Restor Neurol Neuros
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Restor Neurol Neuros · Jan 2006
ReviewNeglect and prism adaptation: a new therapeutic tool for spatial cognition disorders.
A large proportion of right-hemisphere stroke patients show unilateral neglect, a neurological deficit of perception, attention, representation, and/or performing actions within their left-sided space, inducing many functional debilitating effects on everyday life, and responsible for poor functional recovery and ability to benefit from treatment. This spatial cognition disorder affects the orientation of behaviour with a shift of proprioceptive representations toward the lesion side. ⋯ These cognitive effects of prism adaptation suggest that prism adaptation does not act specifically on the ipsilesional bias characteristic of unilateral neglect but rehabilitates more generally the visuo-spatial functions attributed to the right cortical hemisphere. These results reinforce the idea that the process of prism adaptation may activate brain functions related to multisensory integration and higher spatial representations and show a generalization at a functional level. Prism adaptation therefore appears as a new powerful therapeutic tool for spatial cognition disorders.
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Restor Neurol Neuros · Jan 2006
Comparative StudyCognitive evaluation of traumatically brain-injured rats using serial testing in the Morris water maze.
As deficits in memory and cognition are commonly observed in survivors of traumatic brain injury (TBI), causing reduced quality of life for the patient, a major goal in experimental TBI research is to identify and evaluate cognitive dysfunction. The present study assessed the applicability of the serial Morris water maze (MWM) test to determine cognitive function following experimental TBI in the same group of rats which is particularly important for long-term studies and increasingly valuable for the evaluation of novel treatment strategies. ⋯ The validation of this testing paradigm using a clinically relevant experimental brain injury model is an important addition to behavioral outcome testing.
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Restor Neurol Neuros · Jan 2005
Comparative StudyTreatment with magnesium improves reference memory but not working memory while reducing GFAP expression following traumatic brain injury.
Previous studies have shown that administration of MgCl2 in animal models of brain injury significantly improves functional recovery: however, few studies have examined cognitive recovery. The present study evaluated the effect of MgCl2 pharmacotherapy on recovery of function following medial frontal cortex contusion injury. ⋯ These results indicate that MgCl2 administration significantly improved behavioral outcome following injury in a task dependent manner and reduced GFAP expression.
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Restor Neurol Neuros · Jan 2005
Comparative StudyAdministration of monoclonal antibodies neutralizing the inflammatory mediators tumor necrosis factor alpha and interleukin -6 does not attenuate acute behavioral deficits following experimental traumatic brain injury in the rat.
Although many previous studies have indicated that the acute inflammatory response following traumatic brain injury (TBI) is detrimental, inflammation may also positively influence outcome in the more chronic post-injury recovery period. We evaluated the effects of monoclonal antibodies (mAB), neutralizing either IL-6 (IL-6 mAB) or TNF-alpha (TNF mAB), administered intracerebroventricularly (i.c.v) on acute neurobehavioral outcome following TBI. ⋯ Evaluation of anti-inflammatory mABs on more chronic behavioral deficits appears warranted.
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Restor Neurol Neuros · Jan 2004
Comparative StudyAllopregnanolone, a progesterone metabolite, enhances behavioral recovery and decreases neuronal loss after traumatic brain injury.
In the current study we investigated whether allopregnanolone, a metabolite of progesterone, could replicate progesterone's beneficial effects in promoting spatial learning ability after bilateral medial prefrontal cortex contusions in rats. Allopregnanolone has been shown to enhance GABA neurotransmission, whereas its isomer epiallopregnanolone does not have this property. Thus, epiallopregnanolone was chosen as a control substance to examine further the role of GABA transmission in post-trauma neuroprotection. ⋯ Based on our findings, we suggest that allopregnanolone may mediate the effects of progesterone in promoting cognitive and morphological recovery from TBI through, among others, its direct or indirect effects on GABA-modulated neurons in the MDN and the NBM.