Morphometry in schizophrenia revisited: height and its relationship to pre-morbid function

1998 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 655-663 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. NOPOULOS ◽  
M. FLAUM ◽  
S. ARNDT ◽  
N. ANDREASEN
Keyword(s):  
Psychosocial Adjustment ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
The Body ◽  
Abnormal Development ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Lower Quartile ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Brain

Background. Morphometry, the measurement of forms, is an ancient practice. In particular, schizophrenic somatology was popular early in this century, but has been essentially absent from the literature for over 30 years. More recently, evidence has grown to support the notion that aberrant neurodevelopment may play a role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Is the body, like the brain, affected by abnormal development in these patients?Methods. To evaluate global deficit in development and its relationship to pre-morbid function, height was compared in a large group (N=226) of male schizophrenics and a group of healthy male controls (N=142) equivalent in parental socio-economic status. Patients in the lower quartile of height were compared to those in the upper quartile of height.Results. The patient group had a mean height of 177·1 cm, which was significantly shorter than the mean height of the control group of 179·4 (P<0·003). Those in the lower quartile had significantly poorer pre-morbid function as measured by: (1) psychosocial adjustment using the pre-morbid adjustment scales for childhood and adolescence/young adulthood, and (2) cognitive function using measures of school performance such as grades and need for special education. In addition, these measures of pre-morbid function correlated significantly with height when analysed using the entire sample.Conclusions. These findings provide further support to the idea that abnormal development may play a key role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Furthermore, this is manifested as a global deficit in growth and function resulting in smaller stature, poorer social skills, and deficits in cognitive abilities.

scholarly journals Does Motor Training of the Nonparetic Side Influences Balance and Function in Chronic Stroke? A Pilot RCT

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shanta Pandian ◽  
Kamal Narayan Arya ◽  
Dharmendra Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Functional Performance ◽  
Berg Balance Scale ◽  
Chronic Stroke ◽  
The Body ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Therapy Program ◽  
Functional Reach Test ◽  
Double Blinded ◽  
And Function ◽  
Experimental Group

Background. Balance and functional abilities are controlled by both sides of the body. The role of nonparetic side has never been explored for such skills.Objective. The objective of the present study was to examine the effect of a motor therapy program primarily involving the nonparetic side on balance and function in chronic stroke.Method. A randomized controlled, double blinded trial was conducted on 39 poststroke hemiparetic subjects (21, men; mean age, 42 years; mean poststroke duration, 13 months). They were randomly divided into the experimental group(n=20)and control group(n=19). The participants received either motor therapy focusing on the nonparetic side along with the conventional program or conventional program alone for 8 weeks (3 session/week, 60 minutes each). The balance ability was assessed using Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and Functional Reach Test (FRT) while the functional performance was measured by Barthel Index (BI).Result. After intervention, the experimental group exhibited significant(P<0.05)change on BBS (5.65 versus 2.52) and BI (12.75 versus 2.16) scores in comparison to the control group.Conclusion. The motor therapy program incorporating the nonparetic side along with the affected side was found to be effective in enhancing balance and function in stroke.

scholarly journals Movement Patterns in Students Diagnosed with ADHD, Objective Measurement in a Natural Learning Environment

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 3870
Author(s):  
Mireia Sempere-Tortosa ◽  
Francisco Fernández-Carrasco ◽  
Ignasi Navarro-Soria ◽  
Carlos Rizo-Maestre
Keyword(s):  
Rating Scale ◽  
The Body ◽  
Social Adaptation ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Clinical Group ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Psychological Processes ◽  
Strengths And Difficulties

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is the most common neuropsychological disorder in childhood and adolescence, affecting the basic psychological processes involved in learning, social adaptation and affective adjustment. From previous research, the disorder is linked to problems in different areas of development, with deficiencies in psychological processes leading to the development of the most common characteristics of the disorder such as inattention, excess of activity and lack of inhibitory control. As for the diagnosis, in spite of being a very frequent disorder, there are multiple controversies about which tools are the most suitable for evaluation. One of the most widespread tools in the professional field is behavior inventories such as the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires for Parents and Teachers or the ADHD Rating Scale-V. The main disadvantage of these assessment tools is that they do not provide an objective observation. For this reason, there are different studies focused on recording objective measures of the subjects’ movement, since hyperkinesia is one of the most characteristic symptoms of this disorder. In this sense, we have developed an application that, using a Kinect device, is capable of measuring the movement of the different parts of the body of up to six subjects in the classroom, being a natural context for the student. The main objective of this work is twofold, on the one hand, to investigate whether there are correlations between excessive movement and high scores in the inventories for the diagnosis of ADHD, Rating Scale-V and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and, on the other hand, to determine which sections of the body present the most significant mobility in subjects diagnosed with ADHD. Results show that the control group, composed of neurotypical subjects, presents less kinaesthetic activity than the clinical group diagnosed with ADHD. This indicates that the experimental group presents one of the main characteristics of the disorder. In addition, results also show that practically all the measured body parts present significant differences, being higher in the clinical group, highlighting the head as the joint with the highest effect size.

The Effect of Crystal Dependence on Brain Activity Related to the Perception of Pleasure Using fMRI

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Yoonessi ◽  
Seyed Amir Hossein Batouli ◽  
Iman Ahmadnezhad ◽  
Hamid Soltanian-zadeh
Keyword(s):  
Case Control Study ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Smoking History ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Control Study

Background: Addiction is currently one of the problems of human society. Drug abuse is one of the most important issues in the field of addiction. Methamphetamine (crystal) is one of the drugs that has been abused in recent decades. Methods: In this case-control study, 10 individuals aged 20 to 40 years old with at least 2 years of experience of methamphetamine consumption without any history of drug use or other stimulants from clients and drug withdrawal centers in Tehran City, and 10 healthy volunteers were selected. Age, social status, and economic status of addicts were included in the fMRI apparatus, and 90 selected pleasurable, non-pleasurable, and neutral images (IAPS) were displayed by the projector through an event-related method. The playback time of each photo was 3 s, and after this process, the person outside the device, without the time limit selected the enjoyable and unpleasant images. Results: The results showed that there was no significant difference between the groups in terms of age, alcohol use, and smoking history (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in terms of the age at first use between members of the methamphetamine-dependent group. Also, the methamphetamine-dependent group showed more brain activity in their pre-center and post-center gyrus than the normal (control) group. Conclusions: According to the results obtained in this study, in general, it can be concluded that there are some areas in the brain of addicts that are activated when watching pleasant photos, while these areas are not active in the brains of normal people.

Genealogy of the Cerebral Subject

Being Brains ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Vidal ◽  
Francisco Ortega
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
The Body ◽  
Self Help ◽  
Brain Structure And Function ◽  
Cerebral Subject ◽  
The Individual ◽  
And Function ◽  
Cerebral Self ◽  
The Brain

The first chapter proposes to trace the distant roots of the cerebral subject to the late seventeenth century, and particularly to debates about the seat of the soul, the corpuscularian theory of matter, and John Locke’s philosophy of personal identity. In the wake of Locke, eighteenth century authors began to assert that the brain is the only part of the body we need to be ourselves. In the nineteenth century, this form of deterministic essentialism contributed to motivate research into brain structure and function, and in turn confirmed the brain-personhood nexus. Since then, from phrenology to functional neuroimaging, neuroscientific knowledge and representations have constituted a powerful support for prescriptive outlooks on the individual and society. “Neuroascesis,” as we call the business that sells programs of cerebral self-discipline, is a case in point, which this chapter also examines. It appeals to the brain and neuroscience as bases for its self-help recipes to enhance memory and reasoning, fight depression, anxiety and compulsions, improve sexual performance, achieve happiness, and even establish a direct contact with God. Yet underneath the neuro surface lie beliefs and even concrete instructions that can be traced to nineteenth-century hygiene manuals.

Amyloidosis

2013 ◽  
pp. 1397-1409
Author(s):  
Philip N. Hawkins
Keyword(s):  
Protein Misfolding ◽  
Solid Organ Transplantation ◽  
The Body ◽  
Solid Organ ◽  
Body Protein ◽  
Amyloid Deposits ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
And Function ◽  
Protein Misfolding And Aggregation ◽  
The Brain

Amyloidosis is a disorder of protein folding in which normally soluble proteins are deposited in the interstitial space as insoluble and remarkably stable fibrils that progressively disrupt tissue structure and function of organs throughout the body. Protein misfolding and aggregation have increasingly been recognized in the pathogenesis of various other diseases, but amyloidosis—the disease directly caused by extracellular amyloid deposition—is a precise term with critical implications for patients with a specific group of life-threatening disorders. Amyloidosis may be acquired or hereditary and the pattern of organ involvement varies within and between types, though clinical phenotypes overlap greatly. Virtually any tissue other than the brain may be directly involved. Although histology remains the diagnostic gold standard, developments in scintigraphy and MRI technology often produce pathognomonic findings. Systemic amyloidosis is usually fatal, but the prognosis has improved as the result of increasingly effective treatments for many of the conditions that underlie it, notably the use of biologic anti-inflammatory agents in patients with AA amyloidosis and new immunomodulatory agents in patients with AL type. Better supportive care, including dialysis and solid organ transplantation, have also influenced the prognosis favourably. A range of specific novel therapies are currently in clinical development, including RNA inhibitors that suppress production of amyloid precursor proteins, drugs that promote their normal soluble conformation in the plasma, and immunotherapy approaches that directly target the amyloid deposits.

scholarly journals Regulatory Roles of Bone in Neurodegenerative Diseases

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhengran Yu ◽  
Zemin Ling ◽  
Lin Lu ◽  
Jin Zhao ◽  
Xiang Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Neurodegenerative Diseases ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Lymphoid Organ ◽  
The Body ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Brain

Osteoporosis and neurodegenerative diseases are two kinds of common disorders of the elderly, which often co-occur. Previous studies have shown the skeletal and central nervous systems are closely related to pathophysiology. As the main structural scaffold of the body, the bone is also a reservoir for stem cells, a primary lymphoid organ, and an important endocrine organ. It can interact with the brain through various bone-derived cells, mostly the mesenchymal and hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). The bone marrow is also a place for generating immune cells, which could greatly influence brain functions. Finally, the proteins secreted by bones (osteokines) also play important roles in the growth and function of the brain. This article reviews the latest research studying the impact of bone-derived cells, bone-controlled immune system, and bone-secreted proteins on the brain, and evaluates how these factors are implicated in the progress of neurodegenerative diseases and their potential use in the diagnosis and treatment of these diseases.

scholarly journals In vivo tracking of intravenously injected mesenchymal stem cells in an Alzheimer’s animal model

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 1203-1209
Author(s):  
Bok-Nam Park ◽  
Tae Sung Lim ◽  
Joon-Kee Yoon ◽  
Young-Sil An
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Bone Marrow ◽  
Animal Model ◽  
Mesenchymal Stem Cells ◽  
Gamma Camera ◽  
The Body ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Indium 111 ◽  
The Brain

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate how intravenously injected bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) are distributed in the body of an Alzheimer’s disease (AD) animal model. Methods: Stem cells were collected from bone marrow of mice and labeled with Indium-111 (111In). The 111In-labeled BMSCs were infused intravenously into 3×Tg-AD mice in the AD group and non-transgenic mice (B6129SF2/J) as controls. Biodistribution was evaluated with a gamma counter and gamma camera 24 and 48 h after injecting the stem cells. Results: A gamma count of the brain showed a higher distribution of labeled cells in the AD model than in the control group at 24 (p = .0004) and 48 h (p = .0016) after injection of the BMSCs. Similar results were observed by gamma camera imaging (i.e., brain uptake in the AD model was significantly higher than that in the control group). Among the other organs, uptake by the spleen was the highest in both groups. More BMSCs were found in the lungs of the control group than in those of the AD group. Conclusions: These results suggest that more intravenously infused BMSCs reached the brain in the AD model than in the control group, but the numbers of stem cells reaching the brain was very small.

scholarly journals Timing as a mechanism of development and evolution in the cerebral cortex

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura R. Fenlon
Keyword(s):  
Phenotypic Variation ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Individual Variability ◽  
Cell Proliferation And Differentiation ◽  
Single Organism ◽  
Proliferation And Differentiation ◽  
And Function ◽  
Axonal Targeting ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Development And Evolution

One of the biggest mysteries in neurobiology concerns the mechanisms responsible for the diversification of the brain over different time scales i.e. during development and evolution. Subtle differences in the timing of biological processes during development, e.g. onset, offset, duration, speed and sequence, can trigger large changes in phenotypic outcomes. At the level of a single organism, altered timing of developmental events can lead to individual variability, as well as malformation and disease. At the level of phylogeny, there are known interspecies differences in the timing of developmental events, and this is thought to be an important factor that drives phenotypic variation across evolution, known as heterochrony. A particularly striking example of phenotypic variation is the evolution of human cognitive abilities, which has largely been attributed to the development of the mammalian-specific neocortex and its subsequent expansion in higher primates. Here, I review how the timing of different aspects of cortical development specifies developmental outcomes within species, including processes of cell proliferation and differentiation, neuronal migration and lamination, and axonal targeting and circuit maturation. Some examples of the ways that different processes might “keep time” in the cortex are explored, reviewing potential cell-intrinsic and -extrinsic mechanisms. Further, by combining this knowledge with known differences in timing across species, timing changes that may have occurred during evolution are identified, which perhaps drove the phylogenetic diversification of neocortical structure and function.

scholarly journals Pathway in rat brains under experimental obesity caused long-term progesterone administration

2018 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-63
Author(s):  
A. Aleksandrov ◽  
V. Konopelniuk ◽  
I. Kompanets ◽  
L. Ostapchenko
Keyword(s):  
Rat Brain ◽  
Tryptophan Hydroxylase ◽  
The Body ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Tryptophan Decarboxylase ◽  
Decarboxylase Activity ◽  
Prolonged Administration ◽  
Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid ◽  
The Brain

Obesity is one of the most common complex health problem. The pathway of serotonin synthesis takes part in neuroendocrine regulation, as well as in the regulation of a number of behavioral functions of the body and fat deposition. Serotonin is a mediator of the amine nature, which functions as a neurotransmitter and tissue hormone. The greatest amount of serotonin is synthesized in the brain and 12 duodenum. As a neurotransmitter, serotonin affects both directly and indirectly on the function of most brain cells. Female hormone progesterone influence on serotonin functions. One of the effect of progesterone is increasing of amount of fat tissue during the pregnancy. Long-term using of progesterone in hormone substitution therapy or as part of contraception also lead to fat accumulation effect. The levels of activity of serotonergic system enzymes, tryptophan hydroxylase, tryptophan decarboxylase and monoamine oxidase (MAO), and tryptophan, 5-hydroxytryptophan, serotonin and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid concentrations in the rat brain under obesity conditions caused by prolonged administration of progesterone were determined in this study. Studies have shown that the content of tryptophan, 5-hydroxytryptophan, serotonin and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in the brain of rats under obesity caused by prolonged administration of progesterone increased in comparison with the rats of the control group. The levels of tryptophan hydroxylase and MAO activity decreased, and tryptophan decarboxylase activity levels increased in the rat brain under obesity conditions caused by prolonged administration of progesterone. Thus, as a result of our studies, we found an imbalance in the system of serotonin metabolism in the brain of rats with the development of hormonal obesity induced by prolonged administration of progesterone, which may indicate the involvement of the serotonergic neurotransmitter system in the mechanisms of the development of obesity and concomitant diseases.

The modern employee: exercise and the brain

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 62-65
Author(s):  
Pamela Guggina
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Body ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Regular Exercise ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Clinically Depressed ◽  
The Brain

Purpose An area of workplace well-being, and thus performance, which is now being recognized more widely is the mental health of employees. Research today demonstrates that exercise is good for the body and dramatically affects the brain. While it is widely accepted that regular exercise can promote weight loss, lower blood pressure and decrease the risks of diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers, it is also becoming clear that exercise can improve mood, coping skills and even treat clinical depression and anxiety. These findings further support the upward trend of companies offering a wider range of health benefits to their employees. Design/methodology/approach One example of the combined research, Rethorst et al., published a large meta-analysis exploring the interaction between physical activity and depression. They examined 58 randomized trails and found that participants in the studies who had been randomized to use exercise as a treatment for depression had significantly lower depression scores than participants who had been randomized to the non-exercise or “control” group. Both clinically depressed and non-clinically depressed individuals reported lower depression scores if they participated in the exercise group. Findings Exercise can be as effective as medication in treating depression. Regular exercise can decrease the symptoms of clinical anxiety. Employers who incentivize physical activity can dramatically lower healthcare costs. Benefits packages which promote physical activity can increase productivity and decrease absenteeism. Originality/value There will always be people with an illness which requires medication, but there appears to be a group that will benefit greatly from getting out and moving with regular exercise. The hope is that physicians with patients who have symptoms of depression and anxiety will encourage their patients to get some exercise to see if it helps. This can be something that is done alone or as an adjunct to talk therapy and/or pharmacologic treatment. Exercise is not likely to change the circumstances that make life challenging, but it can help all humans cope better with these challenges.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document