The central autonomic system revisited - Convergent evidence for a regulatory role of the insular and midcingulate cortex from neuroimaging meta-analyses.

The autonomic nervous system regulates dynamic body adaptations to internal and external environment changes. Capitalizing on two different algorithms (that differ in empirical assumptions), we scrutinized the meta-analytic convergence of human neuroimaging studies investigating the neural basis of peripheral autonomic signal processing. Among the selected studies, we identified 42 records reporting 44 different experiments and testing 758 healthy individuals.

Pilot study on the role of somatic modulation in hyperacusis.

Background: Hyperacusis is a reduced tolerance to sounds that often co-occurs with tinnitus. Both symptoms have convergent as well as divergent characteristics. Somatic modulation, changes in pitch or loudness during certain movements, is common in patients with a primary complaint of tinnitus.

Diagnosis and treatment of progressive multiple sclerosis: A position paper.

Background And Purpose: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an unpredictable disease characterised by a highly variable disease onset and clinical course. Three main clinical phenotypes have been described. However, distinguishing between the two progressive forms of MS can be challenging for clinicians.

Quasi-static loading of glass fiber-reinforced composite cervical fusion cage.

Objectives: Anterior decompression and fusion in cervical spine has become one of the most common procedures in neurosurgery. In the surgery, cervical cage implants made of different biomaterials are used. Our purpose was to create a cervical cage made of glass fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) filled with bioactive glass particles and to characterize its behavior in quasi-static compression/shear stress loading conditions.

Prevalence of Reduced Vision among UK Elderly Drivers: The Bridlington Eye Assessment Project (BEAP)-A Cross-Sectional Study.

Self-assessment of driving fitness is mandatory in the United Kingdom. A paucity of data on visual function among drivers exists. We report prevalence of elderly drivers below legal visual acuity (VA) standard from a population study (The Bridlington Eye Assessment Project (BEAP)) conducted from 2002 to 2006.

Adenosine A receptor availability in patients with early- and moderate-stage Parkinson's disease.

Introduction: Adenosine 2A (A) receptors co-localize with dopamine Dreceptors in striatopallidal medium spiny neurons of the indirect pathway. A receptor activation in the striatum or pallidum decreases Dsignaling. In contrast, A receptor antagonism may help potentiate it.

The White Matter Rounds experience: The importance of a multidisciplinary network to accelerate the diagnostic process for adult patients with rare white matter disorders.

Introduction: Adult genetic leukoencephalopathies are rare neurological disorders that present unique diagnostic challenges due to their clinical and radiological overlap with more common white matter diseases, notably multiple sclerosis (MS). In this context, a strong collaborative multidisciplinary network is beneficial for shortening the diagnostic odyssey of these patients and preventing misdiagnosis. The White Matter Rounds (WM Rounds) are multidisciplinary international online meetings attended by more than 30 physicians and scientists from 15 participating sites that gather every month to discuss patients with atypical white matter disorders.

Multimodal Imaging of Vitelliform Lesions in Multiple Myeloma: A Case Report.

We report the case of a patient with multiple myeloma who presented acutely with bilateral vitelliform-like macular lesions. This 85-year-old Caucasian lady was referred for treatment of presumed bilateral neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). Interestingly, this was a few months after starting on chemotherapy for multiple myeloma.

Novel plasma protein binding analysis method for a PET tracer and its radiometabolites: A case study with [C]SMW139 to explain the high uptake of radiometabolites in mouse brain.

Radiometabolites of PET tracers interfere with imaging and need to be taken into account when modeling PET data. Various tracer and radiometabolite characteristics affect the uptake rate into tissue. In this study, we investigated two such factors, lipophilicity and protein-free fraction.

Language systems from lesion-symptom mapping in aphasia: A meta-analysis of voxel-based lesion mapping studies.

Background: Aphasia is one of the most common causes of post-stroke disabilities. As the symptoms and impact of post-stroke aphasia are heterogeneous, it is important to understand how topographical lesion heterogeneity in patients with aphasia is associated with different domains of language impairments. Here, we aim to provide a comprehensive overview of neuroanatomical basis in post-stroke aphasia through coordinate based meta-analysis of voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping studies.

Snakebite Treatment in Tanzania: Identifying Gaps in Community Practices and Hospital Resources.

Snakebite envenoming causes more than 140,000 deaths annually and at least triple this number of disabilities. The World Health Organization classified snakebite as a Neglected Tropical Disease in 2017 and developed a strategy to halve death and disability from snakebite by 2030. To achieve this goal, snakebite victims need to receive safe and effective treatment.

Presentation and management of spinal meningioma and its association with breast carcinoma-case series and systematic review.

Objective: Benign spinal intradural tumors are rare entities and there have been relatively few case series describing the epidemiology and characteristics of these tumors. Here, we evaluate the presentation, demographics, pathology and outcomes associated with the surgical management of spinal meningioma in our unit over a 6-year period.

Results: A total of 68 cases presented to the operating surgeon during a 6-year period.

Post-stroke enriched auditory environment induces structural connectome plasticity: secondary analysis from a randomized controlled trial.

Post-stroke neuroplasticity and cognitive recovery can be enhanced by multimodal stimulation via environmental enrichment. In this vein, recent studies have shown that enriched sound environment (i.e.

Mapping brain activity of gut-brain signaling to appetite and satiety in healthy adults: A systematic review and functional neuroimaging meta-analysis.

Understanding how neurohormonal gut-brain signaling regulates appetite and satiety is vital for the development of therapies for obesity and altered eating behavior. However, reported brain areas associated with appetite or satiety regulators show inconsistency across functional neuroimaging studies. The aim of this study was to systematically assess the convergence of brain regions modulated by appetite and satiety regulators.

Serum Creatine, Not Neurofilament Light, Is Elevated in CHCHD10-Linked Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

Objective: To characterize serum biomarkers in mitochondrial CHCHD10-linked spinal muscular atrophy Jokela (SMAJ) type for disease monitoring and for the understanding of pathogenic mechanisms.

Methods: We collected serum samples from a cohort of 49 patients with SMAJ, all carriers of the heterozygous c.197G>T p.

Comprehensive transcriptomic analysis shows disturbed calcium homeostasis and deregulation of T lymphocyte apoptosis in inclusion body myositis.

Objective: Inclusion body myositis (IBM) has an unclear molecular etiology exhibiting both characteristic inflammatory T-cell activity and rimmed-vacuolar degeneration of muscle fibers. Using in-depth gene expression and splicing studies, we aimed at understanding the different components of the molecular pathomechanisms in IBM.

Methods: We performed RNA-seq on RNA extracted from skeletal muscle biopsies of clinically and histopathologically defined IBM (n = 24), tibial muscular dystrophy (n = 6), and histopathologically normal group (n = 9).

An Exploratory Investigation of Pupillometry As a Measure of Tinnitus Intrusiveness on a Test of Auditory Short-Term Memory.

Objectives: The purpose of the current study was to investigate the potential of pupillometry to provide an objective measure of competition between tinnitus and external sounds during a test of auditory short-term memory.

Design: Twelve participants with chronic tinnitus and twelve control participants without tinnitus took part in the study. Pretest sessions used an adaptive method to estimate listeners' frequency discrimination threshold on a test of delayed pitch discrimination for pure tones.

Intron mutations and early transcription termination in Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy.

DMD pathogenic variants for Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy are detectable with high sensitivity by standard clinical exome analyses of genomic DNA. However, up to 7% of DMD mutations are deep intronic and analysis of muscle-derived RNA is an important diagnostic step for patients who have negative genomic testing but abnormal dystrophin expression in muscle. In this study, muscle biopsies were evaluated from 19 patients with clinical features of a dystrophinopathy, but negative clinical DMD mutation analysis.

Intra-tracheal multiplexed sensing of contact pressure and perfusion.

Incorrect endotracheal tube (ETT) cuff inflation pressure causes significant problems for intubated patients. The technical development and first use of a smart ETT for measurements at the cuff-trachea interface during mechanical ventilation are described. The intra-tracheal multiplexed sensing (iTraXS) ETT contains integrated optical fibre sensors to measure contact pressure and blood perfusion.

Long-term outcome of vagus nerve stimulation for drug-resistant epilepsy using continuous assessment, with a note on mortality.

Purpose: To examine the outcome of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) for drug-resistant epilepsy using data from a National Health Service VNS clinic.

Methods: Clinical records of patients implanted with VNS for epilepsy between1995 and 2010 were examined. Patients were selected for study who had at least one year of therapeutic stimulation (minimum 1 mA stimulator current) and follow-up by our service with analysable electronic records, providing continuous assessment of seizure control during available follow-up.

Isn't There Room for Music in Chronic Pain Management?

Chronic pain with its comorbidities, such as depression, insomnia, and social deprivation, is a major cause of disability and health-economic burden. Insufficient response to pain medication and potentially serious adverse effects have led the majority of chronic pain patients to seek relief from non-pharmacological remedies. Along with this trend, pain research has paid increasing interest in critical evaluation of various complementary treatments.

Dimethyl fumarate decreases short-term but not long-term inflammation in a focal EAE model of neuroinflammation.

Background: Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) is an oral immunomodulatory drug used in the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Here, we sought to study whether the effect of DMF can be detected using positron emission tomography (PET) targeting the 18-kDa translocator protein (TSPO) in the focal delayed-type hypersensitivity rat model of multiple sclerosis (fDTH-EAE). The rats were treated orally twice daily from lesion activation (day 0) with either vehicle (tap water with 0.