Linguistic profile automated characterisation in pluripotential clinical high-risk mental state (CHARMS) conditions: methodology of a multicentre observational study.

Introduction: Language is usually considered the social vehicle of thought in intersubjective communications. However, the relationship between language and high-order cognition seems to evade this canonical and unidirectional description (ie, the notion of language as a simple means of thought communication). In recent years, clinical high at-risk mental state (CHARMS) criteria (evolved from the Ultra-High-Risk paradigm) and the introduction of the Clinical Staging system have been proposed to address the dynamicity of early psychopathology.

Treatment of the motor and non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease according to cluster symptoms presentation.

The term Parkinson's disease has been changed in 'Parkinson's diseases' to describe different clinical entities observed in several studies investigating the existence of PD subtypes. PD patients could be grouped based on clinical features. By considering only motor symptoms, we can classically distinguish two groups: " the tremorigen-form" and "akinetic- rigidity-form" where resting tremor and akinesia/bradikynesia and rigidity are the most motor predominant symptoms, respectively.

A multi-element psychosocial intervention for early psychosis (GET UP PIANO TRIAL) conducted in a catchment area of 10 million inhabitants: study protocol for a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial.

Background: Multi-element interventions for first-episode psychosis (FEP) are promising, but have mostly been conducted in non-epidemiologically representative samples, thereby raising the risk of underestimating the complexities involved in treating FEP in 'real-world' services.

Methods/design: The Psychosis early Intervention and Assessment of Needs and Outcome (PIANO) trial is part of a larger research program (Genetics, Endophenotypes and Treatment: Understanding early Psychosis - GET UP) which aims to compare, at 9 months, the effectiveness of a multi-component psychosocial intervention versus treatment as usual (TAU) in a large epidemiologically based cohort of patients with FEP and their family members recruited from all public community mental health centers (CMHCs) located in two entire regions of Italy (Veneto and Emilia Romagna), and in the cities of Florence, Milan and Bolzano. The GET UP PIANO trial has a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled design.

Muscarinic cholinergic mediation of the GH response to gamma-hydroxybutyric acid: neuroendocrine evidence in normal and parkinsonian subjects.

We have recently reported that parkinsonian patients show a significant GH response to gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), but not to gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic drug administration. In order to establish whether muscarinic cholinergic receptors mediate the GH secretion induced by GHB, normal men and parkinsonian patients were tested with GHB both in the absence and in the presence of the anticholinergic agent, pirenzepine. Both normal controls and parkinsonian patients showed a significant serum GH rise in response to GHB (25 mg/kg body weight p.

Depression after stroke: an investigation through catamnesis.

Background: In the early stage of stroke, depression appears to be linked to certain brain areas. The study evaluated the importance of the side of the lesion in depressed patients 3 years after their first stroke.

Method: Patients who had suffered a stroke and been discharged after rehabilitation were identified by hospital records.

Defective 5-HT 1-receptor-mediated neurotransmission in the control of growth hormone secretion in Parkinson's disease.

In order to gain a better insight in the serotonergic disorder affecting the parkinsonian brain, the growth hormone (GH) response to the 5-HT 1 serotonergic receptor agonist sumatriptan was tested. Sumatriptan was injected subcutaneously in 10 de novo parkinsonian patients (aged 58-69 years) and in 9 age-matched normal controls. On different occasions, subjects were also tested with GH-releasing hormone (GH-RH; 1 micrograms/kg body weight in an intravenous bolus) and L-arginine (30 g in 50 ml normal saline over 30 min), which releases GH from somatostatin inhibition, to determine whether GH secretion in response to alternate secretagogues is preserved in Parkinson's disease.

ACTH/cortisol involvement in the serotonergic disorder affecting the parkinsonian brain.

In order to establish whether the serotonergic disorder affecting the parkinsonian brain also modifies hypothalamic-pituitary function in Parkinson's disease, 10 patients (aged 57-66 years) and 10 normal controls (aged 55-69 years) were tested with the serotonergic agonist d,l-fenfluramine (60 mg p.o.), with CRH (100 micrograms i.

beta,beta'-Iminodipropionitrile-induced persistent dyskinetic syndrome in mice is transiently modified by MPTP.

Chronic administration of iminodipropionitrile (IDPN) is known to produce a persistent dyskinetic syndrome. Recent neurochemical reports seem to point out the dopaminergic system as having an important role in mediating IDPN syndrome. In order to identify a possible role for the nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathway in determining at least some aspects of the IDPN-induced dyskinetic syndrome, we used the neurotoxin, 1-methyl, 4-phenyl,1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP), as a tool for investigating which aspects of the IDPN-related syndrome could be due to enhanced dopaminergic activity in the neostriatum.

Lack of ACTH/cortisol and GH responses to intravenously-infused substance P in Parkinson's disease.

In order to test possible changes in the stimulating effect of intravenously-infused substance P (SP) on ACTH/cortisol and GH secretion in Parkinson's disease, 10 male parkinsonian patients and 10 age-matched normal controls were infused intravenously for 60 min with SP (1.0 or 1.5 pmol/kg-1/min-1 SP) or normal saline.

Sneddon's syndrome and primary antiphospholipid syndrome: a case report.

The association between livedo reticularis and cerebrovascular accidents is known as Sneddon's syndrome. We describe a case in which Sneddon's syndrome appeared as a clinical manifestation of primary antiphospholipid syndrome.

[Cerebral cortex and HIV lesion specificity. A neuropathological study of the brain of 100 drug addicts].

Brains of AIDS patients do often display characters of HIV specificity, in the presence or not of opportunistic lesions. Mesodermal nodules with giant cells, and a peculiar primary demyelination, the progressive diffuse leukoencephalopathy of Kleihues et al., which can be found only in brains with giant cells, have been pointed out as typical.

[Dissection of the internal carotid artery. Personal case reports and a review of the literature].

The clinical and angiographic features of 20 patients affected by internal carotid artery dissection are reported. In one patient the neurological signs were related to a traumatic event, in two cases the symptoms presented after hyperextension of the neck during athletic events, while their onset was apparently spontaneous in the remaining 17 patients. Plain CT was normal in 14 cases and positive for ischemic necrosis in 6 patients.