Neurocisticercose e displasia hipocampal microscópica em paciente com epilepsia do lobo temporal mesial refratária

Epidemiologic studies suggest that neurocysticercosis (NC) is the main cause of symptomatic epilepsy in developing countries. The association between NC and mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) has been reported by several authors. Recent data have shown that the presence of NC does not influence the clinical and pathological profile in MTLE patients and suggest that not all cysticercotic lesions are inevitably epileptogenic. We describe a 50-years-old woman with partial seizures due to NC which evolve to MTLE. The patient was submitted to a corticoamygdalohippocampectomy to treat refractory epilepsy. An immunohistochemical study using neuronal markers was made on hippocampal formation. Besides the typical aspects of Ammon's horn sclerosis (AHS), the microscopic examination demonstrates cellular features of hippocampal malformation including dysmorphic neurons and focal bilamination of granular cell layer. We suggest that, in this case, a developmental disorder lowered the threshold for the NC-induced seizures and contributed to the establishment of refractory epilepsy.Estudos epidemiológicos sugerem que a neurocisticercose (NC) é a causa principal de epilepsia sintomática em países em desenvolvimento. A associação entre NC e epilepsia do lobo temporal mesial (ELTM) tem sido relatada por vários autores. Estudos recentes mostraram que a presença de NC não influência o perfil clínico e patológico em pacientes com ELTM e sugere que nem todas as lesões cisticercóticas são inevitavelmente epileptogênicas. No presente estudo, descrevemos uma mulher de 50 anos com crises epilépticas parciais associadas à NC que evolui para ELTM. A paciente foi submetida à corticoamigdalohipocampectomia para tratamento de epilepsia refratária. O estudo imunohistoquímico, utilizando marcadores neuronais, foi realizado em seções da formação de hipocampal. Além dos aspectos típicos da esclerose hipocampal, o exame microscópico demonstrou características celulares de malformação hipocampal, incluindo neurônios dismórficos e bilaminação focal da camada granular do giro denteado. Sugerimos que, neste caso, um transtorno do desenvolvimento reduziu o limiar para as crises epilépticas induzidas pela NC e contribuiu para o estabelecimento da epilepsia refratária.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Escola Paulista de Medicina Laboratório de Neurologia ExperimentalUNIFESP-EPM Departamento de Neurologia e NeurocirurgiaUNIFESP-EPM Departamento de Diagnóstico por ImagemUNIFESP-EPM Departamento de PatologiaUNIFESP, EPM, Laboratório de Neurologia ExperimentalUNIFESP, EPM Depto. de Neurologia e NeurocirurgiaUNIFESP, EPM Depto. de Diagnóstico por ImagemUNIFESP, EPM Depto. de PatologiaSciEL

Fabrication of hemispherical opposed self- acting gas bearings for the third-generation gyroscope

Fabrication of hemispherical opposed self-acting gas bearings for gyroscope

Research in particles and fields

The astrophysical aspects of cosmic rays and gamma rays and of the electromagnetic field environment of the Earth and other planets are investigated. These investigations are carried out by means of energetic particle and photon detector systems flown on spacecraft and balloons

Where does brain neural activation in aesthetic responses to visual art occur? Meta-analytic evidence from neuroimaging studies

Here we aimed at finding the neural correlates of the general aspect of visual aesthetic experience (VAE) and those more strictly correlated with the content of the artworks. We applied a general activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis to 47 fMRI experiments described in 14 published studies. We also performed four separate ALE analyses in order to identify the neural substrates of reactions to specific categories of artworks, namely portraits, representation of real-world-visual-scenes, abstract paintings, and body sculptures. The general ALE revealed that VAE relies on a bilateral network of areas, and the individual ALE analyses revealed different maximal activation for the artworks' categories as function of their content. Specifically, different content-dependent areas of the ventral visual stream are involved in VAE, but a few additional brain areas are involved as well. Thus, aesthetic-related neural responses to art recruit widely distributed networks in both hemispheres including content-dependent brain areas of the ventral visual stream. Together, the results suggest that aesthetic responses are not independent of sensory, perceptual, and cognitive processe

Effects of Neurotransmission-Modulating Multipotent Compounds in Pharmacological Animal Models of Cognitive Deficit

V rámci preklinického výzkumu farmakoterapie Alzheimerovy nemoci je v současnosti věnována pozornost multipotentním sloučeninám, umožňujícím intenzifikaci účinku zasažením více patofyziologických mechanismů. Práce se proto zabývala posouzením účinnosti multipotentních sloučenin a kombinované aplikace v modelech kognitivního deficitu u potkana. Společným mechanismem účinku testovaných látek byla modulace neurotransmiterových systémů. Cílem první části práce bylo porovnání účinku experimentální monoterapie a kombinované terapie antagonistou N-methyl-D-aspartátových (NMDA) receptorů a pozitivním modulátorem receptorů pro kyselinu γ-aminomáselnou typu A (GABAA) v modelu vyvolaném trimethylcínem. Superiorita kombinované terapie byla prokázána histologickou analýzou hipokampální neurodegenerace, ale v kognitivním testu nedosáhla statistické signifikance. Předmětem zbývající části práce byly multipotentní deriváty takrinu. Prokázali jsme pozitivní efekt dimeru 6-chlorotakrinu a 6-nitrobenzothiazolu a dále dimeru 6- chlorotakrinu a L-tryptofanu, působících také jako inhibitory acetylcholinesterázy, v modelu kognitivního deficitu vyvolaném skopolaminem. V případě jiných takrinových derivátů působících také jako antagonisté NMDA receptorů jsme prokázali nízké riziko závažných nežádoucích účinků, což...In preclinical research on Alzheimer's disease pharmacotherapy, attention is paid to multipotent compounds, enabling intensification of the effect by targeting multiple pathophysiological mechanisms. The aim of the thesis was to assess the effect of multipotent compounds and combination therapy in models of cognitive deficit in the rat. The mechanism of action of the tested compounds was modulation of neurotransmitter systems. The aim of the first part of the study was to compare the effect of experimental monotherapy and combination therapy with an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist and a γ-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptor positive modulator in the trimethyltin-induced model. Superiority of the combination therapy was proven by histological analysis of hippocampal neurodegeneration; however, it did not reach statistical significance in the cognitive test. The other part of the thesis focused on multipotent tacrine derivatives. We demonstrated a positive effect of 6- chlorotacrine-6-nitrobenzothiazole hybrid, as well as 6-chlorotacrine-L-tryptophan hybrid, acting as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, in the scopolamine-induced model of cognitive deficit. Besides, we demonstrated a low risk of serious side effects of other tacrine derivatives acting as NMDA receptor antagonists....Units out of CUMimofakultní pracoviště2. lékařská fakultaSecond Faculty of Medicin

Altered intrinsic functional connectivity in language-related brain regions in association with verbal memory performance in euthymic bipolar patients

Potential abnormalities in the structure and function of the temporal lobes have been studied much less in bipolar disorder than in schizophrenia. This may not be justified because language-related symptoms, such as pressured speech and flight of ideas, and cognitive deficits in the domain of verbal memory are amongst the hallmark of bipolar disorder (BD), and contribution of temporal lobe dysfunction is therefore likely. In the current study, we examined resting-state functional connectivity (FC) between the auditory cortex (Heschl’s gyrus [HG], planum temporale [PT]) and whole brain using seed correlation analysis in n = 21 BD euthymic patients and n = 20 matched healthy controls and associated it with verbal memory performance. In comparison to controls BD patients showed decreased functional connectivity between Heschl’s gyrus and planum temporale and the left superior and middle temporal gyrus. Additionally, fronto-temporal functional connectivity with the right inferior frontal/precentral gyrus and the insula was increased in patients. Verbal episodic memory deficits in the investigated sample of BD patients and language-related symptoms might therefore be associated with a diminished FC within the auditory/temporal gyrus and a compensatory fronto-temporal pathway

The Borderline Between Subsymbolic and Symbolic Processing: A Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Approach

Ideas, empirical data and methodologies from a broad range of disciplines are deployed in exploring the functional borderline between subsymbolic and symbolic processing in human cognition. Initial clarification of functional relationships between the two forms of representation involves a brain monitoring study based on the concept of 'semantic transparency.' The search for further clarification focusses on two major issues, the ontogenetic and phylogenetic origins of local neural areas and processes underlying formation of distal associations between them. Pursuing these objectives has proved to be a challenging, interdisciplinary enterprise. A model of development of local neural areas is presented which assigns a critical role to astrocytes and their interaction with adjacent neurons. An extension to include the phylogenetic dimension, draws on the concept of 'cortical inheritance', a largely ignored aspect of genetic theory. An account of distal association formation involves co-option of hippocampal place fields far a new use

Galaxies as Probes of the Universe: From Dynamical Models to the Inference of Cosmological Parameters

Presented here are a number of projects on topics relating to the dynamics and properties of the Milky Way (MW) and measuring the Hubble constant. First is a project studying the possibility of dwarf galaxy interactions forming moving groups in the solar neighborhood. This is done using several simulations of the MW with dwarf galaxies on different orbits, and searching for velocity substructures in these simulations. The resulting structures are often similar to those observed in the MW, while such structures appear much less frequently in simulations without a perturber. The second project uses a different set of simulations to study the formation of the Magellanic Stream. These simulations make some indications about how the stream most likely formed. They also can be used to look at which models for the MW produce a stream most like that which is observed, from which we can estimate the mass of the MW. Another project aims at resolving the tension over the value of the Hubble constant. The goal is to provide a measurement of this parameter that is independent of the methods that produce this tension, and thus avoids any errors in those methods