Brain stem

Multiple respiratory abnormalities can be found in anxiety disorders, especially in panic disorder (PD). Individuals with PD experience unexpected panic attacks, characterized by anxiety and fear, resulting in a number of autonomic and respiratory symptoms. Respiratory stimulation is a common event during panic attacks. The respiratory abnormality most often reported in PD patients is increased CO 2 sensitivity, which has

Forty randomly selected dogs, arranged into three groups according to age, were examined light and electron microscopically. Lafora-like inclusion bodies were found in all cases of aged dogs without neurological signs. They appeared as PAS positive, round bodies measuring up to 15μm in diameter. Typically they had central cores and radiating peripheral lines. Electronmicroscopically, the inclusions consisted of irregularly clustered, short branching filaments measuring about 80–120 Å in diameter or of electrondense homogeneous or granular central cores with filamentous peripheral areas and located both in the perikarya and neuronal processes. The inclusions were disseminated all over the brain and spinal cord. The thalamic nuclei, a circumscribed area dorsal to the aqueduct, and the molecular layer of the superior colliculus were the most severely affected. The frequency of the inclusions showed age-dependency; the inclusions were not found in dogs younger than 2 years, but were extensive in all dogs of more than 8 years of age. The occurrence of the inclusions may therefore represent an age-dependent phenomenon. The relationship between the present findings and Lafora's disease is discussed.

This paper reports on two studies, one in Halifax and the other in Ottawa, which compared behavioral methods and BERA in the screening of hearing loss in neonates. The Halifax study used BERA as the screening procedure for infants of a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and as a supplementary procedure to behavioral screening test for non-NICU but "at risk" infants. The results of this study indicate false positive rates with the behavioral test of 86.1 and 50.5% for NICU and at risk groups respectively. The Ottawa study evaluated the Crib-o-gram as a screening test for NICU infants using BERA as the standard. The results of this study indicated that approximately one third of babies with normal BERA thresholds failed Crib-o-gram screening and that Crib-o-gram could identify moderately/severe losses.

Background. This prospective study, conducted in patients with Chiari I malformation (C I) related syringomyelia who underwent posterior decompression and duroplasty, utilizes radionuclide cisternography in order to study the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) dynamics at the foramen magnum and to predict the clinical outcome following surgery. Methods. 17 consecutive patients of C I with syringomyelia (but without hydrocephalus or fixed atlanto-axial dislocation), underwent a detailed neurological examination and were assigned a clinical disability score based on the modified Klekamp and Samii score. A radionuclide cisternography (using Tc99m-DTPA) was performed via the lumbar route and the ascent of the tracer was followed utilizing a gamma camera immediately after injection and then sequentially after 1, 2, 4, 6 and 24 hours. After posterior decompression and duroplasty, the modified Klekamp and Samii score was repeated at follow-up visits (range: 3 months to one year) along with radionuclide cisternography at 3 months, and MR imaging at 6 months. Findings. Three patterns of tracer flow were observed: a) rapid flow (n=7); b) supratentorial subarachnoid delay (n=7); and, c) foramen magnum block (n=3). The patients having foramen magnum block had the poorest clinical scores on admission. At follow up, there was an improvement in the clinical scores so that the mean scores in all three categories reached nearly the same level. Following posterior decompression, the radionuclide cisternography performed in 10 patients showed a rapid flow of the tracer without any obstruction. The syrinx resolved in 4 of the 11 patients in whom an MRI was done. Interpretation. The patients with C I with syringomyelia may often have a free flow of tracer across the FM. Posterior decompression and duroplasty provides maximum clinical relief in patients with a demonstrable foramen magnum block on radionuclide cisternography while those with a normal flow have less relief. The symptomatology related to brain-stem compression immediately responds to the surgical procedure but the syrinx-induced signs and symptoms of spinal cord dysfunction persist.

A common approach to studying emotional reactions to music is to attempt to obtain direct links between musical surface features such as tempo and a listener's responses. However, such an analysis ultimately fails to explain why emotions are aroused in the listener. In this article we explore an alternative approach, which aims to account for musical emotions in terms of a set of psychological mechanisms that are activated by different types of information in a musical event. This approach was tested in 4 experiments that manipulated 4 mechanisms (brain stem reflex, contagion, episodic memory, musical expectancy) by selecting existing musical pieces that featured information relevant for each mechanism. The excerpts were played to 60 listeners, who were asked to rate their felt emotions on 15 scales. Skin conductance levels and facial expressions were measured, and listeners reported subjective impressions of relevance to specific mechanisms. Results indicated that the target me...

The neurobiological study of swallowing and its dysfunction, defined as dysphagia, has evolved over two centuries beginning with electrical stimulation applied directly to the central nervous system, and then followed by systematic investigations that have used lesioning, transmagnetic stimulation, magnetoencephalography, and functional magnetic resonance imaging. The field has evolved from mapping the central neural pathway and peripheral nerves, to defining the importance of specific regions of the lower brain stem in terms of interneurons that provide sequential control for multiple muscles in the most complex reflex elicited by the nervous system, the pharyngeal phase of swallowing. The field is now emerging into defining how the higher cortical regions interact with this brain stem control and is providing a broader perspective of how the intact nervous system functions to control the three phases of swallowing (i.e., oral, pharyngeal, and esophageal). Much of the present inter...