Article
Behavioral Sciences
Wolfram Ziegler, Ingrid Aichert, Anja Staiger, Klaus Willmes, Annette Baumgaertner, Tanja Grewe, Agnes Floeel, Walter Huber, Roman Rocker, Catharina Korsukewitz, Caterina Breitenstein
Summary: Apraxia of speech is a motor speech disorder that often occurs with aphasia after lesions to the left cerebral hemisphere. This study examined the frequency of apraxia of speech in a sample of 156 patients with chronic post-stroke aphasia. The prevalence rate was estimated to be 0.44, with a lower rate of 0.35 for moderate and severe cases and a further decrease to 0.22 for only severe impairment. Clinical criteria and rating scales were found to predict the presence of apraxia of speech. Previous prevalence estimates may have been biased by a low sensitivity of assessment instruments for mild speech impairment.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Steven C. Cramer, Lode G. Richards, Julie Bernhardt, Pamela Duncan
Summary: Cognition is a fundamental aspect of human existence and brain function. Stroke often leads to cognitive deficits, which can significantly impact poststroke functional recovery. Recent advancements in understanding cognitive functions in healthy individuals hold promise for improving our understanding and treatment of poststroke cognitive impairments. This article provides five reviews on commonly observed cognitive syndromes after stroke, including neglect, aphasia, apraxia, loss of executive function, and memory disorders. These reviews discuss key questions and gaps in knowledge, emphasizing the need for improved measurement tools, insights into the pathophysiology of symptom onset and recovery mechanisms, and validated biomarkers. Overall, these state-of-the-art summaries facilitate progress towards better understanding and management of poststroke cognitive impairments.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Keisuke Morihara, Shoko Ota, Kazuo Kakinuma, Nobuko Kawakami, Yuichi Higashiyama, Shigenori Kanno, Fumiaki Tanaka, Kyoko Suzuki
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the association between Buccofacial apraxia (BFA) and agrammatism in nonfluent/agrammatic variant primary progressive aphasia (nfvPPA) and compare the atrophic regions in PPA patients with and without BFA. Language examination and BFA evaluations were conducted on 74 PPA patients, revealing BFA in 20 nfvPPA patients and 3 unclassified PPA patients. The group with BFA showed worse spontaneous speech and writing, and a higher ratio of agrammatic errors, but no difference in the severity of prosodic and phonetic components of AOS compared to the group without BFA. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis revealed that the severity of BFA correlated with atrophy in specific regions of the frontal gyrus. BFA has a distinct anatomical basis from AOS in nfvPPA patients and is characterized by more anterior degeneration.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Helena Hybbinette, Ellika Schalling, Jeanette Plantin, Catharina Nygren-Deboussard, Marika Schutz, Per Ostberg, Pavel G. Lindberg
Summary: This study found that AOS and aphasia are common in left hemisphere stroke patients with hand motor impairment, and recovery shows similar trends across speech-language and motor domains, supporting the shared recovery hypothesis. Initial aphasia score was the strongest predictor of AOS recovery, while lesion volume did not correlate with recovery.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROLOGY
(2021)
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
Stephen M. Wilson, Jillian L. Entrup, Sarah M. Schneck, Caitlin F. Onuscheck, Deborah F. Levy, Maysaa Rahman, Emma Willey, Marianne Casilio, Melodie Yen, Alexandra C. Brito, Wayneho Kam, L. Taylor Davis, Michael de Riesthal, Howard S. Kirshner
Summary: Most individuals with aphasia after stroke recover to some extent in the first year, and the recovery process is partially dependent on lesion location and extent. This study aims to provide a comprehensive description of patterns of recovery from aphasia in the first year after stroke. It found that lesion location and extent, as well as different language domains, have an impact on aphasia recovery.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Adolfo M. Garcia, Ariane E. Welch, Maria Luisa Mandelli, Maya L. Henry, Sladjana Lukic, Maria Jose Torres Prioris, Jessica Deleon, Buddhika M. Ratnasiri, Diego L. Lorca-Puls, Bruce L. Miller, William Seeley, Adam P. Vogel, Maria Luisa Gorno-Tempini
Summary: This study utilized automated speech timing analyses in a cohort of autopsy-proven cases to investigate motor speech function in individuals with nfvPPA. The results indicated that automated analysis can capture specific markers of nfvPPA and potentially discriminate between patients with different tauopathies. The objectivity and scalability of this approach could support standard speech assessments.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Adolfo M. Garcia, Ariane E. Welch, Maria Luisa Mandelli, Maya L. Henry, Sladjana Lukic, Maria Jose Torres Prioris, Jessica Deleon, Buddhika M. Ratnasiri, Diego L. Lorca-Puls, Bruce L. Miller, William Seeley, Adam P. Vogel, Maria Luisa Gorno-Tempini
Summary: Automated speech timing analyses can identify specific markers of nfvPPA and potentially differentiate between patients with different tauopathies. This approach, thanks to its objectivity and scalability, could be a valuable support for standard speech assessments.
Article
Neuroimaging
Allison J. Zhong, Juliana Baldo, Nina F. Dronkers, Maria Ivanova
Summary: This study investigates the role of the frontal aslant tract (FAT) in motor speech and language abilities in post stroke aphasia. The results show that the integrity of the FAT is strongly associated with motor speech performance, but weakly associated with language tasks. The findings further our understanding of the contribution of white matter tracts to speech and language.
NEUROIMAGE-CLINICAL
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Taylor Campbell, Christy Diuguid, Sannah Vasaya, Paul Janda, Aroucha Vickers
Summary: Although our understanding of the cerebellum has progressed, there are still many unanswered questions, especially regarding its nonmotor roles. We present a case of bilateral cerebellar strokes resulting in mixed aphasia, which highlights the need for further research on cerebellar function and the clinical impact of different cerebellar lesions.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Haley C. Dresang, Aaron L. Wong, Laurel J. Buxbaum
Summary: This study examined the shared cognitive and neural mechanisms in the domains of action and language, and found that semantic information plays a positive role in both domains, but labeling does not provide additional benefits for gesture imitation.
Article
Clinical Neurology
James D. Stefaniak, Fatemeh Geranmayeh, Matthew A. Lambon Ralph
Summary: The recovery of language abilities in aphasia patients is heterogeneous and multidimensional, with different components of language showing distinct recovery trajectories. These components rely on different neural regions, suggesting that treatment strategies should be personalized based on individual language profiles to be effective.
Article
Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology
Dominique Scholl, Patricia McCabe, Lyndsey Nickels, Kirrie J. Ballard
Summary: This study compared the effects of semantic feature analysis (SFA) treatment for individuals with aphasia alone versus aphasia plus apraxia of speech (AOS). Results showed a slight advantage in treatment response for the AOS group, which was not correlated with aphasia severity.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE & COMMUNICATION DISORDERS
(2021)
Article
Rehabilitation
Julius Fridriksson, Alexandra Basilakos, Mary Boyle, Leora R. Cherney, Gayle DeDe, Jean K. Gordon, Stacy M. Harnish, Elizabeth L. Hoover, William D. Hula, Rebecca Hunting Pompon, Lorelei Phillip Johnson, Swathi Kiran, Laura L. Murray, Miranda L. Rose, Jessica Obermeyer, Christos Salis, Grant M. Walker, Nadine Martin
Summary: Behavioral communication treatment is supported as the standard of care for aphasia. The lack of a common framework to describe individual treatments hinders progress in the field. The Rehabilitation Treatment Specification System (RTSS) provides a systematic way to characterize aphasia treatment approaches, improving communication and facilitating comparisons.
ARCHIVES OF PHYSICAL MEDICINE AND REHABILITATION
(2022)
Article
Biology
Chris Code
Summary: This paper discusses how symptoms in speech and language processing following brain damage can contribute to discussions of early language evolution. It suggests that the recovery of non-fluent aphasia syndrome post-stroke may provide insights into human language evolution history, and argues that the observed recovery reflects processes in human speech and language development.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
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.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Alina Sprenger-Svacina, Johannes Haensch, Kilian Weiss, Nils Grosse Hokamp, David Maintz, Marc Schlamann, Gereon R. Fink, Natalie Schloss, Kai Laukamp, Gilbert Wunderlich, Helmar C. Lehmann, Thorsten Lichtenstein
Summary: This study evaluated the utility of a multi-parametric MRI protocol to detect loss of spinal motor neurons and subsequent muscle damage in adult SMA patients. The results showed that water T-2 mapping and Dixon-based PDFF estimation can distinguish between SMA patients and controls.
JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY
(2023)
Review
Clinical Neurology
Melanie Filser, Axel Buchner, Gereon Rudolf Fink, Stefan M. Gold, Iris-Katharina Penner
Summary: Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) are at increased risk of experiencing mental health problems, including depression and anxiety. However, there is limited knowledge about the assessment and association of these affective symptoms in MS. Further research is needed to improve diagnosis and care.
JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Martin K. R. Svacina, Alina Sprenger-Svacina, Anastasia Tsakmaklis, Alina M. Rueb, Ines Klein, Hauke Wuestenberg, Gereon R. Fink, Helmar C. Lehmann, Maria J. G. T. Vehreschild, Fedja Farowski
Summary: This study found that the gut microbiome of CIDP patients has increased diversity and enrichment of Firmicutes, which produce short-chain fatty acids. However, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) administration did not have a short-term impact on the gut microbiome in CIDP patients.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY
(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
Neurosciences
Anja Schaffrath, Sophia Schleyken, Aline Seger, Hannah Jergas, Pelin Ozduzenciler, Marlene Pils, Lara Bloemeke, Anneliese Cousin, Johannes Willbold, Tuyen Bujnicki, Oliver Bannach, Gereon R. Fink, Dieter Willbold, Michael Sommerauer, Michael T. Barbe, Gultekin Tamguney
Summary: This study used surface-based fluorescence intensity distribution analysis (sFIDA) to detect and quantify single particles of alpha-synuclein aggregates in stool samples of 94 PD patients, 72 isolated rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) patients, and 51 healthy controls. The results showed significantly elevated concentrations of alpha-synuclein aggregates in stool samples of iRBD patients compared to controls (p = 0.024) or PD patients (p < 0.001). The study suggests that measuring alpha-synuclein aggregates in stool using the sFIDA assay could support the diagnosis of prodromal synucleinopathies.
NPJ PARKINSONS DISEASE
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Felix Kohle, Marie Madlener, Emanuel F. Bruno, Gereon R. Fink, Volker Limmroth, Lothar Burghaus, Michael P. Malter
Summary: This study revealed that most patients with status epilepticus (SE) were not effectively treated with benzodiazepines (BZDs) according to current guidelines. Sufficient dosing of BZDs was found to be beneficial for patients with generalised convulsive SE, but not for other types of SE. Treatment decisions guided by the semiology of SE are crucial, and further evidence is urgently needed for the management of non-generalised convulsive SE.
SEIZURE-EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF EPILEPSY
(2023)
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
Health Policy & Services
Kim Dillen, Yasemin Goereci, Veronika Dunkl, Anne Mueller, Gereon R. Fink, Raymond Voltz, Mevhibe Hocaoglu, Clemens Warnke, Heidrun Golla
Summary: This study culturally adapted and translated the IPOS Neuro-S8 into German and evaluated its face and content validity. The results showed that the German version of the IPOS Neuro-S8 has demonstrated face and content validity and captures relevant symptoms of neurological patients needing palliative care. The next step is to investigate its psychometric properties, including construct and criterion validity.
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
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)
