Vagus nerve stimulation for refractory idiopathic generalised epilepsy

AbstractWe reviewed our experience with vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) in 165 patients with medically refractory epilepsy (138 partial epilepsy (PE), 13 symptomatic generalised epilepsy (SGE), 14 idiopathic generalised epilepsy (IGE)). Average duration of VNS therapy was 21.6 months. A 50% or greater reduction in seizure frequency was achieved in 47.1% of the PE group, 46.1% of the SGE group, and 57.1% of the IGE group. A 50% or greater reduction in seizure frequency and reduced antiepileptic drug (AED) regimen were achieved in: PE (9.4%), SGE (7.7%), and IGE (35.7%). These preliminary results suggest that VNS is an effective therapy for some patients with medically refractory IGE

Species-specific susceptibility to cannabis-induced convulsions

Background and Purpose. Numerous claims are made for cannabis' therapeutic utility upon human seizures, but concerns persist about risks. A potential confounder is the presence of both 9-tetrahydrocannabinol ( 9-THC), variously reported to be pro- and anti-convulsant, and cannabidiol (CBD), widely confirmed as anticonvulsant. Therefore, we investigated effects of prolonged exposure to different 9-THC/CBD cannabis extracts on seizure activity and associated measures of endocannabinoid (eCB) system signalling. Experimental Approach. Cannabis extract effects on in vivo neurological and behavioural responses, and on bioanalyte levels, were measured in rats and dogs. Extract effects on seizure activity were measured using electroencephalography-telemetry in rats. eCB signalling was also investigated using radioligand binding in cannabis extract-treated rats, and treatment-naïve rat, mouse, chicken, dog and human tissue. Key Results. Prolonged exposure to cannabis extracts caused spontaneous, generalised seizures, subserved by epileptiform discharges in rats, but not dogs, and produced higher 9-THC, but lower 11-hydroxy-THC (11-OH-THC) and CBD, plasma concentrations in rats versus dogs. In the same rats, prolonged exposure to cannabis also impaired cannabinoid type 1 receptor (CB1R)-mediated signalling. Profiling CB1R expression, basal activity, extent of activation and sensitivity to 9-THC suggested interspecies differences in eCB signalling, being more pronounced in a species that exhibited cannabis extract-induced seizures (rat) than a species that did not (dog). Conclusion and Implications. Sustained cannabis extract treatment caused differential seizure, behavioural and bioanalyte levels between rats and dogs. Supporting radioligand binding data suggest species differences in eCB signalling. Interspecies variations may have important implications for predicting cannabis-induced convulsions from animal models

A cortical network processes auditory error signals during human speech production to maintain fluency

Hearing one’s own voice is critical for fluent speech production as it allows for the detection and correction of vocalization errors in real time. This behavior known as the auditory feedback control of speech is impaired in various neurological disorders ranging from stuttering to aphasia; however, the underlying neural mechanisms are still poorly understood. Computational models of speech motor control suggest that, during speech production, the brain uses an efference copy of the motor command to generate an internal estimate of the speech output. When actual feedback differs from this internal estimate, an error signal is generated to correct the internal estimate and update necessary motor commands to produce intended speech. We were able to localize the auditory error signal using electrocorticographic recordings from neurosurgical participants during a delayed auditory feedback (DAF) paradigm. In this task, participants hear their voice with a time delay as they produced words and sentences (similar to an echo on a conference call), which is well known to disrupt fluency by causing slow and stutter-like speech in humans. We observed a significant response enhancement in auditory cortex that scaled with the duration of feedback delay, indicating an auditory speech error signal. Immediately following auditory cortex, dorsal precentral gyrus (dPreCG), a region that has not been implicated in auditory feedback processing before, exhibited a markedly similar response enhancement, suggesting a tight coupling between the 2 regions. Critically, response enhancement in dPreCG occurred only during articulation of long utterances due to a continuous mismatch between produced speech and reafferent feedback. These results suggest that dPreCG plays an essential role in processing auditory error signals during speech production to maintain fluency

Quality of life of patients with epilepsy (Hungarian survey)

We assessed the quality of life (QOL) of patients with epilepsy using the Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory (QOLIE-31). As the first step we compared our results with the data from an American survey in order to validate the test in Hungary. The results show that the Hungarian values were lower but that they followed the same trends as the American data. There was only one controversial result in the question-group of the 'the effects of treatment', which could be explained by the differences in habits and conventions, opportunities and expectations between Hungarian and American epileptic patients. We found significant differences in many aspects of quality of life with respect to (a) gender (general quality of life, seizure worry), (b) pharmacological treatment form (cognitive functions, medication effects, total score and social and role functioning) and (c) economic activity of patients (cognitive functions, emotional well-being, energy/fatigue, medication effects, overall quality of life, overall scores, seizure worry, social and role functioning). We have tried to explain the differences found by taking either the characteristics of epilepsy or the social background of the epileptic patient into consideration. Based on previous knowledge we have tried to define the situations where the assessment of quality of life for people with epilepsy, may be beneficial to their core. (C) 2001 BEA Trading Ltd

Analisis Kesalahan Berbahasa dalam Platform Berita Media Sosial

Bahasa Indonesia sudah banyak diminati oleh orang-orang asing. Banyak pelajar dari berbagai negara yang menempuh pendidikan dengan belajar bahasa Indonesia melalui program-program yang telah dikembangkan oleh pemerintah. Sosial media menjadi salah satu tempat mereka belajar bahasa Indonesia, salah satunya dengan membaca artikel dan berita dalam bahasa Indonesia.  Salah satu media sosial yang populer di Indonesia adalah LINE TODAY. Namun tak jarang ditemukan kesalahan berbahasa pada berita-berita di sosial media, baik kesalahan yang tidak sengaja maupun kesalahan yang murni dari penulis akibat ketidak telitiannya. Penelitian ini ditujukan untuk mengetahui kesalahan apa saja dan seberapa banyak jenis kesalahan berbahasa pada sosial media terutama LINE TODAY periode September 2021, hal ini agar para penutur asing yang sedang mempelajari bahasa Indonesia juga dapat mengetahui penulisan bahasa Indonesia yang baik dan benar. Jenis penelitian ini adalah penelitian deskriptif kualitatif. Teknik pengumpulan data dalam penelitian ini memakai teknik simak dan catat. Teknik analisis data yang dilakukan berupa pengumpulan, pencatatan, klasifikasi, dan mendeskripsikan pembenarannya. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian ini ditemukan empat bidang kesalahan berbahasa pada bidang linguistik, yaitu: (1) ejaan, (2) morfologi, (3) sintaksis, dan (4) diksi. Dengan adanya penelitian ini, diharapkan kedepannya berita-berita yang dipublikasi dapat memberikan pengetahuan kepada pembaca dengan penulisan yang benar sesuai kaidah bahasa Indonesia

OPTIMALISASI SUBSTITUSI TEPUNG MOCAF (Modified Cassava Flour) DAN TEPUNG LABU KUNING (Cucurbita Moschata) TERHADAP KARAKTERISTIK DONAT

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui formulasi terbaik dari substitusi tepung labu kuning dan tepung mocaf terhadap karakteristik donat. Formulasi tepung labu kuning dan tepung mocaf pada pembuatan donat dengan membuat berbagai variasi campuran dengan 4 perlakuan perbandingan tepung labu kuning dan tepung mocaf yaitu A (Tepung Labu Kuning  :Tepung Mocaf  90 % : 10%), B (Tepung Labu Kuning  : Tepung Mocaf 75% : 15%), C (Tepung Labu Kuning  : Tepung Mocaf 60% : 30%), D (Tepung Labu Kuning  : Tepung Mocaf 55% : 35%). Selanjutnya adonan yang sudah diberi perlakuan dilanjutkan dengan penggorengan. Masing-masing perlakuan dibuat dengan 3 kali ulangan, sehingga didapatkan 12 unit sampel yang akan dianalisis. Data yang diperoleh selanjutnya dilakukan uji Anova. Dari hasil penelitian diperoleh perlakuan terbaik adalah pada perlakuan D  yaitu dengan perbandingan konsentrasi tepung labu kuning 60% dan tepung mocaf 30 %. Hasil analisis karakteristik produk berdasarkan nilai kadar air adalah sebesar 12,27%, kadar abu 1,67% , kandungan kalori 3.894,85 kal/g

Neurovascular Unit Dysfunction with Blood-Brain Barrier Hyperpermeability Contributes to Major Depressive Disorder: A Review of Clinical and Experimental Evidence

About one-third of people with major depressive disorder (MDD) fail at least two antidepressant drug trials at 1 year. Together with clinical and experimental evidence indicating that the pathophysiology of MDD is multifactorial, this observation underscores the importance of elucidating mechanisms beyond monoaminergic dysregulation that can contribute to the genesis and persistence of MDD. Oxidative stress and neuroinflammation are mechanistically linked to the presence of neurovascular dysfunction with blood-brain barrier (BBB) hyperpermeability in selected neurological disorders, such as stroke, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, and Alzheimer’s disease. In contrast to other major psychiatric disorders, MDD is frequently comorbid with such neurological disorders and constitutes an independent risk factor for morbidity and mortality in disorders characterized by vascular endothelial dysfunction (cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus). Oxidative stress and neuroinflammation are implicated in the neurobiology of MDD. More recent evidence links neurovascular dysfunction with BBB hyperpermeability to MDD without neurological comorbidity. We review this emerging literature and present a theoretical integration between these abnormalities to those involving oxidative stress and neuroinflammation in MDD. We discuss our hypothesis that alterations in endothelial nitric oxide levels and endothelial nitric oxide synthase uncoupling are central mechanistic links in this regard. Understanding the contribution of neurovascular dysfunction with BBB hyperpermeability to the pathophysiology of MDD may help to identify novel therapeutic and preventative approaches

Neuroinflammation and Psychiatric Illness

Multiple lines of evidence support the pathogenic role of neuroinflammation in psychiatric illness. While systemic autoimmune diseases are well-documented causes of neuropsychiatric disorders, synaptic autoimmune encephalitides with psychotic symptoms often go under-recognized. Parallel to the link between psychiatric symptoms and autoimmunity in autoimmune diseases, neuroimmunological abnormalities occur in classical psychiatric disorders (for example, major depressive, bipolar, schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorders). Investigations into the pathophysiology of these conditions traditionally stressed dysregulation of the glutamatergic and monoaminergic systems, but the mechanisms causing these neurotransmitter abnormalities remained elusive. We review the link between autoimmunity and neuropsychiatric disorders, and the human and experimental evidence supporting the pathogenic role of neuroinflammation in selected classical psychiatric disorders. Understanding how psychosocial, genetic, immunological and neurotransmitter systems interact can reveal pathogenic clues and help target new preventive and symptomatic therapies