Status epilepticus during the COVID-19 pandemic in Cologne,Germany: data from a retrospective,multicentre registry

Journal of Neurology - The “coronavirus disease 2019” (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the “severe-acute-respiratory-syndrome-coronavirus 2” (SARS-CoV-2), challenges...     

Eyes on me: an fMRI study of the effects of social gaze on action control

Previous evidence suggests that ‘social gaze’ can not only cause shifts in attention, but also can change the perception of objects located in the direction of gaze and how these objects will be manipulated by an observer. These findings implicate differences in the neural networks sub-serving action control driven by social cues as compared with nonsocial cues. Here, we sought to explore this hypothesis by using functional magnetic resonance imaging and a stimulus–response compatibility paradigm in which participants were asked to generate spatially congruent or incongruent motor responses to both social and nonsocial stimuli. Data analysis revealed recruitment of a dorsal frontoparietal network and the locus coeruleus for the generation of incongruent motor responses, areas previously implicated in controlling attention. As a correlate for the effect of ‘social gaze’ on action control, an interaction effect was observed for incongruent responses to social stimuli in sub-cortical structures, anterior cingulate and inferior frontal cortex. Our results, therefore, suggest that performing actions in a—albeit minimal—social context significantly changes the neural underpinnings of action control and recruits brain regions previously implicated in action monitoring, the reorienting of attention and social cognition.     

Prevention of episodic migraines with topiramate: results from a non-interventional study in a general practice setting

The majority of patients with migraine headaches are treated in non-specialized institutions though data on treatment outcomes are largely derived from tertiary care centers. The current non-interventional study explores efficacy and tolerability outcomes of patients with episodic migraines receiving topiramate as preventive agent in a general practice setting. A total of 366 patients (87% female, mean age 41.8 ± 11.6 years) were eligible for migraine prevention and treated with flexible dose topiramate for 6 months (core phase), and optionally for a total of 12 months (follow-up phase). Overall, 261 patients (77.7% of safety analysis set, SAF) completed the core phase. Reasons for discontinuation included adverse events (2.1%), lost to follow-up (1.8%), other reasons (1.5%), and end of therapy (0.3%) though in the majority of patients who discontinued no reasons were listed. The median daily dose at endpoint was 50 mg/day (range, 25–187.5 mg/day). The median days with migraine headaches decreased from 6.0 to 1.2 days (p < 0.001), median pain intensity score decreased from 17.0 to 3.2 points (p < 0.001). In women with reported menstruation-associated migraine, the median number of migraine attacks decreased from 4.0 to 0.9 (p < 0.001). Absenteeism as well as triptan use decreased significantly, and significant improvements in activities of daily living and quality of life were reported. The most frequently reported AEs were paraesthesia (4.2%) and nausea (3%). Results suggest that migraine prevention with topiramate in a general practice is generally well tolerated and associated with a significant improvement in migraine headaches and related functional impairment.     

It��s in your eyes��using gaze-contingent stimuli to create truly interactive paradigms for social cognitive and affective neuroscience

The field of social neuroscience has made remarkable progress in elucidating the neural mechanisms of social cognition. More recently, the need for new experimental approaches has been highlighted that allow studying social encounters in a truly interactive manner by establishing ''online’ reciprocity in social interaction. In this article, we present a newly developed adaptation of a method which uses eyetracking data obtained from participants in real time to control visual stimulation during functional magnetic resonance imaging, thus, providing an innovative tool to generate gaze-contingent stimuli in spite of the constraints of this experimental setting. We review results of two paradigms employing this technique and demonstrate how gaze data can be used to animate a virtual character whose behavior becomes ''responsive’ to being looked at allowing the participant to engage in ''online’ interaction with this virtual other in real-time. Possible applications of this setup are discussed highlighting the potential of this development as a new ''tool of the trade’ in social cognitive and affective neuroscience.     

The neural mechanisms underlying the Müller-Lyer illusion and its interaction with visuospatial judgments

Arrows terminating a line can distort the perceived line length. This so-called Müller-Lyer illusion can be used in healthy human subjects to mimic the performance of neglect patients in visuospatial judgments (e.g., in the landmark task). In this study, we investigated the neural mechanisms underlying the Müller-Lyer illusion, the landmark task, and their interaction. This was achieved by parametrically manipulating the magnitude of the Müller-Lyer illusion both in a landmark and in a luminance (control) task. As expected, the landmark task activated right posterior parietal cortex and right temporo-occipital cortex. In contrast, the neural processes associated with the strength of the Müller-Lyer illusion were located bilaterally in the lateral occipital cortex as well as the right superior parietal cortex. The data not only converge with but also extend neuropsychological data that indicate maintained line-length illusion in neglect patients. In addition, our results support the size-constancy scaling hypothesis as a putative mechanism underlying line-length illusions. Furthermore, activation that was driven by both the task and the strength of the Müller-Lyer illusion was observed in right intraparietal sulcus, thus arguing in favor of an interaction of illusory information with the top-down processes underlying visuospatial judgments in right parietal cortex.     

Multiphoton excitation fluorescence microscopy of 5-aminolevulinic acid induced fluorescence in experimental gliomas

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The clinical usefulness of 5-ALA guided detection of tumor tissue has been demonstrated for a number of malignancies. However, current techniques of intraoperative detection of protoporphyrin IX fluorescence in situ do not offer subcellular resolution. Therefore, discrimination of non-specific 5-ALA induced fluorescence remains difficult. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study we have used an orthotopic glioma model to analyze PpIX fluorescence in tumor tissue and normal brain by multiphoton excitation microscopy after intraperitoneal administration of 5-ALA. A DermaInspect in vivo imaging system was used for autofluorescence measurements at 750 nm excitation and detection in the green channel of a standard photomultiplier module. For detection of PpIX fluorescence at different excitation wavelengths a red sensitive version of the photomultiplier and a filter combination of short pass filters and a color glass long pass filter was used restricting the sensitivity in the red channel to a range of 580-700 nm. RESULTS: Multiphoton microscopy allowed a higher structural definition of tumor tissue based on the excitation of 5-ALA induced PpIX fluorescence compared to autofluorescence imaging. The high resolution of multiphoton microscopy allowed discrimination of fluorescence from the cytoplasm of tumor cells and 5-ALA induced PpIX fluorescence of normal brain parenchyma adjacent to tumor. Fluorescence lifetime imaging showed significantly longer fluorescence lifetimes of 5-ALA induced PpIX fluorescence in tumor tissue compared to normal brain. This allowed definition and visualization of the tumor/brain interface based on this parameter alone. CONCLUSION: Multiphoton microscopy of 5-ALA induced PpIX fluorescence in brain tumor tissue conceptually provides a high resolution diagnostic tool, which in addition to structural information may also provide photochemical/functional information.