Brain signatures of syntactic and semantic processes during children's language development

Developmental aspects of language comprehension were investigated using event-related brain potentials. Children between the ages of 6 and 13 listened to passive sentences that were correct, semantically incorrect, or syntactically incorrect, and data in each condition were compared with those of adults. For semantic violations, adults demonstrated a negativity (N400), as did children, but the latency decreased with age. For syntactic violations, adults displayed an early left anterior negativity (ELAN) and a late centro-parietal positivity (P600). A syntactic negativity and a late positivity were also present for children between 7 and 13 years, again with latency decreasing with age. Six-year-olds, in contrast, did not demonstrate an ELAN effect, but a late, reduced P600 pattern for the syntactic violation condition. In the early time window, the 6-year-olds displayed a widely distributed negativity that was larger for the correct than for the syntactically incorrect condition. These data indicate that the neurophysiological basis for semantic processes during auditory sentence comprehension does not change dramatically between early childhood and adulthood. Syntactic processes for passive sentences appear to differ between early and late childhood, at least with respect to those processes reflected in the ELAN component. As there is evidence that the ELAN reflects highly automatic structure-building processes, we conclude that these processes are not yet established at age 7, but gradually develop toward adult-like processing during late childhood.     

Areas MT/V5 and their transcallosal connectivity in cortical dysplasia by fMRI

A patient with unilateral focal cortical dysplasia with a significant impairment of visual motion perception within the contralateral hemifield was examined with fMRI. During hemifield visual motion stimulation primary visual cortex areas were activated contralaterally and deactivated ipsilaterally to the stimulated hemifield. Transcallosal visuo-visual interaction was further evident as bilateral activation in temporo-occipital areas that best correspond to the motion sensitive areas MT/V5. MT/V5 was displaced anteriorly, superiorly, and medially within the dysplastic hemisphere and separated into two distinct activation clusters. During visual motion stimulation the parieto-insular vestibular cortex showed signal decreases that agree with the concept of inhibitory visuo-vestibular interaction. Thus, fMRI is a suitable tool for detecting preserved function and transcallosal connections in patients with focal cortical dysplasia.     

Human endothelial function and microvascular ageing

Age is a primary risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and this is an increasingly important public health concern because of an increase in the absolute number and proportion of the population at an older age in many countries. A key component of cardiovascular ageing is reduced function of the vascular endothelium, and this probably contributes to the impaired microvessel function observed with ageing in multiple vascular beds. In turn, impaired microvessel function is thought to contribute to the pathophysiology of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Here we review evidence that the first signs of altered endothelial and microvessel function can appear in childhood and at all stages of the human lifespan; low-birth-weight babies have reduced endothelial function in skin microvessels at 3 months, and by age 10 years their brachial artery endothelial function is reduced in comparison with normal-birth-weight babies. In overweight/obese adolescent children with clustering of traditional cardiovascular disease risk factors, endothelial function is reduced compared with normal-weight children, and this appears to persist into early adulthood. Adult ageing is associated with impaired microvessel endothelial function and an increase in capillary blood pressure. Biological and lifestyle factors that influence microvessel function include body fat and visceral adiposity, sex hormone status, diet and physical activity. The mechanisms underlying age-associated changes in microvessel function are uncertain but may involve alterations in nitric oxide, prostanoid, endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor(s) and endothelin-1 pathways.     

The Relationship Between Temperament and Impulsive Behaviors in Eating Disordered Subjects

To date, few studies have examined the personality characteristics and clinical predictors of impulsive behaviors in eating disorders (ED). The aim of this work was to study the prevalence of a wide range of impulsive behaviors in a sample of 554 ED subjects and to examine the predictors of these behaviors. Subjects were diagnosed according to DSM-IV criteria as having anorexia nervosa restricting type (ANR; n = 183), anorexia nervosa binge eating/purging type (ANBP; n = 65), bulimia nervosa purging type (BNP; n = 244), and bulimia nervosa nonpurging type (BNNP; n = 62). Nine different types of impulsive behaviors were assessed in these groups. About 55% of the whole sample reported at least one type of impulsive behavior, 35% more than one, and about 13% more than three. According to findings, impulsive and multi-impulsive subjects are characterized by the presence of purging behavior and by specific temperamental features such as high levels of novelty seeking and low persistence. The prediction of impulsive behavior is further improved by considering the presence of a history of childhood abuse, maternal psychiatric morbidity, and some specific psychological symptoms such as maturity fears, perfectionism, depression, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. The presence of impulsive behavior appears to be associated with overall higher levels of psychiatric symptomatology and eating psychopathology, thus indicating that they are an important feature to be considered in the assessment and treatment of ED.     

Event-related brain potential studies in language

A review of the four relevant language-related components in event-related brain potentials (ERPs) is provided. The different ERP components are functionally specified: the N400 component reflects semantic processes, the ELAN reflects early syntactic processes, the P600 reflects late syntactic reanalysis, and the CPS reflects aspects of prosodic processing. The neural generators of these components are discussed as well, both in the context of available brain imaging data and ERPs from lesion patient studies.     

Dyskinesia Matters

Levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID) represents a significant source of discomfort for people with Parkinson's disease (PD). It negatively affects quality of life, it is associated with both motor and nonmotor fluctuations, and it brings an increased risk of disability, balance problems, and falls. Although the prevalence of severe LID appears to be lower than in previous eras (likely owing to a more conservative use of oral levodopa), we have not yet found a way to prevent the development of this complication. Advanced surgical therapies, such as deep brain stimulation, ameliorate LID, but only a minority of PD patients qualify for these interventions. Although some have argued that PD patients would rather be ON with dyskinesia than OFF, the deeper truth is that patients would very much prefer to be ON without dyskinesia. As researchers and clinicians, we should aspire to make that goal a reality. To this end, translational research on LID is to be encouraged and persistently pursued. © 2019 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society