Paving the way for speech: voice-training-induced plasticity in chronic aphasia and apraxia of speech--three single cases.

Difficulties with temporal coordination or sequencing of speech movements are frequently reported in aphasia patients with concomitant apraxia of speech (AOS). Our major objective was to investigate the effects of specific rhythmic-melodic voice training on brain activation of those patients. Three patients with severe chronic nonfluent aphasia and AOS were included in this study.

Neurologic and psycho-intellectual outcome related to structural brain imaging in adolescents and young adults after neonatal arterial switch operation for transposition of the great arteries.

Objective: We studied brain structure abnormalities in adolescents and young adults who had undergone the neonatal arterial switch operation for transposition of the great arteries and related them to the neurologic and psycho-intellectual outcomes.

Methods: In a prospective longitudinal study, 60 unselected adolescents and young adults who had undergone surgery with combined deep hypothermic circulatory arrest and low flow cardiopulmonary bypass were re-evaluated at a mean age of 16.9±1.

The impact of rhythm complexity on brain activation during simple singing: an event-related fMRI study.

Purpose: Since rhythmical aspects of singing have been neglected up to now our objective was to investigate if it was possible to specify areas concerned with rhythm processing during simple singing.

Methods: In an event-related fMRI experiment we tested 30 healthy non-musicians with rhythm sequences, which had to be repeated as monotonously sung vowel changes with (1) regular groupings, (2) regular groupings and rests, and (3) irregular groupings.

Results: Common activations for all conditions were found in bilateral supplementary motor area, premotor cortex more distinct in the left hemisphere, left cingulate gyrus, and right basal ganglia.

Common networks for selective auditory attention for sounds and words? An fMRI study with implications for attention rehabilitation.

Purpose: In an fMRI study the functional networks involved in auditory selective attention for sounds and words were investigated.

Methods: 24 healthy volunteers (12 male, 12 female) had to respond to a category of targets (animal sounds vs. musical instruments, spoken names of instruments vs.

Comparison of k-t SENSE/k-t BLAST with conventional SENSE applied to BOLD fMRI.

Purpose: To compare k-t BLAST (broad-use linear-acquisition speedup technique)/k-t SENSE (sensitivity encoding) with conventional SENSE applied to a simple fMRI paradigm.

Materials And Methods: Blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed at 3 T using a displaced ultra-fast low-angle refocused echo (UFLARE) pulse sequence with a visual stimulus in a block paradigm. Conventional SENSE and k-t BLAST/k-t SENSE data were acquired.

Feasibility of k-t BLAST for BOLD fMRI with a spin-echo based acquisition at 3 T and 7 T.

Objectives: This study tested the feasibility of applying k-t BLAST to blood oxygen level dependent functional MRI of the brain at 3 Tesla (T) and at 7 T. Shorter echo train lengths, achieved through the application of k-t BLAST, are expected to counteract increased sensitivity to inhomogeneities in B0 at higher magnetic field strengths, especially in echo planar images, and reduce the relatively long acquisition times and high RF power deposition in spin-echo based methods.

Materials And Methods: k-t BLAST was combined with displaced UFLARE at 3 T and 7 T.

The neurofunctional mechanisms of traumatic and non-traumatic memory in patients with acute PTSD following accident trauma.

Neurofunctional alterations in acute posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and changes thereof during the course of the disease are not well investigated. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to assess the functional neuroanatomy of emotional memory in surgical patients with acute PTSD. Traumatic (relative to non-traumatic) memories increased neural activity in the amygdala, hippocampus, lateral temporal, retrosplenial, and anterior cingulate cortices.

Correlation of passivity symptoms and dysfunctional visuomotor action monitoring in psychosis.

Passivity experiences are hallmark symptoms of schizophrenia that can be characterized by the belief that one's thoughts or actions are controlled by an external agent. It has recently been suggested that these psychotic experiences result from defective monitoring of one's own actions, i.e.

Long-term outcome of speech and language in children after corrective surgery for cyanotic or acyanotic cardiac defects in infancy.

The purpose of this prospective study was to assess whether outcome of speech and language in children 5-10 years after corrective surgery for tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) or ventricular septal defect (VSD) in infancy was influenced by the preoperative condition of hypoxemia or cardiac insufficiency and whether it was associated with perioperative risk factors and neurodevelopmental outcome. A total of 35 unselected children, 19 with TOF and hypoxemia and 16 with VSD and cardiac insufficiency, operated with combined deep hypothermic circulatory arrest and low-flow cardiopulmonary bypass at mean age 0.7+/-0.

All for one but not one for all: how multiple number representations are recruited in one numerical task.

Number processing recruits a complex network of multiple numerical representations. Usually the components of this network are examined in a between-task approach with the disadvantage of relying upon different instructions, tasks, and inhomogeneous stimulus sets across different studies. A within-task approach may avoid these disadvantages and access involved numerical representations more specifically.

Management of attentional resources in within-modal and cross-modal divided attention tasks: an fMRI study.

In the present study, we were interested in distinguishing the cortical representations of within-modal and cross-modal divided attention tasks by using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Sixteen healthy male subjects aged between 21 and 30 years underwent two within-modal (auditory/auditory, visual/visual) and one cross-modal (auditory/visual) divided attention task, as well as related selective attention control conditions. After subtraction of the corresponding control task the three divided attention tasks, irrespective of sensory modality, revealed significant activation in a predominantly right hemisphere network involving the prefrontal cortex, the inferior parietal cortex, and the claustrum.

Acquired dyslexia after stroke in the prereading stage: a single case treatment study with f MRI.

The authors report a treatment study of a child (CK) who suffered a left-hemisphere stroke at age 6.3 years, a few months before beginning school. Despite complete recovery of spoken language abilities, CK failed to acquire written language abilities.

Neural processing of traumatic events in subjects suffering PTSD - a case study of two surgical patients with severe accident trauma.

Neuroimaging research on the neurobiology of chronic PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder) has revealed structural and functional alterations primarily affecting areas of the medial temporal lobe (hippocampus, amygdala, and parahippocampal gyrus) and the frontal cortex known to be associated with the disorder. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the present study studied the functional neuroanatomy of traumatic and non-traumatic emotional memory in two surgical patients who had sustained severe accident trauma. While patient 1 had developed acute PTSD following the traumatic event, patient 2 (control) did not.

Neural correlates of working memory in pure and polyvalent ecstasy (MDMA) users.

Poor cognitive performance in ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine; MDMA) users has been related to the well-recognized neurotoxic effects of the drug upon central serotonergic and possibly also dopaminergic systems. However, concomitant use of other drugs has been a critical confound in most investigations. In this study we used an n-back task and fMRI to investigate working memory performance and related cerebral activation in eight, currently abstinent pure MDMA users and two matched groups of polyvalent MDMA users and non-users.

Long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes in school-aged children after neonatal arterial switch operation.

Objective: Neurodevelopmental status of children between 8 and 14 years of age after neonatal arterial switch operation for transposition of the great arteries has not previously been systematically evaluated.

Methods: Within a longitudinal study, 60 unselected children operated on as neonates with combined deep hypothermic circulatory arrest and low-flow cardiopulmonary bypass were reevaluated at the age of 7.9 to 14.