Chronic pain is linked to changes in cognitive function. However, little is known about its influence on number sense, despite the fact that intact numerical-spatial processing is a prerequisite for valid scale-based pain assessments. This study aimed to elucidate whether number sense is changed in chronic pain (CP), to determine if changes have an impact on pain assessments using pain rating scales and what patient factors might contribute.
N=42 chronic pain patients and n=42 matched controls were analyzed (age range: 33-68 years). Numerical-spatial abilities were investigated by using number line tasks, where participants either estimated the position of a given number (position marking) or the value of a predefined mark (number naming). Pain intensity was assessed using numerical rating (NRS), verbal rating (VRS) and visual analogue scales (VAS). Additional measures included attention and working memory, verbal intelligence, medication and depression. Results revealed that in number naming, patients deviated more from expected responses than controls, and that VAS scores were significantly higher than both NRS and VRS and correlated with deviations in position making. Changes in number naming were predicted by pain intensity, sex and IQ but not by attention, memory or opioid medication.
This article presents new insight on which cognitive mechanisms are influenced by chronic pain with the focus on numerical spatial abilities. It could therefore provide useful knowledge in developing new pain assessment tools specifically for patients suffering from chronic pain.
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.
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.
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.
J Neurophysiol. 2017 Aug 1;118(2):778-781. doi: 10.1152/jn.00868.2016. Epub 2017 May 17. Case Reports
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.
The Neuromedia Corner aims to share news and stimulate an effective dialogue about the state of the art of neuroscience technologies, their risks and benefits and the associated ethical and social issues. The Neuromedia Corner is an idea of the bid - Brains in Dialogue project.
Increasing understanding of the brain and associated advances in technologies to study it will enable improved treatment of neurodegenerative diseases & mental illnesses. But these advances will also increase our insights into normal human behaviour and mental wellbeing, as well as giving the possibility of other enhancement, manipulation, and even degradation of brain function. These developments are likely to provide significant benefits for society, and they will also raise major social and ethical issues due to wide ranging applications. Brain research is likely to have implications for a diverse range of public policy areas such as health, education, law, & security. More broadly progress in neuroscience is going to raise questions about personality, identity, responsibility, & liberty. Brain Waves explores the potential & the limitations of neuroscience insights for policymaking, as well as the benefits and the risks posed by applications of neuroscience and neurotechnologies.
ttys is an wearable data acquisition device with a special focus on biomedical signals such as heart activity (ECG), muscle activity (EMG) and brain activity (EEG). It’s open firmware, open API and has open source applications on github in C++ and JAVA to encourage people to create their own custom versions for mobile devices, tablets and PC.
Explore modern neuroscience with this huge resource of videos, animations and interactive 3D brain. Autism, ADHD, ALZHEIMER'S depression and cognitive disorders.
Scientists have identified the part of the brain that teachers use to detect when their pupils do not understand what they are being taught.
Researchers found that a brain region called the anterior cingulate cortex picks up how mistaken students are.
They say their findings provide significant insight into the brain processes that allow a teacher to understand a student's learning.
They also found that other regions of the frontal lobe play important roles.
We study the general question of how visual information is transformed between the lateral geniculate nu-cleus of the thalamus (LGN) and layer 4 of the primary visual cortex. LGN cells receive visual input from one eye and are not sensitive to an object's orientation or direction of movement. Cortical cells often receive binocular inputs and are usually orientation and direction selective. We use a number of techniques to explore how these transformations come about.
In our electrophysiological studies, we record the activity of many individual neurons simultaneously in both thalamus and cortex. In the cat, we are studying the cortical mechanisms responsible for the selectivity for orientation and direction of motion in simple cells. In the macaque, we concentrate on the first stages of color processing in the cortex. We have found that the wiring of the direct inputs to cortex is extremely precise. Given the visual properties of any single layer 4 cortical neuron, virtually all of the thalamic neurons that would help it perform this function are directly connected to it. In order to study the facilitatory interactions between these multiple inputs to cortical neurons, we are currently using multielectrode arrays to record up to ten neurons in the thalamus along with several of their potential targets.
In related projects we are using optical imaging, a technique for mapping the function of neural populations in vivo. These studies produce maps of the visual cortex that show the clustering of neurons with different receptive field properties. Functional maps allow us to target specific types of neurons (such as color-selective cells in the macaque) for electrophysiological study.
Previous research had found that the prefrontal cortex, the brain region behind the forehead, tends to lose volume with age, and that part of this region helps sustain quality sleep, which is critical to consolidating new memories. But the new experiment, led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, is the first to directly link structural changes with sleep-related memory problems.
New developments in neurology and genetics could give rise to new breeds of biologically-enhanced troops possessing what one expert in the field calls "mutant powers." For Andrew Herr, that future can't come soon enough.
Mind Matters is Sciam.com's "seminar blog" on the sciences of mind and brain. Each week, top scientists discuss the research driving neuroscience, psychology, and psychiatry.
Gilden Lab, University of Texas, Austin. Pink noise is correlated enough to create a pattern, but chaotic enough to be interesting. Heart beats, quasar luminosity, tide and river height.
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is the largest scientific organization in the world dedicated to research focused on the understanding, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders and the promotion of mental health.
BACKGROUND: A combination of magnetoencephalography and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to correlate the electrophysiology of rapid auditory processing and the neurochemistry of the auditory cortex in 15 healthy adults. To assess rapid aud
Soros P, Lalone E, Smith R, Stevens T, Theurer J, Menon R, Martin R. Functional MRI of oropharyngeal air-pulse stimulation. Neuroscience 2008. Download airpulseaxial.jpg Background: Although the posterior oral cavity and oropharynx play a major role
Although the posterior oral cavity and oropharynx play a major role in swallowing, their central representation is poorly understood. High-field functional magnetic resonance imaging of the brain was used to study the central processing of brief air-pulse
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
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
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
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.
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.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to investigate the neural processing characteristics associated with word retrieval abilities after a phonologically-based treatment for anomia in two stroke patients with aphasia. Neural activity associated with a phonological and a semantic task was compared before and after treatment with fMRI. In addition to the two patients who received treatment, two patients with aphasia who did not receive treatment and 10 healthy controls were also scanned twice.
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