Neurology
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To compare brain activity identified by fMRI in subjects with Alzheimer disease (AD) and older healthy controls (HCs) performing an episodic/working memory (EWM) and semantic memory (SM) task. ⋯ Subjects with Alzheimer disease (AD) recruited brain regions for easier episodic/working memory (EWM) tasks used by healthy controls (HCs) for more difficult EWM tasks. AD subjects recruited brain regions for semantic memory tasks used by HCs for more difficult EWM tasks. The authors propose a functional "memory reserve" model of compensatory recruitment according to task difficulty and underlying neuropathology.
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To determine the presentation, incidence, and severity of seizures in follow-up of patients treated for primary brain tumors. ⋯ Most tumor-related seizures first appear early in the course of disease, usually as a presenting manifestation. Antiepileptic drugs combined with specific antitumor treatments significantly reduce the rate of seizure generalization. However, most patients continue to have focal epilepsy during follow-up.
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To measure white matter (WM) and gray matter (GM) atrophy and lesion load in a large population of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) using a fully automated, operator-independent, multiparametric segmentation method. ⋯ Patients with multiple sclerosis have significant atrophy of both white matter (WM) and gray matter (GM); secondary progressive patients have significantly more atrophy of both WM and GM than do relapsing-remitting patients and a significantly higher lesion load (abnormal WM fraction); lesion load is related to both WM and even more to GM atrophy; lesion load and WM and GM atrophy are significantly related to Expanded Disability Status Scale score and age at onset (suggesting that the younger the age at disease onset, the worse the lesion load and brain atrophy); and GM atrophy is the most significant MRI variable in determining the final disability.
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Atherosclerosis may be linked to cognitive decline and depression in old age. ⋯ In the population at large, generalized atherosclerosis contributes to cognitive decline in old age but not to depression.
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To investigate the patterns of MRI brain atrophy in patients with ALS with and without clinically evident frontotemporal lobar dementia (FTLD) using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). ⋯ Patients with ALS and ALS associated with frontotemporal lobar degeneration exhibit widespread gray matter atrophy in frontotemporal regions. This finding supports the idea of a clinical and anatomic continuum between ALS and frontotemporal lobar degeneration.