Re-examining the pathobiological basis of gait dysfunction in Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a significant source of morbidity, especially with an aging population. Gait problems, particularly freezing of gait (FOG), remain a persistent issue, causing falls and reduced quality of life without consistent responses to therapies. PD and related symptoms have classically been attributed to dopamine deficiency secondary to substantia nigra degeneration from Lewy body (LB) and Lewy neurite (LN) infiltration.

CSF-Venous Fistulas Arising Intraosseously within Bone Remodeled by Meningeal Diverticula.

CSF-venous fistulas (CVFs) are a common and increasingly recognized type of spinal CSF leak. Most of these fistulas occur in the setting of spontaneous intracranial hypotension, though nonspontaneous cases have been described as well. In most instances, CVFs arise from the dome or neck of nerve root sleeve diverticula (also called meningeal diverticula).

Hydrogen Sulfide (HS) Generated in the Colon Induces Neuropathic Pain by Activating Spinal NMDA Receptors in a Rodent Model of Chronic Constriction Injury.

Neuropathic pain (NP) imposes a significant burden on individuals, manifesting as nociceptive anaphylaxis, hypersensitivity, and spontaneous pain. Previous studies have shown that traumatic stress in the nervous system can lead to excessive production of hydrogen sulfide (HS) in the gut. As a toxic gas, it can damage the nervous system through the gut-brain axis.

Differential Neuronal Activation of Nociceptive Pathways in Neuropathic Pain After Spinal Cord Injury.

Neuropathic pain, a prevalent complication following spinal cord injury (SCI), severely impairs the life quality of patients. No ideal treatment exists due to incomplete knowledge on underlying neural processes. To explore the SCI-induced effect on nociceptive circuits, the protein expression of c-Fos was analyzed as an indicator of neuronal activation in a rat contusion model exhibiting below-level pain.

Canadian Association of Radiologists Central Nervous System Diagnostic Imaging Referral Guideline.

The Canadian Association of Radiologists (CAR) Central Nervous System Expert Panel is made up of physicians from the disciplines of radiology, emergency medicine, neurosurgery, and neurology, a patient advisor, and an epidemiologist/guideline methodologist. After developing a list of 24 clinical/diagnostic scenarios, a rapid scoping review was undertaken to identify systematically produced referral guidelines that provide recommendations for one or more of these clinical/diagnostic scenarios. Recommendations from 55 guidelines and contextualization criteria in the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE) for guidelines framework were used to develop 51 recommendation statements across the 24 scenarios.

[A case of diagnosed pernicious anemia and subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord with abnormally elevated serum vitamin B12].

An 86-year-old male patient developed paresthesia in both hands, and six months later, pancytopenia was noted. He was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome following bone marrow aspiration. Despite high serum vitamin B12 level, elevated level of serum homocysteine, positive anti-intrinsic factor antibody, and T-weighted hyperintense lesions on spinal cord MRI led to a diagnosis of subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord.

Characterization of children with early onset pediatric multiple sclerosis.

Background: Early onset pediatric multiple sclerosis (EOPMS) provides an early window of opportunity to understand the mechanisms leading to MS.

Objective: To investigate clinical, laboratory and imaging differences between children with early onset pediatric MS (<11 years, EOPMS) and late onset pediatric MS (≥11 years, LOPMS).

Methods: Mostly prospectively collected data of children with MS including clinical presentation, MRI at onset, time to second relapse, relapse rate, treatment history, and CSF markers were eligible.

Graphene oxide scaffolds promote functional improvements mediated by scaffold-invading axons in thoracic transected rats.

Millions of patients and their caretakers live and deal with the devastating consequences of spinal cord injury (SCI) worldwide. Despite outstanding advances in the field to both understand and tackle these pathologies, a cure for SCI patients, with their peculiar characteristics, is still a mirage. One of the most promising therapeutic strategies to date for these patients involves the use of epidural electrical stimulation.

Intraventricular Administration of Exosomes from Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Provokes Motor Neuron Disease in Mice.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a severe disease of the central nervous system (CNS) characterized by motor neuron damage leading to death from respiratory failure. The neurodegenerative process in ALS is characterized by an accumulation of aberrant proteins (TDP-43, SOD1, etc.) in CNS cells.

Motor neuron diseases are not exclusively motor; the SSR paradigm.

Motor Neuron Diseases (MNDs), familial and sporadic, are progressive neurodegenerative disorders that, for an extended period in the past, were considered purely motor disorders. During the course of the disease, however, some patients exhibit concomitant non-motor signs; thus, MNDs are currently perceived as multisystem disorders. Assessment of non-motor symptoms is usually performed clinically, although laboratory tests can also be routinely used to objectively evaluate these symptoms.

Ultrasound-triggered release of vancomycin from a novel spinal device: Antibiotic release and efficacy in vivo.

Post-surgical spinal infection occurs in up to 20% of patients, despite aggressive peri-operative antibiotic treatments. To improve prophylaxis, we have designed and evaluated an ultrasound-activated prophylactic antibiotic release system to combat post-surgical bacterial survival. Polylactic acid (PLA) clips (1 cm) were 3D-printed with an interior reservoir (0.

Towards contrast-agnostic soft segmentation of the spinal cord.

Spinal cord segmentation is clinically relevant and is notably used to compute spinal cord cross-sectional area (CSA) for the diagnosis and monitoring of cord compression or neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis. While several semi and automatic methods exist, one key limitation remains: the segmentation depends on the MRI contrast, resulting in different CSA across contrasts. This is partly due to the varying appearance of the boundary between the spinal cord and the cerebrospinal fluid that depends on the sequence and acquisition parameters.

Blocking the p38 MAPK Signaling Pathway in the Rat Hippocampus Alleviates the Depressive-like Behavior Induced by Spinal Cord Injury.

Patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) may develop depression, which can affect their rehabilitation. However, the underlying mechanism of depression in SCI patients remains unclear. Previous studies have revealed increased p38 MAPK phosphorylation in the rat hippocampus after SCI, accompanied by depression-like behaviors.

Trigeminal nerve microstructure is linked with neuroinflammation and brainstem activity in migraine.

Although the pathophysiology of migraine involves a complex ensemble of peripheral and central nervous system changes that remain incompletely understood, the activation and sensitization of the trigeminovascular system is believed to play a major role. However, non-invasive, in vivo neuroimaging studies investigating the underlying neural mechanisms of trigeminal system abnormalities in human migraine patients are limited. Here, we studied 60 patients with migraine (55 females, mean age ± SD: 36.

Community Integration of Disability: A Bibliometric and Knowledge-Map Analysis.

Background: Community integration (CI) is the ultimate goal of rehabilitation for individuals with disabilities. It plays a significant role in restoring their social functioning and facilitating their reintegration into community and family life. However, no studies have utilized bibliometric methods to explore community integration.

A fatal case of enterovirus A71-induced meningoencephalitis following allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) is a major pathogen responsible for hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) in infants and children. EV-A71 infection represents an epidemic in the Asia-Pacific region, and can cause serious central nervous system (CNS) infections in immunocompromised patients that can result in paralysis, disability, or death. There have been few reports in the literature concerning EV-A71 CNS infections after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) in adult patients.

Remote neurodegeneration in the lumbosacral cord one month after spinal cord injury: a cross-sectional MRI study.

Objective: To characterize structural integrity of the lumbosacral enlargement and conus medullaris within one month after spinal cord injury (SCI).

Methods: Lumbosacral cord MRI data were acquired in patients with sudden onset (<7 days) SCI at the cervical or thoracic level approximately one month after injury and in healthy controls. Tissue integrity and loss were evaluated through diffusion tensor (DTI) and T2*-weighted imaging (cross-sectional area [CSA] measurements).

Exploring the role of T cells in Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases: Emerging therapeutic insights from the T Cells in the Brain symposium.

This proceedings article summarizes the inaugural "T Cells in the Brain" symposium held at Columbia University. Experts gathered to explore the role of T cells in neurodegenerative diseases. Key topics included characterization of antigen-specific immune responses, T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire, microbial etiology in Alzheimer's disease (AD), and microglia-T cell crosstalk, with a focus on how T cells affect neuroinflammation and AD biomarkers like amyloid beta and tau.

Multi-center benchmarking of cervical spinal cord RF coils for 7 T MRI: A traveling spines study.

Purpose: The depth within the body, small diameter, long length, and varying tissue surrounding the spinal cord impose specific considerations when designing radiofrequency coils. The optimal coil configuration for 7 T cervical spinal cord MRI is unknown and, currently, there are very few coil options. The purpose of this work was (1) to establish a quality control protocol for evaluating 7 T cervical spinal cord coils and (2) to use that protocol to evaluate the performance of 4 different coil designs.

Circadian pattern in restless legs syndrome.

This chapter provides an overview of circadian pattern in restless legs syndrome (RLS). Circadian variation of symptoms is a known feature of RLS. According to one of the five essential criteria for RLS diagnosis, symptoms "only occur or are worse in the evening or at night than during the day.

The influence of genotype on the natural history of types 1 - 3 spinal muscular atrophy.

The severity of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is inversely correlated with the number of survival of motor neuron 2 (SMN2) copies an individual has. This observational, retrospective analysis of natural history data included untreated individuals with a genetic diagnosis of types 1-3 SMA and stratified disease-related characteristics by SMN2 copy number. The outcomes investigated were time to: death, permanent ventilation, respiratory support, feeding support, scoliosis surgery, and achievement and loss of motor milestones.

CXCL-10 in Cerebrospinal Fluid Detects Neuroinflammation in HTLV-1-Associated Myelopathy with High Accuracy.

Background And Objectives: HTLV-1-associated myelopathy (HAM) is a chronic progressive inflammatory disease of the spinal cord. This study assesses the diagnostic accuracy of the neuroinflammatory biomarkers neopterin and cysteine-X-cysteine motif chemokine ligand 10 (CXCL-10) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for HAM.

Methods: CSF samples from 75 patients with neurological disorders-33 with HAM (Group A), 19 HTLV-1-seronegative with other neuroinflammatory diseases (Group B), and 23 HTLV-1-seronegative with non-neuroinflammatory diseases (Group C)-were retrospectively evaluated.

Effects of Spinal Cord Stimulation in Patients with Small Fiber and Associated Comorbidities from Neuropathy After Multiple Etiologies.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) on pain, neuropathic symptoms, and other health-related metrics in patients with chronic painful peripheral neuropathy (PN) from multiple etiologies. A prospective single center observational longitudinal cohort study assessed SCS efficacy from April 2023 to May 2024, with follow-ups at 2, 4, 6, and 12 months in 19 patients suffering from the painful polyneuropathy of diverse etiologies: diabetic (DPN), idiopathic (CIAP), chemotherapy-induced (CIPN), and others. Patients were implanted with a neurostimulator (WaveWriter Alpha, Boston Scientific Corporation, Valencia, CA, USA) and percutaneous leads targeting the lower limbs (T10-T11) and, if necessary, the upper limbs (C4-C7).

Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for the Treatment of Spinal Cord Injury: Current Status and Perspective.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) can lead to devastating dysfunctions and complications, significantly impacting patients' quality of life and aggravating the burden of disease. Since the main pathological mechanism of SCI is the disruption of neuronal circuits, the primary therapeutic strategy for SCI involves reconstructing and activating circuits to restore neural signal transmission. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), a noninvasive brain stimulation technique, can modulate the function or state of the nervous system by pulsed magnetic fields.