Monkey hippocampal neuron responses to complex sensory stimulation during object discrimination.

The purpose of this study was to investigate, during the performance of an object discrimination task, responses of neurons in the monkey hippocampal formation to the sight of several objects that have biological meaning, and compare these responses with those of amygdalar neurons studied previously using the same task. Neuronal activity in the hippocampal formation of conscious monkeys was recorded during performance of a task that led to presentation of familiar rewarding, familiar aversive, or unfamiliar objects. Of 864 neurons recorded in the hippocampal formation and adjacent cortices, 160 (18.5%) responded to the sight of a certain object(s). Responses to the sight of different kinds of objects were analyzed in detail. Nondifferential neurons (n = 73) responded to different objects with no significant difference in response magnitudes, and differential neurons (n = 87) responded to different objects with different response magnitudes. Of the differential neurons, 23 responded more strongly to rewarding objects than to other objects (rewarding-object-dominant neurons), but the magnitude of responses to objects did not necessarily correlates with the order of preferences to the objects as determined from observation of animal behavior. Aversive-object-dominant neurons (n = 13) responded more to aversive objects than to other objects. Unfamiliar-object-dominant neurons (n = 7) responded more to unfamiliar objects than to familiar objects. Selective neurons (n = 10) responded selectively to only one object or one category of objects. Fourteen of the rewarding- or averse-object-dominant neurons were tested in extinction or reversal trials. In 12 of 14 neurons, responses to a rewarding or aversive object did not change, or slightly weakened, in extinction or reversal trials. The results suggest the following. (1) Responses of rewarding- or aversive-object-dominant neurons may be involved in object-reward or object-aversion association. However, responses of many of these neurons might reflect past inputs to reinforcement rather than extant emotional processing. (2) Responses of unfamiliar-object-dominant neurons may be involved in recognition of objects based on their familiar or unfamiliar aspects. These results are further discussed and compared with responsiveness of amygdalar neurons.     

Auditory Perception and the Control of Spatially Coordinated Action of Deaf and Hearing Children

From birth onwards, auditory stimulation directs and intensifies visual orientation behaviour. In deaf children, by definition, auditory perception cannot take place and cannot, therefore, make a contribution to visual orientation to objects approaching from outside the initial field of view. In experiment 1, a difference in catching ability is demonstrated between deaf and hearing children (10-13 years of age) when the ball approached from the periphery or from outside the field of view. No differences in catching ability between the two groups occurred when the ball approached from within the field of view. A second experiment was conducted in order to determine if differences in catching ability between deaf and hearing children could be attributed to execution of slow orientating movements and/or slow reaction time as a result of the auditory loss. The deaf children showed slower reaction times. No differences were found in movement times between deaf and hearing children. Overall, the findings suggest that a lack of auditory stimulation during development can lead to deficiencies in the coordination of actions such as catching which are both spatially and temporally constrained.     

不同检测方法预测白内障术后视力的观察

目的 评价各种检测方法在预测白内障术后视功能恢复的作用。方法 白内障197例(214眼)术前行闪光视网膜电图(F-ERG)、闪光视诱发电位(BVEP)、视网膜计、光定位、色觉及注视性质等综合检测，术后3月复查最佳矫正视力。结果 术前F—ERG的b波、F—VEP的P1波、潜视力、色觉均与术后视力存在显著相关性，其中F-ERG、F—VEP、潜视力预测术后视力的可靠性分别为62．6％、79．0％、60．6％。但排除白内障完全成熟及高龄者(超过80岁)，潜视力预测的可靠性则达82．6％。结论 对于非完全成熟及非高龄者，视网膜计是术前预测白内障术后视力比较理想的方法，而对于完全浑浊及高龄者，视网膜计检查结果的准确性欠佳，应结合F-ERG、F-VEP、色觉及注视性质等多方面因素进行综合讲价。     

Measurement of quality of life in bone marrow transplantation survivors

This study was designed to assess the reliability and validity of a Quality of Life (QOL) instrument on a sample of 179 allogeneic Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) survivors. The QOL-BMT tool was developed specifically for this population and was based on the investigators' prior research and a conceptual model of Quality of Life. Patients who were at least 100 days post BMT completed the 30 item visual analogue questionnaire. The instrument measured physical symptoms (e.g., weight loss, frequent colds, skin changes, cataracts, sexual problems), psychological to illness, social concerns (e.g., relationship adjustment, return to work), and spiritual well-being (e.g., sense of control, future goals). Psychometric analysis of the instrument included measures of reliability and validity. The study findings demonstrate the unique aspects of QOL dimensions in BMT survivors and the value of QOL assessment in clinical practice and research.This study was supported by the City of Hope National Medical Center, NCI Cancer Center Core Grant, R30 CA 33572 and the City of Hope BRSG Grant Support.     

单纯脑白质疏松症与皮质下动脉硬化性脑病的临床对比研究

目的探讨单纯脑白质疏松症(LA)和皮质下动脉硬化性脑病(BD)的临床表现、影像学及脑诱发电位的改变特征。方法(1)调查114例单纯脑白质疏松症患(LA组)和41例皮质下动脉硬化性脑病患(BD组)的发病危险因素和临床表现。(2)两组患均行CT检查，并按照脑白质异常程度分为3型。(3)LA组74例患，BD组35例患行MRI检查，根据T2WI显示的脑室周围高信号分为5型。(4)两组分别选择部分伴有高血压的患进行躯体感觉诱发电位(SEP)、脑干听觉诱发电位(BAEP)和视觉诱发电位(VEP)检查。结果(1)LA组患的危险因素呈多样化，无神经局灶体征，临床表现仅为轻度记忆力减退、步态不稳。CT显示脑白质异常以1型为主，占70．2％(80／114)；MRI脑白质异常也同样以1型为主，占71．6％(53／74)，均无脑室扩大。电生理学检查显示，SEP异常率为83．7％(36／43)，其中轻度60．5％，中度23．2％；BAEP异常率为62．8％(27／43)，潜伏期和峰间期延长；VEP异常率为53．5％(23／43)，各波潜伏期延长，均无波形消失。(2)BD组患危险因素以高血压为主(95．1％)，临床表现以神经局灶体征、明显认知功能障碍和卒中样发作为主。CT分型以3型多见，为73．2％(30／41)；MRI检查显示3型为54．3％(19／35)，4型45．7％(16／35)，41例患均有双侧脑室对称性扩大。电生理学检查显示，SEP异常率为96．7％(29／30)，其中轻度6．7％，中度46．7％，重度43．3％；BAEP异常率86．7％(26／30)，潜伏期和峰间期进一步延长，部分伴有Ⅲ、Ⅴ波缺失；VEP异常率为83．3％(25／30)，各波潜伏期进一步延长，部分P2单侧波形消失。结论单纯脑白质疏松症无特征性临床表现，诊断主要以影像学1型脑白质异常为依据；诱发电位表现为各波潜伏期延长，无波形完全缺失。皮质下动脉硬化性脑病的危险因素为高血压，临床有较明显的认知功能障碍，常见卒中样发作等特征，影像学检查CT显示3型脑白质异常，MRI显示3型或4型为诊断依据；诱发电位呈现各波潜伏期进一步延长并伴有部分波形完全缺失。     

Visual recognition impairment follows ventromedial but not dorsolateral prefrontal lesions in monkeys

Visual recognition in monkeys appears to involve the participation of two limbothalamic pathways, one including the amygdala and the magnocellular portion of the medial dorsal nucleus (MDmc) and the other, the hippocampus and the anterior nuclei of the thalamus (Ant N). Both MDmc and Ant N project, in turn, to the prefrontal cortex, mainly to its ventral and medial portions. To test whether the prefrontal projection targets of the two limbothalamic pathways also participate in memory functions, performance on a variety of learning and memory tasks was assessed in monkeys with lesions of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (Group VM). Normal monkeys and monkeys with lesions of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (Group DL) served as controls. Group VM was severely impaired on a test of object recognition, whereas Group DL did not differ appreciably from normal animals. Conversely, the animals in Group VM were able to learn a spatial delayed response task, whereas 2 of the 3 animals in Group DL could not. Neither group was impaired in the acquisition of visual discrimination habits, even though the successive trials on a given discrimination were separated by 24-h intervals. The patterns of deficit suggest that ventromedial prefrontal cortex constitutes another station in the limbothalamic system underlying cognitive memory processes, whereas the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex lies outside this system. The results support the view that the classical delayed-response deficit observed after dorsolateral prefrontal lesions represents a perceptuo-mnemonic impairment in spatial functions selectively rather than a memory loss of a more general nature.     

Visual field in hysteria-reliability of visual field by Goldmann perimetry

Four cases with hysterical amblyopia in youngsters under 15-year-old showed the poor reproducibility of visual field, that is, when the same target was moved from the periphery toward the fixation ten times along the same meridian during the same examination, the position of the plotted points were rather variable. The range of variation was measured from the innermost point to the outermost one, after the two first points were omitted because points first detected were usually far from the others. The variation of cases measured by this method was compared with that of normal persons. Results were as follows; 1. in normal person, the mean value of its range was 5.5° in first decade and 4.2° in second to seventh decade; 2. patients with psychogenic visual disturbances showed a variability of 14.2°, and this was significantly different from normal (p < 0.01). These results suggest that this convenient method was helpful for diagnosis of hysteria. It should also be remembered that when we evaluate the visual field, changes under 4° are probably not significant.     

Local circuit neurons of macaque monkey striate cortex: I. Neurons of laminae 4C and 5A

A study has been made, using Golgi preparations, of the organization of neurons with smooth or sparsely spined dendrites, here called local circuit neurons, of the macaque monkey primary visual cortex. Since these neurons include those responsible for inhibitory circuitry of the cortex, a better understanding of their anatomical organization is essential to concepts of functional organization of the region. This account describes those neurons found with cell body and major dendritic spread within the thalamic recipient zone of lamina 4C and its border zone with lamina 5A. The neurons are grouped firstly in terms of in which laminar division the soma occurred--4C beta, 4C alpha or the border zone of 5A-4C beta--and secondly, into varieties on the basis of the interlaminar projection patterns of their axons. Most, if not all, of the local circuit neurons of these divisions have interlaminar axon projections as well as an arbor local to their cell body and dendritic field. These interlaminar projections are highly specific, targeting from one to five laminar divisions depending on the variety of neuron; on this basis 17 varieties of local circuit neuron are described. While the number of varieties appears dauntingly large in terms of understanding the functional circuitry of the region, the clear-cut organization of the interlaminar links may provide clues as to the information processing that concerns each neuron. The local circuit neuron axon projections can be related to a wealth of information already available concerning the laminar organization of afferent axons and efferent cell groups, the organization of spiny neuron intrinsic relays (presumed to be excitatory), and physiological properties of different laminar divisions. It is hoped that the information derived from this study can serve as a guide for correlated physiological-anatomical studies on single cells of the region.     

Visual function in Huntington's disease patients and presymptomatic gene carriers.

Disturbances of visual cognition, visuomotor performance, and visual memory have been described frequently in Huntington's disease (HD). Early stage visual abnormalities could contribute to these deficits. We evaluated visual processing in 20 control subjects who were non-gene carriers at risk for HD, nine presymptomatic gene-positive subjects, and eight subjects with a recent diagnosis of Huntington's disease. Visual perceptual tests of contrast sensitivity and motion discrimination were used to probe early stage visual processing. Extraocular movements were evaluated in a neurologic examination, and the Digit Symbol test was used to test visual motor performance. Contrast sensitivity did not differ among the three groups. Motion discrimination was impaired in HD subjects but not in the presymptomatic gene carriers when compared to gene noncarriers. Among gene carriers, impaired motion discrimination performance was associated with poorer Digit Symbol performance and extraocular abnormalities. These findings suggest that the early stages of HD are associated with disturbances of motion perception as well as disruptions of visual motor and ocular motor performance.