Publications by authors named "J K Samaha"
Article Synopsis
- The economic crisis in Lebanon, starting in 2019, has severely impacted the healthcare system and the lives of people with epilepsy (PWE), affecting their quality of life (QOL) and access to treatment.
- A study involving 71 PWE aged 18-65 highlighted that 71% experienced difficulties due to the crisis, including increased seizure frequency and seizure-related injuries, while many had to change or stop their medications.
- The findings indicate a direct correlation between the economic crisis and lower QOL, especially among those who are unemployed, less educated, or require polytherapy, revealing the urgent need for support and solutions for PWE in Lebanon.
Article Synopsis
- Fatty acid oxidation defects are rare genetic disorders that can lead to varying health issues, and early detection through neonatal screening may improve patient outcomes, particularly in resource-limited regions like Lebanon.
- * A study reviewed the medical records of 34 patients with different types of fatty acid oxidation defects, most diagnosed at symptomatic stages and from consanguineous families.
- * The most common defect was carnitine transporter deficiency, primarily affecting the heart, while medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency was less common, indicating the need for improved neonatal screening in the region.
Endogenous shifts of spatial attention toward an upcoming stimulus are associated with improvements in behavioral responses to the stimulus, preparatory retinotopic shifts in alpha power, and changes in ERPs. Although attentional modulation of several early sensory ERPs is well established, there is still debate about under what circumstances attention affects the earliest cortical visual evoked response-the C1 ERP component-which is putatively generated from afferent input into primary visual cortex. Moreover, the effects of spatial attention on the recently discovered ERP signature of evidence accumulation-the central parietal positivity (CPP)-have not been fully characterized.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParaneoplastic neurological disorders are a rare complication of multiple neoplasms, such as lung, testis, and breast, and can be associated with positive antibody anti-Hu (anti-neuronal nuclear antibody type 1 or ANNA-1), anti-Ta, anti-Ma, and uncharacterized antibody, or be antibody-negative. Early treatment of the underlying tumor is the most likely modality that will lead to regression of the paraneoplastic neurological symptoms. Here, we present a case of a 73-year-old female with new-onset seizure activity from ANNA-1 encephalitis found to have undiagnosed small cell lung cancer to highlight the need for further workup for malignancy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObservers can discriminate between correct versus incorrect perceptual decisions with feelings of confidence. The centro-parietal positivity build-up rate (CPP slope) has been suggested as a likely neural signature of accumulated evidence, which may guide both perceptual performance and confidence. However, CPP slope also covaries with reaction time, which also covaries with confidence in previous studies, and performance and confidence typically covary; thus, CPP slope may index signatures of perceptual performance rather than confidence per se.
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