Ganser-like syndrome after loss of psychic self-activation syndrome: psychogenic or organic?

Very few data are available on the long-term changes in the cognitive abilities of patients with loss of psychic self-activation syndrome (LPSAS). Here, we present a 25-year follow-up study on a case of LPSAS resulting from bilateral pallidal lesions caused by carbon monoxide intoxication. Typical signs of LPSAS were observed, showing no changes in severity, but Ganser syndrome (GS) gradually developed and worsened during the follow-up period.

White matter damage impairs access to consciousness in multiple sclerosis.

Global neuronal workspace theory predicts that damage to long-distance white matter (WM) tracts should impair access to consciousness during the perception of brief stimuli. To address this issue, we studied visual backward masking in 18 patients at the very first clinical stage of multiple sclerosis (MS), a neurological disease characterized by extensive WM damage, and in 18 matched healthy subjects. In our masking paradigm, the visibility of a digit stimulus increases non-linearly as a function of the interval duration between this target and a subsequent mask.

Effects of chronic subthalamic stimulation on nonmotor fluctuations in Parkinson's disease.

The aim of this study was to assess the outcome of nonmotor fluctuations (NMF) after chronic Subthalamic nucleus (STN) Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) in Parkinson's disease(PD). Chronic stimulation of the STN has proved to be an effective treatment for advanced PD with motor complications. The outcome of NMF, which are also disabling, remains unknown.

Intact subliminal processing and delayed conscious access in multiple sclerosis.

Periventricular white matter damage affecting large bundles connecting distant cortical areas may constitute the main neuronal mechanism for the deficit of controlled information processing observed in patients with early multiple sclerosis (MS). Visual backward masking has been demonstrated to affect late stages of conscious perception involving long-range interactions between visual perceptual areas and higher level integrative cortices while leaving intact early feed-forward visual processing and even complex processing such as object recognition or semantic processing. We therefore hypothesized that patients with early MS would have an elevated masking threshold, because of an impairment of conscious perception whereas subliminal processing of masked stimuli would be preserved.

Structure of WM bundles constituting the working memory system in early multiple sclerosis: a quantitative DTI tractography study.

Working memory impairment is frequently observed in patients with early multiple sclerosis (MS). MRI and functional MRI studies have shown that working memory impairment is mostly due to diffuse white matter (WM) damage affecting the connectivity between distant cortical areas. However, working memory deficits in early MS patients can be either completely or partly masked by compensatory functional plasticity.

Relationships between gray matter metabolic abnormalities and white matter inflammation in patients at the very early stage of MS : a MRSI study.

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging ((1)H-MRSI) was used to study metabolic abnormalities inside the gray matter (GM) during or distant to white matter (WM) inflammatory processes reflected by T(1) gadolinium-enhancing lesions in patients at the very early stage of multiple sclerosis (MS). The spectroscopic examination was performed in the axial plane using a home-designed acquisition-weighted, hamming shape, 2D-SE pulse sequence (TE = 135 ms; TR = 1,600 ms). Bilateral thalami and the medial occipital cortex were explored in 35 patients (15 with and 20 without T(1)-Gd enhancing lesions) with clinically isolated syndrome suggestive of MS and in 30 controls.

Quantification of immunoglobulin free light chains in cerebrospinal fluid by nephelometry.

Oligoclonal free light chains (FLC) banding has been described in multiple sclerosis (MS) and should be correlated with disease activity. However, discrepancies between studies have been reported because of differences in methods. A new quantitative, rapid, and automated method using nephelometry is now available.

First isolation of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron from a patient with a cholesteatoma and experiencing meningitis.

A 45-year-old man with a cholesteatoma experienced purulent meningitis. Microbial analysis of cerebrospinal fluid yielded in pure culture a gram-negative bacillus. Phenotypic methods were suggestive of a Bacteroides distasonis or either a Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron or Bacteroides ovatus infection.

Local tissue damage assessed with statistical mapping analysis of brain magnetization transfer ratio: relationship with functional status of patients in the earliest stage of multiple sclerosis.

Background And Purpose: In the early stage of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), conventional MR imaging parameters such as T2 lesion load fail to explain the clinical status of patients. In the present work, we aimed to determine the ability of magnification transfer imaging to better reflect the relationship between local tissue damage and functional status of MS patients.

Methods: We performed a comparative statistical mapping analysis on brain tissue magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) data measured in 18 patients with clinically isolated syndrome suggestive of MS (CISSMS) and 18 matched control subjects.

Magnetic resonance study of the influence of tissue damage and cortical reorganization on PASAT performance at the earliest stage of multiple sclerosis.

We sought to determine the influence of tissue damage and the potential impact of cortical reorganization on the performance to the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) in patients at the earliest stage of multiple sclerosis (MS). Magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) imaging and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments using PASAT as paradigm were carried out in 18 patients with clinically isolated syndrome suggestive of MS (CISSMS) compared to 18 controls. MTR histogram analyses showed structural abnormalities in patients involving the normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) but also the gray matter (GM).

Voxel-based analysis of MTR images: a method to locate gray matter abnormalities in patients at the earliest stage of multiple sclerosis.

Purpose: To determine whether voxel-based analysis of magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) maps can provide evidence of a coherent pattern of gray matter (GM) macroscopic and microscopic tissue damage in patients at the earliest stage of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Materials And Methods: We acquired GM MTR maps in 18 patients with clinically isolated syndrome suggestive of MS (CISSMS), and 18 sex- and age-matched healthy controls. We evaluated the clinical status of the patients using the MS functional composite score and the expanded disability status scale.

Compensatory cortical activation observed by fMRI during a cognitive task at the earliest stage of MS.

Recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have suggested that functional cortical changes seen in patients with early relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) can have an adaptive role to limit the clinical impact of tissue injury. To determine whether cortical reorganization occurs during high cognitive processes at the earliest stage of multiple sclerosis (MS), we performed an fMRI experiment using the conventional Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) as paradigm in a population of ten patients with clinically isolated syndrome suggestive of multiple sclerosis (CISSMS). At the time of the fMRI exploration, mean disease duration was 6.