Search results for "Developmental neuroscience"
showing 10 items of 360 documents
Deflazacort vs. prednisone in Duchenne muscular dystrophy: trends of an ongoing study
1995
Several studies have demonstrated the slowing effect of corticosteroids on the decline of muscle strength in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Deflazacort (DFC) is supposed to have fewer side effects than prednisone (PRED). An ongoing double blind multicenter study is comparing the effects and side effects of deflazacort (0.9 mg/kg/day) and prednisone (0.75 mg/kg/day) in DMD. This interim report includes data for 67 boys between age 5 years and loss of ambulation. Besides the common clinical and laboratory data for chronic corticoid treatment, motor performance has been tested. Interim results, 3-15 months after starting the medication, show some scattering but no grouping of data for all …
Dopamine acting through D2 receptors modulates the expression of PSA-NCAM, a molecule related to neuronal structural plasticity, in the medial prefro…
2008
A "neuroplastic" hypothesis proposes that changes in neuronal structural plasticity may underlie the aetiology of depression and the action of antidepressants. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is affected by this disorder and shows an intense expression of the polysialylated form of the neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM), a plasticity-associated molecule, which is expressed mainly in interneurons. The monoamines serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline are the principal targets of antidepressant action. Pharmacological manipulation of serotonin levels regulates synaptophysin and PSA-NCAM expression in the adult mPFC. However, the involvement of structural plasticity on the antidepress…
Maturational effects on newborn ERPs measured in the mismatch negativity paradigm.
2003
Abstract The mismatch negativity (MMN) component of event-related potentials (ERPs), a measure of passive change detection, is suggested to develop early in comparison to other ERP components, and an MMN-like response has been measured even from preterm infants. The MMN response in adults is negative in polarity at about 150–200 ms. However, the response measured in a typical MMN paradigm can also be markedly different in newborns, even opposite in polarity. This has been suggested to be related to maturational factors. To verify that suggestion, we measured ERPs of 21 newborns during quiet sleep to rarely occurring deviant tones of 1100 Hz (probability 12%) embedded among repeated standard…
Cognitive, biochemical, and imaging profile of patients suffering from idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus
2011
Abstract Introduction It has still not been clearly established whether the cognitive deficits of idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) are caused by a disturbance in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) dynamics or an underlying metabolic disturbance. Objective To identify the possible associations between biochemical markers, the neuroimaging characteristics, and cognitive deficits of patients undergoing investigations for possible iNPH. Methods A CSF sample obtained during a lumbar puncture from 10 patients with iNPH was analyzed for several biochemical markers (lactate, 8-isoprostane, vascular endothelial growth factor [VEGF], neurofilament heavy protein, glial fibrillary acidic protein,…
Infantile postural asymmetry and osteopathic treatment: a randomized therapeutic trial
2005
The aim of this study was to assess the therapeutic efficacy of osteopathic treatment in infants with postural asymmetry. A randomized clinical trial of efficacy with blinded videoscoring was performed. Sixty-one infants with postural asymmetry aged 6 to 12 weeks (mean 9wks) were recruited. Thirty-two infants (18 males, 14 females) with a gestational age of at least 36 weeks were found to be eligible and randomly assigned to the intervention groups, 16 receiving osteopathic treatment and 16 sham therapy. After a treatment period of 4 weeks the outcome was measured using a standardized scale (4-24 points). With sham therapy, five infants improved (at least 3 points), eight infants were uncha…
Effects of Cortical Spreading Depression on Cortical Blood Flow, Impedance, DC Potential, and Infarct Size in a Rat Venous Infarct Model
2000
A cortical venous infarction model has been evaluated as to the degree of regional flow reduction and by studying effects of cortical spreading depression (CSD). Two adjacent cortical veins were occluded photochemically with rose bengal and fiberoptic illumination. Seven rats served to demonstrate effects on regional cortical blood flow using laser Doppler scanning. In 36 rats local CBF, DC potential, and brain tissue impedance were measured continuously for 75 min after vein occlusion. No, 3, or 10 CSD waves were induced by potassium chloride injection during the initial 75 min. Rats were compared for spontaneous CSDs; baseline local CBF, CBF, and impedance response to CSD; and infarct vol…
Different postischemic protein expression of the GABA_{A} receptor α2 subunit and the plasticity-associated protein MAP1B after treatment with BDNF v…
2009
Purpose Recent data indicate that both brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) exert substantial neuroregenerative effects and improve functional outcome after ischemic stroke. In the present study, we checked for potential differences in the postischemic modulation of various excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitter receptors as well as various marker molecules for structural plasticity by BDNF versus G-CSF. Methods Adult male Wistar rats were subjected to photothrombotic ischemia and subsequently treated with NaCl, BDNF or G-CSF, respectively. After 6 weeks, postischemic protein expression of the NR1, GluR1 and alpha2 subunit of the NMD…
Differential involvement of the left frontal and temporal regions in verb naming: A tDCS treatment study
2012
Purpose: In aphasic patients, some studies have already emphasized the efficacy of transcranial direct current stim- ulation (tDCS) during the treatment of noun retrieval deficits. To date, in the same population, there are have been no studies addressing tDCS effects in the recovery of verb retrieval deficits. In this study, we wanted to test the potential of tDCS to improve verb production in a group of aphasic patients. Methods: Seven chronic subjects participated in an intensive language training for their difficulties in action naming. Each subject was treated with tDCS (20 min., 1 mA) over the left hemisphere in three different conditions: anodic tDCS over Wernicke's area, anodic tDCS…
Cardiac sympathetic activation and parasympathetic withdrawal during psychosocial stress exposure in 6‐month‐old infants
2020
Infant autonomic reactivity to stress is a potential predictor of later life health complications, but research has not sufficiently examined sympathetic activity, controlled for effects of physical activity and respiration, or studied associations among autonomic adjustments, cardiac activity, and affect in infants. We studied 278 infants during the repeated Still-Face Paradigm, a standardized stressor, while monitoring cardiac activity (ECG) and respiratory pattern (respiratory inductance plethysmography). Video ratings of physical activity and affect were also performed. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and T-wave amplitude (TWA) served as noninvasive indicators of cardiac parasympathe…
Expression of the α4 isoform of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor in the fetal human cerebral cortex
2001
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors are likely to play an important role in neuronal migration during development. Furthermore, the alpha4 receptor subunit gene is related to a hereditary juvenile form of epilepsy. Only little information is available, however, on the expression of cerebrocortical nicotinic acetylcholine receptors during human fetal development. Using non-isotopic in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry, we have studied the distribution of the alpha4 subunit of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor mRNA and protein in the human frontal cortex at middle (17-24 weeks of gestation) and late (34-42 weeks of gestation) fetal stages. Both, alpha4 receptor mRNA and alpha4 rece…