Primitive reflexes and cognitive function

Background: Data on the prevalence of primitive reflexes (PR) in adulthood, their pathological significance and relationship to age and cognition are controversial. Objective: To study the relationship between PR and cognition in 30 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 154 control subjects. Method: Diagnosis of probable AD was based on DSM-IV, NINCDS-ADRDA, and CAMDEX criteria. Primitive reflexes were quantified from zero (absent) to 1 (mild) or 2 (markedly present). The Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument - Short Form (CASI-S) was used to evaluate registration, temporal orientation, verbal fluency and recall. A drawing test was added. Results: Most frequent PR among demented and controls were suck (77% and 62%, respectively) and snout (60% and 27%), followed by glabellar (30% and 19%), paratonia (37% and 5%), and palmomental (23% and 5%). None of controls had more than three PR. Frequency of PR tended to increase with age and cognitive deterioration. Grasp and Babinski responses were found only in dementia patients. Primitive reflexes were not correlated with each other, except snout with suck, and snout with glabellar reflex. Conclusion: The finding of grasp and Babinski sign, or the presence of more than three primitive signs, particularly the combination of paratonia, snout, suck, and palmomental reflexes strongly suggests brain dysfunction, especially when these signs are marked and accompanied by deficits in orientation, recall, verbal fluency, and constructional praxis.633A57758

Dissection technique for the study of the cerebral sulci, gyri and ventricles

Neuroanatomy in addition to neurophysiology, are the basic areas for the proper formation from health students to specialized professionals in neuroscience. A step by step guide for practical studies of neuroanatomy is required for this kind of knowledge to become more acceptable among medical students, neurosurgeons, neurologists, neuropediatricians and psychiatric physicians. Based on the well known courses of sulci, gyri and ventricles offered by Beneficencia Portuguesa Hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil, two times a year, since 1994, totalizing more than 20 complete courses, and answering the request of many neuroscience students and professionals whose asked for a practical guide to the neuroanatomy study, the authors suggest a protocol for the study of superficial and deep brain structures showing how to approach the more structures as possible with minimum damage to the anatomic piece and with the smaller number of brains.662A28228