Label-free multiphoton microscopy reveals altered tissue architecture in hippocampal sclerosis.

The properties and structure of tissue can be visualized without labeling or preparation by multiphoton microscopy combining coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS), addressing lipid content, second harmonic generation (SHG) showing collagen, and two-photon excited fluorescence (TPEF) of endogenous fluorophores. We compared samples of sclerotic and nonsclerotic human hippocampus to detect pathologic changes in the brain of patients with pharmacoresistant temporomesial epilepsy (n = 15). Multiphoton microscopy of cryosections and bulk tissue revealed hippocampal layering and micromorphologic details in accordance with reference histology: CARS displayed white and gray matter layering and allowed the assessment of axonal myelin.

Perivascular Mesenchymal Stem Cells From the Adult Human Brain Harbor No Instrinsic Neuroectodermal but High Mesodermal Differentiation Potential.

Unlabelled: Brain perivascular cells have recently been identified as a novel mesodermal cell type in the human brain. These cells reside in the perivascular niche and were shown to have mesodermal and, to a lesser extent, tissue-specific differentiation potential. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are widely proposed for use in cell therapy in many neurological disorders; therefore, it is of importance to better understand the "intrinsic" MSC population of the human brain.

Improving the assessment of everyday cognitive functioning in patients with epilepsy by means of proxy reports.

Objectives: The self-report of cognitive deficits by of patients with epilepsy is often poorly correlated with objective test performances but highly related to mood and personality. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether information obtained by close relatives of the patient shows higher correlations with the patients' objective test scores and thereby can be a complementary measure for ensuring a reliable basis for diagnostic decision-making.

Methods: Thirty-four patients and 29 relatives were asked to fill in a questionnaire about everyday cognitive deficits of the patient.

Human adult white matter progenitor cells are multipotent neuroprogenitors similar to adult hippocampal progenitors.

Adult neural progenitor cells (aNPC) are a potential autologous cell source for cell replacement in neurologic diseases or for cell-based gene therapy of neurometabolic diseases. Easy accessibility, long-term expandability, and detailed characterization of neural progenitor cell (NPC) properties are important requisites for their future translational/clinical applications. aNPC can be isolated from different regions of the adult human brain, including the accessible subcortical white matter (aNPCWM), but systematic studies comparing long-term expanded aNPCWM with aNPC from neurogenic brain regions are not available.

Early detection of bone metabolism changes under different antiepileptic drugs (ED-BoM-AED)--a prospective multicenter study.

Purpose: To determine early changes in bone turnover markers induced by treatment with oxcarbazepine or valproate.

Methods: In this prospective study, 31 adults with newly diagnosed epilepsy were included who were started on therapy with either oxcarbazepine (OXC, n=16, mean age 45.6 years, 37.

Olfactory function in patients with and without temporal lobe resection.

Objectives: The study aimed to assess olfactory function in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy before and after resection of temporal lobe structures and especially addressed the question whether there are any significant olfactory differences as a function of side of epileptic focus or resection.

Materials And Methods: Thirteen pre- and 22 postoperative patients and 35 age- and sex-matched healthy controls underwent olfactory testing by means of the Sniffin' Sticks testing device (comprehensive measurement of threshold, discrimination, and identification abilities).

Results: Patients with unilateral epileptic focus but without temporal lobe resection tended to have impaired identification abilities only compared to the healthy controls.

Olfactory bulb volume in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.

The study aimed to investigate the volume of the olfactory bulb (OB) in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Specifically, we wanted to see whether the olfactory deficit typically found in TLE patients also exerts a top-down influence on the OB. Twenty patients, and 20 age- and sex-matched healthy controls underwent olfactory testing by means of the Sniffin' Sticks testing device (measurement of odor threshold, and identification abilities).

The LaLiMo Trial: lamotrigine compared with levetiracetam in the initial 26 weeks of monotherapy for focal and generalised epilepsy--an open-label, prospective, randomised controlled multicenter study.

Background: Of the newer antiepileptic drugs, lamotrigine (LTG) and levetiracetam (LEV) are popular first choice drugs for epilepsy. The authors compared these drugs with regard to their efficacy and tolerability in the initial monotherapy for epilepsy.

Methods: A randomised, open-label, controlled, parallel group, multicenter trial was conducted to test the superiority of the LEV arm over the LTG arm.

Failure of adaptive self-organized criticality during epileptic seizure attacks.

Critical dynamics are assumed to be an attractive mode for normal brain functioning as information processing and computational capabilities are found to be optimal in the critical state. Recent experimental observations of neuronal activity patterns following power-law distributions, a hallmark of systems at a critical state, have led to the hypothesis that human brain dynamics could be poised at a phase transition between ordered and disordered activity. A so far unresolved question concerns the medical significance of critical brain activity and how it relates to pathological conditions.

Transcription profiling of adult and fetal human neuroprogenitors identifies divergent paths to maintain the neuroprogenitor cell state.

Global gene expression profiling was performed using RNA from adult human hippocampus-derived neuroprogenitor cells (NPCs) and multipotent frontal cortical fetal NPCs compared with adult human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) as a multipotent adult stem cell control, and adult human hippocampal tissue, to define a gene expression pattern that is specific for human NPCs. The results were compared with data from various databases. Hierarchical cluster analysis of all neuroectodermal cell/tissue types revealed a strong relationship of adult hippocampal NPCs with various white matter tissues, whereas fetal NPCs strongly correlate with fetal brain tissue.