BACKGROUND: Although neuromelanin-sensitive magnetic resonance imaging (NM-MRI) has been used to evaluate early neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease, studies concentrating on the locus coeruleus (LC) in pre-dementia stages of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) are lacking. OBJECTIVES: The aims were to evaluate NM-MRI signal changes in the LC in patients with mild cognitive impairment with Lewy bodies (MCI-LB) compared to healthy controls (HC) and to identify the cognitive correlates of the changes. We also aimed to test the hypothesis of a caudal-rostral α-synuclein pathology spread using NM-MRI of the different LC subparts. METHODS: A total of 38 MCI-LB patients and 59 HCs underwent clinical and cognitive testing and NM-MRI of the LC. We calculated the contrast ratio of NM-MRI signal (LC-CR) in the whole LC as well as in its caudal, middle, and rostral MRI slices, and we compared the LC-CR values between the MCI-LB and HC groups. Linear regression analyses were performed to assess the relationship between the LC-CR and cognitive outcomes. RESULTS: The MCI-LB group exhibited a significant reduction in the right LC-CR compared to HCs (P = 0.021). The right LC-CR decrease was associated with impaired visuospatial memory in the MCI-LB group. Only the caudal part of the LC exhibited significant LC-CR decreases in MCI-LB patients compared to HCs on both sides (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study that focuses on LC-CRs in MCI-LB patients and analyzes the LC subparts, offering new insights into the LC integrity alterations in the initial stages of DLB and their clinical correlates. © 2024 The Author(s). Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.
- MeSH
- alpha-Synuclein metabolism MeSH
- Lewy Body Disease * diagnostic imaging pathology MeSH
- Cognitive Dysfunction * diagnostic imaging pathology physiopathology etiology MeSH
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Locus Coeruleus * diagnostic imaging pathology MeSH
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging * MeSH
- Neuropsychological Tests MeSH
- Aged, 80 and over MeSH
- Aged MeSH
- Check Tag
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Aged, 80 and over MeSH
- Aged MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
Oslabené sociokognitívne schopnosti môžu signalizovať riziko sociálnej (pragmatickej) komunikačnej poruchy alebo poruchy autistického spektra. Skorá identifikácia ťažkostí je kľúčová pre začatie cielenej intervencie a elimináciu prehlbovania existujúcich deficitov. Cieľom príspevku je predstaviť zahraničný diagnostický nástroj The Early Sociocognitive Battery (ESB) autoriek Shuly Chiat, Penny Roy a Jennifer Warwick, ktorý umožňuje priame hodnotenie sociokognitívnych schopností detí už v ranom veku. Teoretický opis ESB je doplnený o stručný prehľad výsledkov pilotného testovania 44 intaktných slovensky hovoriacich detí mladšieho predškolského veku, zameraného na analýzu výkonov detí v závislosti od pohlavia. Participanti boli hodnotení prostredníctvom batérie ESB, testu Opakovanie pseudoslov a Dotazníka použitia jazyka (LUI). Pilotné dáta ukazujú, že pohlavie detí nemá signifikantný vplyv na ich výkony v rámci nástroja ESB. Rovnako bola preukázaná štatisticky významná korelácia medzi celkovým skóre v dotazníku LUI a skóre v subteste Spoločná pozornosť batérie ESB. Výsledky podporujú aplikovateľnosť nástroja ESB aj v slovenskom kultúrnom a jazykovom prostredí.
Impaired sociocognitive abilities may signal the risk of a social (pragmatic) communication disorder or Autism Spectrum Disorder. Early identification of difficulties is crucial for initiating targeted intervention and preventing the escalation of existing deficits. The aim of this paper is to introduce the foreign diagnostic tool, the Early Sociocognitive Battery (ESB), developed by Shula Chiat, Penny Roy and Jennifer Warwick. This tool enables direct assessment of children's sociocognitive abilities at an early age. The theoretical description of the ESB is supplemented by a brief overview of the results from the pilot testing of 44 typically developing Slovak-speaking children in the younger preschool age group, focusing on the analysis of children's performance in relation to gender. Participants were assessed using the ESB, Nonword Repetition Task, and Language Use Inventory (LUI). Pilot data show that the children's gender does not have a significant impact on their performance within the ESB tool. In addition, a statistically significant correlation was found between the total score on the LUI and the score on the Joint Attention subtest of the ESB. The results support the applicability of the ESB tool in the Slovak cultural and linguistic context.
- MeSH
- Child MeSH
- Cognition MeSH
- Communication MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Neuropsychological Tests * MeSH
- Pilot Projects MeSH
- Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis MeSH
- Sex Factors MeSH
- Social Behavior MeSH
- Language Development MeSH
- Check Tag
- Child MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Publication type
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
Intracranial human brain recordings from multiple implanted depth electrodes using stereo-EEG (sEEG) technology for seizure localization provide unique local field potential signals (LFP) sampled with standard macro- and special micro-electrode contacts. Over one hundred macro- and micro-contact LFP signals localized in particular brain regions were recorded from each sEEG monitoring case as patients engaged in an automated battery of verbal memory and non-verbal gaze movement tasks. Subject eye and vocal responses in both visual and auditory task versions were automatically detected in Polish, Czech, and Slovak languages with accurate timing of the correct and incorrect verbal responses using our web-based transcription tool. The behavioral events, LFP and pupillometric signals were synchronized and stored in a standard BIDS data structure with corresponding metadata. Each dataset contains recordings from at least one battery task performed over at least one day. The same set of 180 common nouns in the three languages was used across different battery tasks and recording days to enable the analysis of selective responses to specific word stimuli.
- MeSH
- Electroencephalography MeSH
- Language MeSH
- Cognition * MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Brain * physiology MeSH
- Eye Movements MeSH
- Eye-Tracking Technology MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Dataset MeSH
PURPOSE: This study investigates genes contributing to late-adult corneal dystrophies (LACDs) in aged mice, with potential implications for late-onset corneal dystrophies (CDs) in humans. METHODS: The International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium (IMPC) database, containing data from 8901 knockout mouse lines, was filtered to include late-adult mice (49+ weeks) with significant (P < 0.0001) CD phenotypes. Candidate genes were mapped to human orthologs using the Mouse Genome Informatics group, with expression analyzed via PLAE and a literature review for prior CD associations. Comparative analyses of LACD genes from IMPC and established human CD genes from IC3D included protein interactions (STRING), biological processes (PANTHER), and molecular pathways (KEGG). RESULTS: Analysis identified 14 genes linked to late-adult abnormal corneal phenotypes. Of these, 2 genes were previously associated with CDs in humans, while 12 were novel. Seven of the 14 genes (50%) were expressed in the human cornea based on single-cell transcriptomics. Protein-protein interactions via STRING showed several significant interactions with known human CD genes. PANTHER analysis identified six biological processes shared with established human CD genes. Two genes (Rgs2 and Galnt9) were involved in pathways related to human corneal diseases, including cGMP-PKG signaling, mucin-type O-glycan biosynthesis, and oxytocin signaling. Other candidates were implicated in pathways such as pluripotency of stem cells, MAPK signaling, WNT signaling, actin cytoskeleton regulation, and cellular senescence. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified 14 genes linked to LACD in knockout mice, 12 of which are novel in corneal biology. These genes may serve as potential therapeutic targets for treating corneal diseases in aging human populations.
Epilepsy is a neurological disease characterized by epileptic seizures, which commonly manifest with pronounced frequency and amplitude changes in the EEG signal. In the case of focal seizures, initially localized pathological activity spreads from a so-called "onset zone" to a wider network of brain areas. Chimeras, defined as states of simultaneously occurring coherent and incoherent dynamics in symmetrically coupled networks are increasingly invoked for characterization of seizures. In particular, chimera-like states have been observed during the transition from a normal (asynchronous) to a seizure (synchronous) network state. However, chimeras in epilepsy have only been investigated with respect to the varying phases of oscillators. We propose a novel method to capture the characteristic pronounced changes in the recorded EEG amplitude during seizures by estimating chimera-like states directly from the signals in a frequency- and time-resolved manner. We test the method on a publicly available intracranial EEG dataset of 16 patients with focal epilepsy. We show that the proposed measure, titled Amplitude Entropy, is sensitive to the altered brain dynamics during seizure, demonstrating its significant increases during seizure as compared to before and after seizure. This finding is robust across patients, their seizures, and different frequency bands. In the future, Amplitude Entropy could serve not only as a feature for seizure detection, but also help in characterizing amplitude chimeras in other networked systems with characteristic amplitude dynamics.
- MeSH
- Adult MeSH
- Electroencephalography methods MeSH
- Entropy MeSH
- Epilepsies, Partial * physiopathology MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Brain * physiopathology MeSH
- Seizures * physiopathology MeSH
- Check Tag
- Adult MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- MeSH
- Eyeglasses MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Myopia MeSH
- Night Vision MeSH
- Glare MeSH
- Automobile Driving * MeSH
- Vision, Ocular MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Publication type
- Interview MeSH
- Keywords
- zdánlivý pohyb,
- MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Eye MeSH
- Self Care * methods MeSH
- Computers MeSH
- Motor Activity MeSH
- Eye Movements MeSH
- Relaxation Therapy methods MeSH
- Vision, Ocular * MeSH
- Visual Perception MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Publication type
- Popular Work MeSH
