1,720,999 research outputs found
Periodic sighs
No full textA 2 year-old girl, affected by achondroplasia, underwent an overnight, laboratory-based video-polysomnographic study aimed to study the respiratory pattern in sleep. The parents reported repeated episodes of ‘respiratory pauses’ during sleep. No parasomnia, rhythmic movements during sleep, snoring or noisy breathing was reported; otorhynolaringoiatric evaluation was unremarkable, body mass index was 21.5, no diurnal symptoms of sleepiness or other behavioral modifications were present. Neurological examination was normal, and no evidence of cardiac or respiratory pathologies were present.
Sleep EEG was normal, and NREM and REM sleep stages were recorded. During all NREM sleep stages, PSG recording showed recurrent sighs, characterized by increase of the airflow signal. Sighs repeated periodically, were associated in most cases with an EEG arousal, and were followed by a short respiratory pause (a brief apnea of central type, not associated with EEG arousal and not followed by modifications in peripheral haemoglobin desaturations). Video recording confirmed that PSG sighs consisted in a deep breath, followed by a short lasting (2-4 seconds) respiratory pause
Abdominal acupuncture reduces laser-evoked potentials in healthy subjects
No full textObjective
Acupuncture is known to reduce clinical pain, although the exact mechanism is unknown. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of acupuncture on laser-evoked potential amplitudes and laser pain perception.
Methods
In order to evaluate whether abdominal acupuncture is able to modify pain perception, 10 healthy subjects underwent a protocol in which laser-evoked potentials (LEPs) and laser pain perception were collected before the test (baseline), during abdominal acupuncture, and 15 min after needle removal. The same subjects also underwent a similar protocol in which, however, sham acupuncture without any needle penetration was used.
Results
During real acupuncture, both N1 and N2/P2 amplitudes were reduced, as compared to baseline (p < 0.01). The reduction lasted up to 15 min after needle removal. Furthermore, laser pain perception was reduced during real acupuncture, although the difference was marginally significant (p = 0.06).
Conclusions
Our results show that abdominal acupuncture reduces LEP amplitude in healthy subjects.
Significance
Our results provide a theoretical background for the use of abdominal acupuncture as a therapeutic approach in the treatment of pain conditions. Future studies will have to be conducted in clinical painful syndromes, in order to confirm the analgesic effect of acupuncture in patients suffering from pain
Expectation to feel more pain disrupts the habituation of laser-pain rating and laser-evoked potential amplitudes
No full textIncreased pain perception due to the expectation to feel more pain is called nocebo effect. The present study aimed at investigating whether: (1) the mere expectation to feel more pain after the administration of an inert drug can affect the laser-pain rating and the laser-evoked potential (LEP) amplitude, and (2) the learning potentiates the nocebo effect. Eighteen healthy volunteers were told that an inert cream, applied on the right hand, would increase the laser pain and LEP amplitude to right hand stimulation. They were randomly assigned to either “verbal session” or “conditioning session”. In the “verbal session”, LEPs to both right and left hand stimulation were recorded at the same intensity before (baseline) and after cream application. In the “conditioning session”, after an initial cream application the laser stimulus intensity was increased surreptitiously to make the subjects believe that the treatment really increased the pain sensation. Then, the cream was reapplied, and LEPs were recorded at the same stimulus intensity as at the baseline. It was found that the verbal suggestion to feel more pain disrupted the physiological habituation of the laser-pain rating and LEP amplitude to treated (right) hand stimulation. Unlike previously demonstrated for the placebo effect, the learning did not potentiate the nocebo effect.</p
What causes sleep-disordered breathing in Chiari I malformation? Comment on: "MRI findings and sleep apnea in children with Chiari I malformation"
No full textNo abstract availabl
Autonomic Nervous System Modifications During Wakefulness and Sleep in a Cohort of Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke
No full textGoal: The aims of our study were to investigate autonomic modifications in wakefulness and sleep in a cohort of patients with acute ischemic stroke and to evaluate whereas these modifications were dependent by sleep stage and stroke lateralization. Materials and Methods: We prospectively enrolled 42 patients (22 men and 20 women, mean age: 69.8 ± 11.3; range: 32-92 years) with acute ischemic stroke. All participants underwent a full-night polysomnography. As index of autonomic nervous system we used Heart Rate Variability (HRV), analyzed in wakefulness and during different sleep stages. First, we compared our cohort with a control group of 42 healthy subjects, matched for age and sex. Subsequently, we divided our cohort in 2 subgroups according stroke lateralization (21 right, 21 left) and compared with control population. Findings: We observed significant modifications of HRV parameters mainly for the right lesions. In particular, we observed a prevalent parasympathetic tone during the wake (low frequency/high frequency [LF/HF]: right: 2.99 ± 8.91; controls: 3.88 ± 3.42; P < .01) and during REM (LF/HF right: 0.03 ± 1.58; controls: 2.92 ± 3.97; P < .01) accompanied by a significant reduction of sympathetic tone during REM (LF right: 23.85 ± 44.42 n.u.; controls: 51.13 ± 32.25 n.u.; P < .01), and by a reduction of parasympathetic tone during N3 (HF right: 28.09 ± 37.67 n.u.; controls: 43.08 ± 68.39 n.u.; P < .01). Conclusions: Our study indicates that autonomic dysfunctions in acute ischemic stroke are prevalent in right-side lesions and strictly dependent by sleep-wake stage
Rivastigmine for refractory REM behavior disorder in mild cognitive impairment
No full textMild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and REM Behavior Disorder (RBD) are both associated with a degeneration of ponto-medullary cholinergic pathways
Post-Encephalitic Parkinsonism and Sleep Disorder Responsive to Immunological Treatment: A Case Report
No full textWe describe a 70-year-old man who, after a viral encephalitis associated with pneumonia, progressively developed a parkinsonism associated with lethargy. Encephalitis manifested with persistent hiccups, seizures and impairment of consciousness. After 2 weeks, the initial neurologic symptoms subsided and the patient progressively developed movement disorders (rigidity and bradykinesia, resistant to L-DOPA), lethargy and behavioral hypersomnia. Magnetic resonance imaging showed thalamic and hippocampal signal abnormalities, immunohistochemistry on a mouse brain substrate revealed serum autoantibodies binding to the brainstem neuropil. Polysomnographic monitoring was consistent with a very severe disruption of sleep: the sleep-wake cycle was fragmented, and the NREM-REM ultradian cycle was irregular. Intravenous immune globulin therapy resulted in the complete reversal of the movement and the sleep disorders. Our observation confirms that parkinsonism and sleep disorders may be consequences of encephalitis, that an immune-mediated pathogenesis is likely, and, consequently, that immunotherapy can be beneficial in these patients. The polysomnographic monitoring suggests that lethargia, rather than a mere hypersomnia, is the result of a combination between sleep disruption and altered motor control
Restless Legs Syndrome and lateralized periodic movements due to a spinal schwannoma
No full textWe describe a case of Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) associated to periodic limb movements (PLMs)
in a woman with a cervical schwannoma. Neurological examination, laboratory tests, neurography
and electromyography were unremarkable. Neuroimaging evidenced a schwannoma at C3 level that
compressed the right ventral surface of the medulla. Somatosensory-evoked potentials showed
absence of the N13 after right median nerve stimulation and reduction of amplitude of the same
component after left nerve stimulation. A video-polysomnography documented PLMs with a marked
prevalence of the right-sided movements. We believe that the cervical schwannoma played a role in
the pathogenesis of RLS and of lateralized PLMs
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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