Computer programmers show distinct, expertise-dependent brain responses to violations in form and meaning when reading code.

As computer programming becomes more central to the workforce, the need for better models of how it is effectively learned has become more apparent. The current study addressed this gap by recording electrophysiological brain responses as 62 Python programmers with varying skill levels read lines of code with manipulations of form (syntax) and meaning (semantics). At the group level, results showed that manipulations of form resulted in P600 effects, with syntactically invalid code generating more positive deflections in the 500-800 ms range than syntactically valid code. Meaning manipulations resulted in N400 effects, with semantically implausible code generating more negative deflections in the 300-500 ms range than semantically plausible code. Greater Python expertise within the group was associated with greater sensitivity to violations in form. These results support the notion that skilled programming, like skilled natural language learning, is associated with the incorporation of rule-based knowledge into online comprehension processes. Conversely, programmers at all skill levels showed neural sensitivity to meaning manipulations, suggesting that reliance on pre-existing semantic relationships facilitates code comprehension across skill levels.

Case report: A hybrid open and endovascular approach for repairing a life-threatening innominate artery dissection using the simultaneous kissing stent technique.

Managing acute innominate artery (IA) dissection associated with severe stenosis is challenging due to its rarity, possible complex dissection patterns, and compromised blood flow to the brain and upper extremities. This report describes our treatment strategy for this challenging disease using the kissing stent technique. A 61-year-old man had worsening of an acute IA dissection secondary to an extension of a treated aortic dissection. Four possible treatment strategies for kissing stent placement were proposed based on different approaches (open surgical or endovascular) and accesses (trans-femoral, trans-brachial, or trans-carotid access). We chose to place two stents simultaneously via a percutaneous retrograde endovascular approach through the right brachial artery and a combined open surgical distal clamping of the common carotid artery with a retrograde endovascular approach through the carotid artery. This hybrid approach strategy highlights the three key points for maintaining safety and efficacy: (1) good guiding catheter support is obtainable through retrograde, rather than antegrade, access to the lesion, (2) concomitant cerebral and upper extremity reperfusion is guaranteed by placing kissing stents into the IA, and (3) peri-procedural cerebral emboli are prevented by surgical exposure of the common carotid artery with distal clamping.

Relating Natural Language Aptitude to Individual Differences in Learning Programming Languages.

This experiment employed an individual differences approach to test the hypothesis that learning modern programming languages resembles second "natural" language learning in adulthood. Behavioral and neural (resting-state EEG) indices of language aptitude were used along with numeracy and fluid cognitive measures (e.g., fluid reasoning, working memory, inhibitory control) as predictors. Rate of learning, programming accuracy, and post-test declarative knowledge were used as outcome measures in 36 individuals who participated in ten 45-minute Python training sessions. The resulting models explained 50-72% of the variance in learning outcomes, with language aptitude measures explaining significant variance in each outcome even when the other factors competed for variance. Across outcome variables, fluid reasoning and working-memory capacity explained 34% of the variance, followed by language aptitude (17%), resting-state EEG power in beta and low-gamma bands (10%), and numeracy (2%). These results provide a novel framework for understanding programming aptitude, suggesting that the importance of numeracy may be overestimated in modern programming education environments.

Lesión como malformación de Chiari secundaria a quiste aracnoidal de la cisterna cuadrigémina / Chiari malformation-like lesion secondary to arachnoid cyst of the quadrigeminal cistern

Se presenta el caso de una mujer de 31 años de edad con cefalea y cervicalgia que se agravaba con la maniobra de Valsalva, presentando además mareos, encontrándose una malformación de Chiari secundario a un quiste aracnoideo cuadrigeminal. Después de efectuada la resonancia magnética diagnóstica, la paciente fue sometida a descompresión del agujero magno y extirpación del quiste cuadrigeminal, seguido por la resolución tanto de la malformación de Chiari y el quiste. Los síntomas desaparecieron después de la cirugía y han permanecido completamente resuelto hasta la actualidad. En pacientes adultos que presentan signos y síntomas de una malformación de Chiari debido a la compresión de la médula por las las amígdalas cerebelosas, la presencia de un quiste aracnoideo de cisterna cuadrigéminal es una rara patología asociada que puede ser tratada quirúrgicamente.

We report a rare case of a 31-year-old woman with headache and pain manifested by cervicalgia that worsened with the Valsalva maneuver and dizziness, who was found to have a Chiari malformation secondary to a posterior fossa arachnoid cyst. After magnetic resonance imagining (MRI), the patient was submitted to foramen magnum decompression and arachnoid cyst removal that were followed by resolution of both the Chiari malformation and the cyst. The symptoms disappeared after surgery and have remained completely resolved to the present day. In adult patients who present with signs and symptoms of Chiari malformation due to direct medulla compression by the tonsils, a quadrigeminal cistern arachnoid cyst is a rare associated pathology that can be treated surgically.