Temporal lobe epilepsy with isolated amygdala enlargement: anatomo-electro-clinical features and long-term outcome.

Background: Temporal lobe epilepsy with isolated amygdala enlargement (TLE-AE) still lacks a definite characterization and controversies exist.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study identifying brain MRI scans with isolated AE between 2015 and 2021. We collected clinical and paraclinical data of patients with TLE-AE and evaluated the outcome.

Three montages for Transcranial electric stimulation in predicting the early post-surgery outcome of the facial nerve functioning.

Objective: We assessed the Transcranial Electrical Stimulation (TES)-induced Corticobulbar-Motor Evoked Potentials (Cb-MEPs) evoked from Orbicularis Oculi (Oc) and Orbicularis Oris (Or) muscles with FCC5h/FCC6h-Mz, C3/C4-Cz and C5/C6/-Cz stimulation, during IntraOperative NeuroMonitoring (IONM) in 30 patients who underwent skull-base surgery.

Methods: before (T0) and after (T1) the surgery, we compared the peak-to-peak amplitudes of Cb-MEPs obtained from TES with C3/C4-Cz, C5/C6-Cz and FCC5h/FCC6h-Mz. Then, we compared the response category (present, absent and peripheral) related to different montages.

Correlation between autistic traits and brain functional connectivity in preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder: a resting state MEG study.

Background: Neurophysiological studies recognized that Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is associated with altered patterns of over- and under-connectivity. However, little is known about network organization in children with ASD in the early phases of development and its correlation with the severity of core autistic features.

Methods: The present study aimed at investigating the association between brain connectivity derived from MEG signals and severity of ASD traits measured with different diagnostic clinical scales, in a sample of 16 children with ASD aged 2 to 6 years.

Early cortico-muscular coherence and cortical network changes in Parkinson's patients treated with MRgFUS.

Introduction: To investigate cortical network changes using Magnetoencephalography (MEG) signals in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients undergoing Magnetic Resonance-guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS) thalamotomy.

Methods: We evaluated the MEG signals in 16 PD patients with drug-refractory tremor before and after 12-month from MRgFUS unilateral lesion of the ventralis intermediate nucleus (Vim) of the thalamus contralateral to the most affected body side. We recorded patients 24 h before (T0) and 24 h after MRgFUS (T1).

Childhood traumatic experiences in people with obesity with and without eating disorders who are seeking bariatric surgery: the role of attachment relationships and family functioning.

Purpose: The present study examines the impact of traumatic childhood experiences in people with obesity seeking bariatric surgery. It considers the presence of eating disorders (ED) in the population with obesity and tests the role of attachment and family relationships as mediators of the relationship between traumatic events and ED.

Method: 110 participants with severe obesity and 98 participants of a healthy weight (control group) filled out The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-SF), the Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ) and the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale (FACES IV).

Distinctive electro-clinical, neuroimaging and histopathological features of temporal encephaloceles associated to epilepsy.

Objective: Encephaloceles (ENCs) may cause clinical complications, including drug-resistant epilepsy that can be cured with epilepsy surgery.

Methods: We describe clinical, diagnostic, and neuropathological findings of 12 patients with temporal ENC and epilepsy evaluated for surgery and compare them with a control group of 26 temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) patients.

Results: Six patients had unilateral and 6 bilateral temporal ENCs.

Cortico-muscular coherence and brain networks in familial adult myoclonic epilepsy and progressive myoclonic epilepsy.

Objective: Familial Adult Myoclonic Epilepsy (FAME) presents with action-activated myoclonus, often associated with epilepsy, sharing various features with Progressive Myoclonic Epilepsy (PMEs), but with slower course and limited motor disability. We aimed our study to identify measures suitable to explain the different severity of FAME2 compared to EPM1, the most common PME, and to detect the signature of the distinctive brain networks.

Methods: We analyzed the EEG-EMG coherence (CMC) during segmental motor activity and indexes of connectivity in the two patient groups, and in healthy subjects (HS).

Non-Functional Jaw Muscular Activity in Patients with Disorders of Consciousness Revealed by A Long-Lasting Polygraphy.

The presence of involuntary, non-functional jaw muscle activity (NFJMA) has not yet been assessed in patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC), although the presence of bruxism and other forms of movement disorders involving facial muscles is probably more frequent than believed. In this work, we evaluated twenty-two prolonged or chronic DOC patients with a long-lasting polygraphic recording to verify NFJMA occurrence and assess its neurophysiological patterns in this group of patients. A total of 5 out of 22 patients showed the presence of significant NFJMA with electromyographic patterns similar to what can be observed in non-DOC patients with bruxism, thus suggesting a disinhibition of masticatory motor nuclei from the cortical control.

Grasping the semantic of actions: a combined behavioral and MEG study.

There is experimental evidence that the brain systems involved in action execution also play a role in action observation and understanding. Recently, it has been suggested that the sensorimotor system is also involved in language processing. Supporting results are slower response times and weaker motor-related MEG Beta band power suppression in semantic decision tasks on single action verbs labels when the stimulus and the motor response involve the same effector.

MRI-guided focused-ultrasound thalamotomy in essential tremor: Immediate and delayed changes in cortico-muscular coherence and cortico-cortical out-strength.

Objective: Drug-resistant essential tremor (ET) can be treated by Magnetic-Resonance-guided Focused-Ultrasound (MRgFUS) targeted to thalamic ventralis-intermediate nucleus (ViM). We are presenting the results obtained in ET patients by evaluating the cortico-muscular coherence (CMC) and the out-strength among cortical areas.

Methods: We recorded MEG-EMG signals in 16 patients with predominant tremor on the right upper limb.

Significance and clinical suggestions for the somatosensory evoked potentials increased in amplitude revealed by a large sample of neurological patients.

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between N20-P25 peak-to-peak amplitude (N20p-P25p) of somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) and the occurrence of abnormalities of the peripheral and/or central sensory pathways and of myoclonus/epilepsy, in 308 patients with increased SEPs amplitude from upper limb stimulation.

Methods: We compared cortical response (N20p-P25p) in different groups of patients identified by demographic, clinical, and neurophysiological factors and performed a cluster analysis for classifying the natural occurrence of subgroups of patients.

Results: No significant differences of N20p-P25p were found among different age-dependent groups, and in patients with or without PNS/CNS abnormalities of sensory pathways, while myoclonic/epileptic patients showed higher N20p-P25p than other groups.

Different circuitry dysfunction in drug-naive patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy and juvenile absence epilepsy.

Rationale: Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) and juvenile absence epilepsy (JAE) are generalized epileptic syndromes presenting in the same age range. To explore whether uneven network dysfunctions may underlie the two different phenotypes, we examined drug-naive patients with JME and JAE at the time of their earliest presentation.

Methods: Patients were recruited based on typical JME (n = 23) or JAE (n = 18) presentation and compared with 16 age-matched healthy subjects (HS).

Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 1: One-Year Longitudinal Study to Identify Clinical and MRI Measures of Disease Progression in Patients and Presymptomatic Carriers.

Spinocerebellar ataxias type 1 (SCA1) is an autosomal dominant disease usually manifesting in adulthood. We performed a prospective 1-year longitudinal study in 14 presymptomatic mutation carriers (preSCA1), 11 ataxic patients, and 21 healthy controls. SCA1 patients had a median disease duration of 6 years (range 2-16) and SARA score of 7 points (range 3.

Analyzing the Loss and the Recovery of Consciousness: Functional Connectivity Patterns and Changes in Heart Rate Variability During Propofol-Induced Anesthesia.

The analysis of the central and the autonomic nervous systems (CNS, ANS) activities during general anesthesia (GA) provides fundamental information for the study of neural processes that support alterations of the consciousness level. In the present pilot study, we analyzed EEG signals and the heart rate (HR) variability (HRV) in a sample of 11 patients undergoing spinal surgery to investigate their CNS and ANS activities during GA obtained with propofol administration. Data were analyzed during different stages of GA: baseline, the first period of anesthetic induction, the period before the loss of consciousness, the first period after propofol discontinuation, and the period before the recovery of consciousness (ROC).

Cortico-muscular and cortico-cortical coherence changes resulting from Perampanel treatment in patients with cortical myoclonus.

Objective: To investigate the mechanisms by which Perampanel (PER) reduces the severity of action myoclonus, we studied on MEG signals the changes occurring in cortico-muscular coherence (CMC) and cortico-cortical connectivity in patients with progressive myoclonus epilepsies.

Methods: The subjects performed an isometric extension of the hand; CMC and cortico-cortical connectivity were assessed using autoregressive models and generalized partial-directed coherence. The contralateral (Co) sensors showing average CMC values >0.

Corrigendum: Preservation of Language Processing and Auditory Performance in Patients With Disorders of Consciousness: A Multimodal Assessment.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2020.

[Family style and psychiatric acuity: family functioning assessment of an hospitalized population in a Emergency department].

Objective: The study intends to include the evaluation of family styles while the patients are admitted at a hospital dedicated to the emergency (SPDC).

Methods: The sample of the study involved patients of a SPDC and their families. The clinical assessment has been conducted through the use of ICD-IX, DSM-5 and BPRS.

Visual fixation in disorders of consciousness: Development of predictive models to support differential diagnosis.

The visual fixation represents a doubtful behavioral sign to discriminate Vegetative from Minimally Conscious State (MCS). To disentangle its meaning, we fitted univariate and multivariable logistic regression models matching different neurophysiological and neuroimaging data of 54 patients with Disorders of Consciousness to select the best model predicting which visual performance (visual blink or pursuit) was shown by patients and the best predictors set. The best models found highlighted the importance of the structural MRI and the visual evoked potentials data in predicting visual pursuit.

Preservation of Language Processing and Auditory Performance in Patients With Disorders of Consciousness: A Multimodal Assessment.

The impact of language impairment on the clinical assessment of patients suffering from disorders of consciousness (DOC) is unknown or underestimated and may mask the presence of conscious behavior. In a group of DOC patients ( = 11; time post-injury range: 5-252 months), we investigated the main neural functional and structural underpinnings of linguistic processing, and their relationship with the behavioral measures of the auditory function using the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R). We assessed the integrity of the brainstem auditory pathways, of the left superior temporal gyrus and arcuate fasciculus, the neural activity elicited by passive listening of an auditory language task, and the mean hemispheric glucose metabolism.

EEG Power spectra and subcortical pathology in chronic disorders of consciousness.

Background: Despite a growing understanding of disorders of consciousness following severe brain injury, the association between long-term impairment of consciousness, spontaneous brain oscillations, and underlying subcortical damage, and the ability of such information to aid patient diagnosis, remains incomplete.

Methods: Cross-sectional observational sample of 116 patients with a disorder of consciousness secondary to brain injury, collected prospectively at a tertiary center between 2011 and 2013. Multimodal analyses relating clinical measures of impairment, electroencephalographic measures of spontaneous brain activity, and magnetic resonance imaging data of subcortical atrophy were conducted in 2018.

Towards the Automatic Localization of the Irritative Zone Through Magnetic Source Imaging.

The present work aims at validating a Bayesian multi-dipole modeling algorithm (SESAME) in the clinical scenario consisting of localizing the generators of single interictal epileptiform discharges from resting state magnetoencephalographic recordings. We use the results of Equivalent Current Dipole fitting, performed by an expert user, as a benchmark, and compare the results of SESAME with those of two widely used source localization methods, RAP-MUSIC and wMNE. In addition, we investigate the relation between post-surgical outcome and concordance of the surgical plan with the cerebral lobes singled out by the methods.