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BMC Research Notes is an open access journal publishing scientifically sound research across all fields of biology and medicine, enabling authors to publish updates to previous research, software tools and databases, data sets, small-scale clinical studies, and reports of confirmatory or 'negative' results. Additionally the journal welcomes descriptions of incremental improvements to methods as well as short correspondence items and hypotheses.
Various functional resonance imaging, magnetoencephalographic and lesion studies suggest the involvement of the insular cortex in the control of swallowing. However, the exact location of insular activation during swallowing and its functional significance remain unclear. Invasive electroencephalographic monitoring was performed in a 24-year-old man with medically intractable stereotyped nocturnal hypermotor seizures due to a ganglioglioma. During stimulation of the right inferior posterior insular cortex with depth electrodes the patient spontaneously reported a perception of a "stutter in swallowing". Stimulation of the inferior insular cortex at highest intensity (4 mA) was also associated with irregular and delayed swallows. Swallowing was not impaired during stimulation of the superior posterior insular cortex, regardless of stimulation intensity. These results indicate that the right posterior insular cortex is involved in the neural circuitry underlying the control of swallowing
Functional brain imaging of swallowing: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis. Peter Soros, Yoko Inamoto, and Ruth E Martin Hum Brain Mapp, December 23, 2008
Front Hum Neurosci. 2017 Jul 24;11:371. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00371. eCollection 2017.
Speech impairment is a frequent and often serious symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD), characterized by a disorder of phonation, articulation and prosody. While research on the pathogenesis of the prominent limb motor symptoms has made considerable progress in recent years, the pathophysiology of PD speech impairment is still incompletely understood. To investigate the neural correlates of speech production in PD, EEG was recorded in 14 non-demented patients with idiopathic PD and preserved verbal fluency on regular dopaminergic medication (8 women; mean age ± SD: 69.5 ± 8.0 years). The control group consisted of 15 healthy age-matched individuals (7 women; age: 69.7 ± 7.0 years). All participants performed a visually-cued, overt speech production task; required utterances were papapa and pataka. During the preparatory phase of speech production, in a time window of 200-400 ms after presentation of the visual cue, β-power was significantly increased in PD patients compared to healthy controls. Previous research has shown that the physiological decrease of β-power preceding limb movement onset is delayed and smaller in PD patients off medication and normalizes under dopaminergic treatment. By contrast, our study demonstrates that β-power during preparation for speech production is higher in patients on dopaminergic therapy than controls. Thus, our results suggest that the mechanisms that regulate β-activity preceding limb movement and speech production differ in PD. The pathophysiological role of this increase in β-power during speech preparation needs to be determined.
A meta-analysis of swallowing-related brain activitiy Functional brain imaging of swallowing: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis. Peter Soros, Yoko Inamoto, and Ruth E Martin Hum Brain Mapp, December 23, 2008
It is widely believed that most stroke recovery occurs within 6 mo, with little benefit of physiotherapy or other modalities beyond 1 yr. We report a remarkable case of stroke recovery beginning 23 yr after a severe stroke due to embolization from the innominate artery and subclavian artery, resulting from compression of the right subclavian artery by a cervical rib. The patient had a large right frontoparietal infarction with severe left hemiparesis and a totally nonfunctional spastic left hand. He experienced some recovery of hand function that began 23 yr after the stroke, 1 yr after he took up regular swimming. As a result, intensive physiotherapy was initiated, with repetitive large muscle movement and a spring-loaded mechanical orthosis that provides resistance to finger flexors and supports finger extensors. Within 2 yr, he could pick up coins with the previously useless left hand. Functional MRI studies document widespread distribution of the recovery in both hemispheres. This case provides impetus not only to more intensive and prolonged physiotherapy, but also to treatment with emerging modalities such as stem cell therapy and exosome and microRNA therapies.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Widespread bilateral activation of both sides of the cerebrum and cerebellum are demonstrated on functional MRI after motor recovery of a completely nonfunctional left hand that began 23 yr after a severe stroke. This suggests that the generally accepted window of recovery beyond which further therapy is not indicated should be entirely reconsidered. Physiotherapy and new modalities in development might be indicated long after a stroke.
Speech impairment is a frequent and often serious symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD), characterized by a disorder of phonation, articulation and prosody. While research on the pathogenesis of the prominent limb motor symptoms has made considerable progress in recent years, the pathophysiology of PD speech impairment is still incompletely understood. To investigate the neural correlates of speech production in PD, EEG was recorded in 14 non-demented patients with idiopathic PD and preserved verbal fluency on regular dopaminergic medication (8 women; mean age ± SD: 69.5 ± 8.0 years). The control group consisted of 15 healthy age-matched individuals (7 women; age: 69.7 ± 7.0 years). All participants performed a visually-cued, overt speech production task; required utterances were papapa and pataka. During the preparatory phase of speech production, in a time window of 200-400 ms after presentation of the visual cue, β-power was significantly increased in PD patients compared to healthy controls. Previous research has shown that the physiological decrease of β-power preceding limb movement onset is delayed and smaller in PD patients off medication and normalizes under dopaminergic treatment. By contrast, our study demonstrates that β-power during preparation for speech production is higher in patients on dopaminergic therapy than controls. Thus, our results suggest that the mechanisms that regulate β-activity preceding limb movement and speech production differ in PD. The pathophysiological role of this increase in β-power during speech preparation needs to be determined.
Speech impairment is a frequent and often serious symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD), characterized by a disorder of phonation, articulation and prosody. While research on the pathogenesis of the prominent limb motor symptoms has made considerable progress in recent years, the pathophysiology of PD speech impairment is still incompletely understood. To investigate the neural correlates of speech production in PD, EEG was recorded in 14 non-demented patients with idiopathic PD and preserved verbal fluency on regular dopaminergic medication (8 women; mean age ± SD: 69.5 ± 8.0 years). The control group consisted of 15 healthy age-matched individuals (7 women; age: 69.7 ± 7.0 years). All participants performed a visually-cued, overt speech production task; required utterances were papapa and pataka. During the preparatory phase of speech production, in a time window of 200-400 ms after presentation of the visual cue, β-power was significantly increased in PD patients compared to healthy controls. Previous research has shown that the physiological decrease of β-power preceding limb movement onset is delayed and smaller in PD patients off medication and normalizes under dopaminergic treatment. By contrast, our study demonstrates that β-power during preparation for speech production is higher in patients on dopaminergic therapy than controls. Thus, our results suggest that the mechanisms that regulate β-activity preceding limb movement and speech production differ in PD. The pathophysiological role of this increase in β-power during speech preparation needs to be determined.
BACKGROUND: Cluster headache (CH) is a neurovascular, primary headache disorder. There are, however, several case reports about patients whose CH started shortly after a structural brain disease or trauma. Motivated by a patient who developed CH 3 weeks a