A multicenter reproducibility study of single-voxel 1H-MRS of the medial temporal lobe.

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS) has provided evidence for a reduction of N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA) in the medial temporal lobe (MTL) in cerebral disorders such as Alzheimer's Disease. Within the (1)H-MRS study of the German Research Network on Dementia, we determined the multicenter reproducibility of single-voxel (1)H-MRS of the MTL. At five sites with 1.

Changes in regional cerebral blood flow by therapeutic vagus nerve stimulation in depression: an exploratory approach.

Abnormalities in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) have been reported to characterize depressive episodes; they are at least partly reversed by antidepressant treatment. Treatment-specific as well as response-related changes in rCBF have been reported. We explored the changes in rCBF induced by vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), a recently proposed antidepressant strategy, by application of single photon emission-computed tomography with (99m)Tc-hexamethyl-propylene amine oxime in otherwise treatment-refractory patients.

A comparative study of the different N-acetylaspartate measures of the medial temporal lobe in Alzheimer's disease.

Objective: To investigate group differences and correlations and to determine the sensitivity and specificity of different measures of the neuronal marker N-acetylaspartate (NAA) in the medial temporal lobe of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) patients.

Methods: The metabolic ratio NAA/creatine (Cr), the absolute concentration of NAA referenced against brain tissue (BT) water and NAA multiplied with the amount of BT in the proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) voxel were assessed in patients and healthy controls with a single-voxel 1H-MRS protocol.

Results: All measures were significantly lower in AD patients compared with controls.

Differences of cerebral activation between superior and inferior learners during motor sequence encoding and retrieval.

Cerebral activation during memory encoding and retrieval might depend on subjects' learning capacity, either by corresponding to better performance in superior learners or by reflecting increased effort in inferior learners. To investigate these alternative hypotheses, the study compared cerebral activation during encoding and retrieval of a motor sequence in groups of subjects with superior and inferior learning performances. Ten healthy subjects underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing a motor sequence encoding paradigm (i.

Improvement of working but not declarative memory is correlated with HPA normalization during antidepressant treatment.

Previous research demonstrated that depression is associated with hyperactivity of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) system after stimulation. There is also strong evidence that the modulation of corticosteroids in the brain induces memory dysfunction which represents core features of depression. Antidepressant treatment with serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) alleviates both dysfunctions.

Impact of polymorphisms of cytochrome-P450 isoenzymes 2C9, 2C19 and 2D6 on plasma concentrations and clinical effects of antidepressants in a naturalistic clinical setting.

Objective: This evaluation focuses on polymorphisms of the cytochrome-P450 (CYP) isoenzymes 2C9, 2C19 and 2D6 and their association with plasma concentrations within a typical clinical setting. Side effects and treatment response were analysed in an exploratory approach in poor and ultra-rapid metabolisers.

Patients And Methods: We analysed 136 Caucasian depressed inpatients treated with amitriptyline, citalopram, clomipramine, doxepin, fluvoxamine, mirtazapine, paroxetine, sertraline and venlafaxine, who underwent weekly plasma concentration measurements, assessment of the severity of illness and side effects during their stay in the hospital.