Infant EEG theta modulation predicts childhood intelligence.

Intellectual functioning is a critical determinant of economic and personal productivity. Identifying early neural predictors of cognitive function in infancy will allow us to map the neurodevelopmental pathways that underpin individual differences in intellect. Here, in three different cohorts we investigate the association between a putative neurophysiological indicator of information encoding (change in frontal theta during a novel video) in infancy and later general cognitive outcome. In a discovery cohort of 12-month-old typically developing infants, we recorded EEG during presentation of dynamic movies of people and objects. Frontal theta power (3-6 Hz) significantly increased during the course of viewing each video. Critically, increase in frontal theta during viewing of a video was associated with a differential response to repetition of that specific video, confirming relation to learning. Further, individual differences in the magnitude of change in frontal theta power were related to concurrent nonverbal cognitive level. We then sought to extend this association in two independent samples enriched for variation in cognitive outcome due to the inclusion of infants at familial risk for autism. We observed similar patterns of theta EEG change at 12 months, and found a predictive relation to verbal and nonverbal cognitive skills measured at 2, 3 and 7 years of age. For the subset of high-risk infants later diagnosed with autism, infant theta EEG explained over 80% of the variance in nonverbal skills at age 3 years. We suggest that EEG theta change in infancy is an excellent candidate predictive biomarker that could yield substantial insight into the mechanisms that underlie individual differences in childhood intelligence, particularly in high risk populations.

Left hemispheric deficit in the sustained neuromagnetic response to periodic click trains in children with ASD.

BACKGROUND: Deficits in perception and production of vocal pitch are often observed in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but the neural basis of these deficits is unknown. In magnetoencephalogram (MEG), spectrally complex periodic sounds trigger two continuous neural responses-the auditory steady state response (ASSR) and the sustained field (SF). It has been shown that the SF in neurotypical individuals is associated with low-level analysis of pitch in the 'pitch processing center' of the Heschl's gyrus. Therefore, alternations in this auditory response may reflect atypical processing of vocal pitch. The SF, however, has never been studied in people with ASD. METHODS: We used MEG and individual brain models to investigate the ASSR and SF evoked by monaural 40 Hz click trains in boys with ASD (N = 35) and neurotypical (NT) boys (N = 35) aged 7-12-years. RESULTS: In agreement with the previous research in adults, the cortical sources of the SF in children were located in the left and right Heschl's gyri, anterolateral to those of the ASSR. In both groups, the SF and ASSR dominated in the right hemisphere and were higher in the hemisphere contralateral to the stimulated ear. The ASSR increased with age in both NT and ASD children and did not differ between the groups. The SF amplitude did not significantly change between the ages of 7 and 12 years. It was moderately attenuated in both hemispheres and was markedly delayed and displaced in the left hemisphere in boys with ASD. The SF delay in participants with ASD was present irrespective of their intelligence level and severity of autism symptoms. LIMITATIONS: We did not test the language abilities of our participants. Therefore, the link between SF and processing of vocal pitch in children with ASD remains speculative. CONCLUSION: Children with ASD demonstrate atypical processing of spectrally complex periodic sound at the level of the core auditory cortex of the left-hemisphere. The observed neural deficit may contribute to speech perception difficulties experienced by children with ASD, including their poor perception and production of linguistic prosody.

[Modern approaches to the use of neurotropic physical therapy in arterial hypertension]. / Sovremennye podkhody k primeneniyu transtserebral'noi magnitoterapii pri arterial'noi gipertenzii.

The development and introduction into clinical practice of non-pharmacological methods for the prevention and treatment of arterial hypertension is a primary objective of modern physical therapy, especially as regards the neurotropic influences. This article was designed to report the results of the investigation into the hypotensive effect of transcerebral magnetic therapy obtained during the treatment of 60 patients presenting with arterial hypertension. The study included the comparative examination of two randomly formed groups containing 30 patients each. The patients of the main group received transcerebral magnetic therapy (to the frontal region) while those in the group of comparison were given magnetotherapy at the collar region. The study has demonstrated that transcerebral magnetic therapy given to the patients of the main group was a more efficient treatment than magnetotherapy at the collar region since it produced a more pronounced hypotensive effect irrespective of the initial hemodynamic type.

[The application of invasive and non-invasive reflexotherapeutic methods for the improvement of tolerance to the influence of seasonal meteorological factors and correction of bronchial asthma].

The present study included 94 patients presenting with bronchial asthma (BA) who underwent the controlled treatment during one year. The treatment consisted of basal anti-asthmatic therapy in combination with acupuncture reflexotherapy or a complex of non-invasive reflexotherapeutic methods (CNIRTM) designed to increase the effectiveness of correction of asthma, to improve the clinical status of the patients, to decrease by more than two-fold the frequency of unstable episodes of the disease showing the well-apparent seasonal dependence, and to diminish the consumption of pharmaceuticals (reduction of the mean daily dose of prednisolone by 31% and 37% in comparison with its 79% increase in the patients receiving the standard treatment). Moreover, it was shown that the achievement of clinical and preventive effect of the application of non-pharmacological methods may be associated with the activation of the mechanisms of adaptation to the stress factors (such as correction of the cortisol blood level and parameters of the immune status, etc.) and the increase of the patient's tolerance to their influence.

[The prospects for the development of regenerative physical therapy].

The review is concerned with the investigations into the influence of physiotherapeutic factors on the regeneration of the muscular, nervous, bone, and epidermal tissues; also, it analyses the publications pertaining to the influence of low-intensive physiotherapeutic modalities on the migration rate, proliferative activity, and differentiation of stem cells as well as physiological stability and viability of these cells following their transplantation. The currently available data give evidence of the possibility in principle of the combined application of physiotherapeutic factors and cellular technologies in regenerative medicine and the prospects opening for the development of the new direction of research in modern biomedicine, namely regenerative physical therapy. The importance of interdisciplinary basic and clinical investigations in this direction becomes especially evident in the light of the recent achievements and rapid progress in the development of modern regenerative medicine.

[The major achievements and future directions of the development of instrumental physiotherapy].

During the recent years, the multifaceted investigations have been conducted with the purpose of the development and practical application of novel therapeutic and health-promoting technologies with the use of the methods of instrumental physiotherapy. To name but a few, these include optimization of pulsed impacts, realization of immunomodulatory action of various physical factors, introduction of new physico-pharmacological modalities and neurotropic physiotherapy, the use of laser Doppler flowmetry for the estimation of the effectiveness of physiotherapeutic treatment, and elucidation of the influence of physical factors on microcirculation. At present, the main lines along which physiotherapy develops include acquisition of new information necessary to formulate the theoretical basis for instrumental physiotherapy, comprehensive estimation of the influence of the new and traditional preformed physical factors on the general health-maintaining mechanisms (adaptation, compensation), investigations into pathogenesis of various diseases, development of effective therapeutic and health-promoting modalities with the elaboration of indications and contraindications for their prescription, elucidation of the possibility and expediency of joint or combined application of various physical factors. The great importance is attached under present-day conditions to the development of personalized approaches to the choice of physiotherapeutic modality for the treatment of concrete patients on an individual basis taking into consideration the known predictors of efficiency of a given method. One of the most rapidly developing directions is regenerative physiotherapy, i.e., a multidisciplinary branch of biomedicine that studies the mechanisms of action and the effectiveness of natural preformed physical factors for the restoration of damaged tissues and disturbed functions of the organs. Of special value are investigations devoted to the elucidation of the possibilities for the combined application of cellular technologies and physiotherapeutic techniques. However, very much remains to be done for the creation of the scientific basis of biologically controlled (feedback-regulated) physiotherapy. Much attention should be given to the creation of new up-to-date physiotherapeutic instrumentation to be employed for the development of innovative technologies designed to enhance the therapeutic effectiveness of health-promoting, curative, and prophylactic measures in wide clinical practice.

[The adaptive mechanisms of cardio- and angioprotective action of reflexotherapy].

The adaptive mechanisms of action of reflexotherapy are analysed. It was shown in physiological and biochemical experiments on the whole organism, the isolated hearts and strips of resistive arteries of animals that stimulation of acupuncture points by different physical factors increased the activity of opioid, antioxidative, and other stress-limiting systems, reduced secretion of corticosteron during stress, stimulated biosynthesis of stress proteins, induced cyto- and cardioprotective effects, prevented or limited functional and structural hyperadrenal damages. Clinical investigations demonstrated significant hypothensive, anti-ishemic and anti-arrhythmic effects of reflexotherapy, improved resistance of healthy subjects and patients with cardiovascular diseases to physical and emotional loadings.

Eating-related environmental factors in underweight eating disorders and obesity: are there common vulnerabilities during childhood and early adolescence?

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine whether there is an association between individual, social and family influences and dysfunctional eating patterns early in life and the likelihood of developing a subsequent underweight eating disorder (ED) or obesity. METHOD: The total sample comprised 152 individuals (underweight ED, n = 45; obese patients, n = 65; healthy controls; n = 42) from Barcelona, Spain. The Cross-Cultural Questionnaire (CCQ) was used to assess early eating influences as well as individual and family eating patterns and attitudes towards food. RESULTS: Even though a few shared eating influences emerged for both groups, unique factors were also observed. Whereas relationship with friends, teasing about eating habits by family members and the mass media were of specific relevance to the underweight ED group, the patient's own physical appearance, body dissatisfaction, teasing about eating habits by friends, teasing about body shape by family members and dysfunctional eating patterns were unique to obesity. CONCLUSIONS: Overlapping environmental risk factors provide evidence for integral prevention and intervention approaches that simultaneously tackle a range of weight-related problems. The unique factors might be important for targeting high-risk individuals.

[Developmental continuity of working memory from infancy to preschool age].

The objective of the paper was to study the developmental continuity of working memory function from infancy to preschool age. At the age of 10 to 11 months 44 participants completed delayed response task (A-not-B) that measures working memory function. Between 5 and 7 years of age the same participants performed three tasks assessing working memory for temporal order in auditory and visual modalities and a control task measuring short-term visuospatial memory. The dependence of temporal-order memory at preschool age on individual level of infant working memory was found for all methods of measurement despite the differences in way of presentation and reproducing of the stimuli order. Results indicate direct continuity in the development of working memory function from infancy to preschool age.

[Application of the pulsed low-frequency electrostatic field in the early rehabilitative treatment of patients following surgery for the correction of valgus deformation of the first toe].

This paper describes the method and results of application of the pulsed low-frequency electrostatic field (PLFESF) to the lower extremities of the patients who underwent surgical treatment for the correction of valgus deformation of the first toe. The efficiency of the method used in the early period of rehabilitative treatment was estimated at 93.3% compared with 96.7% in the patients who were managed by the same therapy in combination with polyoxdonium.

[The application of trans-auricular low-frequency electrical puncture for the treatment of arterial hypertension].

Clinical studies involving 67 patients with arterial hypertension (AH) have demonstrated that a single course of trans-auricular low-frequency electrical puncture produced a marked stress-relieving effect that was manifested as the decreased anxiety level, normalization of neurohumoral regulation of arterial pressure and central hemodynamics, improved tolerance of controlled psycho-emotional loading, beneficial effect on cerebral blood circulation, lipid and electrolyte metabolism. In addition, the proposed therapeutic modality resulted in substantial reduction of arterial pressure. Taken together, these observations give reason to consider it as a promising tool for the treatment of patients presenting with arterial hypertension.

The nature of individual differences in EEG parameters during homogeneous visual field in 5- and 6-year-old twins: a pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the genetic and environmental influences on the inter-individual variability of spectral EEG parameters under two conditions of reduced visual input in preschoolers. METHODS: EEG was recorded in 21 monozygotic and 20 same-sex dizygotic twin pairs aged 5-6 years under the Closed eyes and Darkness conditions. The contributions of genetic and environmental influences to individual EEG parameters were estimated using structural equation modeling. RESULTS: The alpha rhythm parameters - both spectral amplitude and frequency - were influenced mainly by genetic factors. Theta spectral amplitude variance was presumably accounted for by both genetic and shared environmental factors. The difference in the nature of population variance between EEG alpha and theta band spectral amplitudes was reproduced for two identical functional loads: Closed eyes and Darkness. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of EEG spectral parameters in preschool children are determined by genetic factors. Tentative finding on systematic environmental influences on theta spectral amplitude under the condition of reduced visual input may point to the role of experience in the individual differences in the functioning of theta response system. SIGNIFICANCE: The findings contribute to the scanty knowledge about the heritability of EEG rhythms in preschool children.

The right hemisphere fails to respond to temporal novelty in autism: evidence from an ERP study.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate electrophysiological correlates of initial attention orienting to temporally novel sound in children with autism (CWA). METHODS: Twenty-one CWA (4-8 years) and 21 age-matched typically developing children (TDC) were presented with pairs of clicks separated by a 0.5s intra-pair interval, with longer (7-9s) intervals between pairs. Children watched a silent movie during click presentation. We assessed EEG perturbations and event-related potentials (ERP) in response to sounds of different temporal novelty - first (S1) and second (S2) clicks in the pair. RESULTS: In TDC, the early attention-modulated midtemporal N1c wave evoked by S1 and corresponding EEG phase locking and power increase were right-lateralized and were bilaterally higher than those evoked by S2. CWA demonstrated abnormal S1 responses, characterized by reduced N1c amplitude and EEG phase locking in the right midtemporal region, reversed leftward lateralization of the phase locking, and diminished later frontal N2 wave. Their brain responses to S2 were essentially normal. CONCLUSIONS: The impaired right hemispheric processing of temporary and contextually novel information and suboptimal lateralization of normally right-lateralized attention networks may be important features of autistic disorder. SIGNIFICANCE: Results of this study contribute to the understanding of autism neurobiology.

[Correction of ischemic atrioventricular insufficiency as a component of surgical remodeling of post-infarction heart in patients with ischemic dilatation cardiomyiopathy].

Patients with ischemic dilatation cardiomyopathy are most difficult to control symptoms of cardiac insufficiency (CI). Analysis of survival, results of cardiac chamber remodeling, and severity of CI in 192 patients showed that the optimal outcome of the treatment is on the average achieved in case of surgical revascularization combined with correction of ischemic atrioventricular insufficiency.

EEG theta rhythm in infants and preschool children.

OBJECTIVE: To study behavioral correlates of theta oscillations in infants and preschool children. METHODS: EEG was recorded during baseline (visual attention) and two test conditions--exploration of toys and attention to 'social' stimulation. Age specific frequency boundaries of theta and mu rhythms were assessed using narrow bin analysis of EEG spectra. RESULTS: Theta spectral power increased whereas mu power decreased under test conditions in both age groups. In preschoolers theta rhythm increased predominantly over anterior regions during exploratory behavior and over posterior regions during attention to social stimulation. Theta frequency range changed with age from 3.6 to 5.6 Hz in infants to 4-8 Hz in children, and mu range from 6.4-8.4 Hz to 8.4-10.4 Hz. CONCLUSIONS: In early life, theta oscillations are strongly related to behavioral states with substantial attentional and emotional load. The scalp distribution of theta spectral power depends on age and behavioral condition and may reflect engagement of different brain networks in control of behavior. SIGNIFICANCE: The findings contribute to the scanty knowledge about the developmental course of theta rhythm. Data on behavioral correlates of theta rhythm in early life may improve our understanding of cognitive and mental processes in healthy and neuropsychiatrically diseased children.

[Amplipulse-magnetotherapy and iodine-bromine waters in combined treatment of patients with chronic nonspecific salpingo-oophoritis].

Amplipulse-magnetotherapy was used as monotherapy and in combined treatment of 110 patients with chronic nonspecific salpingo-oophoritis (CNSO). Clinical assessment shows that transcerebral amplipulse-megnetotherapy (TAMT) has a positive effects on the course of CNSO, reproductive system and psychoemotional status of the patients. The addition of physical and balneological factors to TAMT enhances and prolongs neurotropic, endocrine, analgetic and anti-inflammatory effects of TAMT.