Need for greater consensus on protection of patient anonymity and rights in facial photographs: a survey of international and domestic oral surgery journals.

Although the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors has announced that masking the eye area in clinical photographs is inadequate for protection of patient anonymity, such examples can frequently be found in the field of oral surgery, indicating a large gap between the ideal and reality. In this study, two internationally and one domestically distributed journal published between 2009 and 2011 were analyzed. All articles containing clinical photographs of a patient's facial area were extracted and assessed based on 3 criteria: 1) extent of facial area visible, 2) necessity of showing eye area, and 3) presence or absence and form of eye masking. Showing the eye area was judged necessary in a total of 69.7% and 72.4% of photographs in the international journals, but in only 34.4% in the domestic journal. No eye masking was observed in 46.0% of photographs in one international journal and in only 4.7% in the domestic journal. Inappropriate masking occurred in 57.8% in the domestic journal. These results indicate that usage of eye masking reflects the editorial policy of a journal, influencing both author and reader consciousness. Although there may be problems in adhering to privacy regulations in a clinical setting, more needs to be done to ensure patient privacy in both journals and an educational setting.

Oral structure representation in human somatosensory cortex.

To clarify the topography of the areas representing whole intraoral structures and elucidate bilateral neuronal projection to those areas in the primary somatosensory (S1) cortex, we recorded somatosensory-evoked magnetic fields (SEFs), which reflect the earliest cortical responses to pure tactile stimulation, using magnetoencephalography and a piezo-driven tactile stimulation device. Subjects consisted of 10 healthy male adults. Following tactile stimulation of 6 sites on the oral mucosa (inferior/superior buccal mucosa, posterior/anterior tongue mucosa, and upper/lower lip mucosa), SEFs with a peak latency of 15 ms (1M) were identified bilaterally. In contrast, SEFs with a peak latency of 30 ms following right index finger tactile stimulation were identified only in the contralateral hemisphere. Equivalent current dipoles (ECDs) generating 15 ms components were found along the posterior wall of the central sulcus, bilaterally. The ECD locations for oral mucosa-representing areas were located inferiorly to those for the index finger, with the following pattern of organization from top to bottom along the central sulcus: index finger, upper or lower lip, anterior or posterior tongue and superior or inferior buccal mucosa, with a wide distribution, covering 30% of the S1 cortex. Source strength for 1M in the ipsilateral hemisphere was weaker than that in the contralateral hemisphere. These results clearly indicate that sensory afferents innervating the intraoral region project to both the contralateral and ipsilateral 3b areas via the trigeminothalamic tract, where contralateral projection is predominant. The results clarify the intraoral structure-representing areas in the S1 cortex, adding those areas to the classical "sensory homunculus".

Activation of right insular cortex during imaginary speech articulation.

Human speech articulation is a complex process controlled by a form of 'programming' implemented in the brain. Analysis of speech articulation using neuroimaging techniques is difficult, however, because motor noise is time-locked to the articulatory events. The current magnetoencephalography study, in which 12 participants were required to imagine vocalizing a phonogram after a visual cue, was designed to visualize the prearticulatory 'automatic' processes corresponding to the motor initiation. Magnetic activity correlating with the preparation for articulation occurred in the insular cortices at about 160 ms after the visual cue, and had a relative dominance in the right hemisphere. This suggests that motor control of speech proceeds from the insular regions, although the 'automatic' nature of our task might have led to the observed right-sided dominance.

Age-related differences in expression of vascular endothelial growth factor by periodontal ligament cells in vitro.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate age-related differences in expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) by periodontal ligament (PDL) cells. PDL cells were obtained from Wistar male rats weighing approximately 150 g each in the young group and 350 g each in the old group. PDL cells derived from upper and lower incisors were seeded in 35-mm culture dishes after primary culture. For cell proliferation assays, cells were detached and counted at 1, 3, 5, 7, 11 and 14 days after culture. VEGF mRNA expression was analyzed with TaqMan. The number of cells in both groups increased day by day, but the rate of increase in the young group was higher than that in the old group. VEGF mRNA expression in the young group increased from 3 to 14 days, but in the old group increased only slightly over the same time period. Expression ratios in the young group were higher than those in the old group, and there were significant differences between the young and old groups at 7 and 14 days of culture. In conclusion, the data revealed that PDL cells varied with age, and suggest that in view of such changes in cell proliferation and VEGF mRNA expression, age should be taken into consideration in periodontal treatment.

Cortical reorganization and somatic delusional psychosis: a magnetoencephalographic study.

A woman complained of feeling a "metal-like thing" in her oral cavity 4 years after a stroke. She was convinced of the physical nature of her complaint despite intact dental and neurological findings. Somatosensory evoked magnetic fields suggested that her decreased right SII function was compensated for by the right SI region, probably contributing to the delusional symptom.

An earlier component of face perception detected by seeing-as-face task.

To investigate the time sequence of the neural processes underlying face perception, magnetoencephalography was performed using a seeing-as-face task, in which visual inputs were identical across two conditions, but subject perceptions differed: one being a non-specific pattern of geographical shapes, the other being a percept of a face. Subtraction between the two conditions revealed a response occurring 120 ms after stimulus onset in right occipital, approximately 50 ms earlier than previously reported response at a latency of 170 ms at the right fusiform gyrus. As our novel task completely excluded differences in low-level properties of visual stimuli between control and face conditions, these two responses were considered specific to face perception. The result supported the two-stage theory of face processing.

Visual protective sheet can increase blink rate while playing a hand-held video game.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness of a protective sheet in reducing eye strain caused by unnecessary light reflection on portable liquid crystal display panels while playing Game Boy (Nintendo, Kyoto, Japan). DESIGN: Nonrandomized clinical trial. METHODS: The blink rates of 24 normal volunteers were measured under relaxed conditions while viewing a portable liquid crystal display panel and playing Game Boy with and without the protective sheet of polyethylene terephthalate with antiglare coating for a total of 10 minutes each. RESULTS: The results showed a dramatic increase (from 5.6 +/- 3 to 9.1 +/- 4.9 [P <.0001]) in blinks/minute with use of the protective sheet. CONCLUSION: The protective sheet has shown the possibility of increasing the blink rate by making the screen easier to see.

Face area representation of primary somatosensory cortex in humans identified by whole-head magnetoencephalography.

The feasibility of precise mapping was investigated noninvasively on the face component in predominantly unilateral primary somatosensory cortices (SI) in six healthy subjects. We recorded somatosensory evoked magnetic fields (SEFs) from the SI and secondary somatosensory cortices (SII) following the electrical stimulation of six skin sites: the infraorbital foramen, the angle of mouth, the upper lip, the lower lip, the mental foramen, and the mandibular angle. The median nerve at the wrist was stimulated as a standard of the map. The location of the equivalent current dipoles (ECDs) estimated from the distribution of magnetic fields was identified on MR images of the brain on each subject. The ECDs of the early components of SEF with peaks of 20-30 ms aligned along the SI in the hemisphere contralateral to the stimulation site. Late components with peaks of 80-150 ms were recorded from the bilateral hemispheres, and their ECDs were identified in the SII of the bilateral hemispheres. There was a distinct separation between the ECD locations representing discrete sites on the face and thumb in the SI of the contralateral hemisphere. Five sites of the face area in SI at the contralateral hemisphere were compatible with the conventional arrangement of homunculus in one subject. However, the remaining subjects had variations in the arrangement. The face area reorganization in the SI is possible to be related to the use-dependent cortical plasticity of the individual or to the perceptual experience by vision and proprioception.

Evaluation of missing fundamental phenomenon in the human auditory cortex.

OBJECTIVE: Harmonic complex tones consisting of four or more continuous harmonics of a certain stem frequency are perceived as the pitch of the fundamental frequency tone, it is referred to as the missing fundamental phenomenon (MFP). It is considered that the MFP is produced in the central auditory system, not in the periphery. However, it remains unclear where and how complex sounds is integrated. Using 306ch magnetoencephalography (MEG), we investigated when and where the MFP was integrated in the auditory cortex. METHOD: We examined six subjects who were selected by MEG in 12 healthy right-handed adult volunteers with normal auditory sensation. Ears were randomly stimulated with five different complex tones consist of fundamental frequency tone and harmonic complex tones. The location and direction of equivalent current dipoles (ECD) were evaluated at P50 and N100 in the right temporal lobe by MEG. Dispersion of the source of ECD was respectively evaluated on their brain MRI. RESULTS: Stimulation of ears with harmonic complex tones and the stem frequency tone revealed the localization of P50 and N100 ECD in the transverse temporal gyrus and their peripheral superior temporal gyrus. Although the sources of P50 ECD for harmonic complex tones and the fundamental tone were varied around the transverse temporal gyrus and superior temporal gyrus, the sources of N100 ECD were almost identical at the transverse temporal gyrus, demonstrating the MFP. This phenomenon were similarly observed, even when dichotic listening were stimulated. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the MFP occurs in the transverse temporal gyrus and the superior temporal gyrus, which are the primary auditory cortex, between P50 and N100.

Magnetoencephalographic study of the starting point of voluntary swallowing.

Clear findings relative to where in the brain the starting point of voluntary swallowing is controlled were obtained in the present magnetoencephalographic study. Namely, the cerebral activity was observed in the cingulate gyrus and supplementary motor area for about 80 ms between 1,000 and 1,500 ms before swallowing in all test subjects. Thus, it is clear that this type of central control mechanism also plays an important role in complicated swallowing movements.

Experimental device for detecting laryngeal movement during swallowing.

It has been reported that swallowing is a rhythmic movement, in which the onset of the oro-pharyngeal stage of swallowing starts from the mylohyoid muscle, followed by movement of the oral and pharyngeal muscles, and reaching the superior esophageal sphincter muscle. This is defined as the oro-pharyngeal stage of swallowing. It has also been reported that along with this movement, the larynx elevates in an antero-superior direction. To investigate the swallowing movement, it would be useful to be able to detect the start of swallowing movements from the body surface. Such a device was designed in this study to investigate the relationships between the onset of laryngeal movement and the EMG initiation of the anterior digastric muscle. Although experimental conditions must be further examined, we were able to record the reproducible movement and the position of larynx using our device provides another tool for studying the swallowing movement.

Magnetoencephalography study of right parietal lobe dysfunction of the evoked mirror neuron system in antipsychotic-free schizophrenia.

INTRODUCTION: Patients with schizophrenia commonly exhibit deficits of non-verbal communication in social contexts, which may be related to cognitive dysfunction that impairs recognition of biological motion. Although perception of biological motion is known to be mediated by the mirror neuron system, there have been few empirical studies of this system in patients with schizophrenia. METHODS: Using magnetoencephalography, we examined whether antipsychotic-free schizophrenia patients displayed mirror neuron system dysfunction during observation of biological motion (jaw movement of another individual). RESULTS: Compared with normal controls, the patients with schizophrenia had fewer components of both the waveform and equivalent current dipole, suggesting aberrant brain activity resulting from dysfunction of the right inferior parietal cortex. They also lacked the changes of alpha band and gamma band oscillation seen in normal controls, and had weaker phase-locking factors and gamma-synchronization predominantly in right parietal cortex. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate that untreated patients with schizophrenia exhibit aberrant mirror neuron system function based on the right inferior parietal cortex, which is characterized by dysfunction of gamma-synchronization in the right parietal lobe during observation of biological motion.

Quantitative videographic analysis of blink patterns of newscasters.

BACKGROUND: To determine the blink patterns of newscasters. METHODS: The blink patterns of 39 professional newscasters (24 Japanese and 19 non-Japanese, 19 men and 20 women, mean age: 34.5 +/- 6.5 years) were analyzed by a blink analyzer in this observational case series. Sixty-four normal Japanese volunteers (35 men and 29 women, mean age: 31.2 +/- 7.6 years) were used as lay normal controls. RESULTS: The maximum, mean, and coefficient of variation (CV) of interblinking time (IBT: the time between one blink and the next) in newscasters were 2.36 +/- 0.90 s (P < 0.0005), 0.95 +/- 0.27 s (P < 0.0005), and 0.76 +/- 0.25 (P < 0.0005), respectively, while those of the controls were 8.87 +/- 3.96 s, 4.01 +/- 2.05 s, and 0.55 +/- 0.21, respectively. The maximum, mean, and CV of the blinking time (BT: the length of time for each blink) of newscasters were 0.71 +/- 0.43 s (P < 0.0005), 0.29 +/- 0.11 s (P < 0.0005), and 0.55 +/- 0.25 (P < 0.0005), respectively. The values were longer when compared with normal controls, which were also significantly different, 0.35 +/- 0.12 s, 0.20 +/- 0.04 s and 0.23 +/- 0.09, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The six blink-related factors varied between newscasters and normal controls. Newscasters blink more often with greater irregularity.

Changes in the homeostatic mechanism of dental pulp with age: expression of the core-binding factor alpha-1, dentin sialoprotein, vascular endothelial growth factor, and heat shock protein 27 messenger RNAs.

Dental pulp has various characteristics in the pulp chamber, but only a few biological evaluations about the effect of age on dental pulp tissue have been reported. The purpose of this study was to compare dental pulp from young and adult rats to characterize the homeostatic mechanism. Dental pulp cells (DPCs) were obtained from the first molar of rats, weighing 150 g each for the young group and 350 g each for the adult group. The expression of core-binding factor alpha-1 (Cbfa-1), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), or heat shock protein (HSP) 27 messenger RNAs (mRNAs) by cultured pulp cells was determined by using a quantitative real-time PCR system after 3, 7, or 14 days. The expression of Cbfa-1 mRNA in the young group was higher than in the adult group. Expression of VEGF and HSP27 mRNAs in the adult group was higher than in the young group. The self-defense system in young DPCs is undertaken by calcification, but in adult DPCs it is carried out by the expression of self-defense proteins and the regeneration of vessels.

Cerebral cortical dysfunction in patients with temporomandibular disorders in association with jaw movement observation.

Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) represent a group of chronic painful conditions in the masticatory musculature and temporomandibular joint. To examine possible changes in cortical machinery in TMD patients, we compared neuromagnetic signals evoked by cortical neurons between healthy subjects and TMD patients while they were carefully observing the video frames of jaw-opening movements performed by another person. During the movement observation task in the healthy subjects, we found cortical activation in the following sequence with left hemisphere dominance: (1) the occipitotemporal region near the inferior temporal sulcus (human homologue of MT/V5 in monkeys), (2) the inferior parietal cortex (IPC), and (3) the anterior part of the inferior-lateral precentral gyrus (PrCG). In the TMD patients, however, we found deficit or marked attenuation of the neuromagnetic responses in the PrCG and IPC, while the activity of the MT/V5 showed no differences from that in the healthy subjects. In addition, we could not find any differences in cortical magnetic responses between healthy subjects and TMD patients when they were observing palm-opening movements, indicating that cortical dysfunction associated with jaw-movement observation is specific phenomena in the patients of TMD. Thus the present study provides new neuropathological evidence that TMD patients exhibit dysfunction of recognition mechanisms in cerebral cortex during motor observation, and suggests that disturbance of cortical functions regulating visuomotor integration would play a crucial role in development as well as aggravation of TMD.