Effects of emotional valence and intensity on cognitive and affective empathy after insula lesions.

The insula plays a central role in empathy. However, the complex structure of cognitive (CE) and affective empathy (AE) deficits following insular damage is not fully understood. In the present study, patients with insular lesions (n = 20) and demographically matched healthy controls (n = 24) viewed ecologically valid videos that varied in terms of valence and emotional intensity.

Lateralized deficits in arousal processing after insula lesions: Behavioral and autonomic evidence.

A large body of evidence ascribes a pivotal role in emotion processing to the insular cortex. However, the complex structure and lateralization of emotional deficits following insular damage are not understood. Here, we investigated emotional ratings of valence and arousal and skin conductance responses (SCR) to a graded series of emotionally arousing scenes in patients with left (n = 10) or right (n = 9) insular damage and in healthy controls (n = 18).

Phasic alerting increases visual processing speed in amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

External warning cues temporarily increase the brain's sensitivity for upcoming events, helping individuals to flexibly adapt their reactions to the requirements of complex visual environments. Previous studies reported that younger and cognitively normal older adults profit from phasic alerting cues. Such an intact phasic alerting mechanism could be even more relevant in individuals with Alzheimer's disease who are characterized by reduced processing capacities.

Effects of Temporary Functional Deafferentation in Chronic Stroke Patients: Who Profits More?

Temporary functional deafferentation (TFD) by an anesthetic cream on the stroke-affected forearm was shown to improve sensorimotor abilities of stroke patients. The present study investigated different predictors for sensorimotor improvements during TFD and indicated outcome differences between patients grouped in subcortical lesions only and lesions with any cortical involvement. Thirty-four chronic stroke patients were temporarily deafferented on the more affected forearm by an anesthetic cream.

Neuro-cognitive mechanisms of simultanagnosia in patients with posterior cortical atrophy.

Posterior cortical atrophy is dominated by progressive degradation of parieto-occipital grey and white matter, and represents in most cases a variant of Alzheimer's disease. Patients with posterior cortical atrophy are characterized by increasing higher visual and visuo-spatial impairments. In particular, a key symptom of posterior cortical atrophy is simultanagnosia i.

Serum S100B Protein is Specifically Related to White Matter Changes in Schizophrenia.

Background: Schizophrenia can be conceptualized as a form of dysconnectivity between brain regions.To investigate the neurobiological foundation of dysconnectivity, one approach is to analyze white matter structures, such as the pathology of fiber tracks. S100B is considered a marker protein for glial cells, in particular oligodendrocytes and astroglia, that passes the blood brain barrier and is detectable in peripheral blood.

Differences in somatosensory and motor improvement during temporary functional deafferentation in stroke patients and healthy subjects.

Temporary functional deafferentation is of interest to become an additional tool in neurorehabilitative treatments. Temporary functional deafferentation is known to improve sensory and motor outcomes in chronic stroke patients and healthy subjects. The present study soughts to indicate differences in the efficiency of pharmacologically induced temporary functional deafferentation between chronic stroke patients and matched healthy subjects.

Effects of temporary functional deafferentation on the brain, sensation, and behavior of stroke patients.

Following stroke, many patients suffer from chronic motor impairment and reduced somatosensation in the stroke-affected body parts. Recent experimental studies suggest that temporary functional deafferentation (TFD) of parts of the stroke-affected upper limb or of the less-affected contralateral limb might improve the sensorimotor capacity of the stroke-affected hand. The present study sought evidence of cortical reorganization and related sensory and motor improvements following pharmacologically induced TFD of the stroke-affected forearm.

Deafferentation of the affected arm: a method to improve rehabilitation?

Background And Purpose: Reduced somatosensation is a common impairment after stroke. This somatosensory deficit is known to be a reliable predictor of poor rehabilitation outcome. Several methods of physical therapy have addressed this problem, but with only moderate success.

Functional deactivations: multiple ipsilateral brain areas engaged in the processing of somatosensory information.

Somatosensory signals modulate activity throughout a widespread network in both of the brain hemispheres: the contralateral as well as the ipsilateral side of the brain relative to the stimulated limb. To analyze the ipsilateral somatosensory brain areas that are engaged during limb stimulation, we performed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 12 healthy subjects during electrical median nerve stimulation using both a block- and an event-related fMRI design. Data were analyzed through the use of model-dependent (SPM) and model-independent (ICA) approaches.

Phospholipase A2 activity is associated with structural brain changes in schizophrenia.

Regional structural brain changes are among the most robust biological findings in schizophrenia, yet the underlying pathophysiological changes remain poorly understood. Recent evidence suggests that abnormal neuronal/dendritic plasticity is related to alterations in membrane lipids. We examined whether serum activity of membrane lipid remodelling/repairing cytosolic phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)) were related to regional brain structure in magnetic resonance images (MRI).

No impairment of recognition and experience of disgust in a patient with a right-hemispheric lesion of the insula and basal ganglia.

An influential single case study (Calder, Keane, Manes, Antoun, & Young, 2000, Nature Neuroscience, 3, 1077-1078) recently showed a marked multimodal impairment in the recognition and experience of disgust in a patient with a left-hemispheric lesion of the basal ganglia and the insular cortex. Here, we investigated whether a similar deficit will be observed in a patient with a comparable lesion of the insula and basal ganglia in the right hemisphere. Remarkably, the patient showed no impairments in the recognition or experience of disgust and also no notable impairments in the recognition and experience of other emotions, across a range of stimuli, as compared to healthy comparison subjects.

Unilateral optic neuropathy following subdural hematoma: a case report.

Introduction: Unilateral optic neuropathy is commonly due to a prechiasmatic affliction of the anterior visual pathway, while losses in visual hemifields result from the damage to brain hemispheres. Here we report the unusual case of a patient who suffered from acute optic neuropathy following hemispherical subdural hematoma. Although confirmed up to now only through necropsy studies, our case strongly suggests a local, microcirculatory deficit identified through magnetic resonance imaging in vivo.

Positional brain deformation visualized with magnetic resonance morphometry.

Objective: To assess and visualize gravitational effects on brain morphology and the position of the brain within the skull by magnetic resonance (MR) morphometry in order to identify confounding effects and possible sources of error for accurate planning of neurosurgical interventions.

Methods: Three-dimensional MR imaging data sets of 13 healthy adults were acquired in different positions in the scanner. With a morphometric approach, data sets were evaluated by deformation field analysis and the brain boundary shift integral.

Cerebral involvement in a patient with Goodpasture's disease due to shortened induction therapy: a case report.

Introduction: Goodpasture's disease is a rare immunological disease with formation of pathognomonic antibodies against renal and pulmonary basement membranes. Cerebral involvement has been reported in several cases in the literature, yet the pathogenetic mechanism is not entirely clear.

Case Presentation: A 21-year-old Caucasian man with Goodpasture's disease and end-stage renal disease presented with two generalized seizures after a period of mild cognitive disturbance.

Assessment of collateral supply by two-coil continuous arterial spin labeling after coil occlusion of the internal carotid artery.

A patient undergoing coil occlusion of a left internal carotid artery aneurysm was investigated by continuous arterial spin labeling MR imaging to evaluate perfusion territory mapping. Labeling was restricted to the left- or right-sided carotid artery by use of a separate neck coil. Before embolization, perfusion contrast was largely restricted to the labeled hemisphere.

Selective visual dimension weighting deficit after left lateral frontopolar lesions.

The left lateral frontopolar (LFP) cortex showed dimension change-related activation in previous event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging studies of visual singleton feature search with non-brain-lesioned participants. Here, we tested the hypothesis that LFP actively supports changes of attention from the old to the new target-defining dimension in singleton feature search. Singleton detection was selectively slowed in this task when the target-defining dimension changed in patients with left LFP lesions, compared with patients with frontomedian lesions as well as with matched controls without brain lesions.

Characterization of cortical thickness and ventricular width in normal aging: a morphometric study at 3 Tesla.

Purpose: To describe loss of cortical thickness and ventricular enlargement during normal aging in a sample of 525 neurologically and psychiatrically inconspicuous subjects (17-68 years old).

Materials And Methods: An automated segmentation algorithm was applied to assess cortical thickness and compared with conventional measurements of ventricular indices (ventricular body index (VBI), anterior horn index (AHI), and third ventricular width) as performed in clinical practice. Regression analysis was performed to elucidate the relationship between a decrease of the cortical mantle and increase in ventricular width with aging.

Correlation of cognitive status, MRI- and SPECT-imaging in CADASIL patients.

Although there is evidence for correlations between disability and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) total lesion volume in autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL), the significance of structural MRI abnormalities for cognitive dysfunction remains controversial. We performed detailed neuropsychological testing, high resolution MRI, and Tc-99m-ethyl cysteinate-dimer SPECT in three CADASIL patients. MR-images were rated independently by two investigators for the presence of white matter lesions, lacunar infarcts, microbleeds, and ventricular enlargement.

Assessment of ventricular reconfiguration after third ventriculostomy: what does shape analysis provide in addition to volumetry?

Purpose: From neuroradiologic experience, it is evident that the adaptation of the ventricular system secondary to pathologic processes or surgery is not uniform. To describe changes entirely, one must consider, in particular, information about volume and shape. In this study, we address specifically the information encoded in the change of shape.

Cognitive sequelae of diffuse axonal injury.

Background: The results of recent studies on cognitive disability after traumatic brain injury-associated diffuse axonal injury (DAI) are inconsistent. In these studies, the diagnosis of DAI relied on cranial computed tomography.

Objective: To further clarify the extent and severity of a possibly DAI-associated cognitive impairment by the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and detailed neuropsychological testing.

Effect of 3T MRI on the function of shunt valves--evaluation of Paedi GAV, Dual Switch and proGAV.

The MR-compatibility of medical implants and devices becomes more and more important with the increasing number of high-field MR-scanners employed. Until the end of 2004, about twenty 3T MR in Germany will be in clinical practice. Patients with hydrocephalus need frequent follow-up MR-examinations to assure correct functioning of a shunt.