scholarly journals Impaired structural connectivity between dorsal attention network and pulvinar mediates the impact of premature birth on adult visual–spatial abilities

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (14) ◽  
pp. 4058-4071
Author(s):  
Maria Berndt ◽  
Josef G. Bäuml ◽  
Aurore Menegaux ◽  
Chun Meng ◽  
Marcel Daamen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Premature Birth ◽  
Structural Connectivity ◽  
Spatial Abilities ◽  
Attention Network ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
Dorsal Attention Network ◽  
The Impact

Meconium peritonitis: review of literature and own clinical observations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.N. Glavatskaya , O.V. Pribushenya , N.A. Venchikova
Keyword(s):  
Prenatal Diagnosis ◽  
Premature Birth ◽  
Surgical Care ◽  
Intestinal Wall ◽  
Meconium Peritonitis ◽  
Review Of Literature ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Clinical Observations ◽  
Loop Expansion ◽  
The Impact

Two clinical cases of meconium peritonitis in the fetuses are presented. The diagnosis was made prenatally at 30+5 and 20+1 weeks of gestation. The main ultrasound signs were ascites, loop expansion and thickening of the intestinal wall, peritoneal calcifications, meconium pseudocysts. In one case, pregnancy was complicated by polyhydramnios. In both cases, the pregnancy ended in premature birth, followed by surgical treatment during the first days of life. A review of the literature on the topic are discussed the etiology, the spectrum and frequency of ultrasound signs suggesting this condition in the fetus, the effectiveness of prenatal diagnosis, the prognosis for the life and health of the newborn, as well as the impact of the quality and timeliness of the prenatal diagnosis on the management of pregnancy and timeliness of surgical care for the newborn.

scholarly journals The lateral intraparietal sulcus takes viewpoint changes into account during memory-guided attention in natural scenes

2021 ◽  
Vol 226 (4) ◽  
pp. 989-1006
Author(s):  
Ilenia Salsano ◽  
Valerio Santangelo ◽  
Emiliano Macaluso
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Information ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Independent Effect ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Natural Scenes ◽  
Behavioral Measures ◽  
Attention Network ◽  
Low Contrast ◽  
Dorsal Attention Network

AbstractPrevious studies demonstrated that long-term memory related to object-position in natural scenes guides visuo-spatial attention during subsequent search. Memory-guided attention has been associated with the activation of memory regions (the medial-temporal cortex) and with the fronto-parietal attention network. Notably, these circuits represent external locations with different frames of reference: egocentric (i.e., eyes/head-centered) in the dorsal attention network vs. allocentric (i.e., world/scene-centered) in the medial temporal cortex. Here we used behavioral measures and fMRI to assess the contribution of egocentric and allocentric spatial information during memory-guided attention. At encoding, participants were presented with real-world scenes and asked to search for and memorize the location of a high-contrast target superimposed in half of the scenes. At retrieval, participants viewed again the same scenes, now all including a low-contrast target. In scenes that included the target at encoding, the target was presented at the same scene-location. Critically, scenes were now shown either from the same or different viewpoint compared with encoding. This resulted in a memory-by-view design (target seen/unseen x same/different view), which allowed us teasing apart the role of allocentric vs. egocentric signals during memory-guided attention. Retrieval-related results showed greater search-accuracy for seen than unseen targets, both in the same and different views, indicating that memory contributes to visual search notwithstanding perspective changes. This view-change independent effect was associated with the activation of the left lateral intra-parietal sulcus. Our results demonstrate that this parietal region mediates memory-guided attention by taking into account allocentric/scene-centered information about the objects' position in the external world.

scholarly journals Pallidal stimulation as treatment for camptocormia in Parkinson’s disease

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yijie Lai ◽  
Yunhai Song ◽  
Daoqing Su ◽  
Linbin Wang ◽  
Chencheng Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Case Reports ◽  
Structural Connectivity ◽  
Video Recordings ◽  
Lead Placement ◽  
Pallidal Stimulation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Deep Brain

AbstractCamptocormia is a common and often debilitating postural deformity in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Few treatments are currently effective. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the globus pallidus internus (GPi) shows potential in treating camptocormia, but evidence remains limited to case reports. We herein investigate the effect of GPi-DBS for treating camptocormia in a retrospective PD cohort. Thirty-six consecutive PD patients who underwent GPi-DBS were reviewed. The total and upper camptocormia angles (TCC and UCC angles) derived from video recordings of patients who received GPi-DBS were used to compare camptocormia alterations. Correlation analysis was performed to identify factors associated with the postoperative improvements. DBS lead placement and the impact of stimulation were analyzed using Lead-DBS software. Eleven patients manifested pre-surgical camptocormia: seven had lower camptocormia (TCC angles ≥ 30°; TCC-camptocormia), three had upper camptocormia (UCC angles ≥ 45°; UCC-camptocormia), and one had both. Mean follow-up time was 7.3 ± 3.3 months. GPi-DBS improved TCC-camptocormia by 40.4% (angles from 39.1° ± 10.1° to 23.3° ± 8.1°, p = 0.017) and UCC-camptocormia by 22.8% (angles from 50.5° ± 2.6° to 39.0° ± 6.7°, p = 0.012). Improvement in TCC angle was positively associated with pre-surgical TCC angles, levodopa responsiveness of the TCC angle, and structural connectivity from volume of tissue activated to somatosensory cortex. Greater improvement in UCC angles was seen in patients with larger pre-surgical UCC angles. Our study demonstrates potential effectiveness of GPi-DBS for treating camptocormia in PD patients. Future controlled studies with larger numbers of patients with PD-related camptocormia should extend our findings.

The potential role of relatives in designing person-centred assistive technologies (innovative practice)

Dementia ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 3161-3164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rudi Coetzer
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Design ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Assistive Technologies ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
Innovative Practice ◽  
The Impact

The paper explores the important role of relatives in designing assistive technologies in collaboration with practitioners. A brief case study reports the collaborative design of a 24-hour clock to reduce the impact of visual–spatial impairment on a family member's ability to read time and prevent temporal disorientation.

scholarly journals Lifespan trajectories of relative corpus callosum thickness: regional differences and cognitive relevance.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vilde M. Danielsen ◽  
Didac Vidal Pineiro ◽  
Athanasia M. Mowinckel ◽  
Donatas Sederevicius ◽  
Anders M. Fjell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Corpus Callosum ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
Structural Connectivity ◽  
Older Age ◽  
Lifespan Development ◽  
Valuable Insight ◽  
Structural Development ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
Age Related

The cerebral hemispheres are specialized for different cognitive functions and receive divergent information from the sensory organs, so that the interaction between the hemispheres is a crucial aspect of perception and cognition. At the same time, the major fiber tract responsible for this interaction, the corpus callosum, shows a structural development across the lifespan which is over-proportional. That is, compared to changes in overall forebrain volume, the corpus callosum shows an accentuated growth during childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood, as well as pronounced decline in older age. However, this over-proportionality of growth and decline along with potential consequences for cognition, have been largely overlooked in empirical research. In the present study we systematically address the proportionality of callosal development in a large mixed cross-sectional and longitudinal sample (1867 datasets from 1014 unique participants), covering the human lifespan (age range 4 to 93 years), and examine the cognitive consequences of the observed changes. Relative corpus callosum thickness was measured at 60 segments along the midsagittal surface, and lifespan trajectories were clustered to identify callosal subsections of comparable lifespan development. While confirming the expected inverted u-shaped lifespan trajectories, we also found substantial regional variation. Compared with anterior clusters, posterior sections exhibited an accentuated growth during development which extends well into the third decade of life, and a protracted decline in older age which is delayed by about 10 years (starting mid to late 50s). We further showed that the observed longitudinal changes in relative thickness of the mid splenium significantly mediates age-related changes in tests assessing verbal knowledge and non-verbal visual-spatial abilities across the lifespan. In summary, we demonstrate that analyzing the proportionality of callosal growth and decline offers valuable insight into lifespan development of structural connectivity between the hemispheres, and suggests consequences for the cognitive development of perception and cognition.

scholarly journals The Precipitous Decline in Reasoning and Other Key Abilities with Age and Its Implications for Federal Judges

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Alan S. Kaufman
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Functioning ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Computerized Adaptive Testing ◽  
Public Funding ◽  
Test Construction ◽  
Federal Judiciary ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
Federal Judges ◽  
The Impact

U. S. Supreme Court justices and other federal judges are, effectively, appointed for life, with no built-in check on their cognitive functioning as they approach old age. There is about a century of research on aging and intelligence that shows the vulnerability of processing speed, fluid reasoning, visual-spatial processing, and working memory to normal aging for men and women at all levels of education; even the maintained ability of crystallized knowledge declines in old age. The vulnerable abilities impact a person’s decision-making and problem solving; crystallized knowledge, by contrast, measures a person’s general knowledge. The aging-IQ data provide a rationale for assessing the key cognitive abilities of anyone who is appointed to the federal judiciary. Theories of multiple cognitive abilities and processes, most notably the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) model, provide a well-researched blueprint for interpreting the plethora of findings from studies of IQ and aging. Sophisticated technical advances in test construction, especially in item-response theory and computerized-adaptive testing, allow for the development of reliable and valid theory-based tests of cognitive functioning. Such assessments promise to be a potentially useful tool for evaluating federal judges to assess the impact of aging on their ability to perform at a level their positions deserve, perhaps to measure their competency to serve the public intelligently. It is proposed that public funding be made available to appoint a panel of experts to develop and validate an array of computerized cognitive tests to identify those justices who are at risk of cognitive impairment.

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