Search results for "Motor"

Linee guida attuali e future del trattamento dello scompenso cardiaco

2006

2016

The neural systems supporting speech and sign processing are very similar, although not identical. In a previous fTCD study of hearing native signers (Gutierrez-Sigut, Daws, et al., 2015) we found stronger left lateralization for sign than speech. Given that this increased lateralization could not be explained by hand movement alone, the contribution of motor movement versus ‘linguistic’ processes to the strength of hemispheric lateralization during sign production remains unclear. Here we directly contrast lateralization strength of covert versus overt signing during phonological and semantic fluency tasks. To address the possibility that hearing native signers’ elevated lateralization ind…

Rapid serial naming: relations between different stimuli and neuropsychological factors.

2004

We report two studies on rapid serial naming (RSN). Study 1 addressed the relations among RSN tasks comprising different stimuli. Separate components for RSN of alphanumeric and non-alphanumeric stimuli, as well as for tasks in which the stimuli alternated between categories were identified. In Study 2, phonological skills, processing speed, motor dexterity, and verbal fluency were found to explain RSN performance. The studies indicate: (1) that RSN tasks vary in their properties according to the stimuli used and according to the way the tasks are arranged, and (2) that RSN tasks are multi-componented.

Transcriptional up-regulation of nNOS in the dorsal vagal complex during low endotoxemia

2005

The present study analyses the expression and distribution of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) in the brainstem of animals pre-treated with Escherichia coli or Helicobacter pylori LPS, at doses that modulate gastric motor function. Systemic administration of H. pylori LPS prevented in a dose-dependent manner (5, 40 and 100 microg kg(-1), i.v.) the increase in intragastric pressure induced by 2-deoxy-D-glucose (200 mg kg(-1), i.v.) in urethane-anaesthetized rats. Quantitative analysis showed a significant increase in the amount of nNOS mRNA induced by E. coli or H. pylori LPS (2 h later), in a segment of the brainstem containing the dorsal vagal complex (DVC). Immunohistochemical studie…

Studies using the körperkoordinationstest für (ktk): A review

2014

Introduction When encouraging children to active lifestyle, a suitable test for the gross motor coordination, specifically mastering of fundamental motor skills, is of great use. To evaluate and choose a suitable test for different purposes it is important to know its usage in different settings. The Korperkoordinationstest fur Kinder (KTK) [1] is a test, which mainly focuses on gross motor coordination of both normal and impaired children. The KTK is quite simple and quick to administer, the same items cover all age groups (5–15 years). This study aims to introduce the KTK's usage on a basis of literature review. Specifically, the aim is to extract information on KTK's pros, cons and sugge…

Non invasive blood flow measurement in cerebellum detects minimal hepatic encephalopathy earlier than psychometric tests

2013

AIM: To assess whether non invasive blood flow measurement by arterial spin labeling in several brain regions detects minimal hepatic encephalopathy. METHODS: Blood flow (BF) was analyzed by arterial spin labeling (ASL) in different brain areas of 14 controls, 24 cirrhotic patients without and 16 cirrhotic patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE). Images were collected using a 3 Tesla MR scanner (Achieva 3T-TX, Philips, Netherlands). Pulsed ASL was performed. Patients showing MHE were detected using the battery Psychometric Hepatic Encephalopathy Score (PHES) consisting of five tests. Different cognitive and motor functions were also assessed: alterations in selective attention we…

Altered postural control and stability in cirrhotic patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy correlate with cognitive deficits

2017

Background & Aims: Cognitive dysfunction in cirrhotic patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) is associated with falls. Alterations in postural control and stability could contribute to increase falls risk in these patients. We aimed to assess whether postural control and direction-specific limits of stability are altered in cirrhotic patients with MHE compared to patients without MHE and controls. We also assessed if alterations in postural control correlate with neurological impairment and/or blood biomarkers. Methods: Posturography analysis, attention Stroop test and bimanual and visuo-motor coordination tests were performed in 18 controls, 19 patients with cirrhosis without M…

The PHES battery does not detect all cirrhotic patients with early neurological deficits, which are different in different patients.

2017

Background and aims The psychometric hepatic encephalopathy score (PHES) is the “gold standard” for minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) diagnosis. Some reports suggest that some cirrhotic patients “without” MHE according to PHES show neurological deficits and other reports that neurological alterations are not homogeneous in all cirrhotic patients. This work aimed to assess whether: 1) a relevant proportion of cirrhotic patients show neurological deficits not detected by PHES; 2) cirrhotic patients with mild neurological deficits are a homogeneous population or may be classified in sub-groups according to specific deficits. Methods Cirrhotic patients “without” (n = 56) or “with” MHE (n = 4…

Premature termination of epidural analgesia—A prospective analysis to improve quality

2009

Summary Background and objective Epidural analgesia (EA) is a gold-standard in post-operative pain control. Therefore, modern treatment concepts targeting early patient recovery regularly implement EA. Due to its increasing impact, EA should meet high quality standards in respect to application and maintenance. Though, daily practice often reveals EA-related problems, our investigation aimed to improve EA quality by assessing incidence and reasons of undeliberate, premature termination of post-operative EA. Methods In the first step all patients with post-operative EA were retrospectively studied covering a 6-month period (group 1). We analysed incidences and reasons of undeliberate termina…

Is recursion language-specific? Evidence of recursive mechanisms in the structure of intentional action

2014

In their 2002 seminal paper Hauser, Chomsky and Fitch hypothesize that recursion is the only human-specific and language-specific mechanism of the faculty of language. While debate focused primarily on the meaning of recursion in the hypothesis and on the human-specific and syntax-specific character of recursion, the present work focuses on the claim that recursion is language-specific. We argue that there are recursive structures in the domain of motor intentionality by way of extending John R. Searle's analysis of intentional action. We then discuss evidence from cognitive science and neuroscience supporting the claim that motor-intentional recursion is language-independent and suggest so…