Objective: To observe changes in cognition over six months in subjects with recently diagnosed sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Methods: The study used a between-group and within-group longitudinal design. Nineteen ALS subjects and eight matched caregivers were recruited to participate in baseline neuropsychological assessments that were repeated six months later. Between group comparisons for these variables were undertaken at baseline and six months later. Within group/across time comparisons for these variables were carried out for both groups. Individual analyses for the neuropsychological variables using z scores were done for the ALS subjects using their baseline performance as the basis for comparison with their six month performance.
Results: The between-group and within-group comparisons did not show significant differences in cognitive function over time. In individual analyses, however, seven of 19 ALS subjects (36.84%) developed abnormal neuropsychological performance over six months.
Conclusions: Early in the disease course, over one third of the ALS subjects developed cognitive deficits over six months. These findings support the hypothesis that cognitive deficits in ALS become more prominent over time.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jnnp.2005.073403 | DOI Listing |
Exp Brain Res
January 2025
Dept. of Neurosurgery, Upstate Medical University, 750 E. Adams St, Syracuse, NY, 13210, USA.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been used for many years to study the pathophysiology of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Based on single- or dual-pulse TMS and EMG and/or single motor unit (MU) recordings, many groups have described a loss of central inhibition as an early marker of ALS dysfunction, reflecting a state of cortical 'hyperexcitability'. This conclusion is not without its detractors, however, leading us to reexamine this issue using 4-pulse TMS, shown previously to be more effective for testing central motor pathway functional integrity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCureus
December 2024
Department of Surgery - Center for Anatomical Science and Education, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, USA.
A significantly diverse clinical presentation of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), even in its best-studied familial form, continues to hinder current efforts to develop effective disease-modifying drugs for the cure of this rapidly progressive, fatal neuromuscular disease. We have previously shown that clinical heterogeneity of sporadic ALS (sALS) could be explained, at least in part, by its polygenic nature as well as by the presence of mutated genes linked to non-ALS neurological diseases and genes known to mediate ALS-related pathologies. We hypothesized that a similar genetic framework could also be present in patients with familial ALS (fALS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Vet Emerg Crit Care (San Antonio)
January 2025
Center for Interdisciplinary Statistical Education and Research, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA.
Objective: To evaluate the effect of rescuer team size on objective skill measures of basic life support (BLS) and advanced life support (ALS) using high-fidelity canine CPR simulation.
Design: Prospective, experimental study.
Setting: Veterinary clinical simulation center.
World J Psychiatry
January 2025
Department of Digital Anti-aging Healthcare (BK21), Inje University, Gimhae 50834, South Korea.
This manuscript explores the recent study by Cui which assessed the interplay between inflammatory cytokines and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels in first-episode schizophrenia patients. The study revealed that higher levels of interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α correlated with reduced BDNF levels and poorer cognitive performance. Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder impacting approximately 1% of the global population, characterized by positive symptoms (hallucinations and delusions), negative symptoms (diminished motivation and cognitive impairments) and disorganized thoughts and behaviors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Voice
January 2025
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA; Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA. Electronic address:
Introduction: Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) represent an important part of a comprehensive voice assessment for clinical care and research. Access to multilingual PROMs enables inclusion of information from diverse patient populations. This review compares available translated and validated PROMs for adult dysphonia.
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