Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Alberto Ouro, Clara Correa-Paz, Elena Maqueda, Antia Custodia, Marta Aramburu-Nunez, Daniel Romaus-Sanjurjo, Adrian Posado-Fernandez, Maria Candamo-Lourido, Maria Luz Alonso-Alonso, Pablo Hervella, Ramon Iglesias-Rey, Jose Castillo, Francisco Campos, Tomas Sobrino
Summary: Ischemic stroke is a major cause of disability worldwide, and there is currently a lack of successful neuroprotective drugs and recovery strategies. Therefore, it is necessary to further study and explore new therapeutic approaches. Sphingolipid metabolism plays an important role in the occurrence and progression of stroke.
FRONTIERS IN MOLECULAR BIOSCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Emily J. Reedich, Landon T. Genry, Meredith A. Singer, Clarissa Fantin Cavarsan, Elvia Mena Avila, Daphne M. Boudreau, Michael C. Brennan, Alyssa M. Garrett, Lisa Dowaliby, Megan R. Detloff, Katharina A. Quinlan
Summary: Spastic cerebral palsy (CP) is a movement disorder characterized by hypertonia and hyperreflexia. The most common comorbidity is pain. This study investigated the relationship between prenatal hypoxia-ischemia (HI) injury, which can cause CP, and changes in spinal nociceptive circuitry. The findings suggest that HI impacts spinal sensory pathways and enhances mechanical and thermal nociception in CP, even in the absence of motor deficits.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Immunology
Yuqin Chen, Weihua Liu, Mingyu Chen, Qingyun Sun, Hongyu Chen, Yufen Li
Summary: Up-regulating lncRNA OIP5-AS1 protects neuron injury against MCAO/R induced inflammation and oxidative stress in microglia/macrophage through activating CTRP3 via sponging miR-186-5p.
INTERNATIONAL IMMUNOPHARMACOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Seung Ki Kim, Dongho Park, Beomki Yoo, Dain Shim, Joong-On Choi, Tae Young Choi, Eun Sook Park
Summary: The study evaluated the effects of overground robot-assisted gait training using an untethered torque-assisted exoskeletal wearable robot in children with CP. Results showed improvements in gross motor function, walking speed, gait endurance, and gait efficiency after the training. The training was safe and feasible even for children with severe motor impairment.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Stefanos Tsitlakidis, Sarah Campos, Nicholas A. Beckmann, Sebastian Wolf, Sebastien Hagmann, Tobias Renkawitz, Marco Goetze
Summary: The classification of gait disorders in cerebral palsy (CP) is challenging and existing systems may not accurately depict all types of disorders. Further analysis using 3D instrumented gait analysis is necessary for a more detailed evaluation of patients' gait disorders.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE
(2022)
Review
Neurosciences
Caio Matheus Santos da Silva Calado, Raul Manhaes-de-Castro, Sabrina da Conceica Pereira, Vanessa da Silva Souza, Diego Bulca Visco, Beatriz Souza de Silveira, Sandra Lopes de Souza, Ana Elisa Toscano
Summary: Cerebral palsy is a major cause of physical disability in childhood, and it can significantly impair memory function and emotional behavior. Preclinical interventions such as oxygen therapy, resveratrol, and erythropoietin have shown promising results in improving memory problems in children with cerebral palsy.
EXPERIMENTAL NEUROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Alyssa M. Spomer, Benjamin C. Conner, Michael H. Schwartz, Zachary F. Lerner, Katherine M. Steele
Summary: This study showed that audiovisual biofeedback was crucial in increasing plantarflexor engagement during walking, while combining audiovisual and sensorimotor modalities further boosted the rate of gait adaptation. Understanding how individuals may prioritize different forms of sensory information can inform the design and selection of biofeedback systems for clinical care.
JOURNAL OF NEUROENGINEERING AND REHABILITATION
(2023)
Article
Rehabilitation
Swati M. Surkar, Rashelle M. Hoffman, Regina Harbourne, Max J. Kurz
Summary: The study compared prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation and task performance between typically developing children and children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy (HCP) under different task conditions. Children with HCP showed greater PFC activation, matched fewer shapes, and had slower reaction times in the dual-task condition. The increase in PFC activation during dual-task was strongly correlated with a higher dual-task cost in children with HCP.
ARCHIVES OF PHYSICAL MEDICINE AND REHABILITATION
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Seongyun Cho, Kun-Do Lee, Hyung-Soon Park
Summary: This study designed and validated a new coronal plane assistive gait rehabilitation system to improve crouch gait in children with cerebral palsy. The experimental results showed that the system effectively reduced hip adduction angle and improved hip joint kinematics and pelvic tilt angle.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON NEURAL SYSTEMS AND REHABILITATION ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Eline Flux, Marjolein M. van der Krogt, Jaap Harlaar, Annemieke Buizer, Lizeth H. Sloot
Summary: This study systematically explored the feasibility, reliability, and validity of sudden treadmill perturbations to provoke and quantify calf muscle stretch reflexes during walking in children with neurological disorders. The protocol's feasibility and reliability were demonstrated, and construct validity was shown from neurophysiological and clinical perspectives by analyzing responses to perturbations. The exaggerated velocity-dependent nature of the measured responses strongly supports the use of treadmill perturbations for quantifying stretch hyperreflexia during gait, providing a framework for informing clinical decision making and treatment evaluation.
JOURNAL OF NEUROENGINEERING AND REHABILITATION
(2021)
Article
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Masahiro Nakao, Yukiko Nanba, Asumi Okumura, Junichi Hasegawa, Satoshi Toyokawa, Kiyotake Ichizuka, Naohiro Kanayama, Shoji Satoh, Nanako Tamiya, Akihito Nakai, Keiya Fujimori, Tsugio Maeda, Hideaki Suzuki, Mitsutoshi Iwashita, Akira Oka, Tomoaki Ikeda
Summary: This study aimed to examine the relationship between the timing of insults and the type of brain injury in preterm infants with severe cerebral palsy. It was found that 57% of infants had an antenatal onset of cerebral palsy, while only 13% had intrapartum insult. Although white matter-watershed injury was predominant, severe acute hypoxia-ischemia may be an important prenatal etiology of severe cerebral palsy in preterm infants.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Nancy Lennon, Chris Church, M. Wade Shrader, William Robinson, John Henley, Jose de Jesus Salazar-Torres, Tim Niiler, Freeman Miller
Summary: The study examined the long-term outcomes of adults with CP who received specialized pediatric orthopedic care, showing that there were no clinically meaningful changes in gait and gross motor function from adolescence to adulthood. PROMIS results indicated limitations in physical function in adulthood compared with a normative sample.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Maria E. E. Bernis, Margit Zweyer, Elke Maes, Yvonne Schleehuber, Hemmen Sabir
Summary: The peripheral immune system plays a critical role in neuroinflammation of the central nervous system after an insult. In this study, a neonatal model of experimental hypoxic-ischemic (HI) brain injury was used to investigate the activation of neutrophils and the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). The results suggest the important pathological functions of early arriving neutrophils and NETosis following neonatal HI, particularly after therapeutic hypothermia (TH) treatment, which could serve as a potential therapeutic target for neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Christopher Flynn Martin, Akiho Muramatsu, Tetsuro Matsuzawa
Summary: Zoos are increasingly adopting technology-based enrichment methods to improve the welfare of primates. Touchscreen tasks have a long history of usage by primates in research settings and in zoos. However, the high entry barrier makes it difficult for new zoos to adopt the primate touchscreen method. To address this issue, researchers have developed a pre-built portable touchscreen system named Apex and easy-to-operate primate software named ApeTouch, which are available for zoos to acquire. These tools offer enrichment, research, and husbandry applications and have been successfully used in a training study with four species of zoo-housed macaques.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Yujiao Lu, Jing Wang, Fulei Tang, Uday P. Pratap, Gangadhara R. Sareddy, Krishnan M. Dhandapani, Ana Capuano, Zoe Arvanitakis, Ratna K. Vadlamudi, Darrell W. Brann
Summary: Hemoglobin plays an important role in regulating neuronal oxygenation and neuroprotection. The levels of neuronal hemoglobin decrease with age in mice, leading to increased hypoxia.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Review
Clinical Neurology
Hang Zeng, Siyi Chen, Gereon R. Fink, Ralph Weidner
Summary: This review examines critical aspects of interareal information exchange in the brain, including structural connectivity, information exchange between cortical areas using the visual system as an example, and theories underlying neural communication principles. It also discusses open questions in the study of the neural mechanisms underlying interareal information exchange.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Lukas Hensel, Fabian Lange, Caroline Tscherpel, Shivakumar Viswanathan, Jana Freytag, Lukas J. Volz, Simon B. Eickhoff, Gereon R. Fink, Christian Grefkes
Summary: This study assessed the contributions of the ipsilesional and contralesional anterior intraparietal cortex (aIPS) for hand motor function in stroke patients and found increased resting-state connectivity in patients with good motor outcome. Interhemispheric connectivity was also found to be correlated with better motor performance.
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Hannah Jergas, Jan Niklas Petry-Schmelzer, Till A. Dembek, Haidar S. Dafsari, Veerle Visser-Vandewalle, Gereon R. Fink, Juan Carlos Baldermann, Michael T. Barbe
Summary: This study aims to investigate whether treatment response in Parkinson's disease patients depends on brain atrophy. The association between gray matter brain atrophy patterns and response to levodopa and deep brain stimulation were analyzed. The results showed that frontoparietal brain gray matter loss was associated with subpar response to deep brain stimulation, but there was no significant link between brain atrophy and response to levodopa.
Editorial Material
Biology
Simone Vossel, Paola Mengotti, Gereon R. Fink
PHYSICS OF LIFE REVIEWS
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Sinje Votteler, Lennart Knaack, Jaroslaw Janicki, Gereon R. Fink, Lothar Burghaus
Summary: Sex differences in the clinical findings and polysomnographic presentation of patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) were investigated in a German cohort. Results showed that female patients were older, while male patients had a more severe form of OSA. Women had higher apnea-hypopnea index during REM sleep and a lower index during NREM sleep. Men were more affected by supine-dependent OSA. These sex differences are crucial for the diagnosis and treatment of OSA.
Article
Neuroimaging
Nina N. Kleineberg, Claudia C. Schmidt, Monika K. Richter, Katharina Bolte, Natalie Schloss, Gereon R. Fink, Peter H. Weiss
Summary: Previous studies on left hemisphere stroke patients found effector-specific differences in imitation performance and differences between meaningless and meaningful gestures. The current study investigated the impact of gesture meaning on lesion correlates of effector-specific imitation deficits in a large sample of sub-acute left hemisphere stroke patients. The results revealed significant interactions between the effector used for imitation and the meaning of the imitated gesture. Lesion-symptom mapping analyses identified brain regions associated with impaired imitation, regardless of the effector or gesture meaning. The findings highlight the importance of considering gesture meaning in assessments of apraxia.
NEUROIMAGE-CLINICAL
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Stefanie T. Jost, Agni Konitsioti, Philipp A. Loehrer, Keyoumars Ashkan, Alexandra Rizos, Anna Sauerbier, Maria Gabriela dos Santos Ghilardi, Franz Rosenkranz, Lena Strobel, Alexandra Gronostay, Michael T. Barbe, Julian Evans, Veerle Visser-Vandewalle, Christopher Nimsky, Gereon R. Fink, Monty Silverdale, Rubens G. Cury, Erich T. Fonoff, Angelo Antonini, K. Ray Chaudhuri, Lars Timmermann, Pablo Martinez-Martin, Haidar S. Dafsari
Summary: This study suggests that patients with 'postural instability and gait difficulty' (PIGD) may experience more beneficial non-motor effects compared to patients with 'tremor-dominant' symptoms undergoing deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson's disease (PD). These differences in clinical efficacy on non-motor aspects should be taken into consideration when advising and monitoring PD patients undergoing DBS.
PARKINSONISM & RELATED DISORDERS
(2023)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Jan Goetz, Frederique Wieters, Veronika J. Fritz, Olivia Kaesgen, Aref Kalantari, Gereon R. Fink, Markus Aswendt
Summary: Stroke patients have some degree of spontaneous functional recovery, but it is not enough to prevent long-term disability. Characterizing the dynamics of stroke recovery genes in the lesion and distant areas is a promising approach. In this study, adult mice were induced with sensorimotor cortex lesions and gene expression was analyzed at different time points post-stroke. The results highlight the expression dynamics and spatial variability of genes involved in cAMP pathway, plasticity, and axonal sprouting, challenging existing theories of neural plasticity.
Correction
Health Policy & Services
Kim Dillen, Yasemin Goereci, Veronika Dunkl, Anne Muller, Gereon R. Fink, Raymond Voltz, Mevhibe Hocaoglu, Clemens Warnke, Heidrun Golla
PALLIATIVE & SUPPORTIVE CARE
(2023)
Article
Oncology
Norbert Galldiks, Nathalie L. Albert, Michael Wollring, Jan-Michael Werner, Philipp Lohmann, Javier E. Villanueva-Meyer, Gereon R. Fink, Karl-Josef Langen, Joerg-Christian Tonn
Summary: In patients with meningioma, anatomical imaging using MRI or CT is the main method for diagnosis and treatment planning. However, these imaging modalities have limitations in accurately delineating meningioma, especially in cases of trans-osseus growth and tumors with complex geometry, as well as differentiating post-therapeutic changes from relapse. PET imaging, which provides metabolic and cellular information, is being increasingly used to complement anatomical imaging and improve the clinical management of meningioma patients.
NEURO-ONCOLOGY ADVANCES
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Theresa Paul, Valerie M. Wiemer, Lukas Hensel, Matthew Cieslak, Caroline Tscherpel, Christian Grefkes, Scott T. Grafton, Gereon R. Fink, Lukas J. Volz
Summary: This study used diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI) and a novel compartment-wise analysis approach to investigate the structural connectivity between bilateral cortical core motor regions in chronic stroke patients. The results showed that the structural connectivity between these regions is associated with both basal and complex motor control. Specifically, the recovery of basal motor control may be supported by an alternative pathway through the contralesional primary motor cortex (M1) and non-crossing fibers of the contralesional corticospinal tract (CST). These findings help explain conflicting interpretations of the functional role of the contralesional M1 and suggest the potential of cortico-cortical structural connectivity as a biomarker for motor recovery post-stroke.
ANNALS OF NEUROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Claudia C. Schmidt, Elisabeth I. S. Achilles, Katharina Bolte, Nina N. Kleineberg, Monika K. Richter, Natalie Schloss, Gereon R. Fink, Peter H. Weiss
Summary: The study investigated the association between subcortical gray matter lesions and apraxic deficits in LH stroke patients, finding that lesions in the caudate nucleus were significantly related to apraxic deficits, while lesions in the globus pallidus were associated with a lower likelihood of apraxia. Other subcortical structures did not show significant differences in lesion load between apraxic and nonapraxic patients.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Tabea Thies, Doris Muecke, Nuria Geerts, Aline Seger, Gereon R. Fink, Michael T. Barbe, Michael Sommerauer
Summary: This study investigates articulatory movements in isolated REM sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) and compares them to Parkinson's disease (PD) and control speakers. The results show that patients with iRBD have larger and longer tongue movements but remain intelligible, while patients with PD have smaller, slower movements and lower intelligibility. These findings suggest that the lingual system is affected in prodromal PD.
PARKINSONISM & RELATED DISORDERS
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Joshua N. Strelow, Till A. Dembek, Juan C. Baldermann, Pablo Andrade, Gereon R. Fink, Veerle Visser-Vandewalle, Michael T. Barbe
Summary: This study aimed to assess the utility of low beta-band suppression as a tool for contact selection in STN-DBS for PD. The results showed that the degree of low beta-band suppression correlated with the clinical efficacy of the respective stimulation contact, indicating its potential as a reliable tool for contact selection in STN-DBS.
PARKINSONISM & RELATED DISORDERS
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Lukas Hensel, Aline Seger, Ezequiel Farrher, Anna K. Bonkhoff, N. Jon Shah, Gereon R. Fink, Christian Grefkes, Michael Sommerauer, Christopher E. J. Doppler
Summary: This study found that the motor response in Parkinson's disease patients is related to the temporal dynamics of corticostriatal functional connectivity. Patients with high response spent more time in a regionally integrated state, while low responders showed lower functional connectivity between the anterior midcingulate cortex/dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and putamen during a more segregated state, which was correlated with the motor response.
PARKINSONISM & RELATED DISORDERS
(2023)
