The added value of b0-DWI analysis in the diagnosis of cavitating lacunes when T2-weighted spin-echo is unavailable.

Purpose: Silent brain infarcts, sometimes appearing as incidental lacunes in patients with unknown history of vascular event, are linked to dementia, gait disturbances and depression. We observed that some cavitating lacunes were only visible on b0-diffusion-weighted-imaging (b0-DWI: T2-weighted without diffusion gradients) when T2-weighted-spin-echo (T2-SE) was unavailable. We aimed to evaluate the additional value of b0-DWI in detecting cavitating lacunes.

Neural basis of lower-limb visual feedback therapy: an EEG study in healthy subjects.

Background: Video-feedback observational therapy (VOT) is an intensive rehabilitation technique based on movement repetition and visualization that has shown benefits for motor rehabilitation of the upper and lower limbs. Despite an increase in recent literature on the neurophysiological effects of VOT in the upper limb, there is little knowledge about the cortical effects of visual feedback therapies when applied to the lower limbs. The aim of our study was to better understand the neurophysiological effects of VOT.

Video mirror feedback induces more extensive brain activation compared to the mirror box: an fNIRS study in healthy adults.

Background: Mirror therapy (MT) has been shown to be effective for motor recovery of the upper limb after a stroke. The cerebral mechanisms of mirror therapy involve the precuneus, premotor cortex and primary motor cortex. Activation of the precuneus could be a marker of this effectiveness.

Neural Substrates for Hand and Shoulder Movement in Healthy Adults: A Functional near Infrared Spectroscopy Study.

Characterization of cortical activation patterns during movements in healthy adults may help our understanding of how the injured brain works. Upper limb motor tasks are commonly used to assess impaired motor function and to predict recovery in individuals with neurological disorders such as stroke. This study aimed to explore cortical activation patterns associated with movements of the hand and shoulder using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and to demonstrate the potential of this technology to distinguish cerebral activation between distal and proximal movements.

T Lymphocyte Serotonin 5-HT Receptor Is Dysregulated in Natalizumab-Treated Multiple Sclerosis Patients.

Serotonin (5-HT) is known as a potent immune cell modulator in autoimmune diseases and should be protective in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). Nevertheless, there is limited knowledge about receptors involved in 5-HT effects as well as induced mechanisms. Among 5-HT receptors, the 5-HT receptor is able to activate naïve T cells and influence the inflammatory response; however, its involvement in the disease has never been studied so far.

Relation between Cortical Activation and Effort during Robot-Mediated Walking in Healthy People: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Neuroimaging Study (fNIRS).

Force and effort are important components of a motor task that can impact rehabilitation effectiveness. However, few studies have evaluated the impact of these factors on cortical activation during gait. The purpose of the study was to investigate the relation between cortical activation and effort required during exoskeleton-mediated gait at different levels of physical assistance in healthy individuals.

Effect of the Level of Physical Activity on Prefrontal Cortex Hemodynamics in Older Adults During Single- and Dual-Task Walking.

The present study aimed to examine the impact of the level of physical activity on prefrontal cortex activation in older adults during single- and dual-task walking. Thirty physically inactive and 36 active older adults (60-85 years old) performed six 2-min tasks on a treadmill: two static cognitive tasks, two single-task walking tests, and two dual-task walking tests. Hemodynamics at the level of the prefrontal cortex were measured continuously using functional near-infrared spectroscopy to evaluate cortical activation.

Peripheral neuropathy and livedoid vasculopathy.

Background: Livedoid vasculopathy (LV) is a chronic dermatosis associated with micro-thrombosis of the vessels of the dermis, leading to ischemic lesions and painful skin ulcerations of the lower limbs. This thrombosing occlusive vasculopathy, clearly distinct from 'classical vasculitis' (not related to alteration of vessel walls), may lead to peripheral neuropathy.

Objective: To clarify the main clinical, electrophysiological and pathological characteristics of peripheral neuropathy linked to LV.

Disturbed expression of autophagy genes in blood of Parkinson's disease patients.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder which affects dopaminergic neurons leading to alteration of numerous cellular pathways. Several reports highlight that PD disturbs also other cells than CNS neurons including PBMCs, which could lead, among other things, to dysfunctions of immune functions. Because autophagy could be altered in PD, a monocentric pilot study was performed to quantify the transcripts levels of several autophagy genes in blood cells.

[A perceptual analysis of dysarthria following cranial trauma].

Introduction: Dysarthria is a frequent cause of handicap for patients with traumatic brain injury. Clinical assessment and quantification of the disorder is necessary before treatment.

Methods: We report a perceptual analysis of speech in a population of 18 patients with traumatic brain injury, in comparison with 18 control subjects.

[Speech therapy for the dysarthria of Parkinson's disease].

Introduction: Dysarthria is frequent in Parkinson's disease and impairs communication.

State Of The Art: Use of levodopa or surgical procedures does not significantly improve speech. Traditional speech therapy can lead to improvement of dysarthria, and intensive programs have recently showed substantial beneficial effects on parkinsonian dysarthria.

The place of perceptual analysis of dysarthria in the differential diagnosis of corticobasal degeneration and Parkinson's disease.

Objective: To characterize the dysarthria in patients with corticobasal degeneration (CBD) and determine if analysis of speech in isolation helps to distinguish CBD patients from patients with Parkinson's disease (PD).

Methods: 60 subjects were assessed by means of perceptual analysis of speech: 15 patients with CBD, 15 patients with PD and 30 control subjects. A detailed profile was furnished with the help of 33 perceptual items.

Orofacial apraxia in corticobasal degeneration, progressive supranuclear palsy, multiple system atrophy and Parkinson's disease.

Objectives: To determine whether the assessment of orofacial praxis is useful for the differential diagnosis of parkinsonian syndromes and to understand the neural mechanisms underlying OFA, searching for the respective roles of cortical and subcortical structures.

Methods: Forty-four patients were assessed: 12 with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD), 8 with multiple system atrophy (MSA), 12 with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and 12 with corticobasal degeneration (CBD). An easy bedside scale was used, exploring single gestures, gestures with noise production and multiple sequential gestures.

Treatments for dysarthria in Parkinson's disease.

Dysarthria in Parkinson's disease can be characterised by monotony of pitch and loudness, reduced stress, variable rate, imprecise consonants, and a breathy and harsh voice. Use of levodopa to replenish dopamine concentrations in the striatum seems to improve articulation, voice quality, and pitch variation, although some studies show no change in phonatory parameters. Traditional speech therapy can lead to improvement of dysarthria, and intensive programmes have had substantial beneficial effects on vocal loudness.

[Speech therapy of dysarthria in Parkinson's disease].

The treatment of speech impairment, a factor of loneliness, speech therapy to treat dysarthria in Parkinson's disease is a fundamental aspect of patient management. The impact of medicinal treatment of dysarthria is controversial and surgery appears to worsen the problem. Various speech therapy approaches are relaxation, postural rehabilitation, respiration, phonation, articulation and prosodic re-education.

[Perceptual analysis of dysarthria: presentation and validation of a clinical scale. Preliminary study].

Perceptual analysis is widely used in clinical practice to assess motor speech disorders such as dysarthria. Unfortunately, there is no standardised tool available in French. The purpose of this study was first to develop a perceptual rating system modelled after systems currently used in the English literature and second to determine its reliability.

[Palinopsia associated with partial seizures secondary to right parietal hemorrhage].

Palinopsia and motor partial seizures were associated in a 51-year-old man. The manifestation appeared six months after a right parietal hemorrhage. The relationship between the hallucinatory phenomena and epilepsy is discussed.

Measurement of voice onset time in dysarthric patients: methodological considerations.

Voice onset time (VOT) reflects the timing control between laryngeal and supralaryngeal adjustments. It has been studied both in normal speakers and patients with speech disorders, but very little information has been published on the feasibility of this measure in clinical practice. We examined 10 repeated utterances involving the voiceless stop consonants [p], [t] and [k] in 110 subjects (27 controls, 48 with spastic dysarthria and 35 with hypokinetic dysarthria).

Dysarthria and orofacial apraxia in corticobasal degeneration.

The authors evaluated dysarthria and orofacial apraxia (OFA) in 10 patients with a clinical diagnosis of corticobasal degeneration (CBD). Nine patients were slightly dysarthric according to the French version of the Frenchay Dysarthria Assessment, which evaluates the motricity of the components of the vocal tract. The severity of dysarthria assessed by an intelligibility score was correlated to the global severity of the disease, but not to the duration of the disease.

[Myasthenic syndrome induced by lithium].

Background: Lithium salts can induce a dysfunction of the neuromuscular junction.

Case Report: A patient given lithium for bipolar psychosis developed a state of major fatigue revealing a myasthenia syndrome which resolved progressively after lithium withdrawal.

Discussion: In the literature, we found 4 cases of neuromuscular junction disorders in patients treated with lithium.

[Isolated truncular paralysis of the musculocutaneous nerve of the upper limb].

Isolated palsy of the musculocutaneous nerve, terminal branch of the lateral cord of the brachial plexus, is rare. It is responsible for sensory loss of the distal forearm and weakness of elbow flexion. It occurs after shoulder or clavicle surgery, trauma (fracture, dislocation, blows on the shoulder), violent exercice or extension of the forearm, prolonged positioning of the shoulder in extension-abduction-external rotation and phlebotomy.

[Evaluation of motor speech function in the diagnosis of various forms of dysarthria].

Perceptual analysis is not sufficient enough to identify specific dysarthria types. In order to improve the discrimination between dysarthria types, we developed a standardized evaluation of different functions controlling speech motor performances. This was applied to 90 patients suffering from hypokinetic, spastic or ataxic dysarthria and 15 control subjects.

[Cortico-basal degeneration].

Cortico-basal degeneration (CBD) has recently emerged as a distinctive entity of the Parkinson-plus syndromes but presents with great clinical and anatomopathological heterogeneity. The purpose of this review is to increase awareness of the syndrome and facilitate its recognition in both typical and unusual cases. We will herein review the 398 cases found in the English and French literature with their clinical, laboratory and pathological features.