Differential prefrontal-like deficit in children after cerebellar astrocytoma and medulloblastoma tumor

Background: This study was realized thanks to the collaboration of children and adolescents who had been resected from cerebellar tumors. The medulloblastoma group (CE+, n = 7) in addition to surgery received radiation and chemotherapy. The astrocytoma group (CE, n = 13) did not receive additional treatments. Each clinical group was compared in their executive functioning with a paired control group (n = 12). The performances of the clinical groups with respect to controls were compared considering the tumor's localization (vermis or hemisphere) and the affectation (or not) of the dentate nucleus. Executive variables were correlated with the age at surgery, the time between surgery-evaluation and the resected volume. Methods: The executive functioning was assessed by means of WCST, Complex Rey Figure, Controlled Oral Word Association Test (letter and animal categories), Digits span (WISC-R verbal scale) and Stroop test. These tests are very sensitive to dorsolateral PFC and/or to medial frontal cortex functions. The scores for the non-verbal Raven IQ were also obtained. Direct scores were corrected by age and transformed in standard scores using normative data. The neuropsychological evaluation was made at 3.25 (SD = 2.74) years from surgery in CE group and at 6.47 (SD = 2.77) in CE+ group. Results: The Medulloblastoma group showed severe executive deficit (</= 1.5 SD below normal mean) in all assessed tests, the most severe occurring in vermal patients. The Astrocytoma group also showed executive deficits in digits span, semantic fluency (animal category) and moderate to slight deficit in Stroop (word and colour) tests. In the astrocytoma group, the tumor's localization and dentate affectation showed different profile and level of impairment: moderate to slight for vermal and hemispheric patients respectively. The resected volume, age at surgery and the time between surgery-evaluation correlated with some neuropsychological executive variables. Conclusion: Results suggest a differential prefrontal-like deficit due to cerebellar lesions and/or cerebellar-frontal diaschisis, as indicate the results in astrocytoma group (without treatments), that also can be generated and/or increased by treatments in the medulloblastoma group. The need for differential rehabilitation strategies for specific clinical groups is remarked. The results are also discussed in the context of the Cerebellar Cognitive Affective Syndrome.4:18; pags: 1-16 doi: 10.1186/1744-9081-4-18

Reduction of EEG power during expectancy periods in humans

The contingent negative variation (CNV), and the associated event-related desynchronization (ERD) on motor areas and sensory areas, and increase of alpha in the ipsilateral to the cued stimulus side, are different brain signals that reflect motor, sensory, and cognitive activations related to the expectancy of the next stimulus. However, the possibility of an overall change in EEG oscillatory activity during expectancy periods has not been directly addressed. The present report tests whether the background oscillatory activity is modulated by a warning signal. During the expectancy period, the power spectral density (PSD) between 0 and 42.9 Hz – including delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma – decreased with respect to the baseline. These results suggest that during expectancy periods there is a generalised decrease in the oscillatory activity, and that reduction of the EEG power would facilitate the phasic and oscillatory neural activities triggered by the next target stimulus.Junta de AndalucíaMinisterio de Ciencia y Tecnología (España

Differential prefrontal-like deficit in children after cerebellar astrocytoma and medulloblastoma tumor

Journal Article;BACKGROUND This study was realized thanks to the collaboration of children and adolescents who had been resected from cerebellar tumors. The medulloblastoma group (CE+, n = 7) in addition to surgery received radiation and chemotherapy. The astrocytoma group (CE, n = 13) did not receive additional treatments. Each clinical group was compared in their executive functioning with a paired control group (n = 12). The performances of the clinical groups with respect to controls were compared considering the tumor's localization (vermis or hemisphere) and the affectation (or not) of the dentate nucleus. Executive variables were correlated with the age at surgery, the time between surgery-evaluation and the resected volume. METHODS The executive functioning was assessed by means of WCST, Complex Rey Figure, Controlled Oral Word Association Test (letter and animal categories), Digits span (WISC-R verbal scale) and Stroop test. These tests are very sensitive to dorsolateral PFC and/or to medial frontal cortex functions. The scores for the non-verbal Raven IQ were also obtained. Direct scores were corrected by age and transformed in standard scores using normative data. The neuropsychological evaluation was made at 3.25 (SD = 2.74) years from surgery in CE group and at 6.47 (SD = 2.77) in CE+ group. RESULTS The Medulloblastoma group showed severe executive deficit (</= 1.5 SD below normal mean) in all assessed tests, the most severe occurring in vermal patients. The Astrocytoma group also showed executive deficits in digits span, semantic fluency (animal category) and moderate to slight deficit in Stroop (word and colour) tests. In the astrocytoma group, the tumor's localization and dentate affectation showed different profile and level of impairment: moderate to slight for vermal and hemispheric patients respectively. The resected volume, age at surgery and the time between surgery-evaluation correlated with some neuropsychological executive variables. CONCLUSION Results suggest a differential prefrontal-like deficit due to cerebellar lesions and/or cerebellar-frontal diaschisis, as indicate the results in astrocytoma group (without treatments), that also can be generated and/or increased by treatments in the medulloblastoma group. The need for differential rehabilitation strategies for specific clinical groups is remarked. The results are also discussed in the context of the Cerebellar Cognitive Affective Syndrome.This work was possible thanks to financial support from the MEC (DGICYT).Ye

Autophagy resolves early retinal inflammation in Igf1-deficient mice

Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is a growth factor with differentiating, anti-apoptotic and metabolic functions in the periphery, and anti-inflammatory properties in the nervous system. Mice that have mutations in the Igf1 gene, rendering the gene product inactive (Igf1(-/-)), present with age-related visual loss accompanied by structural alterations in the first synapses of the retinal pathway. Recent advances have revealed a crucial role of autophagy in immunity and inflammation. Keeping in mind this close relationship, we aimed to decipher these processes in the context of the defects that occur during ageing in the retina of Igf1(-/-) mice. Tnfa and Il1b mRNAs, and phosphorylation of JNK and p38 MAPK were elevated in the retinas of 6- and 12-month old Igf1(-/-) mice compared to those in age-matched Igf1(+/+) controls. In 6-month-old Igf1(-/-) retinas, increased mRNA levels of the autophagy mediators Becn1, Atg9, Atg5 and Atg4, decreased p62 (also known as SQSTM1) protein expression together with an increased LC3-II:LC3-I ratio reflected active autophagic flux. However, in retinas from 12-month-old Igf1(-/-) mice, Nlrp3 mRNA, processing of the IL1β pro-form and immunostaining of active caspase-1 were elevated compared to those in age-matched Igf1(+/+) controls, suggesting activation of the inflammasome. This effect concurred with accumulation of autophagosomes and decreased autophagic flux in the retina. Microglia localization and status of activation in the retinas of 12-month-old Igf1(+/+) and Igf1(-/-) mice, analyzed by immunostaining of Cd11b and Iba-1, showed a specific distribution pattern in the outer plexiform layer (OPL), inner plexiform layer (IPL) and inner nuclear layer (INL), and revealed an increased number of activated microglia cells in the retina of 12-month-old blind Igf1(-/-) mice. Moreover, reactive gliosis was exclusively detected in the retinas from 12-month-old blind Igf1(-/-) mice. In conclusion, this study provides new evidence in a mouse model of IGF-1 deficiency that autophagy is an adaptive response that might confer protection against persistent inflammation in the retina during agein

Gender-specific post-stimulus modulation in the alpha band during visual-spatial attention

Introducción: Estudios previos de la actividad espontánea del EEG indican que las mujeres presentan mayor potencia espectral absoluta en la banda a que los hombres, pero existen escasos trabajos realizados durante actividad cognitiva. Objetivos: Comprobar posibles diferencias de género en el dominio de la frecuencia del EEG durante la realización de una tarea que requiere un procesamiento cognitivo de atención visuoespacial en dos intervalos sucesivos, desde la llegada del estímulo para comprender mejor la modulación y su dinámica temporal. Pacientes y métodos: Se utilizó un paradigma oddball clásico, cuyos estímulos (90% estándares-10% objetivos) eran complejos. En cada bloque (10 de 100 ensayos) se pidió al sujeto (20, 10 de cada género) que atendiera alternativamente a un solo campo visual (estímulos aleatorios y equiprobables). Al registro EEG se le aplicó la transformada rápida de Fourier para obtener la densidad de potencia espectral de la banda a (9-11 Hz) en dos ventanas solapadas (sliding windows): de 0-512 y de 412-924 ms. Resultados: Los datos normalizados se analizaron mediante ANOVA, con los factores: género, atención, hemisferio, campo visual y electrodos. Conclusiones: Se obtienen modulaciones de sentido opuesto en hombres y mujeres. Los hombres presentaron menos a o mayor supresión en electrodos posteriores y las mujeres presentaron menos a en electrodos anteriores para la banda a.39(2):109-14

Comparative validation of three contemporary bleeding risk scores in acute coronary syndromes

Background: Hemorrhagic complications are strongly linked with subsequent adverse outcomes in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients. Various risk scores (RS) are available to estimate the bleeding risk in these patients. Aims: To compare the predictive accuracy of the three contemporary bleeding RS in ACS. Methods: We studied 4500 consecutive patients with ACS. For each patient, the ACTION, CRUSADE, and Mehran et al bleeding RS were calculated. We assessed their performance either for the prediction of their own major bleeding events or to predict the TIMI serious (major and minor) bleeding episodes in the overall population, in patients with non-ST elevation ACS (NSTEACS) and in those with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients. Calibration (Hosmer-Lemeshow test) and discrimination (c-statistic) for the three RS were computed and compared. We used the concept of net reclassification improvement (NRI) to compare the incremental prognostic value of using a particular RS over the remaining scores in predicting the TIMI serious bleeding. Results: The best predictive accuracy was obtained by the CRUSADE score either for the prediction of its own major bleeding events (c-statistic=0.80, 0.791, and 0.81 for the entire sample, for STEMI, and for NSTEACS patients, respectively) or to predict the TIMI serious bleed occurrence (c-statistic=0.741, 0.738,and 0.745 for the whole population, for STEMI and NSTEACS patients, respectively). The lowest bleeding rates observed in patients classified as low risk corresponded to the CRUSADE RS. All scores performed modestly in patients who did not undergo coronariography (all c-statistic <0.70). The CRUSADE score was significantly superior to the ACTION model in predicting the TIMI serious bleeding occurrence in terms of NRI overall and by ACS subgroups (p<0.05). Overall, the CRUSADE RS exhibited better calibration for predicting the TIMI serious bleeding compared to the ACTION and Mehran et al scores (Hosmer-Lemeshow p-values of 0.26, 0.13, and 0.07, respectively). Conclusion: The CRUSADE score represents, among the more contemporary bleeding RS, the most accurate and reliable quantitative clinical tool in STEACS and STEMI patients. We encourage the utilization of the CRUSADE index for bleeding risk stratification purposes in daily clinical practice and in ACS outcome studies. The performance of the three more contemporary bleeding RS is modest in those patients who received conservative management

Mapa Geológico de España E 1:200000, hoja 69, Pozoblanco

Peer reviewe

¿Es posible gaminificar las aulas universitarias?

Memoria ID-0006. Ayudas de la Universidad de Salamanca para la innovación docente, curso 2016-2017

Relationship between olive oil consumption and ankle-brachial pressure index in a population at high cardiovascular risk

Background and aims: The aim of this study was to ascertain the association between the consumption of different categories of edible olive oils (virgin olive oils and olive oil) and olive pomace oil and ankle-brachial pressure index (ABI) in participants in the PREDIMED-Plus study, a trial of lifestyle modification for weight and cardiovascular event reduction in individuals with overweight/obesity harboring the metabolic syndrome. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of the PREDIMED-Plus trial. Consumption of any category of olive oil and olive pomace oil was assessed through a validated food-frequency questionnaire. Multivariable linear regression models were fitted to assess associations between olive oil consumption and ABI. Additionally, ABI ≤1 was considered as the outcome in logistic models with different categories of olive oil and olive pomace oil as exposure. Results: Among 4330 participants, the highest quintile of total olive oil consumption (sum of all categories of olive oil and olive pomace oil) was associated with higher mean values of ABI (beta coefficient: 0.014, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.002, 0.027) (p for trend = 0.010). Logistic models comparing the consumption of different categories of olive oils, olive pomace oil and ABI ≤1 values revealed an inverse association between virgin olive oils consumption and the likelihood of a low ABI (odds ratio [OR] 0.73, 95% CI [0.56, 0.97]), while consumption of olive pomace oil was positively associated with a low ABI (OR 1.22 95% CI [1.00, 1.48]). Conclusions: In a Mediterranean population at high cardiovascular risk, total olive oil consumption was associated with a higher mean ABI. These results suggest that olive oil consumption may be beneficial for peripheral artery disease prevention, but longitudinal studies are needed