Effects of mental rotation on acalculia: differences in the direction of mental rotation account for the differing characteristics of acalculia induced by right and left hemispheric brain injury.

We observed a 59-year-old right-handed man with an infarction in his right-middle cerebral artery that included the parietal lobe, who abnormally manipulated mental images in the horizontal direction, resulting in calculation disturbances. Three years later, the patient suffered an infarction in the left parietal lobe and displayed abnormalities during the creation of mental images; i.e., he rotated them in the vertical direction, which again resulted in calculation disturbances. These mental imagery disturbances might indicate that a common acalculia mechanism exists between the right and left hemispheres.

Hashimoto's Encephalopathy Presenting with Smoldering Limbic Encephalitis.

Hashimoto's encephalopathy (HE) is a steroid-responsive autoimmune encephalopathy associated with Hashimoto thyroiditis. We herein report a case of HE manifesting "smoldering" limbic encephalitis with persisting symptoms and abnormalities on examinations. Although our patient experienced partial clinical remission after treatment, hippocampal hypermetabolism on [18F] fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) and subclinical seizures on video electroencephalography persisted. Hypermetabolism on FDG-PET was improved by additional prednisolone therapy. Thus, as with other autoimmune limbic encephalitis cases, HE can take a course of "smoldering" encephalitis. FDG-PET and electroencephalogram findings can reflect the disease activity degree in such patients, although with certain neurophysiological and biochemical distinctions.

Linear deposition of immunoglobulins and complement components on the dura in normal pressure hydrocephalus complicating systemic lupus erythematosus.

We present a case of normal pressure hydrocephalus in a 70-year-old man with previously diagnosed systemic lupus erythematosus. Histological examination demonstrated the linear deposition of IgG, IgA, IgM, C(3) and C(1q) on the dura in the absence of inflammation or thrombosis that has previously been implicated in the aetiology of elevated pressure hydrocephalus in systemic lupus erythematosus. Our results suggest that the deposition of immunoglobulins and complement may play a pivotal role in an insidious manner in the pathogenesis of normal pressure hydrocephalus in systemic lupus erythematosus.