Alcohol and the Brain: Neuropathology and Imaging Studies

1996 ◽  
pp. 116-140
Keyword(s):  
2015 ◽  
Vol 226 (2) ◽  
pp. T1-T11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Raisman

Geoffrey Harris is chiefly known for his demonstration of the control of the pituitary gland by the portal vessels coming from the hypothalamus. This does not do justice to his extraordinary contribution to biology. Harris' life's work was central in demonstrating the brain/body interactions by which animals and humans adapt to their environment, and above all the control of that most crucial and proximate of all evolutionary events – reproduction. In this brief review, I have tried to put Geoffrey Harris' work in the context of the scientific thinking at the time when he began his work, and above all, the contribution of his mentor, FHA Marshall, on whose towering shoulders Harris rose. But this is mainly my personal story, in which I have tried to show the debt that my work owed to Harris and especially to my dear friend, the late Keith Brown-Grant in Harris' team. I myself was never an endocrinologist, but over a short period in the early 1970s, under the influence of such inspirational mentors, and using purely anatomical methods, I was able to demonstrate sexual dimorphism and hormone-dependent sexual differentiation in the connections of the preoptic area, regeneration of the median eminence, the ultrastructure of apoptosis, the requirement for the suprachiasmatic nuclei in reproductive rhythms, the existence of non-rod or cone photoreceptors in the albino rat retina and, later, the expression of vasopressin by solitary (one in 600) magnocellular neurons in the polydipsic di/di Brattleboro mutant rat; this phenomenon was subsequently shown to be due to a+1 reading frameshift. I end this brief overview by mentioning some of the abiding and fascinating mysteries of the endocrine memory of the brain that arise from Harris' work on the control of the endocrines, and by pointing out how the current interest in chronobiology emphasises what a Cinderella the endocrine mechanisms have become in current brain imaging studies.


1995 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
pp. 724-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Chen ◽  
David R. Macdonald ◽  
David A. Ramsay

✓ The authors describe a case of a diffuse primary leptomeningeal oligodendroglioma in a 17-year-old girl who presented with raised intracranial pressure and hydrocephalus. She underwent imaging studies and a left frontotemporal craniotomy that revealed a cystic oligodendroglioma in the suprasellar cistern and spread of neoplastic cells to the spinal leptomeninges. The tumor showed little response to maximum radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and the patient died from complications of high-dose chemotherapy 2 years after diagnosis. Postmortem examination of the brain and spinal cord revealed diffuse meningeal infiltration by neoplastic cells and no evidence of an intraparenchymal origin. Glial heterotopias were noted at several sites along the brain base, adding circumstantial support to the theory that leptomeningeal gliomas are derived from ectopic glial tissue in the subarachnoid space.


The Neurosurgeon's Handbook concisely covers all aspects of adult and paediatric neurosurgery. It is systematically, meticulously and clearly broken down into easy-to-follow sections that contain all critical neurosurgical information, which is systematically presented to include clear definitions; epidemiology, pathophysiology and mechanisms of disease; neuroradiological and neuropathological features; critical care and neuroanaesthesia; clinical presentation and differential diagnosis; treatment; critical surgical anatomy and step-by-step key operative techniques of the brain, skull base and spine. The material is based on clinical trials, major clinical series and the extensive personal experience of some of the world’s best neurosurgeons and neuroclinicians who contributed to the handbook. It contains hundreds of imaging studies, neuropathological photographs (some in full colour) and anatomical and surgical diagrams that supplement the text. Additionally, widely accepted practice guidelines, major classification schemes, commonly used neurological scales, significant syndromes and constellation of key signs and symptoms are found in 188 tables, all presented in a way easy to understand and remember.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 514
Author(s):  
Naho Konoike ◽  
Katsuki Nakamura

Our daily lives are filled with rhythmic movements, such as walking, sports, and dancing, but the mechanisms by which the brain controls rhythmic movements are poorly understood. In this review, we examine the literature on neuropsychological studies of patients with focal brain lesions, and functional brain imaging studies primarily using finger-tapping tasks. These studies suggest a close connection between sensory and motor processing of rhythm, with no apparent distinction between the two functions. Thus, we conducted two functional brain imaging studies to survey the rhythm representations relatively independent of sensory and motor functions. First, we determined brain activations related to rhythm processing in a sensory modality-independent manner. Second, we examined body part-independent brain activation related to rhythm reproduction. Based on previous literature, we discuss how brain areas contribute rhythmic motor control. Furthermore, we also discuss the mechanisms by which the brain controls rhythmic movements.


2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 1230-1239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Gerlach ◽  
Ian Law ◽  
Olaf B. Paulson

Functional imaging studies have demonstrated that processing of man-made objects activate the left ventral premotor cortex, which is known to be concerned with motor function. This has led to the suggestion that the comprehension of man-made objects may rely on motor-based knowledge of object utilization (action knowledge). Here we show that the left ventral premotor cortex is activated during categorization of “both” fruit/vegetables and articles of clothing, relative to animals and nonmanipulable man-made objects. This observation suggests that action knowledge may not be important for the processing of man-made objects per se, but rather for the processing of manipulable objects in general, whether natural or man-made. These findings both support psycholinguistic theories suggesting that certain lexical categories may evolve from, and the act of categorization rely upon, motor-based knowledge of action equivalency, and have important implications for theories of category specificity. Thus, the finding that the processing of vegetables/fruit and articles of clothing give rise to similar activation is difficult to account for should knowledge representations in the brain be truly categorically organized. Instead, the data are compatible with the suggestion that categories differ in the weight they put on different types of knowledge.


Biofeedback ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 108-111
Author(s):  
Jay Gunkelman

Abstract Mild traumatic brain injury is often missed in the course of treating other injuries. This failure to identify the brain injury can be critically important, even life threatening. This report shows one such case in which the brain injury was overlooked, possibly because of the differential effect of age on the severity of the damage incurred from what appeared to be a mild trauma. Distant to the time of the injury, deficits in speech fluency and word finding led the individual to seek further evaluation, and imaging studies revealed a large subdural hematoma. CT scan images are included.


CNS Spectrums ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 290-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donatella Marazziti ◽  
Stefano Baroni ◽  
Gino Giannaccini ◽  
Armando Piccinni ◽  
Federico Mucci ◽  
...  

ObjectiveThe role of dopamine (DA) in romantic love is suggested by different evidence and is supported by the findings of some brain imaging studies. The DA transporter (DAT) is a key structure in regulating the concentration of the neurotransmitter in the synaptic cleft. Given the presence of DAT in blood cells, the present study aimed to explore it in resting lymphocytes of 30 healthy subjects of both sexes in the early stage of romantic love (no longer than 6 months), as compared with 30 subjects involved in a long-lasting relationship.MethodsAll subjects had no physical or psychiatric illness. The DAT was measured by means of the [3H]-WIN 35,428 binding and the [3H]-DA reuptake to resting lymphocytes membranes. Romantic love was assessed by a specific questionnaire developed by us.ResultsThe results showed that the subjects in the early phase of romantic love had a global alteration of the lymphocyte DAT involving both a decreased number of proteins (Bmax) and a reduced functionality (Vmax).ConclusionsTaken together, these findings would indicate the presence of increased levels of DA in romantic love that, if paralleled by similar concentrations in the brain, would explain some peculiar features of this human feeling.


2002 ◽  
Vol 6 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 31-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. D. Volkow ◽  
J. S. Fowler ◽  
G. Wang ◽  
Y. Ding ◽  
S. J. Gatley

Methylphenidate (MPH) is the most commonly prescribed drug for the treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). We have used Positron Emission Tomography (PET) to investigate the mechanism of action of MPH in the human brain. We have shown (a) that oral MPH reaches peak concentration in the brain 60–90 minutes after its administration, (b) that therapeutic doses of MPH block more than 50% of the dopamine transporters (DAT), and (c) that of the two enantiomers that compose MPH, it is d-threo-methylphenidate (d-MPH) and not l-threo-methylphenidate (l-MPH) that binds to the DAT. We have also shown that therapeutic doses of MPH significantly enhance extracellular dopamine (DA) in the basal ganglia, which is an effect that appears to be modulated by the rate of DA release and that is affected by age (older subjects show less effect). Thus, we postulate (a) that MPH's therapeutic effects are in part due to amplification of DA signals, (b) that variability in responses is in part due to differences in DA tone between subjects, and (c) that MPH's effects are context dependent. Because DA enhances task specific neuronal signaling and decreases noise, we also postulate that MPH-induced increases In DA could improve attention and decrease distractibility; and that since DA modulates motivation, the increases in DA would also enhance the saliency of the task facilitating the “interest it elicits” and thus improving performance.


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