Activation of cortical areas in music execution and imagining: a high-resolution EEG study

Neuroimaging studies have shown that execution of a musical sequence on an instrument activates bilateral frontal opercular regions, in addition to bilateral sensorimotor and supplementary motor areas. During imagining activation of the same areas without primary sensorimotor areas was shown. We recorded EEG from 58 scalp positions to investigate the temporal sequence and the time course of activation of these areas while violin players prepared to execute, executed, prepared to imagine, or imagined a musical sequence on a violin. During the preparation for the sequence in three of seven musicians investigated the bilateral frontal opercular regions became active earlier than the motor areas and in one of them simultaneously with the motor areas. In two of the musicians a rather variable pattern of activation was observed. The frontal opercular regions were also strongly involved throughout the period of music execution or imagining. The supplementary motor area was involved in both preparation for the sequence and during execution and imagining of the sequence. The left primary sensorimotor area was involved in the preparation and termination of the musical sequence for both execution and imagining. The right sensorimotor area was strongly involved in the preparation for and during the execution of the sequence. We conclude that the bilateral frontal opercular regions are crucial in both preparation for and during music execution and imagining. They may have "mirror neurone" properties that underlie observation or imagining of one's own performance. The motor areas are differentially activated during the preparation and execution or imagining the sequence.     

A cross-sectional survey of complementary and alternative medicine use by children and adolescents attending the University Hospital of Wales

Background  

A high prevalence of CAM use has been documented worldwide in children and adolescents with chronic illnesses. Only a small number of studies, however, have been conducted in the United Kingdom. The primary aim of this study was to examine the use of CAM by children and adolescents with a wide spectrum of acute and chronic medical problems in a tertiary children's hospital in Wales.     

Synthesis of tritiated tuftsin and macrophage inhibitory tripeptide via acetylenic intermediates

Acetylenic analogues of tuftsin (Thr-Dah-Pro-Arg) and of a macrophage inhibitory tripeptide (Thr-Dah-Pro) have been synthesized by conventional procedures in solution (Dah = 2,6-diamino-4-hexynoic acid). These acetylenic derivatives are intermediates for the preparation of structurally unmodified, tritiated peptides. Catalytic tritiation of Thr-Dah-Pro-Arg and of Thr-Dah-Pro has afforded the radioactive tetra- and tripeptides with specific activities of 11.4 Ci/mmol and 37 Ci/mmol, respectively.     

Inhibition of in vitro adherence of antibody-coated red cells to monocytes by the dialyzable leukocyte extract

The red cell-monocyte assay (RMA), which has been used to evaluate the clinical significance of red cell (RBC) antibodies, was employed to test the effect of the dialyzable leukocyte extract (DLE) on in vitro adherence to monocytes of human RBCs coated with alloantibodies or autoantibodies. The total association index (TAI) of the RMA, expressing the number of RBCs adhering to or phagocytosed by 100 monocytes, indicated a potent inhibitory activity of DLE in the test system. TAI values of 100.4 +/- 20.1 (mean +/- SD) in the control sample, consisting of RBCs coated in vitro with anti-D, dropped to 4.0 +/- 2.1 when DLE was present in the assay medium at a concentration of 0.5 U per mL. Similar results were obtained with RBCs coated with IgG antibodies in vivo. The inhibition was dose dependent and was associated with a thermolabile component of DLE. This study establishes that DLE can modulate monocyte function by inhibiting the recognition of IgG sensitized red cells.     

Linkage studies of non-syndromic recessive deafness (NSRD) in a family originating from the Mirpur region of Pakistan maps DFNB1 centromeric to D13S175 [published erratum appears in Hum Mol Genet 1996 May;5(5):710]

Autosomal recessive non-syndromal hearing impairment (NSRD) is genetically heterogeneous. Five loci have been identified to date which map to chromosomes 13 (DFNB1), 11 (DFNB2), 17 (DFNB3), 7 (DFNB4) and 14 (DFBN5). We report definite linkage of NSRD to the locus DFNB1 in a single family of 27 families studied of Pakistani origin. Haplotype analysis of markers in the pericentromeric region of chromosome 13q revealed a recombination event which maps DFNB1 proximal to the marker D13S175 and in the vicinity of D13S143.