Internal and external modulation of parieto-premotor circuitry in movement disorders.

This scientific commentary refers to 'Increased beta synchronization underlies perception-action hyperbinding in functional movement disorders', by Pastötter . (https://doi.org/10.

Diagnostic Value of Bereitschaftspotential in People With Functional Seizures.

Purpose: Bereitschaftspotential (BP) or readiness potential in people with functional movement disorders can aid diagnostic workup. We evaluated the diagnostic value of BP as an interictal EEG marker in people with functional seizures (FS).

Methods: We recorded and analyzed BP interictal before intended movements in 17 adults with FS and 17 controls with alternative diagnoses.

Real-world smartphone data can trace the behavioural impact of epilepsy: A case study.

Background: Neurobehavioural comorbidities have a detrimental effect on the quality of life of people with epilepsy, yet tracking their impact is challenging as behaviour may vary with seizures and anti-seizure medication (ASM) side effects. Smartphones have the potential to monitor day-to-day neurobehavioural patterns objectively. We present the case of a man in his late twenties with drug-resistant focal epilepsy in whom we ascertained the effects of ASM withdrawal and a convulsive seizure on his touchscreen interactions.

QUality of life and Economic evaluation after neuroSTimulation for Epilepsy (QUESTE) in adolescents and adults with drug-resistant epilepsy: protocol for a multicentre, prospective observational cohort study in The Netherlands.

Introduction: Epilepsy is one of the most common chronic neurological disorders. Antiseizure medication (ASM) is the first choice of treatment, however, 30% of epilepsy patients are drug-resistant. For these patients, neuromodulation can be an option, especially when epilepsy surgery is not possible or did not lead to seizure freedom.

Reduced drift rate: a biomarker of impaired information processing in functional movement disorders.

Functional neurological disorder is a common and phenomenologically diverse condition. Resultant disability is caused by both the dominant clinical presentation, e.g.

Abnormal beta power is a hallmark of explicit movement control in functional movement disorders.

Objective: To determine whether sensorimotor beta-frequency oscillatory power is raised during motor preparation in patients with functional movement disorders (FMD) and could therefore be a marker of abnormal "body-focused" attention.

Methods: We analyzed motor performance and beta-frequency cortical oscillations during a precued choice reaction time (RT) task with varying cue validity (50% or 95% congruence between preparation and go cues). We compared 21 patients with FMD with 13 healthy controls (HCs).

A Simplified Version of the Psychogenic Movement Disorders Rating Scale: The Simplified Functional Movement Disorders Rating Scale (S-FMDRS).

Background: The Psychogenic Movement Disorders Rating Scale (PMDRS) has potential as a useful objective assessment in clinical research, but the current scale has limitations. We developed a simplified version (S-FMDRS) and assessed inter-rater reliability, concurrent validity, and sensitivity.

Methods: Fifty-two videos of subjects with functional (psychogenic) movement disorders (FMD) were rated according to the PMDRS and S-FMDRS by three neurologists.

Task-specific dystonia: pathophysiology and management.

Task-specific dystonia is a form of isolated focal dystonia with the peculiarity of being displayed only during performance of a specific skilled motor task. This distinctive feature makes task-specific dystonia a particularly mysterious and fascinating neurological condition. In this review, we cover phenomenology and its increasingly broad-spectrum risk factors for the disease, critically review pathophysiological theories and evaluate current therapeutic options.

Lateral and Medial Ventral Occipitotemporal Regions Interact During the Recognition of Images Revealed from Noise.

Several studies suggest different functional roles for the medial and the lateral sections of the ventral visual cortex in object recognition. Texture and surface information is processed in medial sections, while shape information is processed in lateral sections. This begs the question whether and how these functionally specialized sections interact with each other and with early visual cortex to facilitate object recognition.

Anterior temporal atrophy and posterior progression in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by specific motor and nonmotor impairments. This suggests that PD is characterized by disease-specific regional cortical atrophy. Given the change of symptoms over time, a concurrent increase in regional atrophy may further be assumed to reflect the dynamic process of disease progression.

Transcutaneous port for continuous duodenal levodopa/carbidopa administration in Parkinson's disease.

Motor fluctuations in Parkinson's disease (PD) can be reduced by intraduodenal infusion of levodopa-carbidopa (Duodopa®) via percutaneous endoscopic gastrojejunostomy (PEG). We applied the transcutaneous soft-tissue anchored titanium port (T-port) in 15 PD patients with motor fluctuations; 7 Duodopa-naive (non-PEG), and 8 previously receiving Duodopa (former-PEG). Motor scores (UPDRS-III) and quality of life (QOL, PDQ-8) were assessed at baseline and 6 month follow-up.

Regional cortical grey matter loss in Parkinson's disease without dementia is independent from visual hallucinations.

In our previous functional magnetic resonance imaging study, Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with visual hallucinations (VH) showed reduced activations in ventral/lateral visual association cortices preceding image recognition, compared with both PD patients without VH and healthy controls. The primary aim of the current study was to investigate whether functional deficits are associated with grey matter volume changes. In addition, possible grey matter differences between all PD patients and healthy controls were assessed.

Attentional and perceptual impairments in Parkinson's disease with visual hallucinations.

Visual hallucinations (VH) are common in Parkinson's Disease (PD). Both deficits of perception and attention seem to play a role in the pathogenesis of VH in PD. However, the possible coexistence of impairments in attention and visual perception in PD with VH is not known.

Impaired visual processing preceding image recognition in Parkinson's disease patients with visual hallucinations.

Impaired visual processing may play a role in the pathophysiology of visual hallucinations in Parkinson's disease. In order to study involved neuronal circuitry, we assessed cerebral activation patterns both before and during recognition of gradually revealed images in Parkinson's disease patients with visual hallucinations (PDwithVHs), Parkinson's disease patients without visual hallucinations (PDnonVHs) and healthy controls. We hypothesized that, before image recognition, PDwithVHs would show reduced bottom-up visual activation in occipital-temporal areas and increased (pre)frontal activation, reflecting increased top-down demand.

The effects of apomorphine on visual perception in patients with Parkinson disease and visual hallucinations: a pilot study.

Visual hallucinations (VHs) often occur in patients with advanced Parkinson disease (PD). Overstimulation of dopamine receptors has been considered as one of the causes for VHs in PD. However, several clinical studies suggested that apomorphine infusion did not worsen existing VHs in PD, but could even improve VHs in some PD patients.

Visual object recognition and attention in Parkinson's disease patients with visual hallucinations.

Visual hallucinations (VH) are common in Parkinson's disease (PD) and are hypothesized to be due to impaired visual perception and attention deficits. We investigated whether PD patients with VH showed attention deficits, a more specific impairment of higher order visual perception, or both. Forty-two volunteers participated in this study, including 14 PD patients with VH, 14 PD patients without VH and 14 healthy controls (HC), matched for age, gender, education level and for level of executive function.