Relationship between dysphagia and depressive states in patients with Parkinson???s disease

Aspiration pneumonia related to dysphagia is known to be the leading cause of death in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). We investigated the relationship between depressive states and dysphagia in patients with PD. A hundred and twenty-seven PD patients gave their informed consent and were enrolled in this study. We used the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) questionnaire to determine the participants’ depressive states, and also used a questionnaire to assess participants’ state of dysphagia. Participants were divided into four groups according to their BDI score. We compared the PD patients with Swallowing Disturbances Questionnaire (SDQ) scores of more than or equal to 11 with the SDQ scores of less than 11 regarding depressive categories. A logistic regression analysis was conducted to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) adjusting for age, sex, disease duration, wearing-off phenomenon and severity of movement disorder. OR (95%CI) of depressive categories, in which the trivial class was set as a reference group, were 3.28 (0.93–11.55), 13.44 (3.10–58.16), 30.35 (5.65–162.97) in the mild class, the moderate class and the severe class, respectively. This study suggests that there may be a strong relationship between depressive states and dysphagia in patients with PD.

from Parkinsonism and Related Disorders

The effects of visual material and temporal synchrony on the processing of letters and speech sounds

Associating letters with speech sounds is essential for reading skill acquisition. In the current study, we aimed at determining the effects of different types of visual material and temporal synchrony on the integration of letters and speech sounds. To this end, we recorded the mismatch negativity (MMN), an index of automatic change detection in the brain, from literate adults. Subjects were presented with auditory consonant–vowel syllable stimuli together with visual stimuli, which were either written syllables or scrambled pictures of the written syllables. The visual stimuli were presented in half of the blocks synchronously with the auditory stimuli and in the other half 200 ms before the auditory stimuli. The auditory stimuli were consonant, vowel or vowel length changes, or changes in syllable frequency or intensity presented by using the multi-feature paradigm. Changes in the auditory stimuli elicited MMNs in all conditions. MMN amplitudes for the consonant and frequency changes were generally larger for the sounds presented with written syllables than with scrambled syllables. Time delay diminished the MMN amplitude for all deviants. The results suggest that speech sound processing is modulated when the sounds are presented with letters versus non-linguistic visual stimuli, and further, that the integration of letters and speech sounds seems to be dependent on precise temporal alignment. Moreover, the results indicate that with our paradigm, a variety of parameters relevant and irrelevant for reading can be tested within one experiment.

from Experimental Brain Research

Using multi-stimulus auditory steady state response to predict hearing thresholds in high-risk infants

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether multi-stimulus auditory steady-state responses were capable of estimating hearing thresholds in high-risk infants. A retrospective chart review study. Three tertiary referral centers. Infants born between January 2004 and December 2006 who met the criteria for risk factors of congenital hearing loss were enrolled in the study. While under sedation, the multi-stimulus auditory steady-state response was used to determine multi-channel auditory steady-state response thresholds for high-risk infants younger than 13 months. Conditioned play audiometry was then applied to these children at 23–48 months of age to obtain pure tone audiograms. Auditory steady-state response thresholds and pure tone thresholds were then compared. A total of 249 high-risk infants were enrolled in the study. 39 infants were lost during follow-up. The remaining 216 infants completed both examinations. The Pearson correlation coefficients (r) between the ASSR levels and pure tone thresholds were 0.88, 0.94, 0.94 and 0.97 at 500, 1,000, 2,000 and 4,000 Hz, respectively. The strength of the relationship between the auditory steady-state responses and pure tone thresholds increased with more severe degrees of hearing loss and higher frequencies. We conclude that initial multichannel ASSR thresholds measured under sedation are highly correlated with pure tone thresholds obtained 2 or 3 years later. ASSR can be used to predict the frequency-specific hearing thresholds of high-risk infants and can provide information for early hearing intervention.

from the European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology

Lexical Inheritance with Meronymic Relationships

In most computational ontologies, information inheritance is based on the taxonomic relation is_a. A given type inherits from other type only if the latter subsumes the former. We assume, however, that inheritance can be related, not only to the taxonomic relation, but also to the meronymic relationship between parts and wholes. The main aim of this paper is to organise upper-level ontologies associated with lexical information by taking into account part-whole subsumption. As we consider that parts may subsume wholes under specific conditions, ontologies can be defined in terms of systems in which wholes inherit information from its parts. In this article, we describe how part-whole subsumption and, then, meronymic inheritance can be used to deal with type mismatch and metonymic interpretation of polysemous nouns. For this purpose, we attempt to merge old assumptions from both formal ontology and lexical semantics into a homogeneous framework.

from Axiomathes

The influence of emotional associations on the neural correlates of semantic priming

Emotions influence our everyday life in several ways. With the present study, we wanted to examine the impact of emotional information on neural correlates of semantic priming, a well-established technique to investigate semantic processing. Stimuli were presented with a short SOA of 200 ms as subjects performed a lexical decision task during fMRI measurement. Seven experimental conditions were compared: positive/negative/neutral related, positive/negative/neutral unrelated, nonwords (all words were nouns). Behavioral data revealed a valence specific semantic priming effect (i.e., unrelated > related) only for neutral and positive related word pairs. On a neural level, the comparison of emotional over neutral relations showed activation in left anterior medial frontal cortex, superior frontal gyrus, and posterior cingulate. Interactions for the different relations were located in left anterior part of the medial frontal cortex, cingulate regions, and right hippocampus (positive > neutral + negative) and left posterior part of medial frontal cortex (negative > neutral + positive). The results showed that emotional information have an influence on semantic association processes. While positive and neutral information seem to share a semantic network, negative relations might induce compensatory mechanisms that inhibit the spread of activation between related concepts. The neural correlates highlighted a distributed neural network, primarily involving attention, memory and emotion related processing areas in medial fronto-parietal cortices. The differentiation between anterior (positive) and posterior part (negative) of the medial frontal cortex was linked to the type of affective manipulation with more cognitive demands being involved in the automatic processing of negative information. Hum Brain Mapp, 2011. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

from Human Brain Mapping

Effect of static force on bone conduction hearing thresholds and comfort

Conclusions: The results suggest that future revisions of relevant international and national standards should address the use of an adjustable headstrap and a static force less than 5.4 N.

from the International Journal of Audiology

Measuring spectral and temporal resolution simultaneously: A comparison between two tests

Conclusions: It can be concluded that the tone test (after modifications we suggest, based on our findings) is a fast and reliable test that is suitable for measuring spectral and temporal resolution in a clinical setting.

from the International Journal of Audiology

The “message” in the (political) battle

Using the mediation of mediatization, political campaigns of American electoral candidates create and attempt to sustain a positive “message” for their candidate and a negative one for their opponent(s). Essentially a biographically projectible ‘brand’, and thus, like brand, potentially engendering suspicion, “message” can seem sometimes to recede in importance, and campaigns work at meta-“message”-ing to deny their own, and to heighten their opponents’, engagement in “message” activity. In the 2008 election cycle the two final presidential candidates both began by seeming to eschew “message,” but it re-emerged in seemingly decisive ways by the conclusion of the electoral cycle.

from Language & Communication

Short- and long-lasting tinnitus relief induced by transcranial direct current stimulation

A significant proportion of the population suffers from tinnitus, a bothersome auditory phantom perception that can severely alter the quality of life. Numerous experimental studies suggests that a maladaptive plasticity of the auditory and limbic cortical areas may underlie tinnitus. Accordingly, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been repeatedly used with success to reduce tinnitus intensity. The potential of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), another promising method of noninvasive brain stimulation, to relieve tinnitus has not been explored systematically. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled and balanced order design, 20 patients suffering from chronic untreatable tinnitus were submitted to 20 minutes of 1 mA anodal, cathodal and sham tDCS targeting the left temporoparietal area. The primary outcome measure was a change in tinnitus intensity or discomfort assessed with a Visual Analogic Scale (VAS) change-scale immediately after tDCS and 1 hour later. Compared to sham tDCS, anodal tDCS significantly reduced tinnitus intensity immediately after stimulation; whereas cathodal tDCS failed to do so. The variances of the tinnitus intensity and discomfort VAS change-scales increased dramatically after anodal and cathodal tDCS, whereas they remained virtually unchanged after sham tDCS. Moreover, several patients unexpectedly reported longer-lasting effects (at least several days) such as tinnitus improvement, worsening, or changes in tinnitus features, more frequently after real than sham tDCS. Anodal tDCS is a promising therapeutic tool for modulating tinnitus perception. Moreover, both anodal and cathodal tDCS seem able to alter tinnitus perception and could, thus, be used to trigger plastic changes.

from the Journal of Neurology

Meta-Analysis supports Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) as a promising method for improving communication skills of children with autism spectrum disorders

This review provides a summary and appraisal commentary on the treatment review by Flippin, M., Reszka, S., & Watson, L. R. (2010). Effectiveness of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) on communication and speech for children with autism spectrum disorders: A meta-analysis. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 19, 178-195. Doi: 10.1044/1058-0360(2010/09-0022).

from Evidence-Based Communication Assessment and Intervention

Person Features and Pronominal Anaphora

This article aims at clarifying the role of person at the interface between syntax and the interpretive systems. We argue that first person interpretations of third person pronouns (de se readings) stem from the option of leaving the referential index underspecified on the pronoun, thus accounting for the interplay of this phenomenon with the anaphoric usage of first person indexicals (pronoun shifting) and logophoric pronouns. The results include proposals on the connection between the semantics of first person and the syntax of the left periphery, a neo-Davidsonian treatment of the semantics of first person indexicals, and a novel view of pronominal anaphora according to which Higginbotham’s (1983) asymmetric relation of linking involves a mechanism of θ-role inheritance tied to the semantics of first person.

from Linguistic Inquiry

Modulation of dysarthropneumophonia by low-frequency STN DBS in advanced Parkinson’s disease

Conclusions:
Chronic treatment with low-frequency STN DBS may have a beneficial impact on dysarthropneumophonia, even in advanced PD patients.

from Movement Disorders

Psychophysiological Basis of Successful Recognition of Emotional Speech in Normal Conditions and Pathology

The experimental-theoretical aims of the present study were to investigate the ability of humans to evaluate emotions in speech in relation to individual EEG characteristics and to compare clinical and electrophysiological data. Profound impairments to the recognition of emotions in speech were seen in subjects with lesions to the right temporal area, while the most significant defects in recognition were associated with frontal-temporal focal lesions. EEG studies of two groups of subjects, with high and low levels of recognition of emotions in speech, showed high levels of activation of the posterior temporal area of the right hemisphere and anterior leads of the left hemisphere in subjects with poor discrimination of the emotional tone of speech. Clinical and electrophysiological data lead to the conclusion that the recognition of emotions in speech may involve not only the temporal area of the right hemisphere, but also the speech centers in the left hemisphere.

from Neuroscience and Behavioral Physiology

Brief Report: Making Experience Personal: Internal States Language in the Memory Narratives of Children with and Without Asperger’s Disorder

The development of the personal past is complex, requiring the operation of multiple components of cognitive and social functioning. Because many of these components are affected by autism spectrum disorders, it is likely that autobiographical memory in children with Asperger’s Disorder (AD) will be impaired. We predicted that the memory narratives of children with AD, in comparison to typically-developing peers, would reflect less personal interpretation as evidenced by internal states language. Thirty children with AD and 20 typically-developing children aged 6–14 reported their earliest memories and two emotional experiences (one positive and one negative). Consistent with our predictions, children with AD included fewer emotional, cognitive, and perceptual terms than the comparison sample.

from the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

Impact of IQ Discrepancy on Executive Function in High-Functioning Autism: Insight into Twice Exceptionality

We examined the impact of IQ discrepancy (IQD) within (1) and above (1+) one standard deviation on executive function in HFA using the BRIEF. We hypothesized that IQD would benefit executive function. IQD 1 is hallmarked by deficits in BRIEF indices and subscales inhibit, shift, initiate, working memory, planning and organization, and monitor (MANCOVA, p < .003, corrected). As IQD increases to 1+, deficits are fewer, corresponding to subscales inhibit, shift, and initiate. Pearson correlations (p < .004, corrected) identify significant relationships for FSIQ and BRIEF Global Composite (r = −.66, p = .002) and Metacognition subscales plan/organize (r = −.64, p = .003) and monitor (r = −.63, p = .004). Results suggest IQD 1+ favoring verbal IQ may support these aspects of executive function in HFA.

from the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders