ISSN:0894-878X    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2001

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

ObjectiveTo determine if there are hemispheric differences in processing upper versus lower facial displays of emotion.BackgroundRecent evidence suggests that there are two broad classes of emotions with differential hemispheric lateralization. Primary emotions (e.g. anger, fear) and associated displays are innate, are recognized across all cultures, and are thought to be modulated by the right hemisphere. Social emotions (e.g., guilt, jealousy) and associated “display rules” are learned during early child development, vary across cultures, and are thought to be modulated by the left hemisphere. Display rules are used by persons to alter, suppress or enhance primary emotional displays for social purposes. During deceitful behaviors, a subject's true emotional state is often leaked through upper rather than lower facial displays, giving rise to facial blends of emotion. We hypothesized that upper facial displays are processed preferentially by the right hemisphere, as part of the primary emotional system, while lower facial displays are processed preferentially by the left hemisphere, as part of the social emotional system.Method30 strongly right-handed adult volunteers were tested tachistoscopically by randomly flashing facial displays of emotion to the right and left visual fields. The stimuli were line drawings of facial blends with different emotions displayed on the upper versus lower face. The subjects were tested under two conditions: 1) without instructions and 2) with instructions to attend to the upper face.ResultsWithout instructions, the subjects robustly identified the emotion displayed on the lower face, regardless of visual field presentation. With instructions to attend to the upper face, for the left visual field they robustly identified the emotion displayed on the upper face. For the right visual field, they continued to identify the emotion displayed on the lower face, but to a lesser degree.ConclusionsOur results support the hypothesis that hemispheric differences exist in the ability to process upper versus lower facial displays of emotion. Attention appears to enhance the ability to explore these hemispheric differences under experimental conditions. Our data also support the recent observation that the right hemisphere has a greater ability to recognize deceitful behaviors compared with the left hemisphere. This may be attributable to the different roles the hemispheres play in modulating social versus primary emotions and related behaviors.

ISSN:0894-878X    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2001

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

BackgroundImpairment of visuospatial attention in Alzheimer disease (AD) has not been fully investigated. Mendez et al reported that patients with AD showed hemispatial biases on visual search tasks. Parietal lobe involvement might be related to such impairment. The Picture Description Task is one of the most sensitive tests for detecting language disorders and might be also useful in assessing visual search.ObjectiveThe applicability of the Picture Description Task for evaluating hemispatial visual search impairment of AD was investigated, as well as whether the hemispheric difference in parietal blood flow is related to such impairment.MethodsThirty-four patients with AD and age-matched 16 normal subjects performed the Picture Description Task. The elements of the picture were divided into three portions: the right portions (five elements), the central portions (two elements), and the left portions (five elements), so as to assess the patients' hemispatial visual searching ability. Using single photon emission CT, the absolute regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) values at resting condition were calculated by the method of Kuhl et al.ResultsFourteen patients with AD showed a decreased number of elements pointed out in the left portion of the picture, whereas 12 patients had decreased attention in the right portion. The remaining eight pointed only to the central portion. None of them showed hemispatial neglect on the figure copying tasks. The patients with decreased left spatial attention had lower CBF in the right parietal lobe, and vice versa. A significant negative (biologically meaningful) Spearman correlation was found between the right-left indices of the elements pointed out in the picture and the CBF values.ConclusionsThe results suggest that the Picture Description Task is useful for assessing visual search, and impaired hemispatial visual search in AD is related to decreased contralateral parietal blood flow. The right-left asymmetry of the parietal CBF might be associated with hemispatial visual attention impairments in AD.

ISSN:0894-878X    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2001

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

ObjectivesThis study aimed to gain a better understanding of behavioral abnormalities in Huntington disease (HD) and to develop a method for reliably assessing these changes.BackgroundBehavioral changes are a central feature of HD and often cause considerable distress and difficulty to patients and their relatives. However, they have received little attention from research despite their prevalence and clinical significance.MethodsOne hundred thirty-four patients with HD were assessed using the Problem Behaviors Assessment for Huntington Disease (PBA-HD), an instrument for rating the presence, severity and frequency of behavioral abnormalities in HD.ResultsThe findings confirm that behavioral problems are common among patients with HD. The most common symptoms were loss of energy and initiative, poor perseverance and quality of work, impaired judgment, poor self-care and emotional blunting. Affective symptoms such as depression, anxiety and irritability occurred in around half the patients studied. Psychotic symptoms (hallucinations and delusions) were rarely reported. Factor analysis distinguished three clusters of behavioral symptoms, which were interpreted respectively as reflecting Apathy, Depression and Irritability. The `Apathy' factor was highly correlated with duration of illness, whereas no such relationship was observed for the `Depression' and `Irritability' factors.ConclusionsThe results suggest that certain behavioral changes are fundamental to the progression of HD, whereas others have a more complex relationship to the disease process. The findings have implications for the choice of behavioral measures used to evaluate efficacy of therapeutic interventions.

ISSN:0894-878X    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2001

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

ObjectiveIn this preliminary study, we examined the relationships between prior course and severity of illness and size of the hippocampus, temporal lobes, and third and lateral ventricles in patients with bipolar disorder.BackgroundThe few studies that have investigated relationships between course of illness measures and neuroanatomic structures in patients with bipolar disorder found divergent results.MethodTwenty-six outpatients, who metDiagnostic and Statistical Manual, Third Edition - Revised(DSM-III-R) criteria for bipolar disorder, received a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, from which volumes of the temporal lobes, hippocampi, third ventricle, and areas of the lateral ventricles were calculated. Prior course of illness variables were determined using the NIMH Life-Chart Method and were correlated to the volumetric measures of neuroanatomic structures using multiple regression analyses.ResultsA longer duration of illness was paradoxically associated with a larger left temporal lobe volume whether patients with a history of substance abuse were removed from the analyses.ConclusionsAdditional studies are needed to both replicate and further examine the association of prior course of illness and larger hippocampal and ventricular volumes in bipolar disorder.

ISSN:0894-878X    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2001

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

ObjectiveTo examine neuropsychological deficits in unmedicated patients with a nonpsychotic unipolar major depressive disorder.BackgroundAlthough cognitive deficits in depression have been reported in several studies, most previous studies have concentrated on a few areas of cognition in more or less heterogenous groups of depressives.MethodTwenty-two nonhospitalized patients with a DSM-III-R defined nonpsychotic unipolar major depressive disorder were compared with 30 healthy controls. Neuropsychological tests were organized in the following functions: motor function, selective attention, mental flexibility, visuomotor tracking, working memory, short-term memory, verbal long-term memory, nonverbal long-term memory, verbal fluency, and visuospatial function.ResultsThere emerged an overall group difference in neuropsychological test performance, with patients scoring significantly lower than controls. Bonferroni corrected univariate analyses of variance showed that patients performed significantly below controls in the following areas: selective attention, working memory, verbal long-term memory, and verbal fluency. Two functions were areas of differential deficits in the depressed group: selective attention and working memory. Impaired verbal long-term memory seemed to reflect an underlying working memory deficit.ConclusionsNonhospitalized patients with a nonpsychotic unipolar major depressive disorder exhibited an overall neuropsychological deficit and they performed disproportionately worse in the two domains of selective attention and working memory. The neurobiological implications of the present results are in accordance with the hypothesis that there is a global-diffuse impairment of brain function with particular involvement of the frontal lobes in nonpsychotic unipolar major depressive disorder.

ISSN:0894-878X    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2001

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

ObjectiveTo examine the relative impact of depression on executive function deficits in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).BackgroundExisting data suggest that OCD is associated with basal ganglia and orbital frontal dysfunction, and neurobehavioral abnormalities that are putatively associated with these regions have been demonstrated in OCD. Nonetheless, few studies have accounted for the effects of depression, which is a common concurrent symptom among those with OCD.MethodA broad battery of neuropsychological tests, including measures of executive function and sensory-motor function, was administered to 20 adults with OCD and 31 control subjects. To assess depressive severity, participants were administered the depression scale from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.ResultsData were analyzed using a regression model in two steps. In step one, patient group was entered, and patients with OCD demonstrated a pattern of executive function and sensory-motor deficits, similar to those shown in previous research. In step two, self-reported depressive symptom severity was entered as a predictor. As a consequence, depression accounted for some executive function deficits, whereas presence of OCD only predicted performance on measures of sensory-motor function.ConclusionsThese data suggest that abnormalities involving executive function in OCD are related to co-morbid depressive severity. However, sensory-motor deficits seem to be more consistent with basal ganglia/orbital frontal dysfunction in OCD.

ISSN:0894-878X    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2001

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

ObjectiveThis paper reports the occurrence of ping-pong gaze, a neuro-ophthalmological syndrome usually related to severe structural brain damage, in a patient intoxicated with tranylcypromine, thioridazine, and clomipramine.BackgroundAlthough there have been some reports about the occurence of Ping-pong gaze after intoxications, it is usually related to severe bilateral hemispheric brain damage following stroke or traumatic injuries.MethodWe report the case of a 56-year old woman who developed a neurotoxic syndrome with coma, hyperthermia, muscular rigidity, myoclonic jerks and tachycardia following an intoxication. Additionally rhythmic and pendular conjugate horizontal eye movements could be observed for three days, so that the diagnosis of ping-pong gaze was made.ResultsA treatment with dantrolene lead to complete remission of the neurotoxic syndrome with no signs of neurological or physical deficits. At the stage of regaining consciousness the eye movements became normal.ConclusionIn our case the combined intoxication with an monoamine oxidase inhibitor, a neuroleptic and a tricyclic agent lead to a neurotoxic syndrome and the occurrence of a rare neuro-ophthalmological syndrome usually related to bilateral hemispheric brain dysfunction.

ISSN:0894-878X    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2001

数据来源: OVID

ISSN:0894-878X    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2001

数据来源: OVID

ISSN:0894-878X    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2001

数据来源: OVID