Is command following unrelated to topo-down attention in consciousness disorders?

Role of fatigue/alertness fluctuactions in P300 evocation in DOC patient

Systematic analysis of mesh and meshless CFD methods for water impact problems

Two types of numerical simulations for the hydrodynamic solution of water entry problems are performed and systematically compared in order to highlight their peculiarities: a viscous Unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (URANS) based on Volume of Fluid (VoF) approach and a meshless Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) solver. In both cases open-source software have been chosen. The numerical solutions from the two proposed CFD methods are verified against experimental measurements. The systematic analysis is performed considering a prescribed motion of the wedge aiming to a better understanding of the effect of the model set-up on the prediction of both local and global field variables. Even if a both codes shows a high ability to capture the global physics of the problem, due to the strongly non- linear dynamic of the body-flow interactions involved in impact problems, the local pressure peaks can be hardly predicted if the numerical method is not suitably tuned for the specific problem. Finally the two approaches are performed also for a free falling simulation, comparing the numerical predictions to the available experimental drop tests results

Object use affects motor planning in infant prehension

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors underlying the ability to plan object-oriented grasping movements in the first two years of life. In particular, we were interested in evaluating the relationship between manual motor planning, object use and infant-parent interaction. In order to achieve this aim, grasping behaviors of nineteen healthy infants, aged nine to 25 months, were examined during naturalistic play sessions with a standard set of toys. Our main finding was that, regardless of age, infants perform a better manual planning when they use an object in a functional rather than non-functional way, suggesting that the planning of an action also depends on knowing the functional properties of an object. In addition, we found that the ability to use objects in a functional way was strongly affected by infant-parent interaction. Thus, level of object use and environmental role must be taken into account in order to understand the development of manual motor planning

The Multifaceted Origin of Taurine Cattle Reflected by the Mitochondrial Genome

A Neolithic domestication of taurine cattle in the Fertile Crescent from local aurochsen (Bos primigenius) is generally accepted, but a genetic contribution from European aurochsen has been proposed. Here we performed a survey of a large number of taurine cattle mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control regions from numerous European breeds confirming the overall clustering within haplogroups (T1, T2 and T3) of Near Eastern ancestry, but also identifying eight mtDNAs (1.3%) that did not fit in haplogroup T. Sequencing of the entire mitochondrial genome showed that four mtDNAs formed a novel branch (haplogroup R) which, after the deep bifurcation that gave rise to the taurine and zebuine lineages, constitutes the earliest known split in the mtDNA phylogeny of B. primigenius. The remaining four mtDNAs were members of the recently discovered haplogroup Q. Phylogeographic data indicate that R mtDNAs were derived from female European aurochsen, possibly in the Italian Peninsula, and sporadically included in domestic herds. In contrast, the available data suggest that Q mtDNAs and T subclades were involved in the same Neolithic event of domestication in the Near East. Thus, the existence of novel (and rare) taurine haplogroups highlights a multifaceted genetic legacy from distinct B. primigenius populations. Taking into account that the maternally transmitted mtDNA tends to underestimate the extent of gene flow from European aurochsen, the detection of the R mtDNAs in autochthonous breeds, some of which are endangered, identifies an unexpected reservoir of genetic variation that should be carefully preserved

Defective chromatic and achromatic visual pathways in developmental dyslexia: Cues for an integrated intervention programme.

Abstract PURPOSE: As well as obtaining confirmation of the magnocellular system involvement in Developmental dyslexia (DD); the aim was primarily to search for a possible involvement of the parvocellular system; and, furthermore, to complete the assessment of the visual chromatic axis by also analysing the koniocellular system. METHODS: Visual evoked potentials (VEPs) in response to achromatic stimuli with low luminance contrast and low spatial frequency, and isoluminant red/green and blue/yellow stimuli with high spatial frequency were recorded in 10 dyslexic children and 10 age- and sex-matched, healthy subjects. RESULTS: Dyslexic children showed delayed VEPs to both achromatic stimuli (magnocellular-dorsal stream) and isoluminant red/green and blue/yellow stimuli (parvocellular-ventral and koniocellular streams). To our knowledge, this is the first time that a dysfunction of colour vision has been brought to light in an objective way (i.e., by means of electrophysiological methods) in children with DD. CONCLUSION: These results give rise to speculation concerning the need for a putative approach for promoting both learning how to read and/or improving existing reading skills of children with or at risk of DD. The working hypothesis would be to combine two integrated interventions in a single programme aimed at fostering the function of both the magnocellular and the parvocellular streams

EEG theta dynamics within frontal and parietal cortices for error processing during reaching movements in a prism adaptation study altering visuo-motor predictive planning

Modulation of frontal midline theta (fmθ) is observed during error commission, but little is known about the role of theta oscillations in correcting motor behaviours. We investigate EEG activity of healthy partipants executing a reaching task under variable degrees of prism-induced visuo-motor distortion and visual occlusion of the initial arm trajectory. This task introduces directional errors of different magnitudes. The discrepancy between predicted and actual movement directions (i.e. the error), at the time when visual feedback (hand appearance) became available, elicits a signal that triggers on-line movement correction. Analysis were performed on 25 EEG channels. For each participant, the median value of the angular error of all reaching trials was used to partition the EEG epochs into high- and low-error conditions. We computed event-related spectral perturbations (ERSP) timelocked either to visual feedback or to the onset of movement correction. ERSP time-locked to the onset of visual feedback showed that fmθ increased in the high-but not in the lowerror condition with an approximate time lag of 200 ms. Moreover, when single epochs were sorted by the degree of motor error, fmθ started to increase when a certain level of error was exceeded and, then, scaled with error magnitude. When ERSP were time-locked to the onset of movement correction, the fmθ increase anticipated this event with an approximate time lead of 50 ms. During successive trials, an error reduction was observed which was associated with indices of adaptations (i.e., aftereffects) suggesting the need to explore if theta oscillations may facilitate learning. To our knowledge this is the first study where the EEG signal recorded during reaching movements was time-locked to the onset of the error visual feedback. This allowed us to conclude that theta oscillations putatively generated by anterior cingulate cortex activation are implicated in error processing in semi-naturalistic motor behaviours. © 2016 Arrighi et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Spectral parameters modulation and source localization of blink-related alpha and low-beta oscillations differentiate minimally conscious state from vegetative state/unresponsive wakefulness syndrome

Recently, the cortical source of blink-related delta oscillations (delta BROs) in resting healthy subjects has been localized in the posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus (PCC/PCu), one of the main core-hubs of the default-mode network. This has been interpreted as the electrophysiological signature of the automatic monitoring of the surrounding environment while subjects are immersed in self-reflecting mental activities. Although delta BROs were directly correlated to the degree of consciousness impairment in patients with disorders of consciousness, they failed to differentiate vegetative state/unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (VS/UWS) from minimally conscious state (MCS). In the present study, we have extended the analysis of BROs to frequency bands other than delta in the attempt to find a biological marker that could support the differential diagnosis between VS/UWS and MCS. Four patients with VS/UWS, 5 patients with MCS, and 12 healthy matched controls (CTRL) underwent standard 19-channels EEG recordings during resting conditions. Three-second-lasting EEG epochs centred on each blink instance were submitted to time-frequency analyses in order to extract the normalized Blink-Related Synchronization/Desynchronization (nBRS/BRD) of three bands of interest (low-alpha, high-alpha and low-beta) in the time-window of 50-550 ms after the blink-peak and to estimate the corresponding cortical sources of electrical activity. VS/UWS nBRS/BRD levels of all three bands were lower than those related to both CTRL and MCS, thus enabling the differential diagnosis between MCS and VS/UWS. Furthermore, MCS showed an intermediate signal intensity on PCC/PCu between CTRL and VS/UWS and a higher signal intensity on the left temporo-parieto-occipital junction and inferior occipito-temporal regions when compared to VS/UWS. This peculiar pattern of activation leads us to hypothesize that resting MCS patients have a bottom-up driven activation of the task positive network and thus are tendentially prone to respond to environmental stimuli, even though in an almost unintentional way

CONVENTIONAL INTERNAL LIMITING MEMBRANE PEELING VERSUS INVERTED FLAP FOR SMALL-TO-MEDIUM IDIOPATHIC MACULAR HOLE: A Randomized Trial

Purpose: To compare conventional internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling versus inverted flap technique in small-to-medium idiopathic macular hole. Methods: Eyes with ≤400 μ m idiopathic macular holes were randomized into the conventional ILM peeling group (25 eyes) and inverted flap group (25 eyes). A 12-month follow-up was considered. Macular sensitivity (MS) change detected with MP-1 microperimetry was the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes included best-corrected visual acuity change, closure rate, anatomical findings on optical coherence tomography such as U-shape foveal contour, restoration of external limiting membrane, and ellipsoid zone. Results: In both groups, MS improved throughout the follow-up. Final MS was greater in the conventional ILM peeling group compared with the inverted flap group, being 16.6 ± 2.3 dB versus 14.9 ± 2.9 dB, respectively ( P = 0.026). In both groups best-corrected visual acuity improved throughout the follow-up, with a final best-corrected visual acuity of 0.19 ± 0.14 logMar (20/31 Snellen) in the conventional ILM group and 0.22 ± 0.11 logMar (20/33 Snellen) in the inverted flap group ( P = 0.398). Anatomical hole closure was achieved in all cases. No difference in optical coherence tomography findings was shown between the two groups. Conclusion: A better final MS was found in eyes undergoing conventional ILM peeling. Inverted flap technique has disadvantages compared with conventional peeling for the treatment of small-to-medium idiopathic macular holes

Pointing in cervical dystonia patients

IntroductionThe normal hemispheric balance can be altered by the asymmetric sensorimotor signal elicited by Cervical Dystonia (CD), leading to motor and cognitive deficits.MethodsDirectional errors, peak velocities, movement and reaction times of pointing towards out-of-reach targets in the horizontal plane were analysed in 18 CD patients and in 11 aged-matched healthy controls.ResultsCD patients displayed a larger scatter of individual trials around the average pointing direction (variable error) than normal subjects, whatever the arm used, and the target pointed. When pointing in the left hemispace, all subjects showed a left deviation (constant error) with respect to the target position, which was significantly larger in CD patients than controls, whatever the direction of the abnormal neck torsion could be. Reaction times were larger and peak velocities lower in CD patients than controls.DiscussionDeficits in the pointing precision of CD patients may arise from a disruption of motor commands related to the sensorimotor imbalance, from a subtle increase in shoulder rigidity or from a reduced agonists activation. Their larger left bias in pointing to left targets could be due to an increased right parietal dominance, independently upon the direction of head roll/jaw rotation which expands the left space representation and/or increases left spatial attention. These deficits may potentially extend to tracking and gazing objects in the left hemispace, leading to reduced skills in spatial-dependent motor and cognitive performance

Association of neovascular age-related macular degeneration with month and season of birth in Italy

In order to investigate the influence of season and month of birth on the risk of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (n-AMD) in Italy, we evaluated the month birth and sex of all patients, recorded in the anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) monitoring registry of the Italian Medicines Agency, born between 1925-1944, who received intravitreal anti-VEGF injections for n-AMD between January 1, 2013 and July 29, 2015. The numbers of all births in Italy in the same years, extracted from the Italian National Institute of Statistics, were used to calculate the expected number of n-AMD cases. Overall, 45,845 patients (19,207 men, 26,638 women) received intravitreal anti-VEGF for n-AMD; in the same years, 20,140,426 people (10,334,262 male, 9,806,164 female) were born in Italy. Comparing the observed number of n-AMD cases with the expected number of n- AMD cases in each season, we found that the season-specific risk for n-AMD was 2.5% higher for those born in summer (OR=1.03, Bonferroni-corrected P=0.008) and 3% lower for those born in winter (OR=0.96, Bonferroni-corrected P=0.0004). When considering the month of birth, the risk of n-AMD was 5.9% lower for people born in January (OR=0.93, Bonferroni-corrected P=0.0012). The factors causing such differences should be determined