked presentation. Deficits were restricted to trials directly affected by a switch (increased switch costs), but not to subsequent trials (no increased mixing costs). Thus, we provide the first detailed description of a condition which could be termed 'task-switching acalculia' in a stroke patient. This case highlights the need for mixed operation lists in the diagnosis of acalculia. PMID: 20635305 [PubMed - as sup... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3763120 Tue, 13 Jul 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3763120 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3737997&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%3D20614366%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Garrard P, Forsyth R Structural and content-related deficits occur in connected discourse of patients with semantic dementia (SD). We used principal components analysis (PCA) to characterise the sources of variation in word usage during picture description by controls and SD patients. This data-driven approach allowed: comparison of the distance between individuals in the two-dimensional space; correlational analyses between principal component (PC) values and performance on other tests; identification of words whose variance contributed most to the definition of the PCs.Transcripts of Cookie Theft picture descriptions from 21 patients with SD and 21 controls were used to generate frequencies of all word types (n = 557) across participants. Frequency values of words with >/... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3737997 Tue, 06 Jul 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3737997 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3678693&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%3D20552532%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Wilshire CE, Keall LM, O'Donnell DJ This paper examines the effect of semantic variables on serial recall in two contrasting aphasic cases and a group of controls. Experiment 1 manipulates word imageability and Experiment 2 manipulates semantic similarity. Controls not only showed better recall of imageable/semantically grouped lists, but under some conditions they also produced proportionately fewer phonological errors. These findings suggest that increasing the effectiveness of lexical/semantic support reduces reliance on phonological support. Consistent with this proposal, case TV, whose phonological impairment should increase his reliance on lexical/semantic support, produced abnormally low rates of phonological errors under some conditions. Conversely, case NP, who had a ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3678693 Sun, 13 Jun 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3678693 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3666015&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%3D20544501%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Moreno-Martinez FJ Category-specificity was longitudinally studied over a period of 12 months in seven Alzheimer disease patients, with two semantic tasks differing with respect to verbal processing demands: picture naming and a size ordering task. Items from each task were matched on all cognitive and psycholinguistic variables known to differ across domains (living-nonliving). Naming performance of patients was poorer than that of normal controls. Regarding category-specific effects, while naming performance of patients was parallel to that of normal controls, patients' performance with the size ordering task revealed a different scaling of living things while that of nonliving things mirrored performance of normal controls. This suggests that caution is needed when the pict... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3666015 Sun, 06 Jun 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3666015 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3656999&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%3D20526954%26dopt%3DAbstract This article will review the literature on visual spatial cognition in neurodegenerative disease clinical syndromes, and where research is available, by neuropathologic diagnoses. Visual spatial cognition will be organized primarily according to the following schemes: bottom-up/top-down processing, dorsal/ventral stream processing, and egocentric/allocentric frames of reference. PMID: 20526954 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3656999 Tue, 01 Jun 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3656999 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3630474&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%3D20521201%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Ek L, Almkvist O, Kristoffersen Wiberg M, Stragliotto G, Smits A We investigated the presence of cognitive impairment, in adults with presumed low-grade glioma at early stage of disease prior to major treatments, in relation to neurological symptoms and radiological characteristics of the tumour. Sixteen patients were evaluated. A subset of patients was identified with clearly impaired cognition. Patients with cognitive impairment often had large tumours in the left frontal lobe, were relatively young, and most of them were males. We conclude that cognitive dysfunction may be present already at early stage of disease, and that early identification of patients at risk is warranted. PMID: 20521201 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3630474 Tue, 01 Jun 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3630474 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3630473&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%3D20521202%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Roldan Gerschcovich E, Cerquetti D, Tenca E, Leiguarda R The extensive infarction affecting the posterior vermis and the medial and posterior regions of both cerebellar hemispheres, as well as the small central pontine lesion, seems to have disrupted multiple cerebral and brainstem cerebellar loops. These loops process information related to many cognitive domains, behavior and emotion, including decision making, empathy and theory of mind. PMID: 20521202 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3630473 Tue, 01 Jun 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3630473 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3612164&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%3D20509094%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: White RC, Aimola Davies AM, Kischka U Following a right-hemisphere stroke, Patient NG could detect somatosensory stimulation that she was unable to localise. With vision precluded, NG systematically mislocalised touch on the little and ring finger of her affected left hand, and reported feeling this touch on the neighbouring rightward finger. This pattern of mislocalisation occurred not only when the Examiner administered touch but also when touch was self-administered. We manipulated the relative position of NG's two hands during sensory assessment of the affected hand. When NG's right hand was positioned to the left of her affected hand, NG exhibited improved localisation. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed. PMID: 20509094 [PubMed - in process] (Source: ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3612164 Sun, 30 May 2010 17:42:05 +0100 3612164 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3604243&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%3D20503131%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Yang J, Dedovic K, Zhang Q Self-esteem, a value one places on oneself, influences one's cognitive, emotional and behavioral responses across various situations. In the case of risky decision-making, high self-esteem (SE) individuals rely on their positive self-views and tend to be less defensive in response to a risky task; low SE individuals, on the contrary, tend to have fewer accessible positive resources and thus, are more prone to risk-aversion. While past studies have provided evidence for a link between self-esteem and a behaviorally-risky response, no study has explored the relation between self-esteem and the electrophysiological correlates of risky response. Therefore, the current study investigated the correlates of risky decision-making in high SE compared to low S... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3604243 Sun, 23 May 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3604243 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3543216&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%3D20446168%26dopt%3DAbstract In this study, we report a single-case study of a mild aphasic patient who showed procedural deficits in the presence of preserved declarative memory abilities. We administered several experiments to explore rule application in morphology, syntax and number processing. Results partly support the differentiation between declarative and procedural memory. Moreover, the patient's performance varied according to the domain in which rules were to be applied, which underlines the need for more fine-grained distinctions in cognition between procedural rules. PMID: 20446168 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3543216 Tue, 04 May 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3543216 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3543215&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%3D20446169%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Robinson SJ, Temple CM A study of lexical semantic knowledge and autobiographical memory is described in PQ, a 22-year-old male with Downs syndrome. Performance is compared with younger typically developing verbal mental age controls. PQ's lexical stores contained a normal number of items, however, he was impaired at naming both pictures and item descriptions. PQ's own descriptions of items contained a normal volume of information, but the pattern of information differed from normal as he produced less 'sensory' and more 'thematic' and 'functional' information. PQ has an autobiographical memory deficit. His ability to recall 'specific' memories was significantly impoverished. It is suggested that both PQ's naming difficulties and his autobiographical memory disorder may reflec... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3543215 Tue, 04 May 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3543215 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3543214&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%3D20446170%26dopt%3DAbstract This study presents neuropsychological data obtained at 1, 4, and 18 months post-diagnosis of a 52-year-old male with OMA. The patient initially demonstrated significant global neurocognitive, psychomotor, and psychological difficulties with substantial improvement over time. Treatment included medication management, physical rehabilitation, and psychological intervention. PMID: 20446170 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3543214 Tue, 04 May 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3543214 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3516306&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%3D20425663%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Weeks SR, Tsao JW Phantom limb phenomena are well characterized, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here we report a patient who relieves his phantom sensations and pain, experienced as itching and cramping, through scratching or massaging his prosthesis or the leg of another person. This pain relief occurs only when phantom limb sensations are present. We hypothesize that symptom relief results from incorporation of the foreign limb into the patient's body image, mediated by the sensory mirror neuron system, relieving pain by restoring concordance between sensory systems. PMID: 20425663 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3516306 Mon, 26 Apr 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3516306 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3494788&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%3D20408046%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Adlam AL, Patterson K, Bozeat S, Hodges JR The aims of this study were (a) to explore the utility of, and make more widely available, an updated and extended version of the Cambridge Semantic Memory test battery, and (b) to use this battery in conjunction with other tests to characterise the profile of several different forms of progressive cognitive impairment: semantic dementia (SD, n = 15), mild cognitive impairment (MCI, n = 7), established Alzheimer's disease (AD) (n = 8), all in comparison to normal controls (n = 45). The semantic battery is useful in a variety of ways for exploring the nature of semantic deficits; on its own, however, it does not provide sensitive differentiation between patients with AD and SD. An assessment including measures of episodic memory and vi... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3494788 Sun, 18 Apr 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3494788 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3487637&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%3D20401802%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Andelman F, Hoofien D, Goldberg I, Aizenstein O, Neufeld MY Mental time travel allows individuals to mentally project themselves backwards and forwards in subjective time. This case report describes a young woman suddenly rendered amnesic as a result of bilateral hippocampal damage following an epileptic seizure and brain anoxia. Her neuropsychological profile was characterized by a high-average general level of cognitive functioning, selective deficit in episodic memory of past events and a significant difficulty to envisage her personal future. This case provides clinical support for the concept of mental time travel with its retrospective and prospective components and for the hippocampus being its critical neural substrate. PMID: 20401802 [PubMed - as supplied by publi... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3487637 Wed, 14 Apr 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3487637 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3487636&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%3D20401803%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: McLaughlin PM, Borrie MJ, Murtha SJ A visual search task was used to investigate how visual attention and intraindividual variability changes with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Specifically, we examined the contribution of shifting efficacy, distribution of attention, and controlled processing to declines in visual attention in two groups with MCI (single-domain amnestic and multi-domain amnestic), and measured changes in intraindividual variability. Our results demonstrate that visual search performance is attenuated in multi-domain amnestic MCI, but not single-domain amnestic MCI. In addition, we found that the multi-domain amnestic MCI group was more variable than the older controls and single-domain amnestic MCI participants. These between-group differences in search ef... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3487636 Wed, 14 Apr 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3487636 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3487635&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%3D20401804%26dopt%3DAbstract This study was designed to examine verbal working memory (VWM) components among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and determine the influence of information processing speed. Of two frequently studied VWM sub-components, subvocal rehearsal was expected to be more affected by MS than short-term memory buffering. Furthermore, worse subvocal rehearsal was predicted to be specifically related to slower cognitive processing. Fifteen MS patients were administered a neuropsychological battery assessing VWM, processing speed, mood, fatigue, and disability. Participants performed a 2-Back VWM task with modified nested conditions designed to increase subvocal rehearsal (via inter-stimulus interval) and short-term memory buffering demands (via phonological similarity). Performance during these 2-Back ... Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3487635 Wed, 14 Apr 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3487635 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3487634&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%3D20401805%26dopt%3DAbstract This study describes a patient with herpes simplex encephalitis. Brain MRI showed the expected finding of medial temporal damage. Neuropsychological assessment results were consistent with the location of damage, with profound memory impairment and mildly impaired naming, but normal visuospatial and executive skills. The patient also showed a typical testing pattern of insufficient effort and possible malingering, which was concerning as she was seeking disability compensation. In spite of this, we chose to place greatest weight on the finding of deficits consistent with the type, location, and severity of brain damage, considering this to be true cognitive impairment. PMID: 20401805 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3487634 Wed, 14 Apr 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3487634 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3487633&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%3D20401806%26dopt%3DAbstract We present a case of a little investigated reading disorder we call 'amblyopic dyslexia'. The reading impairment in this patient resulted from a left extrastriate and white matter lesion causing a scotomatic area of partial deficit within the right visual field. The visual deficit was consistent with cerebral amblyopia, that is, reduced form, colour, and light sensitivity without a complete loss of vision. The patient's reading deficit was characterized by accurate single letter naming and almost accurate but effortful single word reading, with no letter-by-letter strategy. The criteria for distinguishing amblyopic dyslexia from other reading disorders and the most appropriate treatment are discussed. PMID: 20401806 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3487633 Wed, 14 Apr 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3487633 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3468761&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%3D20391181%26dopt%3DAbstract This article describes a patient with Parkinson's disease prescribed 8 weeks of aerobic exercise. Despite very high performance at baseline, the participant improved on several cognitive measures post exercise. The results of this investigation mimic the research in healthy older adults. We therefore suggest that future large scale randomized trials are warranted to evaluate the efficacy of aerobic exercise for ameliorating declines in cognitive performance in persons with PD. PMID: 20391181 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Neurocase) Neurocase journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3468761 Sun, 11 Apr 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3468761 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