Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · May 2008
Brain networks of spatial awareness: evidence from diffusion tensor imaging tractography.
Left unilateral neglect, a dramatic condition which impairs awareness of left-sided events, has been classically reported after right hemisphere cortical lesions involving the inferior parietal region. More recently, the involvement of long range white matter tracts has been highlighted, consistent with the idea that awareness of events occurring in space depends on the coordinated activity of anatomically distributed brain regions. Damage to the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), linking parietal to frontal cortical regions, or to the inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF), connecting occipital and temporal lobes, has been described in neglect patients. ⋯ The other two patients with signs of left neglect had superficial damage to the inferior parietal cortex and white matter damage involving the IFOF. These findings suggest that superficial damage to the inferior parietal cortex per se may not be sufficient to produce visual neglect. In some cases, a lesion to the direct connections between ventral occipital and frontal regions (ie, IFOF) may contribute to the manifestation of neglect by impairing the top down modulation of visual areas from the frontal cortex.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Apr 2008
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative StudyEvolution of different MRI measures in patients with active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis over 2 and 5 years: a case-control study.
There is growing evidence for the concept of multiple sclerosis (MS) as an inflammatory neurodegenerative disease, with a different pattern of atrophy evolution in grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM) tissue compartments. ⋯ Our study confirmed a different pattern of GM, WM and central atrophy progression over 2 years between patients with MS and NCs. The study showed a different evolution of tissue compartment atrophy measures in patients with MS, with faster decline in cortical and deep GM regions, as well as periventricular WM regions, over a 5-year period.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Apr 2008
ReviewParkinson's disease: clinical features and diagnosis.
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disorder characterised by a large number of motor and non-motor features that can impact on function to a variable degree. This review describes the clinical characteristics of PD with emphasis on those features that differentiate the disease from other parkinsonian disorders. ⋯ A thorough understanding of the broad spectrum of clinical manifestations of PD is essential to the proper diagnosis of the disease. Genetic mutations or variants, neuroimaging abnormalities and other tests are potential biomarkers that may improve diagnosis and allow the identification of persons at risk.