The rhythm of the executive gate of speech: subthalamic low-frequency oscillations increase during verbal generation.

We investigated neurophysiological mechanisms of subthalamic nucleus involvement in verbal fluency through a verbal generation task. The subthalamic nucleus is thought to act as a behavioural go/no-go instance by means of oscillatory communication in the theta band with the prefrontal cortex. Because subthalamic alpha-theta frequency stimulation has been shown to exert beneficial effects on verbal fluency in Parkinson's disease, we hypothesized that an alpha-theta oscillatory network involving the subthalamic nucleus underlies verbal generation task performance as a gating instance for speech execution.

Impaired perception of human movements in Parkinson's disease.

Interacting with other individuals in a social world requires fast and accurate perception of other individuals' identity, actions, or intentions. Humans are very efficient in these social tasks, as they can extract social information even if the actor is represented only by a handful of point-lights on an otherwise invisible body. Theories have argued that efficient visual perception of actions is based on intact motor system functioning.

ERBB2 mutations associated with solid variant of high-grade invasive lobular breast carcinomas.

ERBB2 and ERBB3 somatic gain-of-function mutations, which may be targeted by anti-ERBB2 therapies, were reported by high-throughput sequencing studies in 1% and 2% of invasive breast cancers respectively. Our study aims to determine ERBB2 and ERBB3 mutations frequencies in grade 3 and/or ERBB2-positive invasive lobular breast carcinomas (ILC). All the 529 ILC surgically-excised registered at Institut Curie in the years 2005 to 2008 were reviewed.

Successive motor nerve blocks to identify the muscles causing a spasticity pattern: example of the arm flexion pattern.

Botulinum Toxin A has been the main treatment for spasticity since the beginning of the 1990s. Surprisingly, there is still no consensus regarding injection parameters or, importantly, how to determine which muscles to target to improve specific functions. The aim of this study was to develop a systematic approach to determine this, using the example of the arm flexion pattern.

Deep Brain Stimulation in Huntington's Disease-Preliminary Evidence on Pathophysiology, Efficacy and Safety.

Huntington's disease (HD) is one of the most disabling degenerative movement disorders, as it not only affects the motor system but also leads to cognitive disabilities and psychiatric symptoms. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the pallidum is a promising symptomatic treatment targeting the core motor symptom: chorea. This article gives an overview of preliminary evidence on pathophysiology, safety and efficacy of DBS in HD.

Correction: Grasping Hand Verbs: Oscillatory Beta and Alpha Correlates of Action-Word Processing.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Cost-effectiveness of neurostimulation in Parkinson's disease with early motor complications.

Background: Recent research efforts have focused on the effects of deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN DBS) for selected patients with mild-to-moderate PD experiencing motor complications.

Objectives: We assessed the cost utility of subthalamic DBS compared with the best medical treatment for German patients below the age of 61 with early motor complications of PD.

Methods: We applied a previously published Markov model that integrated health utilities based on EuroQoL and direct costs over patients' lifetime adjusted to the German health care payer perspective (year of costing: 2013).

Differentiation of neurodegenerative parkinsonian syndromes by volumetric magnetic resonance imaging analysis and support vector machine classification.

Background: Clinical differentiation of parkinsonian syndromes is still challenging.

Objectives: A fully automated method for quantitative MRI analysis using atlas-based volumetry combined with support vector machine classification was evaluated for differentiation of parkinsonian syndromes in a multicenter study.

Methods: Atlas-based volumetry was performed on MRI data of healthy controls (n = 73) and patients with PD (204), PSP with Richardson's syndrome phenotype (106), MSA of the cerebellar type (21), and MSA of the Parkinsonian type (60), acquired on different scanners.

Role of the Endothelial Layer in the Deswelling Process of Organ-Cultured Human Corneas Before Transplantation.

Purpose: Before corneal transplant surgery, a deswelling process of organ-cultured corneas is required. This study compares the deswelling kinetics of corneas with an intact endothelial cell layer and disrupted or removed endothelium by measuring central corneal thickness (CCT) over time using anterior segment spectral domain optical coherence tomography.

Methods: Ten donor pairs were cultured in organ culture.

German registry of paediatric deep brain stimulation in patients with childhood-onset dystonia (GEPESTIM).

Background: Data on paediatric deep brain stimulation (DBS) is limited, especially for long-term outcomes, because of small numbers in single center series and lack of systematic multi-center trials.

Objectives: We seek to systematically evaluate the clinical outcome of paediatric patients undergoing DBS.

Methods: A German registry on paediatric DBS (GEPESTIM) was created to collect data of patients with dystonia undergoing DBS up to the age of 18 years.

Parkinson subtype-specific Granger-causal coupling and coherence frequency in the subthalamic area.

Previous work on Parkinson's disease (PD) has indicated a predominantly afferent coupling between affected arm muscle activity and electrophysiological activity within the subthalamic nucleus (STN). So far, no information is available indicating which frequency components drive the afferent information flow in PD patients. Non-directional coupling e.

Auditory perception modulated by word reading.

Theories of embodied cognition positing that sensorimotor areas are indispensable during language comprehension are supported by neuroimaging and behavioural studies. Among others, the auditory system has been suggested to be important for understanding sound-related words (visually presented) and the motor system for action-related words. In this behavioural study, using a sound detection task embedded in a lexical decision task, we show that in participants with high lexical decision performance sound verbs improve auditory perception.

Local field potential oscillations of the globus pallidus in cervical and tardive dystonia.

Background: Reports about neural oscillatory activity in the globus pallidus internus (GPi) have targeted general (GD) and cervical dystonia (CD), however to our knowledge they are nonexistent for tardive dystonia (TD).

Methods: Local field potentials (LFPs) from seven CD and five TD patients were recorded intraoperatively. We compared LFP power in thetadelta, alpha and beta band during rest and sensory palmar stimulation (SPS) in patients with general anesthesia and local/analgo sedation.

Combined Invasive Subcortical and Non-invasive Surface Neurophysiological Recordings for the Assessment of Cognitive and Emotional Functions in Humans.

In spite of the success in applying non-invasive electroencephalography (EEG), magneto-encephalography (MEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) for extracting crucial information about the mechanism of the human brain, such methods remain insufficient to provide information about physiological processes reflecting cognitive and emotional functions at the subcortical level. In this respect, modern invasive clinical approaches in humans, such as deep brain stimulation (DBS), offer a tremendous possibility to record subcortical brain activity, namely local field potentials (LFPs) representing coherent activity of neural assemblies from localized basal ganglia or thalamic regions. Notwithstanding the fact that invasive approaches in humans are applied only after medical indication and thus recorded data correspond to altered brain circuits, valuable insight can be gained regarding the presence of intact brain functions in relation to brain oscillatory activity and the pathophysiology of disorders in response to experimental cognitive paradigms.

Beta Peak Frequencies at Rest Correlate with Endogenous GABA+/Cr Concentrations in Sensorimotor Cortex Areas.

Neuronal oscillatory activity in the beta band (15-30 Hz) is a prominent signal within the human sensorimotor cortex. Computational modeling and pharmacological modulation studies suggest an influence of GABAergic interneurons on the generation of beta band oscillations. Accordingly, studies in humans have demonstrated a correlation between GABA concentrations and power of beta band oscillations.

No Effect of Subthalamic Deep Brain Stimulation on Intertemporal Decision-Making in Parkinson Patients.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is a widely used treatment for the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). DBS or pharmacological treatment is believed to modulate the tendency to, or reverse, impulse control disorders. Several brain areas involved in impulsivity and reward valuation, such as the prefrontal cortex and striatum, are linked to the STN, and activity in these areas might be affected by STN-DBS.

Gebauer SLc Original and Moria One-Use Plus automated microkeratomes for ultrathin Descemet's stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty preparation.

Purpose: We compared the SLc Original (SLc) and One-Use Plus (OUP) microkeratomes for ultrathin Descemet's stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK) lamella preparation and storage, vis-à-vis accuracy, endothelial cell loss (ECL) and lamellar surface roughness (LSR).

Methods: Twenty-five human corneas were dissected with single-use heads of different sizes aiming for a posterior lamella (PL) thickness of 85 μm, after which they were incubated for 6 days in a 5% dextran medium. Before preparation (0 hr) and 1, 24, and 144 hr after dissection, ECL and corneal thickness (CCT) were measured by ultrasound pachymetry (USP) and optical coherence tomography (OCT).

Brain stimulation in Huntington's disease.

Huntington's disease (HD) is a hereditary neurodegenerative disorder which is associated with severe disturbances of motor function, especially choreatic movements, cognitive decline and psychiatric symptoms. Various brain stimulation methods have been used to study brain function in patients with HD. Moreover, brain stimulation has evolved as an alternative or additive treatment option, besides current symptomatic medical treatment.

Parkinsonian Rest Tremor Is Associated With Modulations of Subthalamic High-Frequency Oscillations.

Background: High frequency oscillations (>200 Hz) have been observed in the basal ganglia of PD patients and were shown to be modulated by the administration of levodopa and voluntary movement.

Objective: The objective of this study was to test whether the power of high-frequency oscillations in the STN is associated with spontaneous manifestation of parkinsonian rest tremor.

Methods: The electromyogram of both forearms and local field potentials from the STN were recorded in 11 PD patients (10 men, age 58 [9.

Recurrence of heterotopic ossification after removal in patients with traumatic brain injury: A systematic review.

Objective: A systematic review of the literature to determine whether in patients with neurological heterotopic ossification (NHO) after traumatic brain injury, the extent of the neurological sequelae, the timing of surgery and the extent of the initial NHO affect the risk of NHO recurrence.

Data Sources: We searched MEDLINE via PubMed and Cochrane library for articles published up to June 2015. Results were compared with epidemiological studies using data from the BANKHO database of 357 patients with central nervous system (CNS) lesions who underwent 539 interventions for troublesome HO.

Use of quantitative brain water imaging as concentration reference for J-edited MR spectroscopy of GABA.

Purpose: To compare two different methods of obtaining the water reference for determination of quantitative water-scaled in vivo concentration estimates of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA).

Methods: Water-scaled GABA estimates from localized J-difference edited MR spectroscopy experiments can be computed using standard values for tissue-specific water content and relaxation times. Water content and relaxation may, however, be altered in pathology.

Do socioeconomic disparities in stroke and its consequences decrease in older age?

Background: Overall decreased socioeconomic status (SES) has been linked to increased stroke incidence and mortality. Questions remain regarding whether these relationships persist into older age and apply to stroke sequelae. It is also unknown whether the influence of SES on absolute risk-the metric of most importance for population health-differs by age.

Rejecting deep brain stimulation artefacts from MEG data using ICA and mutual information.

Background: Recording brain activity during deep brain stimulation (DBS) using magnetoencephalography (MEG) can potentially help clarifying the neurophysiological mechanism of DBS. The DBS artefact, however, distorts MEG data significantly. We present an artefact rejection approach to remove the DBS artefact from MEG data.