New neurotechnologies which help to study not only the structure but also brain work, especially in milliseconds, allow for a more accurate diagnosis of a given disease entity. The aim of our study was to characterize the functional neuromarkers, including a new neuromarker, that is high rolandic beta, in Parkinson’s disease (PD). A 76-year-old male patient, a university professor, a widower, in an intimate relationship with a beloved partner, was tested in the Reintegration and Training Center of the Polish Society of Neuropsychology. Five years earlier (when he was 71 years old), following long-term stress, he had had a transient ischemic attack (TIA). In the following years he experienced two neurological episodes, and was diagnosed, on the basis of MRI findings and clinical symptoms, with vascular (multi-infarct) Parkinsonism. A sudden deterioration in his functioning, including hand tremors at rest, bradykinesia (motor slowdown), asymmetrical gait difficulties, postural instability, and falls typical for PD, as well as MRI finding (the appearance of ‘a swallow tail ’ on the left side, and the lack on the right of the substantia nigra within the midbrain) was the cause of further differential diagnosis. He was assessed using the HBI methodology (Kropotov 2016; Pąchalska, Kaczmarek, Kropotov 2014). EEG was recorded from 19 scalp sites, in resting state conditions, with eyes open and eyes closed, and during the cued GO/NOGO tasks with animal/plants as GO/NOGO stimuli. The electrodes were applied according to the International 10-20 system. The EEG was recorded referentially to linked ears, allowing for a computational re-referencing of the data (remontaging). Event related potentials (ERPs) were used to assess the functional changes manifested by the patient. To compare our patient with healthy controls we used the normative Human Brain Index (HBI), a database obtained through joint research by Swiss, Norwegian, Polish and Russian neuroscientists (Kropotov 2018). This database included behavioral parameters and ERP measures in 6 different neuropsychological tasks for 1000 healthy subjects. What is striking, no signs of cognitive dysfunction was found; however observed were an asymmetrical frontal lobe alpha (a neuromarker of depression) and excessive Rolandic beta (a neuromarker of Parkinson’s disease). We will discuss the results on the basis of recent subject literature findings, including the personal factors that might influenced the process of the diagnosis and treatment of this patient, ones which should be also taken into account in any differential diagnosis. The obtained results show the importance of using HBI methodology in clinical practice. Physicians involved in the diagnosis and treatment of those with progressive ambulatory impairment and an abnormal white matter (WM) signal on neuroimaging, should when formulating any differential diagnosis consider the use of this approach. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nowadays, amphetamines constitute the prescription drugs most commonly abused by adolescents and young adults (Berman, O’Neill, Fears et al. 2008). The prevalence of problematic (mainly illegal) use of amphetamines as a stimulant by college students, and here especially before serious examinations, has also been rising. This fact represents a serious public health concern. The patient, aged 19, was awakened from from a long-term coma that had lasted 21 days following an amphetamine overdose and manifested tetraparesis, cortical blindness and deficits in cognitive and emotional processes. After a year of rehabilitation the majority of symptoms had disappeared, but cortical blindness andworking memory deficits remained. In addition, frontal lobe syndrome symptoms appeared. After two years of therapy as a result of immense tiredness caused by all an night wedding reception she started to manifest Charles-Bonnet syndrome. She experienced strange visual sensations such as visual hallucinations and saw various non-existing shapes (coloured blots, patterns and fireworks of vivid colours). She also saw objects (often terrifying) as well as animals (mainly African) and people with deformed faces and long teeth, and persons in African dress with feathers and coral beads in their hair. Her real identity was not remembered by the patient for longer than 2 hours and even then she insisted on being referred to as Shakira. She was given a qEEG examination (in open and closed eyes conditions) and ERPs with the use of auditory stimuli at the period when the hallucinations (to a small degree) still occurred. Studies conducted into the functional neuroimaging of the brain work in milliseconds in the examined patient can explain her symptoms. A comparison of the subject’s ERPs with the grand average of ERPs in healthy controls shows that the N170 and N 250 components are impaired in the subject: the occipital-temporal area of the subject brain shows a strong positivity instead of negativities. This positivity might reflect an enhanced reactivity of neurons in the corresponding area induced by the removal of lateral inhibition from the neurons as a result of local damage. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The present paper argues that the development of a new methodology in studying the brain has resulted in a change of our views on the way it works, has seen the emergence of new ideas, and a considerable modification of traditionally accepted theories. The most significant are neuroplasticity, negative activity network (NAT), the nature of aphasic disorders, and the approach to the localization of brain functions. New brain imaging techniques have confirmed also the ability to change the neuronal circuits by mental force. Moreover, new techniques have brought about a rise in new methods for both the diagnosis and rehabilitation of individuals with various brain disorders. Most valuable in this respect has proved to be neurofeedback. We have concentrated on the most important contributions of Prof. Pąchalska in the implementation and development of these new ideas on brain functioning. We also emphasize the fact that her theoretical considerations are firmly based upon her extensive (forty years) work with brain damaged patients.
Stroke is a sudden-onset neurological deficit resulting from focal vascular lesions. This is either due to a clot-induced obstruction of a vessel (ischemic stroke) or a rupture of a vessel causing haemorrhage (hemorrhagic stroke). The appropriate diagnosis of brain stroke aphasic patients is a major public health problem one so important for effective rehabilitation. Here an important role is played by the diagnosis of impaired cognitive processes. The aim of the research was to find the index of impaired cognitive control with the use of ERPs in a patient following an ischemic stroke with aphasia. A male patient, aged 69, after an ischemic brain stroke experienced 4 months previously with resulting naming problem, was admitted to the Reintegrative and Teaching Center of the Polish Neuropsychological Society. In the neuropsychological evaluation three neuropsychological tests were employed: (a) the Boston Naming Test-Polish version, to evaluate the naming and word finding problem; (b) the nonverbal Bell test to ascertain a selective, visuospatial and strategic attentional evaluation; (c) the Digit Memory test to evaluate working memory capabilities; (d) ERPs as a neurophysiological index of impaired cognitive control. Significant changes were observed in testing. All cognitive functions including naming, nonverbal, visuospatial and strategic attention, along with the digit memory deviate substantially from the norm. The patient obtained a lo wer score, compared to the norm (p <0.05). Boston Naming Test (patient = 21< Mean-Norm = 57.29; SD= 0.52). Bell test (patient = 23 < Mean-Norm = 31.29; SD= 2.52). Digit Memory Test scores: Forward digit span (patient = 3 < Mean-Norm = 7.65, SD = 0.49). Backward digit span (patient = 2
As the world moves towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution, there is a need for formulations of neurophysiological biomarkers that ensure the accuracy of the diagnosis of visual perception dysfunction in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Biomarkers of visual perception dysfunction in ASD using EEG complements behavioral methods of diagnosis and allows for a more direct assessment of the dysfunction, identifying rapid, implicit neural processes that are not revealed through behavioral measures alone. This paper aims to review the neural biomarkers of the five domains of visual perception dysfunction (visual discrimination (VD), visual spatial relations (VSR), visual form constancy (VFC), visual memory (VM) and visual closure (VC)) in individuals with ASD. This paper shall help researchers gain new insight into the current trends and progress in EEG methods in ASD and discover gaps in the subject literature. A systematic literature search on PubMed was conducted to report findings of EEG studies that:1) assessed the severity levels in patients with ASD and 2) investigated the neural biomarkers of visual perception dysfunction in ASD. Spectral analysis, functional connectivity analysis and event-related potential (ERP) are useful in modern medicine to identify the biomarkers that distinguish the levels of the severity of visual perception dysfunction in ASD.
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