Publications by authors named "Efrain Santiago-Rodriguez"

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder appearing in childhood but remaining in many cases in adults. There are both pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches to treating ADHD, but they do not have the same efficacy in all subjects. Better knowledge of the neurophysiological basis of this disorder will allow for the design of more effective treatments.

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Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) appears in adolescence with myoclonic, absence, and generalized tonic clonic (GTC) seizures with paroxysmal activity of polyspike and slow wave (PSW), or spike and wave (SW) complexes in EEG. Our aim was to analyze the clinical characteristics, background EEG activity, and paroxysmal events in 41 patients with JME. Background EEG activity was analyzed with visual, quantitative (QEEG), and neurometric parameters.

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Dark chocolate is rich in flavonoids that can have effects on body composition and cognitive performance. The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of acute and subchronic chocolate intake on electrical brain oscillations. A study with 20 healthy subjects (mean age of 24.

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The rate of premature births has increased in the past 2 decades. Ten percent of premature birth survivors develop motor impairment, but almost half exhibit later sensorial, cognitive, and emotional disabilities attributed to white matter injury and decreased volume of neuronal structures. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that premature and full-term infants differ in their development of emotional face processing.

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Hazardous alcohol consumption is a pattern of consumption that leads to a higher risk of harmful consequences either for the user or for others. This pattern of alcohol consumption has been linked to risky behaviors, accidents, and injuries. Individuals with hazardous alcohol consumption do not necessarily present alcohol dependence; thus, a study of particular neurophysiological correlates of this alcohol consumption pattern needs to be carried out in nondependent individuals.

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Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) is characterized by necrosis of the cerebral white matter in the dorsolateral portions of the lateral ventricles. PVL causes motor, sensory, and cognitive deficits. The aim of this study was to analyze the conduction characteristics of the visual pathway in infants with diffuse PVL using visual evoked potentials (VEPs).

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Background: Periventricular Leukomalacia (PVL) affects white matter, but grey matter injuries have also been reported, particularly in the dorsomedial nucleus and the cortex. Both structures have been related to working memory (WM) processes. The aim of this study was to compare behavioral performances and EEG power spectra during a visuospatial working memory task (VSWMT) of toddlers with a history of PVL and healthy toddlers.

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Article Synopsis
  • Infants with perinatal risk factors can experience hearing loss, with about 2-4% affected at birth.
  • A study examined how hearing aid use impacted auditory function in these infants, measuring it through otoacoustic emissions (OAEs), auditory brain responses (ABRs), and auditory steady state responses (ASSRs).
  • Results showed significant improvements in ABR and ASSR thresholds after six months of aid use in the right ear, but no changes were noted in OAEs, suggesting that while hearing aids may enhance certain auditory responses, they do not modify the auditory receptor function.
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Background And Aims: Many patients with complete spinal cord injury (SCI) exhibit demyelinated and poorly myelinated nerve fibers traversing the lesion site. Conventional doses of 4-aminopyridine (4-AP, 30 mg/day) have shown to provide no or minor functional improvement in these patients. We undertook this study to test the functional effect of high doses of 4-AP on patients with chronic complete SCI with cord continuity at the site of injury demonstrated by magnetic resonance imaging.

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Approximately 2-4 % of newborns with perinatal risk factors present hearing loss. The aim of this study was to analyse the auditory function in infants with perinatal brain injury (PBI). Brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs), auditory steady state responses (ASSRs), and tympanometry studies were carried out in 294 infants with PBI (586 ears, two infants had unilateral microtia-atresia).

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Periventricular leukomalacia is characterized by damage to the brain's white matter and impairments in motor function. Motor-evoked potentials by transcranial magnetic stimulation evaluate corticospinal tract function. We analyzed alterations in motor-evoked potentials in newborns with periventricular leukomalacia.

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Purpose: To evaluate the number of seizures and interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) in patients with focal neocortical epilepsy before, during and after rTMS.

Methods: Twelve patients (seven men and five women, mean age 29.3+/-15.

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Purpose: To analyze background EEG activity of patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) with and without antiepileptic drugs.

Methods: We studied the background EEG activity in 18 patients with JME. The qEEG analysis included absolute power (AP), relative power (RP) and mean frequency (MF) of delta, theta, alpha and beta bands.

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The objective of this work was to explore Neurofeedback (NFB) effects on EEG current sources in Learning Disabled (LD) children, and to corroborate its beneficial consequences on behavioral and cognitive performance. NFB was given in twenty 30-min sessions to 11 LD children to reduce their abnormally high theta/alpha ratios (Experimental Group). Another five LD children with the same characteristics received a placebo treatment (Control Group).

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Purpose: To evaluate the effects of two cycles of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), 30 s/5 min and 7 s/18 s on the interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs).

Methods: Twenty patients were studied, 12 with generalized and 8 with partial seizures. An EEG of 120 channels was performed during 3 different conditions, each one lasting 30 min: basal state (BS), 30 s/5 min and 7 s/18 s VNS cycles.

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Background: Recently, new methods of EEG source analysis have been developed. Dipole modeling and brain distributed source analysis localize in three-dimensions the origin of the electrical source of spikes registered in EEG. With single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), it is possible to detect hypo- and hyperperfusion zones.

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Infants with perinatal brain injury present impairments in motor, visual, auditory, and cognitive functions. The most useful methods for detecting auditory alterations are auditory brainstem responses and otoacoustic emissions. Auditory steady-state responses have been reported as a reliable and objective technique for evaluating the hearing threshold.

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The sources of different EEG frequencies were studied in 25 normal children and 46 learning disabled (not otherwise specified) children between 7 and 11 years old. The EEG sources were computed using Frequency-domain Variable Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography which produces a three dimensional picture of the currents at each EEG frequency. Significant differences between groups were observed.

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Inadequate compliance is a major contributor to unsuccessful treatment in epilepsies. To establish risk factors associated with therapeutic non-compliance in patients with epilepsy, we carried out a case-control study, nested into a cohort, with thirteen factors possibly implicated in therapeutic non-compliance. The patient's general characteristics, the illness, and patient-practitioner relationship were studied.

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We applied dipole modeling and brain distributed source analysis to find current sources comprising spikes and slow waves of polyspike and wave complexes (PSWC) in patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME). The dipoles were localized in frontal, parietal and temporal lobes. The frontal dipoles were clustered in the frontal medial gyrus and fronto-orbital region.

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The precision between dipole Brain Electric Source Analysis (BESA) and brain distributed Variable Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography (VARETA) models for the localization of brain sources of interictal epileptiform discharges in patients with partial complex epilepsy was compared. The localization of brain sources calculated with dipole analysis and variable resolution electromagnetic tomography in 20 interictal recordings was analyzed. The origin of the dipoles was temporal in 18 cases, frontal in 1 and occipital in another.

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