Changes in task-associated cerebral blood induced by role lettering: measurement by multichannel near-infrared spectroscopy

Using optical topography (near-infrared spectroscopy: NIRS), relative changes in oxidized hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) were measured before and after the introduction of Role lettering. Tasks performed during measurements included antegrade (from the subject to other persons) and retrograde (from other persons to the subject) mental imaging and writing tasks. All subjects were junior high school students. Relative changes in oxy-Hb were measured before and 3, 6, and 12 months after the start of Role lettering. The region of interest (ROI) was determined based upon the motor cortex region of hand movement and upon relative oxy-Hb changes noted before any Role lettering. For antegrade mental tasks, oxy-Hb increased significantly in right-sided ROI after 3 months; this increase persisted at 1 year. For retrograde mental tasks, oxy-Hb significantly increased bilaterally at 3 months, an effect that also persisted at 1 year. With the antegrade writing task, no significant difference was observed throughout the study; with the retrograde writing task, oxy-Hb level decreased significantly in right lateral ROI after 6 months; the decrease persisted at 1 year. The number of words produced after Role lettering increased significantly in both antegrade and retrograde writing tasks at 1 year, compared with the number before Role lettering. Role lettering thus altered mental activity, particularly in the right hemisphere. Retrograde writing tasks, similar to those employed in the actual practice of Role lettering, reduced right hemispheric function; continuation of the task enhanced performance. Role lettering studies using NIRS may provide useful psychophysiologic indices.     

Awareness survey of parties involved in pharmacogenomics in Japan

Pharmacogenomics should lead to the more effective and safer use of drugs and better healthcare for patients and should also be linked to more efficient drug development. However, there are almost no examples of the practical applications of pharmacogenomics to date. We investigated the attitude to pharmacogenomics among healthcare professionals, industries, regulators and researchers by a wide-ranging analysis of the published results of questionnaire surveys on this subject in Japan. In the past 5 years, the expectations from, and interest in, pharmacogenomics has been high in all areas; however, the understanding in medical practice and society as a whole has not made progress and practical development in the near future is anticipated to be difficult. The most important concern in the use of pharmacogenomics is the leakage of genetic information, and it is essential to take measures to protect this information in the practical development of pharmacogenomics.     

Exploratory eye movement dysfunction as a discriminator for schizophrenia

In our previous studies, we identified that exploratory eye movement (EEM) dysfunction appears to be specific to schizophrenia. The availability of a biological marker specific to schizophrenia would be useful for clinical diagnosis of schizophrenia. Consequently, we performed the discriminant analysis between schizophrenics and non-schizophrenics on a large sample using the EEM test data and examined an application of the EEM for clinical diagnosis of schizophrenia. EEM performances were recorded in 251 schizophrenics and 389 non-schizophrenics (111 patients with mood disorders, 28 patients with neurotic disorders and 250 normal controls). The patients were recruited from eight university hospitals and three affiliated hospitals. For this study with a large sample, we developed a new digital computerized version of the EEM test, which automatically handled large amounts of data. We measured four parameters: number of eye fixations (NEF), total eye scanning length (TESL), mean eye scanning length (MESL) and responsive search score (RSS). These parameters of schizophrenics differed significantly from those of the other three groups. The stepwise regression analysis selected the TESL and the RSS as the valid parameters for discriminating between schizophrenics and non-schizophrenics. In the discriminant analysis using the RSS and TESL as prediction parameters, 184 of the 251 clinically diagnosed schizophrenics were discriminated as having schizophrenia (sensitivity 73.3%); and 308 of the 389 clinically diagnosed non-schizophrenic subjects were discriminated as non-schizophrenics (specificity 79.2%). Based on our findings we believe that the EEM measures may be useful for the clinical diagnosis of schizophrenia.     

Three-dimensional MR imaging of brain surface anomalies in fukuyama-type congenital muscular dystrophy

Fukuyama-type congental muscular dystrophy (FCMD), the second most common childhood muscular dystrophy in Japan, is characterized by the association with severe brain anomalies such as pachygyria and focal interhemispheric fusion. Conventional imaging techniques such as X-ray CT scan and MRI are ineffective for visualization of these brain surface anomalies. Here we investigated the efficacy of three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction of brain surface MR images for the detection of brain anomalies in FCMD patients. 3-D brain surface MR images clearly visualized anomalies of cerebral gyrus such as pachygyria, as well as focal interhemispheric fusion. In addition, reconstructed horizontal images visualized structural derangement such as abnormal protrusion of white matter into gray matter. MR image abnormalities were confirmed by autopsy in 1 patient. These abnormalities were never observed in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients. Our results indicate the efficacy of the present method for the differential diagnosis between FCMD and DMD with severe mental retardation, which is essential for the genetic study to identify the causative gene of FCMD. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Effect of sweet solutions on pain tolerance threshold in pediatric oral mucosa

PurposeWe examined the effects of sweet taste stimulation on pain tolerance threshold (PTT) of oral mucosa in children.Subjects and methodsSubjects comprised 10 children (mean age, 7.3 ± 1.2 years) for whom PTT of oral mucosa was measured 2 min after oral administrations of sucrose or xylitol and water. Sine wave current stimulation (2 kHz, 250 Hz and 5 Hz, SWCS) which can stimulate sensory nerve fiber selectively (Aβ, Aδ and C) was used to measure PTT.ResultsSweet taste stimulation with sucrose or xylitol increased oral mucosa PTT in children, but not in adults. No difference in the increased PTT was seen between sucrose and xylitol.ConclusionsOral administration of sucrose and xylitol may potentially relieve pain associated with local anesthetic injections in children.     

Characteristics of exploratory eye movements in elderly people: possibility of early diagnosis of dementia

Background: Visual cognitive dysfunction is one of the most important signs indicating the early stage of dementia. Thus, visual testing could be used as an aid to the clinical diagnosis of dementia. In the present study, exploratory eye movement was measured to evaluate visual cognitive function in elderly subjects, including those with dementia. Methods: We analyzed responsive search scores (RSS) from exploratory eye movements of 300 subjects who were examined with an eye mark recorder while viewing S shaped figures. Subjects were divided into three groups (dementia, intermediate, healthy) from the values of the Revised Hasegawa Dementia Scale (HDS‐R), the Mini‐Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Clinical Dementia Rating. We further divided the intermediate groups into two subgroups, the high score and low score groups, based on RSS. In 202 subjects, Z‐scores of voxel‐based specific regional analysis system for Alzheimer's disease (VSRAD) were obtained from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Results: RSS of the dementia group were significantly lower than those in the intermediate and healthy groups, in order: dementia < intermediate < healthy groups. RSS of the low score intermediate group was significantly lower than that of the high score intermediate group. There was no significant difference between the low score intermediate and dementia groups, or between the high score intermediate and healthy groups. No significant differences of either HSD‐R or MMSE were observed between the low score and the high score intermediate groups. The Z‐score of VSRAD using MRI in the low score intermediate group was significantly higher than that in the high score intermediate group. Conclusions: These findings suggest that RSS using an eye mark recorder is a useful psychophysiological marker to evaluate the early stage of dementia as well as at‐risk elderly people.     

Incidental detection of retained oil‐based hysterosalpingography contrast medium on postoperative postpartum radiography: A case report

Hysterosalpingography is widely performed in assisted reproductive technology. We present a rare case of contrast medium retention which was incidentally found and mimicked a retained surgical instrument. A medical history of treatment for infertility can facilitate the differential diagnosis of abnormal findings on post‐caesarean section radiography.