Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Oct 2012
Editorial Biography Historical ArticleMovement disorders: what lies beneath?
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Sep 2012
ReviewRetinal pathology as biomarker for cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia. Furthermore, over the last few decades, there has been a shift towards identifying earlier stages of AD, which include mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Improved methods of screening and early detection are essential to identify cognitively normal individuals who have a high risk of developing MCI and AD, so that interventions can be developed to delay the progression of specific disease-related pathologies. ⋯ While most AD-related pathology occurs in the brain, the disease has also been reported to affect different regions of the retina, including the macular region and optic disc. Studies have suggested that retinal pathology, such as deposits in the macular region, decreased retinal nerve fibre thickness, and optic disc cupping and retinal microvascular abnormalities may be related to AD and cognitive impairment. This article presents a review of current literature on retinal involvement in AD and MCI.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Sep 2012
Randomized Controlled TrialPosiphen as a candidate drug to lower CSF amyloid precursor protein, amyloid-β peptide and τ levels: target engagement, tolerability and pharmacokinetics in humans.
A first in human study to evaluate tolerability and pharmacokinetics followed by an early proof of mechanism (POM) study to determine whether the small orally, available molecule, Posiphen tartrate (Posiphen), lowers secreted (s) amyloid-β precursor protein (APP) α and -β, amyloid-β peptide (Aβ), tau (τ) and inflammatory markers in CSF of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). ⋯ These results confirm preclinical POM studies, demonstrate that pharmacologically relevant drug/metabolite levels reach brain and support the continued clinical optimisation and evaluation of Posiphen for MCI and Alzheimer's disease.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Sep 2012
Comparative StudyNeuropsychological outcome after selective amygdalohippocampectomy: subtemporal versus transsylvian approach.
In the context of discussions on the optimal cognitive outcome of temporal lobe epilepsy surgery, and stimulated by recent reports on the beneficial effects of a selective subtemporal approach to memory function, this study evaluated the cognitive consequences of subtemporal versus transsylvian selective amygdalohippocampectomy (SAH) in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, taking verbal/figural memory and language functions into account. ⋯ Different from previous optimistic reports, this study demonstrates that subtemporal surgery, such as transsylvian surgery, poses similar risks for verbal memory. Differences between the approaches appear to reflect the effect of different collateral temporal lobe lesions due to the approach. Different cognitive outcomes across studies on the subtemporal approach are discussed as being in part due to study design and the chosen dependent functional measures.