Perception of Emotional Facial Expressions in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) at Behavioural and Brain Metabolic Level.

Introduction: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) primarily impairs motor abilities but also affects cognition and emotional processing. We hypothesise that subjective ratings of emotional stimuli depicting social interactions and facial expressions is changed in ALS. It was found that recognition of negative emotions and ability to mentalize other's intentions is reduced.

Additional resources and the default mode network: Evidence of increased connectivity and decreased white matter integrity in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

In amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), cognition is affected. Cortical atrophy in frontal and temporal areas has been associated with the cognitive profile of patients. Additionally, reduced metabolic turnover and regional cerebral blood flow in frontal areas indicative of reduced neural activity have been reported for ALS.

Do eye movement impairments in patients with small vessel cerebrovascular disease depend on lesion load or on cognitive deficits? A video-oculographic and MRI study.

Small vessel cerebrovascular disease (SVCD) is one of the most frequent vessel disorders in the aged brain. Among the spectrum of neurological disturbances related to SVCD, oculomotor dysfunction is a not well understood symptom- in particular, it remains unclear whether vascular lesion load in specific brain regions affects oculomotor function independent of cognitive decline in SVCD patients or whether the effect of higher brain function deficits prevails. In this study, we examined a cohort of 25 SVCD patients and 19 healthy controls using video-oculographic eye movement recording in a laboratory environment, computer-based MRI assessment of white matter lesion load (WMLL), assessment of extrapyramidal motor deficits, and psychometric testing.

Live and let die: existential decision processes in a fatal disease.

Decisions and determinants of decisions to prolong or shorten life in the course of fatal diseases like ALS are poorly understood. Decisions and desire for hastened death of N = 93 ALS patients were investigated in a prospective longitudinal approach three times in the course of 1 year. Determinants of decisions were evaluated: quality of life (QoL), depression, feeling of being a burden, physical function, social support and cognitive status.

Quality of life in fatal disease: the flawed judgement of the social environment.

Decisions to prolong or shorten life in fatal diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis are strongly influenced by healthy individuals, such as caregivers and physicians. Furthermore, many believe that amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients should decide ahead of time on advanced directives to circumvent confounding effects of subsequent cognitive impairments. The ability of healthy persons (caregivers and age-matched healthy subjects) to anticipate patients' quality of life (QoL), depression and vital decisions was determined in a cross-sectional approach.

Eye movement impairments in Parkinson's disease: possible role of extradopaminergic mechanisms.

Background: The basal ganglia (BG) are thought to play an important role in the control of eye movements. Accordingly, the broad variety of subtle oculomotor alterations that has been described in Parkinson's disease (PD) are generally attributed to the dysfunction of the BG dopaminergic system. However, the present study suggest that dopamine substitution is much less effective in improving oculomotor performance than it is in restoring skeletomotor abilities.

Deep brain stimulation and behavioural changes: is comedication the most important factor?

Background: Adverse effects of dopaminergic medication (DA; levodopa and dopamine agonists) on impulsive behaviour and decision-making in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) have been repeatedly reported. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is increasingly used for the treatment of parkinsonian motor symptoms, but the excellent efficacy of DBS contrasts with a growing number of reports that the treatment may result in behavioural complications.

Aims: We investigated impulsive behaviour under different therapeutic treatments.