The charismatic leadership of the ECB presidency:A language-based analysis

There is little doubt that the European Central Bank (ECB), and in particular its presidency, has taken the lead in tackling the euro crisis. But can this leadership be also characterised as charismatic? This article answers the question by focusing on language – a key component as well as a reliable indicator of charisma. By means of a software‐assisted content analysis of the entire corpus of ECB presidential speeches, it is found that the crisis has indeed led to the emergence of the Bank's presidency as a charismatic euro leader. This in turn confirms the recent politicisation of the ECB, but at the same time might be seen as mitigating the problems related to the Bank's democratic deficit, to the extent that charisma can be seen, from a Weberian standpoint, as an alternative source of political legitimacy

Structural and functional neuroimaging in Myoclonus-Dystonia

Neuroloog Richard Beukers onderzocht de bewegingsstoornis Myoclonus Dystonie. Patiënten hebben last van onwillekeurige spierschokken (myoclonieën) en dystonie (verwrongen houdingen en dwangstanden van bijvoorbeeld nek of romp). Oorzaak is een fout op chromosoom 7 in het gen SGCE. Patiënten kampen daarnaast vaak ook met angst, depressie of dwangstoornissen. Beukers keek met beeldvormende technieken naar functionele en structurele veranderingen in de hersenen van patiënten. Patiënten lijden aan overbeweeglijkheid. Dat leidt tot groei van en functionele veranderingen in hersengebieden die betrokken zijn bij beweging

Disorganized Sensorimotor Integration in Mutation-Positive Myoclonus-Dystonia A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Background: Myoclonus-dystonia is an autosomal dominantly inherited movement disorder clinically characterized by myoclonic jerks and dystonic postures or movements of the upper body. Functional imaging studies in other, mainly heterogeneous groups of dystonia do agree on dysfunction of the striato-pallido-thalamo-cortical circuit. Objective: To study cerebral activation patterns with functional magnetic resonance imaging in a genetically defined homogeneous group of patients with dystonia. Design, Setting, and Patients: Thirteen clinically affected SGCE mutation carriers and 11 control subjects were studied in a case-control study. Intervention: A finger-tapping motor task was performed in a block design using 3.0-T magnetic resonance imaging. Main Outcome Measures: Blood oxygenation level-dependent signals were compared between groups. Results: In SGCE mutation carriers, we observed significant hyperresponsiveness in contralateral inferior parietal cortical areas, ipsilateral premotor and primary somatosensory cortex, and ipsilateral cerebellum during the motor task compared with healthy control subjects. Conclusions: The cortical activation patterns in SGCE mutation carriers during this motor task point to a disorganized sensorimotor integration in this uniform group of patients with dystonia and are consistent with functional neuroimaging studies in other types of (hereditary) dystonia