Targeting phosphocreatine metabolism in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: evaluation with brain MRI, H and P MRS, and clinical and cognitive testing.

Background/objectives: Fluoxetine and prucalopride might change phosphocreatine (PCr) levels via the cAMP-PKA pathway, an interesting target in the neurodegenerative mechanisms of MS.

Methods: We conducted a two-center double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial including 48 relapsing-remitting MS patients. Patients were randomized to receive placebo (n = 13), fluoxetine (n = 15), or prucalopride (n = 14) for 6 weeks.

Altered default-mode network activation in mild cognitive impairment compared with healthy aging.

Introduction: Rapidly increasing aging of the world's population is causing a heightened prevalence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The global burden, caused by this, is tremendous. In order to slow down the progression of the disease and preserve quality of life as much as possible, early identification of subjects at risk is indispensable within this framework.

The influence of sex, age and heritability on human skeletal muscle carnosine content.

The dipeptide carnosine is found in high concentrations in human skeletal muscle and shows large inter-individual differences. Sex and age are determining factors, however, systematic studies investigating the sex effects on muscle carnosine content throughout the human lifespan are lacking. Despite the large inter-individual variation, the intra-individual variation is limited.

Mental rotation meets the motion aftereffect: the role of hV5/MT+ in visual mental imagery.

A growing number of studies show that visual mental imagery recruits the same brain areas as visual perception. Although the necessity of hV5/MT+ for motion perception has been revealed by means of TMS, its relevance for motion imagery remains unclear. We induced a direction-selective adaptation in hV5/MT+ by means of an MAE while subjects performed a mental rotation task that elicits imagined motion.

Differentiation between deep and superficial fibers of the lumbar multifidus by magnetic resonance imaging.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the differentiation in muscle tissue characteristics and recruitment between the deep and superficial multifidus muscle by magnetic resonance imaging. The multifidus is a very complex muscle in which a superficial and deep component can be differentiated from an anatomical, biomechanical, histological and neuromotorial point of view. To date, the histological evidence is limited to low back pain patients undergoing surgery and cadavers.

Hippocampal activation during face-name associative memory encoding: blocked versus permuted design.

Introduction: The contribution of the hippocampal subregions to episodic memory through the formation of new associations between previously unrelated items such as faces and names is established but remains under discussion. Block design studies in this area of research generally tend to show posterior hippocampal activation during encoding of novel associational material while event-related studies emphasize anterior hippocampal involvement. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to assess the involvement of anterior and posterior hippocampus in the encoding of novel associational material compared to the viewing of previously seen associational material.

Changes in lumbar muscle activity because of induced muscle pain evaluated by muscle functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Study Design: Experimental study of changes in muscle recruitment during trunk extension exercise at 40% of the repetition maximum, because of induced muscle pain.

Objective: To investigate the effect of lumbar muscle pain on muscle activity of the trunk muscles using muscle functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Summary Of Background Data: Changed muscle recruitment in patients has an important impact on the etiology and recurrence of low back pain.

Trial pacing in mental rotation tasks.

Functional imaging of mental rotation has revealed a wide variety of cortical activation patterns besides the consensus on parietal involvement. Some insight has been gained on the role of motor cortex, but the differential activation of other brain regions has received little attention. A previous fMRI study using a blocked substraction design [D'Esposito et al.

In vivo characterization of 123/125I-2-iodo-L-phenylalanine in an R1M rhabdomyosarcoma athymic mouse model as a potential tumor tracer for SPECT.

Unlabelled: The application of 123I-3-iodo-alpha-methyltyrosine is limited to diagnosis of brain tumors due to its marked long-term uptake in kidneys. In vitro evaluation of 125I-2-iodo-L-phenylalanine showed high uptake in R1M cells by L-type amino acid transport system 1 (LAT1). This study evaluates 123I-2-iodo-L-phenylalanine as a new specific tumor tracer for SPECT.

Vagus nerve stimulation for refractory epilepsy: a transatlantic experience.

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is an alternative treatment for medically or surgically refractory epilepsy. The long-term efficacy and safety of VNS were evaluated in a large patient series at Ghent University Hospital and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Between March 1995 and February 2003, seizure frequency and type as well as prescribed antiepileptic drugs and side effects were prospectively assessed in 131 patients treated with VNS in either center.

Neurostimulation for refractory epilepsy.

Neurostimulation is an emerging treatment for refractory epilepsy. To date the precise mechanism of action remains to be elucidated. Better insight in the mechanism of action may identify seizure types or syndromes that respond to such a treatment and may guide the search for optimal stimulation parameters and finally improve clinical efficacy.

Motor imagery in mental rotation: an fMRI study.

Twelve right-handed men performed two mental rotation tasks and two control tasks while whole-head functional magnetic resonance imaging was applied. Mental rotation tasks implied the comparison of different sorts of stimulus pairs, viz. pictures of hands and pictures of tools, which were either identical or mirror images and which were rotated in the plane of the picture.

Long-term amygdalohippocampal stimulation for refractory temporal lobe epilepsy.

Short-term deep brain stimulation (DBS) recently has been shown to be efficacious in refractory temporal lobe epilepsy. We (1) evaluated long-term DBS in medial temporal lobe structures in patients with normal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings and (2) investigated the use of chronic DBS electrodes for the localization of the ictal onset zone before DBS. In three patients with complex partial seizures (CPSs), DBS electrodes were implanted in the amygdalohippocampal region to identify and subsequently stimulate the ictal onset zone.