Benefit of Action Naming Over Object Naming for Visualization of Subcortical Language Pathways in Navigated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation-Based Diffusion Tensor Imaging-Fiber Tracking

Visualization of functionally significant subcortical white matter fibers is needed in neurosurgical procedures in order to avoid damage to the language network during resection. In an effort to achieve this, positive cortical points revealed during preoperative language mapping with navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (nTMS) can be employed as regions of interest (ROIs) for diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) fiber tracking. However, the effect that the use of different language tasks has on nTMS mapping and subsequent DTI-fiber tracking remains unexplored. The visualization of ventral stream tracts with an assumed lexico-semantic role may especially benefit from ROIs delivered by the lexico-semantically demanding verb task, Action Naming. In a first step, bihemispheric nTMS language mapping was administered in 18 healthy participants using the standard task Object Naming and the novel task Action Naming to trigger verbs in a small sentence context. Cortical areas in which nTMS induced language errors were identified as language-positive cortical sites. In a second step, nTMS-based DTI-fiber tracking was conducted using solely these language-positive points as ROIs. The ability of the two tasks’ ROIs to visualize the dorsal tracts Arcuate Fascicle and Superior Longitudinal Fascicle, the ventral tracts Inferior Longitudinal Fascicle, Uncinate Fascicle, and Inferior Fronto-Occipital Fascicle, the speech-articulatory Cortico-Nuclear Tract, and interhemispheric commissural fibers was compared in both hemispheres. In the left hemisphere, ROIs of Action Naming led to a significantly higher fraction of overall visualized tracts, specifically in the ventral stream’s Inferior Fronto-Occipital and Inferior Longitudinal Fascicle. No difference was found between tracking with Action Naming vs. Object Naming seeds for dorsal stream tracts, neither for the speech-articulatory tract nor the inter-hemispheric connections. While the two tasks appeared equally demanding for phonological-articulatory processes, ROI seeding through the task Action Naming seemed to better visualize lexico-semantic tracts in the ventral stream. This distinction was not evident in the right hemisphere. However, the distribution of tracts exposed was, overall, mirrored relative to those in the left hemisphere network. In presurgical practice, mapping and tracking of language pathways may profit from these findings and should consider inclusion of the Action Naming task, particularly for lesions in ventral subcortical regions

Bihemispheric Navigated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Mapping for Action Naming Compared to Object Naming in Sentence Context

Preoperative language mapping with navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (nTMS) is currently based on the disruption of performance during object naming. The resulting cortical language maps, however, lack accuracy when compared to intraoperative mapping. The question arises whether nTMS results can be improved, when another language task is considered, involving verb retrieval in sentence context. Twenty healthy German speakers were tested with object naming and a novel action naming task during nTMS language mapping. Error rates and categories in both hemispheres were compared. Action naming showed a significantly higher error rate than object naming in both hemispheres. Error category comparison revealed that this discrepancy stems from more lexico-semantic errors during action naming, indicating lexico-semantic retrieval of the verb being more affected than noun retrieval. In an area-wise comparison, higher error rates surfaced in multiple right-hemisphere areas, but only trends in the left ventral postcentral gyrus and middle superior temporal gyrus. Hesitation errors contributed significantly to the error count, but did not dull the mapping results. Inclusion of action naming coupled with a detailed error analysis may be favorable for nTMS mapping and ultimately improve accuracy in preoperative planning. Moreover, the results stress the recruitment of both left- and right-hemispheric areas during naming

Effects of 4-Nonylphenol on the Embryogenesis of the Pond Snail Lymnaea Stagnalis L..

Effects of endocrine disruptors on gastropods have been demonstrated in various studies. The susceptibility of the embryogenesis of the hermaphroditic pulmonate Lymnaea stagnalis L. has been shown in a screening test procedure. Freshly laid egg masses of Lymnaea stagnalis L. were collected and continuously exposed to a radioactive labeled single tertiary isomer of NP, 4(3'-,6'-dimethyl-3'-heptyl)-phenol at a concentration of 105 g/L in a 18 L aquarium until the snails hatched. The NP-concentrations in the water were checked regularly and kept constant by continuous dosing using a HPLC column. The number of fertilised eggs per capsule was counted and six times per week the embryos were examined for deformations, delay in development and mortality. One aquarium remained untreated and served as control. Room temperature during test ranged from 18 to 21 °C. The results of the study will be presented

Reproduction disturbances of Brachionus calyciflorus (rotifer) for the screening of environmental endocrine disrupters.

Rotifers and especially the Brachionus calyciflorus species have already shown advantages (e.g. good sensitivity, simplicity, ecological relevance, short generation time) for the chronic toxicity assessment of water pollutants. In this study, the B. calyciflorus three-day test was evaluated on ethinylestradiol, nonylphenol and testosterone for the determination of endocrine disrupting (reproductive) effects. Reproduction (intrinsic rate of population increase) and sex ratio (males/females and mictic females/amictic females) were explored and discussed as suitable endpoints. B. calyciflorus has shown a fair sensitivity to detect reproductive disrupting effects after exposure to ethinylestradiol, nonylphenol and testosterone. Population growth (intrinsic rate of population increase, r) and the ratio ovigerous females/non-ovigerous females are both suitable endpoints, whereas the occurrence of males was not frequent enough to be used as endpoint

Effects of 17alpha-ethinylestradiol on zoo- and phytoplankton in lentic microcosms.

The effects of 17 alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE), an endocrine disruptor, on zoo- and phytoplankton were studied in outdoor 230-L still-water microcosms. Cell density and biomass, diversity, and community composition were analyzed. Five microcosms were treated by controlled release for six weeks, three by direct application of EE. To investigate recovery, sampling was continued for four weeks after treatment. Most characteristics of the zooplankton were not unambiguously affected by EE. Only the relative density of copepods, especially of their larvae, decreased significantly after EE application. For phytoplankton, no unambiguous concentration- or toxodose-correlated effects on any biotic characteristics could be found. However, most properties of the phytoplankton deviated from those of controls, i.e. tended to be smaller (number of species per microcosm, biomass, cell density) or covered a wider range (diversity, evenness). PCA indicated a shift of species structure in the treated microcosms. This was supported by the species scores calculated by the principal response curve method, although the principal response curve itself showed no clear EE-correlated shifts. High variability within the biocenosis between microcosms and over time, probably because of disturbance of the ecosystem before starting of the test, might have superimposed EE-dependent effects