Cognitive Epileptiform Disintegration in Children

Cognitive epileptiform disintegration is a specific disease associated with severe epileptiform activity on the EEG in the absence of epileptic seizures accompanied by different developmental cognitive disorders in children. The quantitative and qualitative characteristics of these developmental disorders have changed in the last10 years. The article presents the analysis of cognitive epileptiform disintegration specificity and the results of the survey that included 57 children aged 2–7 with developmental disorders caused by epileptiform activity that was revealed during video EEG monitoring with sleep deprivation. The children were assessed with19-channel EEG, synchronized with a video-monitoring system. Recording time was 1–2 hours. The psychometric methods used for the assessment of cognitive functions were three batteries of tests for children according to their age (2 years – MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories, 3–5 years – subtests created in Kazan’ Federal University, 6–7 years – T.V. Akhutina’s methods of neuropsychological diagnosis). The results of the research show that cognitive impairment in children with cognitive epileptiform disintegration aged 2–7 are complex, and predominantly they are the results of general developmental disorders associated with constant strong electrical impact on the functional blocks of the brain. Speech is most severely affected, both expressive and impressive, but speech disorders are always accompanied by the deficit of visual-spatial and kinesthetic analyzers, the deficit of the third functional block development and behavioral (predominantly autism-like) disorders. Keywords: cognitive epileptiform disintegration, developmental disorders, speech disorders, video EEG monitoring, higher cortical functions, assessment of speech, assessment of cognitive function

Toward the Standardization of the BVL_RU: An Instrument for Speech and Language Assessment of Russian-speaking Children

The Battery for the assessment of speech and language development in children from 4 to 12 years (BVL_4-12; [1]) was originally developed for Italian-speaking children and currently is under adaptation into several European languages including Russian. The BVL_4-12 consists of three parts and includes tasks assessing oral production, comprehension and repetition skills in children. This article describes the process of adaptation of the BVL_4-12 into Russia and focuses on the instructions’ translation and standardization. It presents the results of the tasks instructions’ clarity evaluation by an expert panel including Russian-speaking specialists constantly working with children of a target age in Russia and Italy (N = 7) and a cohort of children from 4.06 to10.10 including monolinguals with typical language development, children previously diagnosed with primary language impairment (PLI) and heritage Russian speakers (N = 84). Overall, 10 task instructions were judged as absolutely clear and 5 task instructions were somewhat unclear to some of the participants. Further analysis ofthe age of the participants who rated the instructions as ‘unclear’ was performed. Some of the youngest participants, whose age did not exceed 6.10, found that the instructions for the following tasks were not clear: phonological fluency; sentence completion; grammatical judgments; idiom comprehension, and comprehension of linguistic prosody. However, the minimum inter-rater agreement among the sample was reached. The potential explanation of the results of the study is proposed in the Discussion section. Keywords: language assessment, Russian, children, SLI, task instruction

Speech disorders in patients with cognitive impairment caused by neurogenerative diseases: An overview

Background. The article describes the linguistic symptoms of cognitive impairment in patients with neurogenerative diseases of different origin. The speech of patients with neurogenerative diseases has not been analyzed in detail on different levels of language command. However, the numbers of people with neurogenerative diseases which provoke cognitive impairment and dementia increase every day. The linguistic signs may act as first symptoms of disease and thus help doctors to struggle with cognitive decline at early stages of neurogenerative diseases. Methods. We investigated the association between neurogenerative diseases and cognitive impairment at different stages defined according to Global Deterioration Scale. The results were obtained with the help of MRI data, specific tools of cognitive assessment (MoCA-test, MMSE, FAB), components of Alexander Luria's neuroliguistic tests and conversation analysis. We used the data from 58 patients with speech disorders associated with neurogenerative diseases. Results and discussion. Our findings further support the linguistic analysis of speech disorders that do not have stroke origin. The description of speech disorders caused by neurogenerative diseases is given at all linguistic levels, the results can be used in clinical work by neurologists, neuropsychologists and neurolinguists

Semantico-phonological disorders in patients with Wernicke's aphasia

© Medwell Journals, 2015. The study presents the neurolinguistic analysis of semantic disorders caused by the specific perception of addressed speech by the patients with Wernicke's aphasia provoked by stroke. The sample of patients included 14 people (8 men and 6 women, aged 45-69) with dominant left hemisphere. All of them had lesions (caused by strokes) in Wernicke's area according to the data of MRI. The research was conducted during the acute period. The disorders were revealed by analyzing spontaneous dialogues with patients on matters of their everyday life and with the help of conversation analysis. The baseline neurocognitive tests (Mini-Mental State Examination, Montreal Cognitive Assessment) were used to exclude general cognitive impairment. The research was conducted at the Department of Neurology No. 1 in the Republic Clinical Hospital No. 2 (Kazan, Russia); this hospital is a clinical base of Kazan Federal University

Pain questionnaires: Linguistic aspects of translation into Russian language

The questionnaires used in the practice of recognition and treatment of pain are obviously important. They must be correctly composed from the medical, psychological and linguistic points of view. In Russia pain is measured with the help of scales translated from the English language. Sometimes the translation is not adequate, and the results obtained with the help of the questionnaires influence the results of the treatment. The materials for research were selected with the help of continuous sampling method, as well as according to the recommendations of clinicians. In the analysis of translated versions there were used the techniques of linguistic analysis on different language levels and the descriptive method. The authors revealed the most frequent mistakes in translation of pain questionnaires from the linguistic point of view and offered their own variants of translation. These findings further support the linguistic analysis, translation and creation of pain questionnaires. The results of the study can be used in clinical practice by neurologists and clinical linguists, especially for alexithymic patients, patients with speech disorders and other individuals with problems in communication

Alexithymia and psychosomatic diseases in adolescents: primary headaches

Background. Alexithymia is traditionally regarded as a factor which influences the development of psychosomatic diseases and contribute to a more severe and prolonged course of somatic diseases the high level of alexithymia indicates the deficit in  cognitive processes associated with awareness, exteriorization and regulation of feelings and emotions. In recent years, a lot of research has been conducted on the comorbidity of alexithymia and psychosomatic diseases in adults, but there are very few studies in relation to children and adolescents.The aim. To analyze psychosomatic diseases associated with the high level of alexithymia in adolescents, to study the correspondence of alexithymia and central sensitization (CS) in adolescents with primary headaches (migraine and tension-type headache).Methods. The diagnosis of headache was based on the criteria for the International Classification of Headache, 3rd edition. The study group included 84 adolescents, average age – 14 [13; 16] (51 females, 33 males). CS was assessed using the Russian version of “Central Sensitization Inventory” (2020) for adolescents. Alexithymia was  assessed using the Russian version of “Alexithymia questionnaire for children” (2019). Headache intensity was measured using the Visual Analogue Scale. There were also assessed the number of months and days per month with headaches; duration of night sleep; age of phrasal speech start.Results and discussion. The results showed the direct correlation between levels of alexithymia and central sensitization (rS = 0.49; p = 0.00001), the number of days with headaches per month and central sensitization severity (rS = 0.24; p = 0.027). There was no significant correlation between alexithymia severity and headaches duration (rS= 0.06; p = 0.5), no reliable results on the correspondence of alexithymia severity, age of phrasal speech start and nocturnal sleep.Conclusion. A high level of alexithymia is observed in adolescents with various somatic diseases. Primary headaches are associated with a high level of alexithymia and the severity of central sensitization. Pediatricians and neurologists should be advised to assess the level of alexithymia and central sensitization in adolescents with headaches

Alexithymia as a Predictor of Chronic Tension Headaches

© 2016, Springer Science+Business Media New York.Alexithymia as a violation of inter-hemispheric communication which has no visible organic brain changes is now regarded as a predictor of many chronic physical and neurological diseases, but it has not yet been regarded in connection with chronic tension headaches. The authors examined 137 people with tension-type headache (33 men, 84 women) aged 30–50 years (average age 40,75 ± 6,29) in order to clarify a link to alexithymia. The diagnosis of tension headache was conducted according to the International classification of headaches, 3rd edition (beta version). The authors used the original headache diary, Toronto alexithymia scale, Hospital anxiety and depression scale, the measurement of the space under the curve of headache. It was found that the patients with alexithymia have difficulty in describing the place of headaches (the average number of word descriptors at most 1 word), distrust of doctors, abuse of analgesics and tend to use alternative medicine methods. The intensity (p = 0.0001) and the frequency of headaches (p = 0.0028) is significantly higher in patients with alexithymia, and the more common are depression (p = 0.042) and impaired nocturnal sleep (p = 0.001). Patients with chronic tension-type headache associated with sleep disorders, adaptation and symptoms of depression should be considered as alexithymic personalities until the contrary is proved. Physicians should be aware of the fact that alexithymic patients have problems with feelings verbalization, and if patient’s complaints are vague a doctor should use questionnaires, words-descriptors, phrases-descriptors and other auxiliary verbal techniques for accurate diagnosis

Cognitive development in children with Prader–Willi syndrome

© 2018 International Strategic Management Association. All rights reserved. Aim: The article is devoted to the specificity of cognitive development in three children with Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS) in the period up to 6-year-old. The PWS is a rare hereditary disease caused by the absence of the father's copy of the 15q11-13 chromosome. Methods: Genomic imprinting is involved into the regulation of the genes in this area of chromosome 15. Diagnostic signs of this syndrome are muscular hypotension, hypogonadism, obesity, excessive adiposity, respiratory complications, mental retardation, small brushes and feet, dysplasia of the hip joints, and stigma of disembryogenesis. Currently, specific ways of treating people with this syndrome have not been developed. It is considered that children with PWS suffer from the retardation of cognitive development; however, there is a lack of scientific information about it. The study of PWS requires an interdisciplinary approach and the detailed description of cognitive development. Results: The results showed that in the period up to 6 years in three children with this rare syndrome the most obvious decline is registered predominantly in the development of impressive speech, and other functions do not suffer significantly in spite of the presence of impairments in motor development. Conclusion: The research was conducted at A. Yu. Ratner Pediatic Сlinical Hospital NO. 8 (Kazan, Russia) by the group of clinical linguists, neurologists, and speech therapists

Alexithymia as a Predictor of Chronic Tension Headaches

© 2016, Springer Science+Business Media New York.Alexithymia as a violation of inter-hemispheric communication which has no visible organic brain changes is now regarded as a predictor of many chronic physical and neurological diseases, but it has not yet been regarded in connection with chronic tension headaches. The authors examined 137 people with tension-type headache (33 men, 84 women) aged 30–50 years (average age 40,75 ± 6,29) in order to clarify a link to alexithymia. The diagnosis of tension headache was conducted according to the International classification of headaches, 3rd edition (beta version). The authors used the original headache diary, Toronto alexithymia scale, Hospital anxiety and depression scale, the measurement of the space under the curve of headache. It was found that the patients with alexithymia have difficulty in describing the place of headaches (the average number of word descriptors at most 1 word), distrust of doctors, abuse of analgesics and tend to use alternative medicine methods. The intensity (p = 0.0001) and the frequency of headaches (p = 0.0028) is significantly higher in patients with alexithymia, and the more common are depression (p = 0.042) and impaired nocturnal sleep (p = 0.001). Patients with chronic tension-type headache associated with sleep disorders, adaptation and symptoms of depression should be considered as alexithymic personalities until the contrary is proved. Physicians should be aware of the fact that alexithymic patients have problems with feelings verbalization, and if patient’s complaints are vague a doctor should use questionnaires, words-descriptors, phrases-descriptors and other auxiliary verbal techniques for accurate diagnosis