The elbow flex-ex: a new sign to detect unilateral upper extremity non-organic paresis.

Objective: To examine a new neurological sign that uses synergistic oppositional movements of the arms to evaluate for non-organic upper extremity weakness.

Methods: Patients with unilateral arm weakness were tested in a standing or sitting position with the elbows flexed at 30°. The examiner held both forearms near the wrists while asking the patient to flex or extend the normal arm at the elbow and simultaneously feeling for flexion or extension of the contralateral (paretic) arm.

Transgenic mice expressing a truncated form of CREB-binding protein (CBP) exhibit deficits in hippocampal synaptic plasticity and memory storage.

Deletions, translocations, or point mutations in the CREB-binding protein (CBP) gene have been associated with Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome; a human developmental disorder characterized by retarded growth and reduced mental function. To examine the role of CBP in memory, transgenic mice were generated in which the CaMKII alpha promoter drives expression of an inhibitory truncated CBP protein in forebrain neurons. Examination of hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP), a form of synaptic plasticity thought to underlie memory storage, revealed significantly reduced late-phase LTP induced by dopamine-regulated potentiation in hippocampal slices from CBP transgenic mice.