Search results for "CORTEX"
showing 10 items of 1827 documents
Phase-specific modulation of cortical motor output during movement observation.
2001
The effects of different phases of an observed movement on the modulation of cortical motor output were studied by means of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). A video-clip of a reaching-grasping action was shown and single TMS pulses were delivered during its passive observation, Times of cortical stimulation were related to the phases of the shown movement, locking them to the appearance of specific kinematic landmarks. The amplitude of the motor evoked potentials (MEPs) induced by TMS in the first dorsal interosseus (FDI) muscle was modulated by the amount of the observed finger aperture. The presence of such an effect is consistent with the notion of a mirror neuron system in premo…
Consequences of long-term oral corticosteroid therapy and its side-effects in severe asthma in adults: a focused review of the impact data in the lit…
2018
This review provides an overview of the role of long-term treatment of severe asthma with oral corticosteroids (OCS) and its associated side-effects in adults. It is based on a systematic literature search conducted in MEDLINE, Embase and the Cochrane Library to identify relevant studies. After a short overview of severe asthma and its treatment we present studies showing a dose–response relationship in asthmatic patients treated with OCS and then consider by organ systems the undesired effects demonstrated in clinical and epidemiological studies in patients with OCS-dependent asthma. It was found that the risk of developing various OCS-related complications, including infections, diabetes …
Disrupting SMA activity modulates explicit and implicit emotional responses: an rTMS study.
2014
Supplementary Motor Area (SMA) has been considered as an interface between the emotional/motivational system and motor effector system. Here, we investigated whether it is possible to modulate emotional responses using non-invasive brain stimulation of the SMA. 1Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) trains were applied over the SMA of healthy subjects performing a task requiring to judge the valence and arousal of emotional stimuli. rTMS trains over the SMA increased the perceived valence of emotionally negative visual stimuli, while decreasing the perceived valence of emotionally positive ones. The modulatory effect on emotional valence was specific for stimuli with emotio…
Neurobiological signature of intimacy in anorexia nervosa
2019
Background Intimacy and psychosexual development represent core problems of anorexia nervosa (AN). Experiential and neurobiological evidence however is scarce. Material and methods Thirty-one female AN patients were compared with 35 non-patients (NP) and 22 recovered participants (REC) by using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Participants viewed pictures of couples in intimate relationships and control stimuli. Results AN patients experienced intimate stimuli with lower valence and dominance. AN showed decreased activation of parietal cortices. NP decreased the prefrontal cortex response, which AN patients did not. REC participants did not differ from NP on a behavioural level, thoug…
Functional MRI of human primary somatosensory and motor cortex during median nerve stimulation.
1999
Abstract Objectives: Somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) studies suggested that some early cortical SEP components may be generated in the primary motor cortex (M1) rather than the primary somatosensory cortex (S1). Methods: We now used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study activation of S1 and M1 by electrical median nerve stimulation in healthy volunteers. Results: The hand areas of both S1 and M1 showed significant activation (correlation coefficients >0.45) in 7 of 9 subjects (activated volume S1>M1). For comparison, a sequential finger opposition task significantly activated S1 in 7 and M1 in all 9 subjects (activated volume M1>S1). Conclusions: These data show that th…
Timing of right parietal and frontal cortex activity in visuo-spatial perception: A TMS study in normal individuals
2001
In a recent study we showed that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) with train duration of 400 ms over right frontal and right posterior parietal cortices gives rise to transitory contralateral visuo-spatial neglect in normal subjects. In the present experiment we investigated whether using single-pulse TMS it is possible to obtain information about the timing of cortical activity related to spatial cognition. Nine healthy subjects performed in baseline condition and during TMS a tachistoscopic task, requiring a forced-choice estimation of the length of the two segments of prebisected horizontal lines. Single-pulse TMS was triggered at various time intervals (150 ms, 225 ms…
Prevalence and pattern of cognitive impairment in systemic lupus erythematosus patients with and without overt neuropsychiatric manifestations
2001
The prevalence and pattern of cognitive impairment in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with (NPSLE) and without (nSLE) overt neuropsychiatric manifestations were investigated. Fifty-two nSLE patients, 23 NPSLE patients and 27 healthy controls were evaluated with a battery of standardized neuropsychological and psychological tests. Disease duration, disease activity index, and current corticosteroid therapy were collected. Cognitive impairment was identified in 14 (26.9%) and in 12 (52.2%) of subjects with nSLE and NPSLE, respectively. Both SLE groups showed a significant impairment compared with controls on tasks assessing verbal and non-verbal long-term memory, and visuoconstruc…
Double Endocrine Neoplasia in a Renal Transplant Recipient: Case Report and Review of the Literature
2011
Abstract Introduction The incidence of cancer compared for age groups is 3–4 times higher in transplant recipients than the general population. The increased risk is related to immunosuppressive therapy as well as the use of increasingly older donors and recipients. Although cardiovascular disease with a functioning transplant is the leading cause of death (47%), cancer mortality is significant especially among older patients. However, the most frequent posttransplantation cancers relate to hemolymphopoietic organs and skin, whereas the occurrence of solid tumors elsewhere is rare. Herein we have described a rare case of synchronous double malignancy of endocrine organs (thyroid-adrenal) in…
Alterations in the expression of PSA-NCAM and synaptic proteins in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of psychiatric disorder patients.
2012
Alterations in the structure and physiology of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) have been found in different psychiatric disorders and some of them involve inhibitory networks, especially in schizophrenia and major depression. Changes in the structure of these networks may be mediated by the polysialylated neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM), a molecule related to neuronal structural plasticity, expressed in the PFC exclusively by interneurons. Different studies have found that PSA-NCAM expression in the hippocampus and the amygdala is altered in schizophrenia, major depression and animal models of these disorders, in parallel to changes in the expression of molecules related to inhibitory …
Treatment of cutaneous lupus erythematosus: current practice variations
2015
The treatment of cutaneous lupus erythematous (CLE) remains a challenge. Most of the therapeutic options used in CLE have not been tested in randomized controlled studies and to date no agent has been approved. Therefore, CLE treatment is mostly based on personal experience. To better characterize therapeutic habits among physicians treating CLE patients, a questionnaire-based study about various aspects of topical and systemic treatment for CLE has been performed. The questionnaire was distributed among CLE experts, mostly from Japan, the USA, and Europe. A total of 82 completed questionnaires were assessed. High-potent and potent corticosteroids as well as calcineurin inhibitors were the…