Basic and Clinical Neuroscience最新文献

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate the influence of neglect and the effect of prism adaptation (PA) combined with continuous Theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation (cTBS) on the art constructive errors in painting rehabilitation of stroke patients with neglect.

Methods: Fourteen patients with neglect and art constructive errors in painting secondary to stroke were randomly assigned to the rehabilitation group and received PA combined with the inhibitory protocol of cTBS over the intact parietal cortex; the control group received PA combined with sham cTBS for two weeks in ten daily sessions. Patients were assessed for art constructive errors in painting in figure copying test (FCT), and coloring test (CT) before and after the intervention. Art constructive errors in painting were classified into omission, deformation, size, neglect of warm colors, and perseveration of errors. Neglect was evaluated using the line bisection task (LBT), figure copying test (FCT), and coloring test (CT).

Results: All patients showed a significant improvement in art constructive errors in painting (measured using the pattern of painting' errors in FCT and CT), and neglect (measured using LBT, FCT, and CT) (P<0.05). Omission, neglect of warm colors, and deformation were the most frequent errors.

Conclusion: Neglect and rehabilitation influence the painting system in stroke patients. Both approaches improved art constructive errors in painting and neglect symptoms.

Introduction: The persistence of post-detoxification problems in drug addiction is one of the disadvantages of the ultra-rapid opioid detoxification (UROD) method. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been introduced in experimental addiction treatment for some years. Results of pilot studies suggest that it might be a promising method for addiction treatment. This study explores the adjunctive application of tDCS during treating opiate addiction with the UROD approach.

Methods: This double-blind, sham-controlled clinical trial was carried out on patients with substance abuse admitted to the Bahman Clinic of Yazd City in Iran (from March to September 2014). Forty participants were randomly allocated to treatment and control groups. Two sessions of tDCS (real or sham) over dorsolateral prefrontal cortices (DLPFC) were applied, accompanied by UROD. Withdrawal symptoms and craving were assessed by the drug desire questionnaire and objective opiate withdrawal scale before UROD and for the 24-hour interval after.

Results: Transcranial direct current stimulation optimized the opiate addiction treatment through craving and withdrawal syndrome alleviation.

Conclusion: The study results indicate that prefrontal tDCS may promote the efficacy of the UROD method in opioid addiction.

Introduction: It has been shown that intelligence as a general mental ability is related to the structure and function of the brain regions. However, the specificity of these regional dependencies to the intelligence scores in the typical and atypical developed individuals needs to be well understood. In this study, we hypothesized that neural correlates of IQ should not have a fixed pattern rather they must follow a dynamic pattern to compensate for the functional deficits caused by a neurodevelopmental disorder. Therefore, electroencephalography (EEG) correlates of normal IQ in various subtypes of attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) were compared with a group of healthy controls.

Methods: Sixty-three ADHD subjects comprising combined, inattentive, and hyperactive individuals diagnosed by a psychiatrist using structural clinical interview for DSM-V, and 46 healthy controls with similar normal IQ scores were recruited in this study. The subjects' EEG data were then recorded during an eye-closed resting condition. The subjects' intelligence level was measured by Raven's standard progressive matrices. Then, the association between IQ and the power of the EEG signal was computed in the conventional frequency bands. Subsequently, topographical representations of these associations were compared between the groups.

Results: Our results demonstrated that the association between IQ score and EEG power is not the same in various ADHD subtypes and healthy controls.

Conclusion: This finding suggests a compensatory mechanism in ADHD individuals for changing the regional oscillatory pattern to maintain the IQ within a normal range.

Introduction: Brain functional performance is a collection of outstanding mental processing that provides a framework for achieving goals based on targeted behaviors. Disorders in executive functions make it difficult for a person to perform everyday tasks. One of the phenomena highlighted in various media is the violence that adolescents welcome with the production of violent movies. This study aimed to investigate the effect of violent movies on risky decision-making and behavioral inhibition of adolescents and compare the effects of violence with melodrama movies.

Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted with a pretest-posttest design with a control group among 60 adolescents (30 girls and 30 boys) living in Tehran City, Iran. They were selected using the available sampling method. For this purpose, neurological tests of Iowa Gambling and go-no go were used.

Results: The results showed that violent movies caused a significant increase in risky decision-making (P<0.05). In addition, these types of movies caused a significant decrease in behavioral inhibition among adolescents (P<0.05).

Conclusion: Movies with ill-mannered stories and content that glorify violence harm adolescents' decision-making and deterrence, leading them to make risky decisions and weaken their inhibition power.

Introduction: Recent studies have revealed the possibility of learning skills through alternative methods and repetitive tactile stimulation without explicit training. This study aimed to examine the effect of involuntary tactile stimulation on the memory and creativity of healthy participants.

Methods: A group of 92 right-handed students participated in this study voluntarily. They were assigned to the experimental (n=45) and control (n=47) groups. The participants performed two creativity tests (divergent and convergent thinking) and a verbal memory task as the pretest. Then, the experimental group received 30-min involuntary tactile stimulation on the right index finger, and the control group did not. In the posttest, both groups were asked to perform the creativity and verbal memory tasks again.

Results: The learning score and speed of the Rey auditory-verbal learning test in the stimulation group significantly increased (P=0.02). Moreover, in the creativity-related tests, there was a significant effect of the intervention on convergent thinking, i.e., the remote association task (P=0.03), but not for the divergent thinking, i.e., the alternative uses test (P>0.05).

Conclusion: Using involuntary tactile stimulation on the index finger of the right hand of individuals could enhance their performance in verbal memory and creativity-convergent thinking.

Wolfram syndrome (WS) is a rare autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease with variable symptoms, including neuropsychiatric manifestations. A 26-year-old man was reported with classic symptoms of WS and repetitive psychiatric hospitalizations and at least 16 suicidal attempts. The genetic study demonstrated a novel homozygous stop-codon mutation on the WFS1 gene. This special type of mutation may be related to repetitive suicidal behaviors in this case of WS. Psychological support should be a routine practice in patients with WS.

Introduction: The model for screening antidepressant-like activity in pre-clinical drug studies include, rat forced swimming test (FST). The reports on N-acetylcysteine (NAC) as an antioxidant supplement in stress related disorder is well documented. This study was aimed at potential antidepressant mechanism of N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC), a glutamate precursor on FST animal model for screening antidepressant drugs using fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) as standard antidepressant drug.

Methods: Thirty adult male Wistar rats used for this study were randomly divided into six groups each with five (n=5) rats. The control group (A) received 1 ml of normal saline daily, group B served as the FST model, group C received 200mg/kg/day of NAC, group D received 20mg/kg/day of fluoxetine, group E the FST model treated with 200mg/kg/day of NAC, and F is the FST model treated with 20mg/kg/day of fluoxetine. Drugs were given orally. The effects of NAC on brain weights, the FST paradigms, sucrose preference test (SPT) for anhedonia were assessed and data analyzed using ANOVA where Tukey post-hoc test for statistical significance was set at (p < 0.05). The brains fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde, were processed and the paraffin embedded tissue were serially sectioned at 5 μm thick to be stained using Haematoxylin and Eosin (H and E) stain, immuno-histochemistry for synaptophysin (p38) and astrocytes (GFAP) activities in the prefrontal cortex (PFC).

Results: Findings showed that NAC prevented FST-induced anxiety-like behaviors demonstrated by an increased SPT (that alleviates anhedonia), mobility time, and reduced immobility time. NAC caused an increase in brain weights and prevented FST-induced neurodegeneration, the proliferation of reactive astrocytes, and diminished synaptophysin immunoreactivity in the PFC similar to that seen in fluoxetine a standard anti-depressant drug.

Conclusion: NAC treatment significantly exhibits its neuroprotective mechanism via inhibiting the proliferation of reactive astrocytes, which protects neurons and synapses from oxidative tissue damage induced by FST, hence an increase in synaptophysin activity that culminates in increased neural activity, increased SPT, and reduced immobility time.

Introduction: Stroke is known as a common cause of disability all over the world. Stroke prognosis estimation has always been a topic of interest. In this study, it was tried to investigate the prognostic value of laboratory findings of complete blood count in a systematic review.

Methods: In this systematic review, literature from Medline via (PubMed, Ovid) Embase, Scopus, Cochrane Library, and ProQuest between 1988 and 2020 were included. A combination of Mesh and free terms were included in the search strategy: "Stroke", "Red Cell Distribution Width", "Blood Cell Count", "Mean corpuscular hemoglobin", and "Mean Corpuscular Volume" and with the abbreviation, in all fields. Data synthesis was achieved using content analysis.

Results: Elevated red blood cell distribution width was associated with stroke, cardiovascular events, and all-cause deaths among patients with prior stroke. Mean platelet volume has not any prognostic significance in ischemic stroke. There was a poor association between mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and stroke prognosis. Globulin and hemoglobin level predicted short-term mortality following acute ischemic stroke.

Conclusion: Complete blood count as a routine and efficient test performed in health care centers can be used to estimate the prognosis of stroke.

Introduction: The neurotoxic effects of aluminum exposure during the critical period of neurodevelopment have been well documented. This study investigated the known protective effects of calcium supplementation on the cerebellum of juvenile Wistar rats following aluminum-induced neurotoxicity during lactation.

Methods: Four groups of juvenile rats were exposed via lactation to distilled water (control group), aluminum (40 mg/kg/d), calcium supplement (50 mg/kg/d), and a combination of both aluminum and calcium from postnatal day 4 to day 28. The cerebella of the animals were excised to access the levels of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase [SOD], glutathione peroxidase [GPx]), lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde), histomorphological alterations (hematoxylin and eosin staining), Nissl profile (cresyl fast violet staining), and glial activation (glial fibrillary acidic protein immunohistochemistry).

Results: Lactational aluminum significantly decreased the activities of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase while exacerbating lipid peroxidation and reactive astrocyte in cerebellar lysates. Lactational calcium supplementation normalized the activities of SOD and GPx, thereby preventing excessive lipid peroxidation and glial activation. Despite no apparent changes in the general histology of the cerebellum, aluminum-induced chromatolysis changes in the Purkinje cell layer, which was counteracted by the antioxidant propensities of calcium supplementation.

Conclusion: These findings support that calcium supplementation significantly protects the cerebellum against aluminum-induced oxidative stress, chromatolysis, and neuroinflammation.

Introduction: Autism is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorder associated with social, cognitive and behavioral impairments. These impairments are often reported along with alteration of the brain structure such as abnormal changes in the grey matter (GM) density. However, it is not yet clear whether these changes could be used to differentiate various subtypes of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Method: We compared the regional changes of GM density in ASD, Asperger's Syndrome (AS) individuals and a group of healthy controls (HC). In addition to regional changes itself, the amount of GM density changes in one region as compared to other brain regions was also calculated. We hypothesized that this structural covariance network could differentiate the AS individuals from the ASD and HC groups. Therefore, statistical analysis was performed on the MRI data of 70 male subjects including 26 ASD (age=14-50, IQ=92-132), 16 AS (age=7-58, IQ=93-133) and 28 HC (age=9-39, IQ=95-144).

Result: The one-way ANOVA on the GM density of 116 anatomically separated regions showed significant differences among the groups. The pattern of structural covariance network indicated that covariation of GM density between the brain regions is altered in ASD.

Conclusion: This changed structural covariance could be considered as a reason for less efficient segregation and integration of information in the brain that could lead to cognitive dysfunctions in autism. We hope these findings could improve our understanding about the pathobiology of autism and may pave the way towards a more effective intervention paradigm.