Increased right auditory cortex activity in absolute pitch possessors.

We recorded the auditory-evoked magnetic fields from children and adults with absolute pitch during the following tasks: (1) hearing 1000 Hz pure tones inattentively, (2) hearing eight random tones inattentively and (3) listening to eight random tones and identifying each tone. In children with absolute pitch, there was no significant positive correlation between the appearance rate of N100m and the kinds of tasks. In adults with absolute pitch, only the right N100m dipole moments increased significantly in tasks (1) and (2).

Patients with benign rolandic epilepsy have a longer duration of somatosensory evoked high-frequency oscillations.

Background: High-frequency oscillations (HFO) ranging between 300-900 Hz have been shown to be superimposed on an early component of somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP) to median nerve stimulation in humans. Although the HFO are speculated to be a localized activity of the GABAergic inhibitory interneurons, the significance in the epileptogenicity remains unclear. The authors of this study analyzed HFO using magnetoencephalography in patients with benign rolandic epilepsy (BRE) to clarify the neurophysio-logical basis of rolandic discharges (RD).

A magnetoencephalographic study of negative myoclonus in a patient with atypical benign partial epilepsy.

Purpose: To clarify the neurophysiological mechanism of epileptic negative myoclonus (NM) of a patient with atypical benign partial epilepsy whose NM was completely suppressed with ethosuximide.

Methods: Polygraphic recordings of whole-head type magnetoencephalography (MEG), EEG and electromyography were made during NM of the bilateral hands. The silent period of 200-400 ms duration in the bilateral biceps muscles was associated with paroxysmal spikes on EEG and MEG.

Magnetoencephalographic analysis of rolandic discharges in a patient with rolandic epilepsy associated with oromotor deficits.

The purpose of this study was to clarify the neurophysiologic basis of oromotor deficits in a patient with atypical rolandic epilepsy. We investigated magnetoencephalographic analysis of rolandic discharges with right predominance before and during clonazepam therapy. Before clonazepam administration, current sources of rolandic discharges were broadly distributed in the secondary sensory cortex, superior temporal gyrus, and parietal association area in addition to hand and orofacial division of the primary somatosensory cortex.

N100m in adults possessing absolute pitch.

We recorded the auditory evoked magnetic fields from adults with and without absolute pitch under the following conditions: hearing 1000 Hz pure tones inattentively (single tone session) and listening to eight random tones and identifying each tone (labeling session). In the adults with absolute pitch, the bilateral N100m dipole moments increased significantly in the labeling session. While, in the adults without absolute pitch, the left N100m dipole moment alone increased in the labeling session.

Children are sensitive to averted eyes at the earliest stage of gaze processing.

Event-related responses to a face with forward gaze or averted gaze (gaze task) and two equiluminous mosaic images (mosaic task) were recorded from healthy children aged 8-12 years and adults, using MEG and EEG. In children, a clear occipito-temporal magnetic field activity (P1m, around 140 ms) was observed bilaterally, and the right P1m amplitude was increased when viewing a face with averted gaze compared with that when viewing a face with forward gaze. This effect was not observed in adults.

N100m in children possessing absolute pitch.

We recorded the auditory evoked magnetic fields from children with and without absolute pitch under the following conditions: (a) hearing 1000 Hz pure tones inattentively, (b) hearing eight random tones inattentively and (c) listening to eight random tones and identifying each tone. We calculated the appearance rate of N100m as the ratio of the subjects who had N100m. There was a significant positive correlation between the appearance rate of N100m and age in both groups.

A family of episodic ataxia type 2: no evidence of genetic linkage to the CACNA1A gene.

Episodic ataxia type 2 (EA2) has been reported to result from mutations in the CACNA1A gene, located on chromosome 19p13. We describe a family with episodic ataxia, clinically indistinguishable from EA2, that was not caused by CACNA1A gene mutation. The proband is an 11-year-old boy, who has had 6 cerebellar ataxic attacks since 8 years of age.

A case of left ventricular endomyocardial fibrosis.

The patient was a 29-year-old woman. When she consulted a local physician with chief complaints of fever and fatigue of the extremities, cerebral infarction was detected on MRI, in addition to abnormalities found on ECG. Ultrasonic cardiography revealed the presence of a tumor in the left ventricle.

People with absolute pitch process tones with producing P300.

We recorded a P300 component of event-related potentials associated with auditory oddball tasks in nine absolute pitch (AP) possessors and seven non-AP possessors. The previous studies demonstrated that AP possessors did not appear to employ working memory during auditory oddball tasks because they have a fixed tonal template in their memories. However, the present findings showed that the AP possessors exhibited similar P300 as the non-AP possessors and did update the tonal context in the auditory oddball tasks.

Analysis of the AAAS gene in a Japanese patient with triple A syndrome.

Triple A syndrome, also known as Allgrove syndrome, is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by adrenal insufficiency, achalasia and alacrima. It has recently been reported that this syndrome is caused by mutations in the AAAS gene. In the present study, we analyzed the AAAS gene in a Japanese patient with triple A syndrome.

[An infection with Legionella pneumophila treated with intravenous ciprofloxacin].

A 60-year-old diabetic man who had had a coronary artery bypass graft operation was admitted to Okaya Enrei Hospital because of coughing, high fever and dyspnea. Chest high-resolution computed tomography scans revealed bilateral pleural effusions and left-sided alveolar shadows and ground glass opacity. These infiltrations in the left lung field showed rapid growth.