Medical Histories Associated With Absence of Alzheimer Disease Neuropathologic Changes in the Oldest-Old: The 90+ Study.

Objectives: Exploration of medical histories and medications associated with Alzheimer disease neuropathologic change (ADNC) absence and potential resistance may identify protective factors against ADNC. This was a retrospective examination of data from participants age ≥90 years who enrolled in , a longitudinal study based in California. Participants underwent neuropathologic analysis for the presence of neuritic amyloid plaques (NPs) (any), beta amyloid plaques (Thal phase > 0), and neurofibrillary tangles (>2).

A Single-center Experience of Coccidioides Meningitis in Immunocompetent Patients: Case Series and Literature Review.

Recently, the California Department of Public Health issued an advisory related to the substantial rise in Coccidioidomycosis in California, which has been attributed in part to climate change and rapid housing development. Most cases are self-limiting, but some may spread to the meninges, resulting in coccidioidal meningitis (CM). Many providers mistakenly presume that CM is limited to patients who are immunocompromised.

Case report: Approaches to treatment-refractory and super-refractory glutamic acid decarboxylase antibody-spectrum disorders.

Background: Glutamic acid decarboxylase antibody-spectrum disorders (GAD-SDs) include a group of autoimmune neurological diseases associated with neuronal excitability, most noticeably stiff person syndrome. Immune modulators are the mainstay of treatment, but a significant number of patients remain refractory.

Methods: We present our single-center experience of eight cases of GAD-SD, two of which were refractory to immune modulatory treatments.

Sex differences for clinical correlates of substantia nigra neuron loss in people with Lewy body pathology.

Background: Lewy body dementia (LBD) phenotype is associated with the presence and degree of Lewy body, Alzheimer's pathologies, and substantia nigra neuron loss. Nigral neuron loss is associated with parkinsonism in LBD, and females with LBD are less likely than males to have parkinsonism. As sex differences were reported for clinical correlates of Lewy body and Alzheimer's pathologies, we aimed to investigate whether there are also sex differences for correlates of nigral neuron loss.

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)-Negative Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) Encephalitis in a 62-Year-Old Woman With p-ANCA Vasculitis.

We present the case of a 62-year-old woman with a past medical history significant for p-ANCA vasculitis (on immunosuppression) who was found to have polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-negative herpes simplex virus (HSV) encephalitis. We also present a review of all identifiable reports of PCR-negative HSV encephalitis in the past 20 years. To our knowledge, this is the first case of PCR-negative HSV encephalitis in a patient with p-ANCA vasculitis and the thirteenth overall in this timeframe.

Symptomatic Vertebral Hemangioma in a Young Child.

Vertebral hemangiomas (VHs) are the most common benign vertebral neoplasm and typically are asymptomatic, only to be discovered incidentally on imaging from the fourth to fifth decade of life. Seldom do they enlarge to a point of compression, causing pain and focal neurologic deficits. We present the rare case of an 8-year-old female who presented with paraparesis after a fall.

Hyper-brain connectivity in binge drinking college students: a diffusion tensor imaging study.

The current study used diffusion tensor imaging to examine patterns/degree of brain connectivity in 12 college-aged binge drinking (BD) and 12 moderate drinking individuals. Voxel-level and region-of-interest analyses revealed increased connectivity of the BD brain in the right corona radiata, right external capsule, and both the right and left cingulum. Also, fractional anisotropy and axial diffusivity values of these regions correlated with a number of drinking behaviors of the BD as well as both groups combined.

Lower Activation in Frontal Cortex and Posterior Cingulate Cortex Observed during Sex Determination Test in Early-Stage Dementia of the Alzheimer Type.

Face-labeling refers to the ability to classify faces into social categories. This plays a critical role in human interaction as it serves to define concepts of socially acceptable interpersonal behavior. The purpose of the current study was to characterize, what, if any, impairments in face-labeling are detectable in participants with early-stage clinically diagnosed dementia of the Alzheimer type (CDDAT) through the use of the sex determination test (SDT).

Mirror neuron activation of musicians and non-musicians in response to motion captured piano performances.

Mirror neurons (MNs) activate when performing an action and when an observer witnesses the same action performed by another individual. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and presentation of motion captured piano performances were used to identify differences in MN activation for musicians/non-musicians when viewing piano pieces played in a "Correct" mode (i.e.

White Matter Deterioration May Foreshadow Impairment of Emotional Valence Determination in Early-Stage Dementia of the Alzheimer Type.

In Alzheimer Disease (AD), non-verbal skills often remain intact for far longer than verbally mediated processes. Four (1 female, 3 males) participants with early-stage Clinically Diagnosed Dementia of the Alzheimer Type (CDDAT) and eight neurotypicals (NTs; 4 females, 4 males) completed the emotional valence determination test (EVDT) while undergoing BOLD functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We expected CDDAT participants to perform just as well as NTs on the EVDT, and to display increased activity within the bilateral amygdala and right anterior cingulate cortex (r-ACC).

Attentional Networks in Adolescents with High-functioning Autism: An fMRI Investigation.

Background: Attentional deficits in Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are often noted, but their specific nature remains unclear.

Objective: The present study used the child Attentional Network Task (Child ANT) in combination with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to determine if the consistently cited deficits of orienting attention are truly due to dysfunctions of orienting-based networks. We hypothesized that these observations are, in fact, a reflection of executive dysfunctions.

Amyloid-Beta and Phosphorylated Tau Accumulations Cause Abnormalities at Synapses of Alzheimer's disease Neurons.

Amyloid-beta (Aβ) and hyperphosphorylated tau are hallmark lesions of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the loss of synapses and dysfunctions of neurotransmission are more directly tied to disease severity. The role of these lesions in the pathoetiological progression of the disease remains contested.

Visual, Auditory, and Cross Modal Sensory Processing in Adults with Autism: An EEG Power and BOLD fMRI Investigation.

Electroencephalography (EEG) and blood oxygen level dependent functional magnetic resonance imagining (BOLD fMRI) assessed the neurocorrelates of sensory processing of visual and auditory stimuli in 11 adults with autism (ASD) and 10 neurotypical (NT) controls between the ages of 20-28. We hypothesized that ASD performance on combined audiovisual trials would be less accurate with observable decreased EEG power across frontal, temporal, and occipital channels and decreased BOLD fMRI activity in these same regions; reflecting deficits in key sensory processing areas. Analysis focused on EEG power, BOLD fMRI, and accuracy.

Cell proliferation in the absence of E2F1-3.

E2F transcription factors regulate the progression of the cell cycle by repression or transactivation of genes that encode cyclins, cyclin dependent kinases, checkpoint regulators, and replication proteins. Although some E2F functions are independent of the Retinoblastoma tumor suppressor (Rb) and related family members, p107 and p130, much of E2F-mediated repression of S phase entry is dependent upon Rb. We previously showed in cultured mouse embryonic fibroblasts that concomitant loss of three E2F activators with overlapping functions (E2F1, E2F2, and E2F3) triggered the p53-p21(Cip1) response and caused cell cycle arrest.

Allele-specific tumor spectrum in pten knockin mice.

Germline mutations in the tumor suppressor gene PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homology deleted on chromosome 10) cause Cowden and Bannayan-Riley-Ruvalcaba (BRR) syndromes, two dominantly inherited disorders characterized by mental retardation, multiple hamartomas, and variable cancer risk. Here, we modeled three sentinel mutant alleles of PTEN identified in patients with Cowden syndrome and show that the nonsense Pten(4-5) and missense Pten(C124R) and Pten(G129E) alleles lacking lipid phosphatase activity cause similar developmental abnormalities but distinct tumor spectra with varying severity and age of onset. Allele-specific differences may be accounted for by loss of function for Pten(4-5), hypomorphic function for Pten(C124R), and gain of function for Pten(G129E).