Zolpidem improves task-specific dystonia: A randomized clinical trial integrating exploratory transcranial magnetic stimulation and [18F] FDG-PET imaging.

Background: Task-specific dystonia (TSFD) is a disabling movement disorder. Effective treatment options are currently limited. Zolpidem was reported to improve primary focal and generalized dystonia in a proportion of patients.

Gait Characteristics during Dual-Task Walking in Elderly Subjects of Different Ages.

Background: In older age, walking ability gradually decreases due to factors including impaired balance, reduced muscle strength, and impaired vision and proprioception. Further, cognitive functions play a key role during walking and gradually decline with age. There is greater variability in gait parameters when the demands during walking increase, in dual- and multiple-task situations.

Gait alterations in Parkinson's disease at the stage of hemiparkinsonism-A longitudinal study.

Background: Progressive gait impairment in Parkinson's disease (PD) leads to significant disability. Quantitative gait parameters analysis provides valuable information about fine gait alterations.

Objectives: To analyse change of gait parameters in patients with early PD at the stage of hemiparkinsonism and after 1 year of follow up, taking into account clinical asymmetry.

Assessment of gait in patients with fibromyalgia during motor and cognitive dual task walking: a cross-sectional study.

Background: The aim of the study was to assess gait pattern of patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia (FM) while performing demanding motor and/or cognitive dual tasks while walking. Further, idea was to explore possible correlations of dual task gait pattern alterations to patients' functional status and presence or absence of clinical symptoms associated with FM.

Methods: Twenty-four female FM patients and 24 healthy female subjects performed a basic walking task, a dual motor, a dual mental (cognitive) and a combined, dual motor and cognitive task simultaneously.

Impact of depression on gait variability in Parkinson's disease.

Objective: The goal of this study was to analyze how depression associated with Parkinson's disease (PD) affected gait variability in these patients using a dual-task paradigm. Additionally, the dependency of the executive functions and the impact of depression on gait variability were analyzed.

Patients And Methods: Three subject groups were included: patients with PD, but no depression (PD-NonDep; 14 patients), patients with both PD and depression (PD-Dep; 16 patients) and healthy controls (HC; 15 subjects).

Dynamics of impulsive-compulsive behaviors in early Parkinson's disease: a prospective study.

Introduction: Impulsive compulsive behaviors (ICBs) in Parkinson's disease (PD) are debilitating disorders of repetitive, excessive, and compulsive nature affecting up to one third of PD patients. Objectives are to address clinical, psychiatric, and cognitive characteristics of ICBs and to define risk factors in PD patients in the initial motor stage, followed up for 5 years.

Methods: We analyzed 106 consecutive PD outpatients at Hoehn and Yahr disease stage 1 and 125 healthy controls.

Spatiotemporal gait characteristics of Huntington's disease during dual-task walking.

Huntington's disease (HD) is an neurodegenerative genetic disorder with characteristic gait changes. HD also results in a range of cognitive impairments, such as difficulties to divide attention, or simultaneously monitoring two tasks. The impact of cognitive and/or motor tasks on HD gait has not been fully elucidated.

Selection of gait parameters for differential diagnostics of patients with de novo Parkinson's disease.

Background: Gait disturbances are an integral part of clinical manifestations of Parkinson's disease (PD), even in the initial stages of the disease. Our goal was to identify the set of spatio-temporal gait parameters that bear the highest relevance for characterizing de novo PD patients.

Methods: Forty patients with de novo PD and forty healthy controls were recorded while walking over an electronic walkway in three different conditions: (1) base walking, (2) walking with an additional motor task, (3) walking with an additional mental task.

Gait pattern in patients with different multiple sclerosis phenotypes.

Background: Gait pattern is frequently impaired in multiple sclerosis (MS), however gait characteristics in patients with different MS phenotypes have not been fully elucidated.

Methods: We analyzed spatio-temporal gait pattern characteristics in patients with relapsing-remitting (RR, n=52) and primary-progressive (PP, n=18) MS in comparison with age-matched healthy controls (HC, n=40). All subjects performed a standardized simple walking task, a dual motor- motor task, a dual motor-mental task, and a triple combined motor-mental task at a GAITRite electronic walkway of 5.

Influence of attention alternation on movement-related cortical potentials in healthy individuals and stroke patients.

Objective: In this study, we analyzed the influence of artificially imposed attention variations using the auditory oddball paradigm on the cortical activity associated to motor preparation/execution.

Methods: EEG signals from Cz and its surrounding channels were recorded during three sets of ankle dorsiflexion movements. Each set was interspersed with either a complex or a simple auditory oddball task for healthy participants and a complex auditory oddball task for stroke patients.

Finger tapping analysis in patients with Parkinson's disease and atypical parkinsonism.

The goal of this study was to investigate repetitive finger tapping patterns in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), progressive supranuclear palsy-Richardson syndrome (PSP-R), or multiple system atrophy of parkinsonian type (MSA-P). The finger tapping performance was objectively assessed in PD (n=13), PSP-R (n=15), and MSA-P (n=14) patients and matched healthy controls (HC; n=14), using miniature inertial sensors positioned on the thumb and index finger, providing spatio-temporal kinematic parameters. The main finding was the lack or only minimal progressive reduction in amplitude during the finger tapping in PSP-R patients, similar to HC, but significantly different from the sequence effect (progressive decrement) in both PD and MSA-P patients.

Efficient neuroplasticity induction in chronic stroke patients by an associative brain-computer interface.

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have the potential to improve functionality in chronic stoke patients when applied over a large number of sessions. Here we evaluated the effect and the underlying mechanisms of three BCI training sessions in a double-blind sham-controlled design. The applied BCI is based on Hebbian principles of associativity that hypothesize that neural assemblies activated in a correlated manner will strengthen synaptic connections.

White Matter Changes in Two Leber's Hereditary Optic Neuropathy Pedigrees: 12-Year Follow-Up.

We are presenting two Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) pedigrees with abnormal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-MRS) findings but without neurological manifestation associated with LHON. The study included 14 LHON patients and 41 asymptomatic family members from 12 genealogically unrelated families. MRI showed white matter involvement and H-MRS exhibited metabolic anomalies within 12 LHON families.

Gait in drug naïve patients with de novo Parkinson's disease--altered but symmetric.

Background: Motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD) are typically asymmetrical. Early stage of PD is characterised with a predominantly unilateral appearance of tremor, rigidity and bradykinesia, with or without axial involvement. Also, studies have demonstrated gait asymmetry in de novo drug naïve PD patients.

Quantitative and qualitative gait assessments in Parkinson's disease patients.

Background/aim: Postural impairments and gait disorders in Parkinson's disease (PD) affect limits of stability, impaire postural adjustment, and evoke poor responses to perturbation. In the later stage of the disease, some patients can suffer from episodic features such as freezing of gait (FOG). Objective gait assessment and monitoring progress of the disease can give clinicians and therapist important information about changes in gait pattern and potential gait deviations, in order to prevent concomitant falls.

[Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation as an adjuvant method in the treatment of depression: preliminary results].

Introduction: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a method of brain stimulation which is increasingly used in both clinical practice and research. Up-to-date studies have pointed out a potential antidepressive effect of rTMS, but definitive superiority over placebo has not yet been confirmed.

Objective: The aim of the study was to examine the effect of rTMS as an adjuvant treatment with antidepressants during 18 weeks of evaluation starting from the initial application of the protocol.

Deep brain stimulation in psychiatry.

Deep brain stimulation is a stereotactic neurosurgical method used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease and some other movement disorders. The application of deep brain stimulation in the treatment of certain psychiatric disorders has been intensively investigated taking into account the current knowledge of neurobiological basis of mood regulation, cognition, and behaviour. This paper has been aimed at presenting the available data on experience in the application of deep brain stimulation in the treatment of psychiatric disorders.

Gait in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Is gait pattern differently affected in spinal and bulbar onset of the disease during dual task walking?

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is characterized by weakness, fatigue, loss of balance and coordination. The purpose of the study was to examine gait in ALS patients. Gait was compared in ALS with spinal and bulbar onset, while performing dual mental and motor tasks.

Testing of urodynamic dysfunctions in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Background/aim: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disorder of the unknown origin leading to multifocal demyelization, axonal damage and the loss of the nervous tissue in various parts of the central nervous system. Most MS patients have decreased functionality of the bladder leading to various dysuria disorders during the course of the illness. However, in 2% of the cases dysuric problems are the first symptoms of the disease.

Gait characteristics in patients with major depression performing cognitive and motor tasks while walking.

Depressed patients demonstrate alterations in motor and cognitive functioning that can affect their adjustments to the variations in everyday life environment. The objective was to explore gait parameters and variability of patients with major depressive disorder in dual task walking situations. Eight patients and 20 healthy controls performed motor, mental and combined motor+mental tasks while walking.

Leber hereditary optic neuropathy in the population of Serbia.

Background: Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) is the most common mitochondrial disorder. However, few countries have published their population-based findings related to this multisystemic disease.

The Aim: In order to get a better insight into the epidemiological and clinical picture of this maternally inherited disorder, we performed the first population-based clinical and molecular-genetic study of LHON in the Serbian population.

Automatic identification and classification of freezing of gait episodes in Parkinson's disease patients.

Alternation of walking pattern decreases quality of life and may result in falls and injuries. Freezing of gait (FOG) in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients occurs occasionally and intermittently, appearing in a random, inexplicable manner. In order to detect typical disturbances during walking, we designed an expert system for automatic classification of various gait patterns.

Changes in motor cortex excitability associated with muscle fatigue in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Background/aim: Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a standard technique for noninvasive assessment of changes in central nervous system excitability. The aim of this study was to examine changes in responses to TMS in patients suffering from Parkinson's disease (PD) during sustained submaximal isometric voluntary contraction [60% of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC)] of the adductor pollicis muscle, as well as during a subsequent recovery period.

Methods: Cortical excitability was tested by single TMS pulses of twice of the motor threshold intensity applied over the vertex.

The impact of whole-hand vibration exposure on the sense of angular position about the wrist joint.

Objectives: The purpose of this research is to determine the impact of whole-hand vibration on the capacity of subjects to identify previously presented positions of the hand in both wrist flexion and extension.

Methods: In each movement direction, targets of 15 or 30 degrees were presented with an imposed passive movement from the start position. During the second imposed movement, subjects were required to identify when the target position had been reached.

Brain processing of tonic muscle pain induced by infusion of hypertonic saline.

Most of the previous studies on the effects of pain on Regional Cerebral Blood Flow (rCBF) had been done with brief cutaneous or intramuscular painful stimuli. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect on rCBF of long lasting tonic experimental muscle pain. To this end we performed PET investigations of rCBF following tonic experimental low back pain induced by continuous intramuscular infusion of hypertonic (5%) saline (HS) with computer controlled infusion pump into the right erector spinae on L(3) level in 19 healthy volunteers.