Evaluation of vinpocetine as a therapy in patients with sensorineural hearing loss: A phase II, open-label, single-center study.

The progressive degeneration of the excitable cells of the ear depends on the sustained excitation of the voltage-sensitive sodium channels, so the negative pharmacological modulation could be a rational therapeutic strategy against the damage of these cells. The objective was to demonstrate the effectiveness of Vinpocetine (VPC), a potent sodium channel blocker, as a treatment for acquired sensorineural hearing loss. A phase II, longitudinal and prospective open clinical study, was conducted over a period of 12 months with patients older than 18 years, to demonstrate the effectiveness of Vinpocetine (VPC) as a treatment for acquired sensorineural hearing loss, using evoked potentials, otoacoustic emissions, audiometry and logoaudiometry, analyzing the results at 6 and 12 months of treatment with Vinpocetine (30 mg/day in 3 doses).

Dopamine D receptor activation maintains motor coordination and balance in rats.

Dopamine (DA) modulates motor coordination, and its depletion, as in Parkinson's disease, produces motor impairment. The basal ganglia, cerebellum and cerebral cortex are interconnected, have functional roles in motor coordination, and possess dopamine D receptors (DRs), which are expressed at a particularly high density in the basal ganglia. In this study, we examined whether the activation of DRs modulates motor coordination and balance in the rat using a beam-walking test that has previously been used to detect motor coordination deficits.

Methylphenidate Efficacy: Immediate versus Extended Release at Short Term in Mexican Children with ADHD Assessed by Conners Scale and EEG.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects 5-6% of school aged children worldwide. Pharmacological therapy is considered the first-line treatment and methylphenidate (MPH) is considered the first-choice medication. There are two formulations: immediate release (IR) MPH and long-acting (or extended release) formulation (MPH-ER).

Audiometric evaluation short and medium term in cochlear implants.

Objective: Our purpose is report the results of cochlear implant program in this Institute, since our first surgery from November 2007, until December 2012.

Material And Methods: A cross-sectional study, observational, descriptive, analyzing the information about thresholds before and after implantation, using patients files (diagnosis, onset of hearing loss, brainstem auditory evoked potential (BAEP), computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), implanted ear, brand and model of cochlear implants (CI) and audiometric studies before and after the CI.

Results: We report the evolution of 68 patients, age ranged 1 year 8 months to 39 years 3 months old.

[Modification of thresholds T in cochlear implant patients as an alternative programming time in relation to the time].

Introduction: Programming the cochlear implant (CI) has always been a challenge for all medical specialists in audiology, especially in pediatric patients without language secondary profound hearing loss. For this reason are searched alternatives to achieve normal hearing with the implant during programming in the shortest time possible.

Objective: To analyze whether through modification threshold T we get faster audiological threshold, describe the differences in time found in patients with sensorineural hearing loss IC users with thresholds T at 10% modified, and T thresholds modified according to clinical responses after obtaining audiological threshold within normal parameters and report the speech coding strategies commonly used at the start of the program and to reach above the hearing threshold to language area.

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 7: a neurodegenerative disorder with peripheral neuropathy.

Background: Autosomal dominant spinocerebellar ataxias (SCA) are a group of inherited neurodegenerative disorders that typically show peripheral neuropathy. SCA7 is one of the rarest forms of SCA (<1/100,000 individuals). However, the disease shows a prevalence of ∼800/100,000 inhabitants in certain regions of Mexico.

[Otoacoustic emissions as cochlear function analyser in children with language disorders].

Introduction And Objectives: Speech perception that takes place in the cochlea is involved in the process of language. The objective was to describe the findings in transient otoacoustic emissions in children with language problems before and after 6 months of speech therapy.

Methods: There were 17 children with language problems between 3 and 6 years of age diagnosed with anarthric language delay (expressive and mixed language disorder).

A potential "tuning" role for the outer hair cells in children with language disorders.

The cochlear outer hair cells serve a tuning function, and any dysfunction of their electromotile response can be reflected in language disorders. Otoacoustic emissions can be used to determine any dysfunction of these cells. A set of clinical records was established to register the neurological and auditory functioning in 42 children, followed by assessment with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), the Initial Language Test (ILT), the Auditory and Phonetic Discrimination Evaluation (APDE), tests for measuring Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potential (BAEP) and Transient Otoacoustic Emissions (TOAE).

Preliminary studies of neurosensory and cardiopulmonary health compromise in captive- bred Rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) suffering scoliosis.

Background: It has been widely documented that quadrupedal animals rarely display natural spontaneous scoliotic rachis deviations of the spinal column. The objective was to determine spinal deformities developed by geriatric monkeys of the Macaca mulatta species, by radiographical and tomographical studies of the vertebral column correlating morphological changes with altered physiological parameters and electrical neurosensorial conductivity of somatosensory-evoked potentials (SEPs).

Materials And Methods: A cohort of six geriatric monkeys was used: three non-scoliotic subjects and three monkeys with naturally acquired true scoliosis.

Latencies obtained of the somatosensory evoked potentials of the median and tibial nerve in rhesus monkey undergoing intrauterine laminectomy to simulate myelomeningocele.

Background: Somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEP) have been described as excellent indicators of the degree of medullar injury in degenerative and metabolic diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). The prevalence of neural tube defects (NTD) is 6 cases/10,000 live newborns worldwide. It is thought that genetic as well as environmental factors contribute to the etiology of NTD.

Somatosensory evoked potentials of median and tibial nerves in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) under captivity: influence of ontogenic status in neonatal, infant, young, adult, and senile stages.

Background: Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) constitute a useful neurophysiologic tool commonly used to assess the functionality and developmental degree of the nervous system.

Objective: To analyze somatosensory pathways of the Macaca mulatta species throughout different ontogenetic statuses.

Methods: Twenty non-human primates were divided into five age-dependant groups.

Recovery of motor deficit, cerebellar serotonin and lipid peroxidation levels in the cortex of injured rats.

The sensorimotor cortex and the cerebellum are interconnected by the corticopontocerebellar (CPC) pathway and by neuronal groups such as the serotonergic system. Our aims were to determine the levels of cerebellar serotonin (5-HT) and lipid peroxidation (LP) after cortical iron injection and to analyze the motor function produced by the injury. Rats were divided into the following three groups: control, injured and recovering.