Impact of Navigated Task-specific fMRI on Direct Cortical Stimulation.

Background And Study Aims:  Cortical mapping (CM) with direct cortical stimulation (DCS) in awake craniotomy is used to preserve cognitive functions such as language. Nevertheless, patient collaboration during this procedure is influenced by previous neurological symptoms and growing discomfort with DCS duration. Our study aimed to evaluate the impact of navigated task-specific functional magnetic resonance imaging (nfMRI) on the practical aspects of DCS.

A randomized, rater-blinded, parallel trial of intensive speech therapy in sub-acute post-stroke aphasia: the SP-I-R-IT study.

Background: There is conflicting evidence regarding the benefits of intensive speech and language therapy (SLT), particularly because intensity is often confounded with total SLT provided.

Aims: A two-centre, randomized, rater-blinded, parallel study was conducted to compare the efficacy of 100 h of SLT in a regular (RT) versus intensive (IT) treatment in sub-acute post-stroke aphasia.

Methods & Procedures: Consecutive patients with aphasia, within 3 months of a left hemisphere ischemic stroke, were randomized to IT (2 h per day × 5 days per week, 10 weeks) or RT (2 h per week × 50 weeks).

Neurological subtle signs and cognitive development: a study in late childhood and adolescence.

Introduction And Aim: Neurological subtle signs (NSS) are often observed during the neurological examination of children and tend to disappear with age. Their persistence into late adolescence or young adulthood has been related to psychiatric and neurocognitive disorders. To provide a better understanding of their functional basis, a longitudinal correlational study with neurocognitive measurements was performed.

fMRI binary detection of brain activated regions with graph-cuts.

The functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) is a technique with increasing applications in studying the brain function. The blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) is a fMRI method that allows the detection of brain activated regions after the application of an external stimulus, e.g.

Cross linguistic aphasia testing: the Portuguese version of the Aachen Aphasia Test (AAT).

We report the adaptation of the Aachen Aphasia Test (AAT) to the Portuguese language (PAAT) and the results of its standardization in 125 persons with aphasia and 153 healthy controls. Patients with aphasia had a previous syndromic diagnosis, obtained through a Portuguese aphasia battery, which served as a reference. The control group was stratified by age and educational level.

A longitudinal study of neurological soft signs from late childhood into early adulthood.

Neurological examination of children includes the screening for soft neurological signs (NSS). There is little knowledge about their evolution during adolescence, except that their lasting presence has been associated with developmental, psychological, and cognitive disorders. We report the results of a NSS exam (assessing gross and fine motor function and the presence of hyperactivity and motor impersistence) over a 5-year period, among a group of healthy children who were followed annually as part of a dental study.

Neurological outcomes in children with and without amalgam-related mercury exposure: seven years of longitudinal observations in a randomized trial.

Background: Although large-scale, randomized trials involving children have been completed and their results demonstrate an absence of neurobehavioral effects from clinical exposure to mercury amalgam, neurological findings from such studies have not been reported.

Methods: The authors conducted a randomized, prospective trial examining the safety of dental amalgam in which 507 children aged 8 through 12 years were assigned to treatment with either amalgam or resin-based composite. During seven years of follow-up, the authors performed annual clinical neurological examinations, including an evaluation of neurological hard signs (NHSs), presence of tremor and neurological soft signs (NSSs).

Neural physiological modeling towards a hemodynamic response function for fMRI.

The BOLD signal provided by the functional MRI medical modality measures the ratio of oxy- to deoxyhaemoglobin at each location inside the brain. The detection of activated regions upon the application of an external stimulus, e.g.