Use of transcranial magnetic stimulation in the treatment of nonfluent primary progressive aphasia: a case report.

Primary progressive aphasia comprises a group of neurodegenerative diseases characterized by progressive speech and language dysfunction. Neuroimaging (structural and functional), biomarkers, and neuropsychological assessments allow for early diagnosis. However, there is no pharmacological treatment for the disease. Speech and language therapy is the main rehabilitation strategy. In this case report, we describe a female patient diagnosed with nonfluent primary progressive aphasia who underwent sessions of high-frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and showed improvement in depression scores, naming tasks in oral and written speech, and comprehension tasks in oral and written discourse.

As afasias progressivas primárias (APP) representam um grupo de doenças neurodegenerativas caracterizadas por disfunção progressiva da fala e da linguagem. A neuroimagem (estrutural e funcional), os biomarcadores e as avaliações neuropsicológicas permitem o diagnóstico precoce. No entanto, não há tratamento farmacológico para a doença. A terapia fonoaudiológica é a principal estratégia de reabilitação. Neste relato de caso, descrevemos uma paciente com diagnóstico de APP não fluente que foi submetida a sessões de estimulação magnética transcraniana de alta frequência no córtex pré-frontal dorsolateral esquerdo e apresentou melhora nos escores de depressão, nas tarefas de nomeação da fala oral e escrita e nas tarefas de compreensão da fala oral e escrita.

A resource of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines including clinical, genomic, and cellular data from genetically isolated families with mood and psychotic disorders.

Genome-wide (GWAS) and copy number variant (CNV) association studies have reproducibly identified numerous risk alleles associated with bipolar disorder (BD), major depressive disorder (MDD), and schizophrenia (SCZ), but biological characterization of these alleles lags gene discovery, owing to the inaccessibility of live human brain cells and inadequate animal models for human psychiatric conditions. Human-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) provide a renewable cellular reagent that can be differentiated into living, disease-relevant cells and 3D brain organoids carrying the full complement of genetic variants present in the donor germline. Experimental studies of iPSC-derived cells allow functional characterization of risk alleles, establishment of causal relationships between genes and neurobiology, and screening for novel therapeutics. Here we report the creation and availability of an iPSC resource comprising clinical, genomic, and cellular data obtained from genetically isolated families with BD and related conditions. Results from the first 324 study participants, 61 of whom have validated pluripotent clones, show enrichment of rare single nucleotide variants and CNVs overlapping many known risk genes and pathogenic CNVs. This growing iPSC resource is available to scientists pursuing functional genomic studies of BD and related conditions.

Use of transcranial magnetic stimulation in the treatment of nonfluent primary progressive aphasia: a case report / Uso da estimulação magnética transcraniana no tratamento da afasia progressiva primária não fluente: um relato de caso

ABSTRACT Primary progressive aphasia comprises a group of neurodegenerative diseases characterized by progressive speech and language dysfunction. Neuroimaging (structural and functional), biomarkers, and neuropsychological assessments allow for early diagnosis. However, there is no pharmacological treatment for the disease. Speech and language therapy is the main rehabilitation strategy. In this case report, we describe a female patient diagnosed with nonfluent primary progressive aphasia who underwent sessions of high-frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and showed improvement in depression scores, naming tasks in oral and written speech, and comprehension tasks in oral and written discourse.

RESUMO As afasias progressivas primárias (APP) representam um grupo de doenças neurodegenerativas caracterizadas por disfunção progressiva da fala e da linguagem. A neuroimagem (estrutural e funcional), os biomarcadores e as avaliações neuropsicológicas permitem o diagnóstico precoce. No entanto, não há tratamento farmacológico para a doença. A terapia fonoaudiológica é a principal estratégia de reabilitação. Neste relato de caso, descrevemos uma paciente com diagnóstico de APP não fluente que foi submetida a sessões de estimulação magnética transcraniana de alta frequência no córtex pré-frontal dorsolateral esquerdo e apresentou melhora nos escores de depressão, nas tarefas de nomeação da fala oral e escrita e nas tarefas de compreensão da fala oral e escrita.

The relationship between emotional regulation and hemispheric lateralization in depression: a systematic review and a meta-analysis.

From a neurobiological perspective, diverse studies have associated emotional regulation with cognitive deficits. Structural and/or metabolic changes in the frontal cortex are often inferred from dysfunction in cognitive-emotional processing. In addition, electroencephalographic findings support the idea that alpha band oscillations are responses to these same processes. Thus, the objective of this meta-analytical literature review is to verify whether the possible hemispheric lateralization attributed to frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) correlates with emotional regulation and the cognitive deficits underlying depression. The data included in our meta-analysis are from articles published from 2009 to July 2020, which utilized DSM or ICD criteria to diagnose depression or anxiety disorders and included a control group. For statistical analysis, the measurements obtained through the 10-20 electroencephalography system were used. The frontal alpha asymmetry index was calculated from the difference between the logarithm of the absolute spectral values in the alpha rhythm observed from the F4 and F3 electrodes that were fixed to the scalp of the frontal region of the right and left hemispheres (ln µV² RH-ln µV² LH) = (F4-F3). Eighteen articles were included in the systematic review. Of these, 9 were homogeneous enough for statistical analyses (total N: 1061; NDep: 326; Ncont: 735). Nine others could not be statistically analyzed due to the absence of FAA measurements from the F4 and F3 electrodes. A random effects meta-analysis revealed low heterogeneity (Qt = 11,00, df = 8, p = 0.20, I2 = 27%) and an average effect size of the studies equal to -0.03 (CI = [-0.07 to 0.01]). The results, although not significant, suggested a slight tendency toward left lateralization in the depression group. Although the effects shown in these data did not confirm hemispherical lateralization in depressed patients, it was found that emotional regulation and cognitive processes share similar neural circuits. Therefore, future research on this complex relationship is encouraged, especially studies that are focused on the search for quantitative biological markers in depression.

Neural correlates of negative and disease-specific emotional stimuli in panic disorder: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

OBJECTIVE: Decades of research have highlighted the involvement of the prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulated cortex, and limbic areas (amygdala) in panic disorder (PD). However, little attention has been given specifically to the inferior frontal gyrus. The current study aimed to investigate the neural substrates, including the inferior frontal gyrus, of both panic-related and negative conditions among individuals with PD and healthy controls. METHODS: We examined 13 medication-free PD patients and 14 healthy controls with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during exposure to negative and neutral pictures and a set of specific panic-related pictures. RESULTS: Subtraction between the conditions indicated activation of the left amygdala region and the right inferior frontal gyrus in PD patients during the specific panic-related condition, whereas the left amygdalar region and left inferior frontal gyrus were activated during the negative condition in controls. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that in patients with PD, a prominent bottom-up process is involved in specific panic-related conditions, which might be associated with weak modulation of the left frontal area. These data add to our current understanding of the neural correlates of PD and can contribute to future clinical interventions targeting the functional reestablishment of these regions.