Why use a mirror to assess visual pursuit in prolonged disorders of consciousness? Evidence from healthy control participants

AbstractObjectiveClinical assessment of auditory attention in patients with disorders of consciousness is often limited by motor impairment. Here, we employ inter-subject correlations among electroencephalography responses to naturalistic speech in order to assay auditory attention among patients and healthy controls.MethodsElectroencephalographic data were recorded from 20 subjects with disorders of consciousness and 14 healthy controls during of two narrative audio stimuli, presented both forwards and time-reversed. Inter-subject correlation of evoked electroencephalography signals were calculated, comparing responses of both groups to those of the healthy control subjects. This analysis was performed blinded and subsequently compared to the diagnostic status of each patient based on the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised.ResultsSubjects with disorders of consciousness exhibit significantly lower inter-subject correlation than healthy controls during narrative speech. Additionally, while healthy subjects had higher inter-subject correlation values in forward vs. backwards presentation, neural responses did not vary significantly with the direction of playback in subjects with disorders of consciousness. Increased inter-subject correlation values in the backward speech condition were noted with improving disorder of consciousness diagnosis, both in cross-sectional analysis and in a subset of patients with longitudinal data.InterpretationInter-subject correlation of neural responses to narrative speech audition differentiates healthy controls from patients and appears to index clinical diagnoses in disorders of consciousness.

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Objective assessment of visual pursuit in patients with disorders of consciousness: an exploratory study

Journal of Neurology ◽

10.1007/s00415-017-8469-0 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 264 (5) ◽

pp. 928-937 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Sarah Wannez ◽

Thomas Hoyoux ◽

Thomas Langohr ◽

Olivier Bodart ◽

Charlotte Martial ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Exploratory Study ◽

Objective Assessment ◽

Disorders Of Consciousness ◽

Visual Pursuit

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Vitamin D Treatment in Patients with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis may Decrease the Development of Hypothyroidism

International Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research ◽

10.1024/0300-9831/a000269 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 86 (1-2) ◽

pp. 9-17 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Bekir Ucan ◽

Mustafa Sahin ◽

Muyesser Sayki Arslan ◽

Nujen Colak Bozkurt ◽

Muhammed Kizilgul ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Vitamin D ◽

Vitamin D Deficiency ◽

Hashimoto’S Thyroiditis ◽

Healthy Control Group ◽

Hashimoto's Thyroiditis ◽

Control Group ◽

Endocrine Society ◽

Thyroid Autoantibody ◽

Healthy Control ◽

The Mean

Abstract.The relationship between Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and vitamin D has been demonstrated in several studies. The aim of the present study was to evaluate vitamin D concentrations in patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, the effect of vitamin D therapy on the course of disease, and to determine changes in thyroid autoantibody status and cardiovascular risk after vitamin D therapy. We included 75 patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and 43 healthy individuals. Vitamin D deficiency is defined as a 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D3) concentration less than 20ng/mL. Vitamin D deficient patients were given 50.000 units of 25(OH)D3 weekly for eight weeks in accordance with the Endocrine Society guidelines. All evaluations were repeated after 2 months of treatment. Patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis had significantly lower vitamin D concentrations compared with the controls (9.37±0.69 ng/mL vs 11.95±1.01 ng/mL, p < 0.05, respectively). Thyroid autoantibodies were significantly decreased by vitamin D replacement treatment in patients with euthyroid Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Also, HDL cholesterol concentrations improved in the euthyroid Hashimoto group after treatment. The mean free thyroxine (fT4) concentrations were 0.89±0.02 ng/dL in patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and 1.07±0.03 ng/dL in the healthy control group (p < 0.001). The mean thyroid volumes were 7.71±0.44 mL in patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and 5.46±0.63 mL in the healthy control group (p < 0.01). Vitamin D deficiency is frequent in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and treatment of patients with this condition with Vitamin D may slow down the course of development of hypothyroidism and also decrease cardiovascular risks in these patients. Vitamin D measurement and replacement may be critical in these patients.

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EEG nonlinear dynamics in patients with disorders of consciousness

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e484712008-001 ◽

2008 ◽

Author(s):

Marco Sara ◽

Francesca Pistoia ◽

Paolo Onorati

Keyword(s):

Nonlinear Dynamics ◽

Disorders Of Consciousness

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Disorders of Consciousness

10.1016/s0072-9752(07)x0010-1 ◽

2008 ◽

Keyword(s):

Disorders Of Consciousness

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Enhancement of Platelet Sensitivity to ADP-Aggregation by Isometric Exercise in Arteriosclerotic Patients and its Prevention

Thrombosis and Haemostasis ◽

10.1055/s-0038-1649233 ◽

1977 ◽

Vol 37 (02) ◽

pp. 329-338 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Tadahiro Sano ◽

Takeshi Motomiya ◽

Hiroh Yamazaki ◽

Takio Shimamoto

Keyword(s):

Cyclic Amp ◽

Mechanical Stress ◽

Optical Density ◽

Platelet Function ◽

Isometric Exercise ◽

Phosphodiesterase Inhibitor ◽

New Method ◽

Platelet Aggregability ◽

Control Subjects ◽

Healthy Control

SummaryA new method for assessment of platelet sensitivity to ADP-aggregation was devised. Its reproducibility and the correlations between the values obtained by this method, the optical density (O. D.) method, and the screen filtration pressure (SFP) method were assessed. In summary, this method may be said to have three main points:1. It can be performed without centrifugation, avoiding mechanical stress to platelets, using only 0.8 ml. of blood and inexpensive equipment.2. It may reflect different aspects of platelet function from the O. D. method and the SFP method, despite the positive significant correlations between the values obtained by these three methods.3. It was proved to be highly reproducible and is thought to be useful clinically.By using this method, the effect of sustained isometric exercise by handgripping on platelet aggregability was assessed in coronary sclerotic and cerebral arteriosclerotic patients on placebo and EG-626, a newly synthesized cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase inhibitor. On placebo, an enhancement of platelet sensitivity was observed after isometric exercise in coronary and cerebral arteriosclerotic patients but not in healthy control subjects. The enhancement was prevented by pretreatment of EG-626, administered orally 1.5 hours prior to exercise.

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