18 results on '"Mortara, Paolo"'
Search Results
2. The rehabilitative effects on written language of a combined language and parietal dual-tDCS treatment in a stroke case.
- Author
-
De Tommaso B, Piedimonte A, Caglio MM, D'Agata F, Campagnoli M, Orsi L, Raimondo S, Vighetti S, Mortara P, Massazza G, and Pinessi L
- Subjects
- Apraxias complications, Apraxias rehabilitation, Combined Modality Therapy, Humans, Linguistics, Male, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Parietal Lobe physiology, Stroke complications, Reading, Speech Therapy, Stroke therapy, Stroke Rehabilitation methods, Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation, Writing
- Abstract
In this paper we report the effect of a combined transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and speech language therapy on linguistic deficits following left brain damage in a stroke case. We show that simultaneous electrical excitatory stimulation to the left and inhibitory stimulation to the right parietal regions (dual-tDCS) affected writing and reading rehabilitation, enhancing speech therapy outcomes. The results of a comparison with healthy controls showed that application of dual-tDCS could improve, in particular, sub-lexical transcoding and, specifically, the reading of non-words with increasing length and complexity. Positive repercussions on patient's quality of functional communication were also ascertained. Significant changes were also found in other language and cognitive tasks not directly treated (comprehension and constructive apraxia).
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
3. Neurologic and cognitive outcomes after aortic arch operation with hypothermic circulatory arrest.
- Author
-
Centofanti P, Barbero C, D'Agata F, Caglio MM, Caroppo P, Cicerale A, Attisani M, La Torre M, Milan A, Contristano ML, Carlini E, Izzo G, Mortara P, Veglio F, and Rinaldi M
- Subjects
- Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aortic Diseases mortality, Aortic Diseases pathology, Brain Diseases diagnosis, Brain Diseases mortality, Cognition Disorders diagnosis, Cognition Disorders mortality, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Postoperative Complications diagnosis, Postoperative Complications mortality, Quality of Life, Retrospective Studies, Treatment Outcome, Young Adult, Aorta, Thoracic, Aortic Diseases surgery, Brain Diseases etiology, Circulatory Arrest, Deep Hypothermia Induced adverse effects, Cognition Disorders etiology, Postoperative Complications etiology
- Abstract
Background: Neurologic injury is still a frequent cause of mortality, morbidity, and long-lasting disability in patients undergoing an aortic arch operation with hypothermic circulatory arrest. The aim of this analysis was to evaluate short- and long-term outcomes in neurologic and cognitive functions in this group of high-risk patients., Methods: A total of 333 patients undergoing an aortic arch operation between February 2004 and June 2010 were retrospectively reviewed. Cerebral protection was obtained with deep hypothermic circulatory arrest in 220 patients (66%) or with moderate hypothermic circulatory arrest in 113 cases (34%). Straight deep hypothermic circulatory arrest was adopted in 35 cases (11%), while the association with antegrade cerebral perfusion was adopted in 271 cases (81%) and with retrograde cerebral perfusion in 27 cases (8%). Seventy-eight patients were enrolled in a case control prospective study (mean follow-up time = 42 months) and underwent neuropsychologic evaluations; data were compared with those of a matched-control group of hypertensive patients without history of cardiac operations., Results: Forty-one out of 333 patients experienced permanent neurologic dysfunction (12%) and 83 experienced temporary neurologic dysfunctions (25%). Acute aortic dissection and deep hypothermic circulatory arrest were significant predictors of mortality and permanent neurologic dysfunction. Acute aortic dissection and hypothermic circulatory arrest duration >30 minutes were significant predictors of temporary neurologic dysfunction, while antegrade cerebral perfusion was protective on mortality. Neuropsychologic evaluations showed no significant differences between the groups. The operative group showed worse verbal and working memory (P = .003), worse semantic fluency (P = .036), higher degree of alexithymia (P = .004), and a lower quality of life (P = .007)., Conclusion: Although moderate hypothermic circulatory arrest with antegrade cerebral perfusion demonstrated a lower mortality compared with deep hypothermic arrest, neurocognitive testing demonstrated no difference between the groups. Additionally, patients undergoing an aortic arch operation demonstrated long-term cognitive deficits and psychological dysfunction when compared to a matched cohort of nonoperative patients., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
4. Cognitive and Neurophysiological Effects of Non-invasive Brain Stimulation in Stroke Patients after Motor Rehabilitation.
- Author
-
D'Agata F, Peila E, Cicerale A, Caglio MM, Caroppo P, Vighetti S, Piedimonte A, Minuto A, Campagnoli M, Salatino A, Molo MT, Mortara P, Pinessi L, and Massazza G
- Abstract
The primary aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of two specific Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation (NIBS) paradigms, the repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS), and transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS), in the upper limb rehabilitation of patients with stroke. Short and long term outcomes (after 3 and 6 months, respectively) were evaluated. We measured, at multiple time points, the manual dexterity using a validated clinical scale (ARAT), electroencephalography auditory event related potentials, and neuropsychological performances in patients with chronic stroke of middle severity. Thirty four patients were enrolled and randomized. The intervention group was treated with a NIBS protocol longer than usual, applying a second cycle of stimulation, after a washout period, using different techniques in the two cycles (rTMS/tDCS). We compared the results with a control group treated with sham stimulation. We split the data analysis into three studies. In this first study we examined if a cumulative effect was clinically visible. In the second study we compared the effects of the two techniques. In the third study we explored if patients with minor cognitive impairment have most benefit from the treatment and if cognitive and motor outcomes were correlated. We found that the impairment in some cognitive domains cannot be considered an exclusion criterion for rehabilitation with NIBS. ERP improved, related to cognitive and attentional processes after stimulation on the motor cortex, but transitorily. This effect could be linked to the restoration of hemispheric balance or by the effects of distant connections. In our study the effects of the two NIBS were comparable, with some advantages using tDCS vs. rTMS in stroke rehabilitation. Finally we found that more than one cycle (2-4 weeks), spaced out by washout periods, should be used, only in responder patients, to obtain clinical relevant results.
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
5. The relationship between cortical thickness and body mass index differs between women with anorexia nervosa and healthy controls.
- Author
-
Lavagnino L, Amianto F, Mwangi B, D'Agata F, Spalatro A, Zunta Soares GB, Daga GA, Mortara P, Fassino S, and Soares JC
- Subjects
- Adolescent, Adult, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Young Adult, Anorexia Nervosa pathology, Body Mass Index, Cerebral Cortex pathology
- Abstract
Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a severe psychiatric disorder characterized by extreme underweight. Studies conducted with structural MRI found reductions in brain volumes in several areas, but results are mixed. Cortical thickness has shown in other samples specific correlations with BMI in different BMI ranges. In this study, we applied a well validated procedure implemented in Freesurfer software toolkit to investigate cortical thickness in a sample of 21 patients with AN and 18 healthy controls, focusing on group differences and on the relationship between BMI and cortical thickness. Cortical thickness was reduced in patients with AN, but group differences did not survive correction for multiple comparisons. The relationship between BMI and cortical thickness was significantly different in patients with AN compared to controls in the left superior parietal/occipital cortex and left post central cortex. These findings suggest that the relationship between cortical thickness and BMI in patients with AN with less than two years of illness duration significantly differs from that in controls and possible biological mechanisms that may explain this relationship are discussed., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
6. Brain correlates of alexithymia in eating disorders: A voxel-based morphometry study.
- Author
-
D'Agata F, Caroppo P, Amianto F, Spalatro A, Caglio MM, Bergui M, Lavagnino L, Righi D, Abbate-Daga G, Pinessi L, Mortara P, and Fassino S
- Subjects
- Adolescent, Adult, Case-Control Studies, Depression complications, Depression pathology, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Neuroimaging, Parietal Lobe pathology, Young Adult, Affective Symptoms complications, Affective Symptoms pathology, Anorexia Nervosa complications, Anorexia Nervosa pathology, Brain pathology, Bulimia Nervosa complications, Bulimia Nervosa pathology, Gray Matter pathology
- Abstract
Aims: Alexithymia is a personality trait that consists of difficulty in identifying and acknowledging one's own and others' feelings. Recent studies reported that alexithymia is present in both anorexia (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN). Brain morphological studies on healthy subjects showed that alexithymia correlates with several brain regions involved in emotions processing. The aim of this study was to investigate the anatomical correlates of alexithymia in AN and BN., Methods: We performed a voxel-based morphometry study on 21 patients with AN and 18 with BN. Seventeen healthy subjects were used as a control group. Alexithymia, depression and anxiety were assessed with self-administered questionnaires and correlated to gray matter (GM) density in each group., Results: In BN, alexithymia was correlated with the GM of the parietal lobe, in particular of the right angular gyrus. The correlation was predominantly linked with Difficulty Describing Feelings. In AN, we did not find correlations between GM and alexithymia., Conclusions: In BN, our results support the hypothesis that this trait may represent a relevant pathogenic or maintenance factor that contributes to relational difficulties, present in this pathology. In AN, the lack of correlation between GM volume and alexithymia may be influenced by atrophy in several brain regions that in turn can be, as previously reported, a consequence of caloric restriction. Also, the nature of alexithymia may be different from that of BN and controls and this trait could be secondary to a psychopathologic process specific to AN., (© 2015 The Authors. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences © 2015 Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology.)
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
7. Double-Cone Coil TMS Stimulation of the Medial Cortex Inhibits Central Pain Habituation.
- Author
-
D'Agata F, Cicerale A, Mingolla A, Caroppo P, Orsi L, Mortara P, Troni W, and Pinessi L
- Subjects
- Adult, Brain Mapping, Electric Stimulation instrumentation, Female, Humans, Likelihood Functions, Male, Pain Measurement, Prefrontal Cortex anatomy & histology, Prefrontal Cortex physiology, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Adaptation, Physiological, Pain physiopathology, Pain Threshold physiology, Prefrontal Cortex physiopathology
- Abstract
Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) applied over the medial line of the scalp affects the subjective perception of continuous pain induced by means of electric stimulation. In addition, we wanted to identify the point of stimulation where this effect was maximum., Methods: Superficial electrical stimulation was used to induce continuous pain on the dominant hand. At the beginning of the experiment we reached a pain rating of 5 on an 11-point numeric rating scale (NRS; 0 = no pain and 10 = maximum tolerable pain) for each subject by setting individually the current intensity. The TMS (five pulses at increasing intensities) was applied on 5 equidistant points (one per session) over the medial line of the scalp in 13 healthy volunteers using a double-cone coil to stimulate underlying parts of the brain cortex. In every experimental session the painful stimulation lasted 45 minutes, during which pain and distress intensities NRS were recorded continuously. We calculated the effect of adaptation and the immediate effect of the TMS stimulation for all locations. Additionally, an ALE (Activation Likelihood Estimation) meta-analysis was performed to compare our results with the neuroimaging literature on subjective pain rating., Results: TMS stimulation temporarily decreased the pain ratings, and pain adaptation was suppressed when applying the TMS over the FCz site on the scalp. No effect was found for distress ratings., Conclusions: The present data suggest that the medial cortex in proximity of the cingulated gyrus has a causal role in adaptation mechanisms and in processing ongoing pain and subjective sensation of pain intensity.
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
8. Paroxysmal non-kinesigenic dyskinesia, post-streptococcal syndromes and psychogenic movement disorders: a diagnostic challenge.
- Author
-
Peila E, Mortara P, Cicerale A, and Pinessi L
- Subjects
- Adaptation, Psychological, Adolescent, Diagnosis, Differential, Humans, Interview, Psychological, Male, Movement Disorders physiopathology, Movement Disorders therapy, Treatment Outcome, Directive Counseling, Movement Disorders diagnosis, Psychotherapy, Psychodynamic methods
- Abstract
We report a case of a 15-year-old boy presenting with sudden attacks of hyperkinetic movements of the limbs, trunk and neck. Clinical features were suggestive of paroxysmal non-kinesigenic dyskinesia, but the elevated antistreptolysin O antibody titre and history of recurrent upper airways infection led us to consider a post-streptococcal syndrome as a possible diagnosis. The patient started therapy with benzathine penicillin, sodium valproate and clonazepam without any significant improvement. A successive psychiatric assessment revealed the presence of a psychogenic movement disorder. Psychodynamic psychotherapy and individual counselling were started with progressive improvement of psychological symptoms and gradual resolution of hyperkinetic episodes, without any recurrence recorded during the follow-up (10 months)., (2015 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.)
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
9. An atypical form of AOA2 with myoclonus associated with mutations in SETX and AFG3L2.
- Author
-
Mancini C, Orsi L, Guo Y, Li J, Chen Y, Wang F, Tian L, Liu X, Zhang J, Jiang H, Nmezi BS, Tatsuta T, Giorgio E, Di Gregorio E, Cavalieri S, Pozzi E, Mortara P, Caglio MM, Balducci A, Pinessi L, Langer T, Padiath QS, Hakonarson H, Zhang X, and Brusco A
- Subjects
- ATP-Dependent Proteases chemistry, ATPases Associated with Diverse Cellular Activities, Adolescent, Adult, Amino Acid Sequence, Animals, Child, DNA Helicases, DNA Mutational Analysis, Exome genetics, Female, Homozygote, Humans, Molecular Sequence Data, Multifunctional Enzymes, Pedigree, Posture, Spinocerebellar Degenerations physiopathology, Young Adult, ATP-Dependent Proteases genetics, Mutation, Myoclonus complications, RNA Helicases genetics, Spinocerebellar Degenerations complications, Spinocerebellar Degenerations genetics
- Abstract
Background: Hereditary ataxias are a heterogeneous group of neurodegenerative disorders, where exome sequencing may become an important diagnostic tool to solve clinically or genetically complex cases., Methods: We describe an Italian family in which three sisters were affected by ataxia with postural/intentional myoclonus and involuntary movements at onset, which persisted during the disease. Oculomotor apraxia was absent. Clinical and genetic data did not allow us to exclude autosomal dominant or recessive inheritance and suggest a disease gene., Results: Exome sequencing identified a homozygous c.6292C > T (p.Arg2098*) mutation in SETX and a heterozygous c.346G > A (p.Gly116Arg) mutation in AFG3L2 shared by all three affected individuals. A fourth sister (II.7) had subclinical myoclonic jerks at proximal upper limbs and perioral district, confirmed by electrophysiology, and carried the p.Gly116Arg change. Three siblings were healthy. Pathogenicity prediction and a yeast-functional assay suggested p.Gly116Arg impaired m-AAA (ATPases associated with various cellular activities) complex function., Conclusions: Exome sequencing is a powerful tool in identifying disease genes. We identified an atypical form of Ataxia with Oculoapraxia type 2 (AOA2) with myoclonus at onset associated with the c.6292C > T (p.Arg2098*) homozygous mutation. Because the same genotype was described in six cases from a Tunisian family with a typical AOA2 without myoclonus, we speculate this latter feature is associated with a second mutated gene, namely AFG3L2 (p.Gly116Arg variant). We suggest that variant phenotypes may be due to the combined effect of different mutated genes associated to ataxia or related disorders, that will become more apparent as the costs of exome sequencing progressively will reduce, amplifying its diagnostics use, and meanwhile proposing significant challenges in the interpretation of the data.
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
10. Reduced resting-state functional connectivity of the somatosensory cortex predicts psychopathological symptoms in women with bulimia nervosa.
- Author
-
Lavagnino L, Amianto F, D'Agata F, Huang Z, Mortara P, Abbate-Daga G, Marzola E, Spalatro A, Fassino S, and Northoff G
- Abstract
Background: Alterations in the resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) of several brain networks have been demonstrated in eating disorders. However, very few studies are currently available on brain network dysfunctions in bulimia nervosa (BN). The somatosensory network is central in processing body-related stimuli and it may be altered in BN. The present study therefore aimed to investigate rs-FC in the somatosensory network in bulimic women., Methods: Sixteen medication-free women with BN (age = 23 ± 5 years) and 18 matched controls (age = 23 ± 3 years) underwent a functional magnetic resonance resting-state scan and assessment of eating disorder symptoms. Within-network and seed-based functional connectivity analyses were conducted to assess rs-FC within the somatosensory network and to other areas of the brain., Results: Bulimia nervosa patients showed a decreased rs-FC both within the somatosensory network (t = 9.0, df = 1, P = 0.005) and with posterior cingulate cortex and two visual areas (the right middle occipital gyrus and the right cuneus) (P = 0.05 corrected for multiple comparison). The rs-FC of the left paracentral lobule with the right middle occipital gyrus correlated with psychopathology measures like bulimia (r = -0.4; P = 0.02) and interoceptive awareness (r = -0.4; P = 0.01). Analyses were conducted using age, BMI (body mass index), and depressive symptoms as covariates., Conclusion: Our findings show a specific alteration of the rs-FC of the somatosensory cortex in BN patients, which correlates with eating disorder symptoms. The region in the right middle occipital gyrus is implicated in body processing and is known as extrastriate body area (EBA). The connectivity between the somatosensory cortex and the EBA might be related to dysfunctions in body image processing. The results should be considered preliminary due to the small sample size.
- Published
- 2014
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
11. Brain volumetric abnormalities in patients with anorexia and bulimia nervosa: a voxel-based morphometry study.
- Author
-
Amianto F, Caroppo P, D'Agata F, Spalatro A, Lavagnino L, Caglio M, Righi D, Bergui M, Abbate-Daga G, Rigardetto R, Mortara P, and Fassino S
- Subjects
- Adolescent, Adult, Age Factors, Body Mass Index, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Young Adult, Anorexia Nervosa pathology, Brain pathology, Bulimia Nervosa pathology
- Abstract
Recent studies focussing on neuroimaging features of eating disorders have observed that anorexia nervosa (AN) is characterized by significant grey matter (GM) atrophy in many brain regions, especially in the cerebellum and anterior cingulate cortex. To date, no studies have found GM atrophy in bulimia nervosa (BN) or have directly compared patients with AN and BN. We used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to characterize brain abnormalities in AN and BN patients, comparing them with each other and with a control group, and correlating brain volume with clinical features. We recruited 17 AN, 13 BN and 14 healthy controls. All subjects underwent high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with a T1-weighted 3D image. VBM analysis was carried out with the FSL-VBM 4.1 tool. We found no global atrophy, but regional GM reduction in AN with respect to controls and BN in the cerebellum, fusiform area, supplementary motor area, and occipital cortex, and in the caudate in BN compared to AN and controls. Both groups of patients had a volumetric increase bilaterally in somatosensory regions with respect to controls, in areas that are typically involved in the sensory-motor integration of body stimuli and in mental representation of the body image. Our VBM study documented, for the first time in BN patients, the presence of volumetric alterations and replicated previous findings in AN patients. We evidenced morphological differences between AN and BN, demonstrating in the latter atrophy of the caudate nucleus, a region involved in reward mechanisms and processes of self-regulation, perhaps involved in the genesis of the binge-eating behaviors of this disorder., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2013
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
12. Multivariate analysis of brain metabolism reveals chemotherapy effects on prefrontal cerebellar system when related to dorsal attention network.
- Author
-
D'Agata F, Costa T, Caroppo P, Baudino B, Cauda F, Manfredi M, Geminiani G, Mortara P, Pinessi L, Castellano G, and Bisi G
- Abstract
Background: Functional brain changes induced by chemotherapy are still not well characterized. We used a novel approach with a multivariate technique to analyze brain resting state [18 F]FDG-PET in patients with lymphoma, to explore differences on cerebral metabolic glucose rate between chemotherapy-treated and non-treated patients., Methods: PET/CT scan was performed on 28 patients, with 14 treated with systemic chemotherapy. We used a support vector machine (SVM) classification, extracting the mean metabolism from the metabolic patterns, or networks, that discriminate the two groups. We calculated the correct classifications of the two groups using the mean metabolic values extracted by the networks., Results: The SVM classification analysis gave clear-cut patterns that discriminate the two groups. The first, hypometabolic network in chemotherapy patients, included mostly prefrontal cortex and cerebellar areas (central executive network, CEN, and salience network, SN); the second, which is equal between groups, included mostly parietal areas and the frontal eye field (dorsal attention network, DAN). The correct classification membership to chemotherapy or not chemotherapy-treated patients, using only one network, was of 50% to 68%; however, when all the networks were used together, it reached 80%., Conclusions: The evidenced networks were related to attention and executive functions, with CEN and SN more specialized in shifting, inhibition and monitoring, DAN in orienting attention. Only using DAN as a reference point, indicating the global frontal functioning before chemotherapy, we could better classify the subjects. The emerging concept consists in the importance of the investigation of brain intrinsic networks and their relations in chemotherapy cognitive induced changes.
- Published
- 2013
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
13. The recognition of facial emotions in spinocerebellar ataxia patients.
- Author
-
D'Agata F, Caroppo P, Baudino B, Caglio M, Croce M, Bergui M, Tamietto M, Mortara P, and Orsi L
- Subjects
- Adult, Analysis of Variance, Case-Control Studies, Female, Humans, Logistic Models, Male, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Spinocerebellar Ataxias psychology, Young Adult, Cognition Disorders etiology, Emotions, Facial Expression, Recognition, Psychology, Spinocerebellar Ataxias complications
- Abstract
Patients with cerebellar lesions present some affective and cognitive disorders, defining a peculiar pattern of cognitive impairment, so-called cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome. This pattern has been confirmed in many genotypes of spinocerebellar ataxias (SCA), a group of genetically defined pathologies characterized by the degeneration of the cerebellum and its connections. Recently, in SCA patients, some authors focused the interest on social cognition evidencing an impairment of theory of mind and basic emotion recognition by verbal material. The recognition of emotions in faces is an essential component of social cognition; therefore, we assessed this ability in SCA patients, expanding the study from the basic verbal emotions to the basic and social visual emotion recognition. We assessed facial emotion recognition using two basic and social emotion tasks in a group of SCA patients together with a complete clinical and neuropsychological evaluation. We compared results with the performance of a control group. We demonstrated a significant difference between patients and controls both in basic and social emotion recognition, although we found a specific impairment only for social emotions. The deficit was not correlated to clinical and demographic features. The cognitive and psychological profile did not explain the impairment in emotion recognition. This result supports the hypothesis that the impairment in social emotion recognition could be specifically related to a defect in the corticocerebellar network.
- Published
- 2011
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
14. Linking coordinative and executive dysfunctions to atrophy in spinocerebellar ataxia 2 patients.
- Author
-
D'Agata F, Caroppo P, Boghi A, Coriasco M, Caglio M, Baudino B, Sacco K, Cauda F, Geda E, Bergui M, Geminiani G, Bradac GB, Orsi L, and Mortara P
- Subjects
- Adult, Atrophy, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Memory Disorders etiology, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Spinocerebellar Ataxias complications, Spinocerebellar Ataxias pathology, Cerebellum pathology, Executive Function physiology, Memory Disorders pathology, Nerve Degeneration pathology, Spinocerebellar Ataxias physiopathology
- Abstract
Spinocerebellar ataxias type 2 (SCA2) is a rare genetic disorder characterised by the degeneration of the Cerebellum, its connections and many Brainstem areas. A voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis was performed on 12 genetically determined SCA2 patients and 31 controls, normalising the brains with two different atlases: one was created in-house with DARTEL (a diffeomorphic registration method) and the other was SUIT (an exclusive Cerebellum atlas). We administered two versions of a popular executive/planning functions test: the Tower of London, in the traditional and in a computerised version that does not require the use of hands, to correlate the regional atrophy with the tests' performances and to discover the different associations of Cerebellum's areas to cognitive dysfunctions. SCA2 showed a diffuse infratentorial atrophy with the whole Cerebellum and Brainstem affected, the overall patterns were highly overlapping between atlases with some minor differences. The DARTEL VBM also allowed detecting two sovratentorial clusters of atrophy, one in the left Inferior Parietal Lobule and the other in the Corticospinal Tracts. Additional analyses revealed a partial involvement of many White Matter tracts and of the Thalamus in the pathology. The classical Tower of London version correlated maximally with the right Lobule IV-V, when the computerised version correlated with the right Crus 1. The correlations of different versions of the test suggested a dissociation between the dysfunctions in SCA2: the Posterior Cerebellum was linked to the executive dysfunction while the Anterior Cerebellum was linked to the coordinative dysfunction.
- Published
- 2011
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
15. Neuropsychological picture of 33 spinocerebellar ataxia cases.
- Author
-
Orsi L, D'Agata F, Caroppo P, Franco A, Caglio MM, Avidano F, Manzone C, and Mortara P
- Subjects
- Adult, Aged, Analysis of Variance, Attention physiology, Executive Function physiology, Female, Humans, Male, Memory physiology, Middle Aged, Serial Learning physiology, Spinocerebellar Ataxias classification, Statistics as Topic, Visual Perception physiology, Cognition Disorders diagnosis, Cognition Disorders etiology, Neuropsychological Tests, Spinocerebellar Ataxias complications
- Abstract
We administered a large battery of neuropsychological tests to an heterogeneous cohort of genetically defined spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) patients in order to assess their cognitive profile and to compare cognitive impairment among different SCA genotypes, particularly between SCA with the classical pattern of olivo-ponto-cerebellar atrophy (SCA1 and SCA2) and those with a relatively "pure" olivo-cerebellar atrophy (SCA6 and SCA8). Our data revealed a neuropsychological picture characterized by fronto-parietal involvement with mnestic, linguistic, visuospatial, attentional, executive, and mood changes, in agreement with the cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome definition. We found a homogeneous neuropsychological profile among SCA subgroups with a prominent role of frontal dysfunction--particularly, attention, memory, and executive functions. We analyzed the possible interactions between neuropsychological pattern and clinical, demographical, and genetic variables. We found the presence of a cognitive impairment at the early stages of the disease, without visuospatial alterations, which appeared later. Age and education represented the most important demographic factors to predict the neuropsychological performance in SCA and in controls, but their effect in patients had definitely more impact. In our sample education could represent a protective factor and a marker of an enriched environment or a better developmental cognitive differentiation. We demonstrated that in our patients there was a distinct subgroup of high functional subjects and that triplet repeats modulated the effect of aging on cognition and progression of motor disability.
- Published
- 2011
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
16. Neuropsychological and functional study in a case of partial cerebellar agenesis.
- Author
-
Caroppo P, Orsi L, D'Agata F, Baudino B, Boghi A, Avidano F, Coriasco M, Bradac GB, Castellano G, Mutani R, and Mortara P
- Subjects
- Brain abnormalities, Brain diagnostic imaging, Brain physiopathology, Brain Mapping, Cerebellum diagnostic imaging, Cerebrovascular Circulation, Female, Fingers physiopathology, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon, Cerebellum abnormalities, Cerebellum physiopathology, Cognition Disorders, Motor Activity physiology
- Abstract
Cerebellar agenesis is a rare disorder. We present the neurological and neuropsychological features of a patient with partial cerebellar agenesis (TZ), together with SPECT perfusion and fMRI activation during a finger tapping task. TZ shows only mild cerebellar signs, while neuropsychological testing discloses severe deficits in many domains, in accordance with the theorized role of the cerebellum in cognition. FMRI and SPECT demonstrate an activation and a symmetrical perfusion of the cerebellar remnants, that can be related to the residual cerebellar motor function. The left frontal and parieto-temporal cortex hypoperfusion can explain the severe cognitive impairment and could be linked to the abnormal cerebellar development.
- Published
- 2009
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
17. Analysis of SCA8 and SCA12 loci in 134 Italian ataxic patients negative for SCA1-3, 6 and 7 CAG expansions.
- Author
-
Brusco A, Cagnoli C, Franco A, Dragone E, Nardacchione A, Grosso E, Mortara P, Mutani R, Migone N, and Orsi L
- Subjects
- Adolescent, Adult, Blotting, Southern, Child, Disease Progression, Female, Humans, Italy, Male, Middle Aged, Pedigree, Polymerase Chain Reaction, RNA, Long Noncoding, RNA, Untranslated, Spinocerebellar Ataxias pathology, Nerve Tissue Proteins genetics, Spinocerebellar Ataxias genetics, Trinucleotide Repeats
- Abstract
Spinocerebellar ataxias (SCA) are a heterogeneous group of neurodegenerative disorders, six of which are caused by expansion of a polyglutamine-coding CAG repeats ( SCA1- 3, 6, 7 and 17). In addition, expansions of a CAG triplet in the 5' region of a gene and a CTG triplet in an antisense RNA have been demonstrated in the SCA12 and SCA8 genes respectively. Our series of 134 ataxic patients (22 familial and 112 sporadic, tested negative for SCAI-3, 6, 7) was investigated for the presence of triplet expansions in the SCA8 and SCA12 genes. No SCA12 expansion was identified. A moderate SCA8 expansion (85-97 repeats) was found in two unrelated families with slowly progressive cerebellar ataxia. The frequency of SCA8 expansion accounts for approximately 4.3 % of the whole pool of our ataxia families (2 out of 46), while none of the 127 controls screened carried > 35 CTG+CTA repeats. Our data suggest a possible pathogenetic role of this mutation, which at present is still controversial, and confirm the rarity of the SCA12 expansion in Italian patients.
- Published
- 2002
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
18. Attentional biases and frontal functioning in anorexia nervosa.
- Author
-
Fassino S, Pieró A, Daga GA, Leombruni P, Mortara P, and Rovera GG
- Subjects
- Adult, Body Mass Index, Case-Control Studies, Female, Humans, Neuropsychological Tests, Reaction Time, Anorexia Nervosa psychology, Attention, Body Image, Cognition Disorders physiopathology, Frontal Lobe physiopathology
- Abstract
Objective: This study deals with executive functions such as abstraction, use of strategy, and response flexibility (focused attention) seen in patients with anorexia nervosa. The aim was to highlight any correlation between neuropsychological functioning and the degree of pathology for food style, body image, and physical state., Method: A modified Stroop test, Wisconsin Card Sorting test, Body Shape Questionnaire, and Eating Disorder Inventory-2 were administered to 20 anorexia nervosa restricters (AN-R) and 20 control subjects., Results: The AN-R subjects showed nonspecific attentional biases, in addition to disorders regarding abstraction and flexibility of thought, similar to those seen in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. The disturbance of body image showed a direct correlation to frontal alterations., Discussion: This evidence suggested that in the AN-R subjects the disturbances of body image might be linked to the alterations of abstraction and critical abilities and with an obsessive frontal functioning., (Copyright 2002 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)
- Published
- 2002
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
Catalog
Discovery Service for Jio Institute Digital Library
For full access to our library's resources, please sign in.