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.     

Organization of subcortical pathways for sensory projections to the limbic cortex. II. Afferent projections to the thalamic lateral dorsal nucleus in the rat

Afferent projections to the thalamic lateral dorsal nucleus were examined in the rat by the use of retrograde axonal transport techniques. Small iontophoretic injections of horseradish peroxidase were placed at various locations within the lateral dorsal nucleus, and the location and morphology of cells of origin of afferent projections were identified by retrograde labeling. For all cases examined, subcortical retrogradely labeled neurons were most prominent in the pretectal complex, the intermediate layers of the superior colliculus, and the ventral lateral geniculate nucleus. Labeled cells were also seen in the thalamic reticular nucleus and the zona incerta. Within the cerebral cortex, labeled cells were prominent in the retrosplenial areas (areas 29b, 29c, and 29d) and the presubiculum. Labeled cells were also seen in areas 17 and 18 of occipital cortex. Peroxidase injections in the dorsal lateral part of the lateral dorsal nucleus result in labeled neurons in all of the ipsilateral pretectal nuclei, but especially those that receive direct retinal afferents. Labeled cells were also seen in the ventral lateral geniculate nucleus and the rostral tip of laminae IV-VI of the superior colliculus. In contrast, peroxidase injections in ventral medial portions of the lateral dorsal nucleus result in fewer labeled pretectal cells, and these labeled cells are found exclusively in the pretectal nuclei that do not receive retinal afferents. Other labeled cells following injections in the rostral and medial portions of the lateral dorsal nucleus are seen contralaterally in the medial pretectal region and nucleus of the posterior commissure, and bilaterally in the rostral tips of laminae IV and V of the superior colliculus. Camera lucida drawings of HRP labeled cells reveal that projecting cells in each pretectal nucleus have a characteristic soma size and dendritic branching pattern. These results are discussed with regard to the type of sensory information that may reach the lateral dorsal nucleus and then be relayed on to the medial limbic cortex.     

视交叉后损害的临床与图形视觉诱发电位分析

图形视觉诱发电位(P—VEP)是眼接受图形的刺激时,视路及大脑皮质枕区所产生的一系列电位变化。在视交叉后病变的诊断,病情估计及预后推测中有比较肯定的价值。 本文对17例视交叉后损害的病人进行分析。发现视交叉后病变以视皮质损害为主,表现为视物模糊,视力下降,视野改变。P—VEP检查的异常率与病变部位大小及病变性质有关。同时检查半视野刺激有助于提高阳性率。     

高频灰阶超声鉴别良恶性胸肌淋巴结

目的:评价灰阶超声在鉴别良、恶性胸肌淋巴结中的应用价值.材料和方法:研究对象为43枚乳癌患者的胸肌淋巴结,其中16枚为转移性胸肌淋巴结、27枚为非转移性胸肌淋巴结;另有19枚乳腺良性病变患者的胸肌淋巴结和22枚正常者的胸肌淋巴结作为对照组.使用仪器为HDI-3000型彩色多普勒超声诊断仪,配备5～12MHz宽频控头.运用超声测量胸肌淋巴结的长径、轮廓形态、长径-厚度比、髓皮质厚度比,作为鉴别良、恶性胸肌淋巴结的参数,比较良、恶性胸肌淋巴结在形态学上差异.结果:良、恶性胸肌淋巴结的长径、轮廓形态、髓皮质厚度比无显著性差异;恶性淋巴结长径-厚度比(1.7±0.4)明显低于良性淋巴结(2.0±0.5),P＜0.05.结论:灰阶超声在鉴别良、恶性胸肌淋巴结中具有一定的应用价值.     

Sleep complaints and their relation with drug treatment in patients suffering from Parkinson's disease.

The aim of this research was to quantify sleep problems in patients suffering from Parkinson's disease by means of the new Parkinson's Disease Sleep Scale (PDSS) and to correlate such problems with the possible influence of current drug treatment. A total of 70 patients (36 men and 34 women) with a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease were enrolled. Their mean age was 69.7 +/- 8.2 years, and duration of disease was 7.4 +/- 4.8 years. All patients completed the PDSS and the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS Parts I-IV). Drug consumption and doses were registered. The mean score on the PDSS scale was 109.23 +/- 19.75 and on the UPDRS III scale was 25.24 +/- 11.35. The lowest scores were obtained in Item 3 (sleep fragmentation): 5.53 (2.46); and in Item 8 (nocturia): 5.75 (2.91). There was a weak correlation between the PDSS and UPDRS III (cc = -0.355, P = 0.003), PDSS and UPDRS I (cc = -0.272, P = 0.02), and PDSS and UPDRS IV (cc = -0.416, P < 0.001). Motor conditions, mental state, and drug complications influence sleep quality. Although this effect was significant, it was not of a great magnitude. Dopaminergic drugs did not increase daytime sleepiness. As a whole, sleep quality in patients who took dopaminergic agonists did not differ from that of patients who took levodopa in monotherapy.     

青年男性MMPI-215F量表应答时间效应分析

目的分析青年男性心理测评中F量表条目应答时间,研究其相关影响因素和变化规律,并对该测评计算机化过程中应答时间的设定提供一定的参考.方法使用MMPI-215对全国18个省市的青年男性进行测试,利用计算机对时间记录,汇总分析.结果青年男性在F量表各条目平均应答时间（以下简称F均时）为4.57s;低于总测试的各条目平均应答时间（6.34 s）（P＜0.01）;F均时与F分数、应答前后不一致的条目数以及漏答条目数有显著相关;F均时受文化程度、年龄、城乡结构多种因素影响;每个条目的应答时间主要取决于条目汉字的个数.结论 F均时在测评中表现出一定的变化规律,可以结合临床进一步深入研究,使其成为评价青年男性性格特征的客观性指标之一.     

Monocular contribution to the peak time of the binocular pattern visual evoked potential

The contribution of each monocular pathway to the timing of the binocular pattern visual evoked potential was assessed in situations where a significant interocular timing discrepancy was observed. Monocular and binocular pattern visual evoked potentials to 0.5° checks were recorded from normal subjects, normal subjects in whom one eye was blurred, patients with monocular amblyopia, and patients with resolved unilateral optic neuritis. Normal subjects showed facilitation, while suppression was evidenced in subjects with monocular blurring. In patients with amblyopia, the affected pathway had no effect on binocular pattern visual evoked potential latency, suggesting that the amblyopic eye was suppressed. In contrast, all patients with optic neuritis showed binocular averaging. Our results show that different forms of binocular interaction are evidenced in normal subjects, in amblyopia and in optic neuritis, and suggest that a comparative analysis of monocular and binocular pattern visual evoked potential peak times brings valuable information to the clinical evaluation that could be used to distinguish disease processes further.Abbreviation BPVEP binocular pattern visual evoked potential     

中药混乱品种鉴别研究——7. 蕲蛇及其混淆品鉴别之二

作者前已报道蕲蛇及其伪品滑鼠蛇的鉴别,又据报道有些省发现蕲蛇商品药材中混有烙铁头、山烙铁头两种蛇的干燥体。作者对这两种混淆品与蕲蛇在体表花纹、鳞片以及骨骼的形态与组织特征等方面进行了鉴别研究。     

Diagnosing the personality organization of drug abusers by rating ego balance

A community-based case-finding sample of 1824 narcotic abusers in Stockholm County was used to standardize a set of rating scales in order to reflect levels of personality organization (PO), in the spirit of Kernberg's theory. PO is assumed to be a function of the ego's capacity to endure inner and outer stress, which manifests itself in the frequency and depth of regressions and the rate of recovery from them. The principles of a method, Rating Ego Balance, for charting the person's characteristic pattern of regression are presented, and its psychometric properties are described on the basis of item response theory. The scales have satisfactory reliabilities and maximal discrimination at subneurotic levels of PO. They show strong construct validity in relation to Kernberg's theory.     

A blinded,controlled evaluation of anxiety and depressive symptoms in patients with fibromyalgia,as measured by standardized psychometric interview scales

The objective of the study was to evaluate the presence of psychopathology in fibromyalgia patients compared with a control group of other rheumatologic patients with pain. Forty-nine fibromyalgia patients and 33 control patients were interviewed blinded, using standardized psychometric scales. Pain was scored on a visual analogue scale. Fibromyalgia patients scored significantly higher than the controls on the Bech-Rafaelsen Melancholia Scale, the Atypical Depression Scale and the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale. On the Newcastle Depression Scale there was no difference. In both groups a correlation was found between pain score and psychometric scoring. The fibromyalgia patients scored significantly higher on pain than the controls. After correcting for this difference, the fibromyalgia patients still scored higher on anxiety and depression.