Disturbances of speech prosody following right hemisphere infarcts

The ability to perceive and express emotional, as well as number of linguistic prosodic qualities of speech was tested in 20 Swedish-speaking patients with right-sided cortical, as well as purely subcortical brain infarcts, and in 18 normal controls. The infarcts were assessed by clinical neurological examination, and by CT, EEG, and measurements of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). In the patients the identification of emotional messages was disturbed, as well as the identification and production of several linguistic prosodic qualities. The study supports the claim that prosodic impairment could be linguistic in nature, and not secondary to affective disorder. The total degree of anatomical and functional disturbance of the right hemisphere played a role for both the ability to identify emotional messages and for identification of two of the linguistic prosodic qualities tested. However, it was not possible to find support for the hypothesis that the organization of prosody in the right hemisphere mirrors that of propositional speech on the left side.     

Formation and dynamics of female and male pronuclei in the fertilization of the eggs of Rana limnocharis

Eggs of Rana limnocharis were inseminated with conspecific sperm and the formation and timing of the second polar body, the formation of female and male pronuclei, and their dynamic movements were observed. Sperm enter the egg at random locations around the second polar body, between 15° and 60°.     

蒙古族儿童辨认蒙汉文字时大脑两半球的功能特点

本研究应用半视野速示法呈现象汉文字宋测定我国蒙古族儿童大脑半球的功能特点。结果表明，蒙语和双语蒙族儿童辨认蒙汉文字均为右侧视野──左脑半球优势，双语儿童辨认汉字时两视野差异不及蒙语儿童明显，蒙族儿童的大脑半球对不同类型词义没有特异的选择倾向。实验结果与被试的年龄和性别差异无关。     

Linguistic and non-linguistic abilities in a patient with early left hemispherectomy

A patient who underwent early removal of the left hemisphere because of Sturge-Weber syndrome was submitted to detailed linguistic and visuospatial batteries. The performances were compared to performances of subjects matched for age, education and IQ, but without focal cerebral lesions. Language was mildly impaired but to the same extent as in IQ controls. On the contrary, visuospatial abilities were clearly worse than in IQ controls, and the most preserved visuospatial abilities seemed to be the less sophisticated ones. Non literal comprehension of language, a function generally attributed to the right hemisphere, was intact. This same pattern, that is, preservation of language and impairment of visuospatial abilities, also seems to occur in subjects who have undergone surgical removal of the right hemisphere; in other words, the cognitive pattern seems the same regardless of which hemisphere is removed. These observations suggest that no matter which hemisphere is removed, functional reorganisation follows a hierarchical criterion which privileges the linguistic function, and the visuospatial functions most essential for independent survival.     

学习能力障碍儿童在利脑测验中神经心理特征的实验研究

本研究采用利脑测验（ＬＳＣＴ）对学习能力障碍儿童（ＬＤ）和正常儿童进行了测试比较。结果表明，在各时间档条件下ＬＤ组对字母的平均反应数明显低于对照组，对图案的选择除１０００ｍｓ外均高于对照组，随着刺激呈现时间的缩短，对照组儿童对字母的选择倾向明显递增，但ＬＤ组的反应倾向较少受刺激时间变化的影响。表明ＬＤ儿童神经心理特征表现为大脑左半球功能相对激活不足，两组儿童的反应特征与性别差异无关。     

Between-limb asynchronies during bimanual coordination: Effects of manual dominance and attentional cueing

Whereas previous studies on interlimb coordination have mainly underscored the ubiquitous tendency to synchronize the motions of the limbs, the present experiment revealed a small, but distinct, interlimb asynchrony or phase offset, i.e. the dominant limb led the non-dominant limb during the production of bimanual circle drawing. This asynchrony was clearly evident in the majority of right-handers, but not in left-handers. Moreover, attentional cueing affected the size of the asynchrony. Instructions to visually monitor the dominant limb or non-dominant limb strengthened and weakened the phase offset, respectively. A multifactorial neural account is proposed to underly the temporal asynchrony.     

优势半球或脑功能偏侧化学说的评价

Theproposaloftheoriesofdominanthemisphereandbrainfunctionlatera；izationhadundergonemorethan１００years．Theyaremoreprevailinginthewesterncountriesamongwhich，thoughthelanguagesaredifferentfromeachother，asawhole，theyarealpha－betic－phonographiclanguage．TheOrientals，especiallyChinese，theirlanguagesareideographicinnature．RegardlessofthecharateristicsoflanguageitselforperceptionandcognitionofHannationality．Wesuggestedthatmanyneuroanatomic，neurophysiogicalandneuropsy－chologicalprocesse…     

A case of tanycytic ependymoma arising from the cerebral hemisphere

We report a rare case of tanycytic ependymoma arising from the cerebral hemisphere. A 59-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of the incidental detection by MRI of a tumor lesion in the right temporooccipital paratrigonal region. The mass showed low-to iso-intensity on T₁-weighted images and high intensity on T₂/proton-weighted images. Partial resection was performed using a transsulcal approach to avoid compromising the visual field. Most of the tumor cells showed elongated spindle shapes arranged in dense fascicles. A few true ependymal rosettes and perivascular pseudorosettes were visible. The tumor cells were positive for GFAP, S-100, and vimentin, but negative for synaptophysin, EMA, and keratin. The MIB-1 labeling index was approximately 1%. Ultrastructurally, the tumor cells had ependymal cell features, such as microvilli and cilia. From these findings, a pathological diagnosis of tanycytic ependymoma was made.     

An integrative psychophysiological approach to brain hemisphere functions in schizophrenia

The present paper proposes a new psychophysiological approach to the genesis of positive and negative schizophrenic symptoms. According to this approach, the initial factor in schizophrenic disorders is a functional insufficiency of the right hemisphere which can be determined by early emotional experience in combination with subtle brain damage. This functional insufficiency causes (a) the inability to grasp and select information before its realization; and (b) the inability to produce a polysemantic context which is crucial for creativity, psychological defense, and the restoration of search activity, all of which determine psychophysiological adaptation to the environment. Right hemisphere insufficiency causes left hemisphere hyperactivity as an ineffective attempt to compensate for this functional deficiency. As a result, normal search activity is replaced by artificial search activity which is represented by “positive” symptoms, and which uses the predisposition of the left hemisphere's catecholamine system for its increased activity. The suggestion is made that cognitive impairment in schizophrenia (the inability to use appropriate previous information in relation to current perceptual input) is related to the competition between information processing which requires left hemisphere activity, and the formation of positive symptoms, also based on left hemisphere activity.     

The corpus callosum,interhemisphere interactions,and the function of the right hemisphere of the brain

A complex clinical-neuropsychological study was performed by the Luriya method before and after surgery in 36 patients with arteriovenous malformations (AVM) of the corpus callosum. The symptoms of local lesions to the various parts of the corpus callosum are described. Symptoms of partial lesioning of the corpus callosum were found to be modality-specific, though only relatively. The symptoms of dyscopia or dysgraphia could appear in isolation fro each other. Combined lesions of the medial parts of the brain (cingulate cortex, frontal lobes) and the corpus callosum significantly increased the level of dysfunction of these medial parts. Patients with lesions to the anterior parts of the corpus callosum showed symptoms of frontal lobe dysfunction. Lesions to the corpus callosum led to dysfunction of the right hemisphere in the spheres of emotion, perception, and spatial activity. Previous studies have demonstrated that the right hemisphere integrates impulses from both sides of the space and is the first zone involved in activity, performing its initial stages. The author believes that this synthetic activity of the right hemisphere, with tight connections with the conscious left hemisphere, is required for the formation of the overall conceptualization of both individual objects and particular types of activity. From this point of view, it is the right hemisphere that can, in a sense, be regarded as dominant, rather than the left hemisphere.Translated from Zhurnal Nevrologii i Psikhiatrii imeni S. S. Korsakova, Vol. 104, No. 5, pp. 8–14, May, 2004.