Publications by authors named "G P Skandalakis"
Article Synopsis
- Three-dimensional printing (3DP) technology is increasingly used in spinal surgery for applications such as preoperative planning, custom implants, and surgical guides, promising personalized care and improved patient outcomes.
- A literature review highlights both the benefits of 3DP in enhancing surgical stability and precision, and significant barriers to its adoption, including high costs, technological limitations, and insufficient clinical evidence.
- Ongoing research and development aim to overcome these challenges, with the potential for 3DP technology to transform spinal surgery by enabling tailored treatments and better surgical strategies in the future.
Article Synopsis
- * This study utilized advanced techniques on samples from 1065 humans and 41 rhesus macaques to explore these connections, revealing a link between the posterior precuneus (POS2) and the temporal pole areas through the cingulum.
- * Findings enhance our understanding of brain connectivity and could help integrate anatomical knowledge with functional roles in both healthy and diseased brains.
Article Synopsis
- Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) effectively improves symptoms of Parkinson's disease, including tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity, and axial symptoms, by stimulating specific white matter tracts.
- A study involving 237 patients identified distinct brain tracts linked to improvements in each symptom, with tremor associated with the primary motor cortex and cerebellum, and axial symptoms linked to the supplementary motor cortex and brainstem.
- An introduced algorithm utilizes these symptom-tract connections to tailor DBS settings for individual patients, aiming to enhance treatment effectiveness based on the most impactful symptoms for each person.
Comprehensive understanding of the neural circuits involving the ventral tegmental area is essential for elucidating the anatomofunctional mechanisms governing human behaviour, in addition to the therapeutic and adverse effects of deep brain stimulation for neuropsychiatric diseases. Although the ventral tegmental area has been targeted successfully with deep brain stimulation for different neuropsychiatric diseases, the axonal connectivity of the region is not fully understood. Here, using fibre microdissections in human cadaveric hemispheres, population-based high-definition fibre tractography and previously reported deep brain stimulation hotspots, we find that the ventral tegmental area participates in an intricate network involving the serotonergic pontine nuclei, basal ganglia, limbic system, basal forebrain and prefrontal cortex, which is implicated in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder, major depressive disorder, Alzheimer's disease, cluster headaches and aggressive behaviours.
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