Contribution of 1H spectroscopy to a brief cognitive-functional test battery for the diagnosis of mild Alzheimer's disease.

Background/aims: The diagnosis of mild or questionable Alzheimer's disease (AD) depends on clinical criteria that often leave a margin for doubt. We aim to verify the diagnostic accuracy of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and AD with proton spectroscopy (1H-MRS) combined with brief cognitive-functional scales.

Methods: The relationship between 1H-MRS of the posterior cingulate cortex and the cognitive performance in Mini Mental State Examination, Blessed-Roth Dementia Rating and Functional Assessment Staging of Alzheimer Disease scales were investigated in 25 AD, 10 aMCI and 33 normal control (NC) individuals.

The human pyramidal syndrome Redux.

Experimental studies in nonhuman primates have questioned the selectivity of pyramidal tract damage in giving rise to the classical pyramidal syndrome in humans, characterized by permanent spastic hemiplegia (PSH). According to this view, concomitant injury of extrapyramidal pathways is necessary for the development of both hemiplegia and spasticity. In this study we used conventional magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging tractography to characterize the anatomical correlates of PSH in a patient with a rare and discrete unilateral lesion of the medullary pyramid.

Neuroplasticity in human callosal dysgenesis: a diffusion tensor imaging study.

Callosal dysgenesis (CD) is observed in many neurodevelopmental conditions, but its subjacent mechanisms are unknown, despite extensive research on animals. Here we employ magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging and tractography in human CD to reveal the aberrant circuitry of these brains. We searched particularly for evidence of plasticity.

The cerebral correlates of set-shifting: an fMRI study of the trail making test.

The trail making test (TMT) pertains to a family of tests that tap the ability to alternate between cognitive categories. However, the value of the TMT as a localizing instrument remains elusive. Here we report the results of a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study of a verbal adaptation of the TMT (vTMT).

The neural correlates of moral sensitivity: a functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation of basic and moral emotions.

Humans are endowed with a natural sense of fairness that permeates social perceptions and interactions. This moral stance is so ubiquitous that we may not notice it as a fundamental component of daily decision making and in the workings of many legal, political, and social systems. Emotion plays a pivotal role in moral experience by assigning human values to events, objects, and actions.