Balance dysfunction in Parkinson's disease.

Stability and mobility in functional motor activities depend on a precise regulation of phasic and tonic muscular activity that is carried out automatically, without conscious awareness. The sensorimotor control of posture involves a complex integration of multisensory inputs that results in a final motor adjustment process. All or some of the components of this system may be dysfunctional in Parkinsonian patients, rendering postural instability one of the most disabling features of Parkinson's disease (PD). Balance control is critical for moving safely in and adapting to the environment. PD induces a multilevel impairment of this function, therefore worsening the patients' physical and psychosocial disability. In this review, we describe the complex ways in which PD impairs posture and balance, collecting and reviewing the available experimental evidence.

Sleep deprivation affects extinction but not acquisition memory in honeybees.

Sleep-like behavior has been studied in honeybees before, but the relationship between sleep and memory formation has not been explored. Here we describe a new approach to address the question if sleep in bees, like in other animals, improves memory consolidation. Restrained bees were observed by a web camera, and their antennal activities were used as indicators of sleep. We found that the bees sleep more during the dark phase of the day compared with the light phase. Sleep phases were characterized by two distinct patterns of antennal activities: symmetrical activity, more prominent during the dark phase; and asymmetrical activity, more common during the light phase. Sleep-deprived bees showed rebound the following day, confirming effective deprivation of sleep. After appetitive conditioning of the bees to various olfactory stimuli, we observed their sleep. Bees conditioned to odor with sugar reward showed lesser sleep compared with bees that were exposed to either reward alone or air alone. Next, we asked whether sleep deprivation affects memory consolidation. While sleep deprivation had no effect on retention scores after odor acquisition, retention for extinction learning was significantly reduced, indicating that consolidation of extinction memory but not acquisition memory was affected by sleep deprivation.

Bariatric barosensor: a new paired structure in the paravetebral region of the iliac crest.

A new anatomical entity, which we have decided to name bariatric borosensor, is described. It represents a paired structure under the skin, supero-lateral to the posterior superior iliac spine, overlying the iliac crest at the level of the fourth lumbar vertebra. Each of the paired structure is about the size of an enlarged lymph node; 0.5-2.0 cm in the largest diameter, spherical or ovoid in shape and firm in consistency. They are easily palpated clinically and can be demonstrated objectively by ultrasound examination. A hypothesis is put forth, conjecturing that this new structure may have relevance to the problem of obesity in modern, civilised western societies.

Muscle force and range of motion as predictors of standing balance in children with cerebral palsy.

Children with cerebral palsy frequently receive therapeutic intervention to remediate standing balance deficits. Evaluation of the impairments associated with poor balance could facilitate more effective treatment programs. This study evaluated the relationship between lower extremity force production, range of motion and standing balance in thirty-five children between the ages of 6 and 14 years of age with spastic cerebral palsy. Standing balance was evaluated using the Pediatric Clinical Test of Sensory Interaction (P-CTSIB). Hand-held dynamometry was used to assess force production and goniometry was used to assess range of motion. The results indicated that force production and range of motion are highly related to standing balance. Blocked, hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that force production explained 41% of the variance in P-CTSIB scores in this sample, while range of motion explained an additional 13%. Therefore, the total variance explained by these variables was 54%. Results of this study suggest that impairment level testing may allow the development of more effective individualized intervention programs to remediate balance deficits. Clinical suggestions are provided.

Snoezelen: a multisensory environmental intervention.

Snoezelen is a multisensory intervention delivered in a specially designed room with high-tech instruments. It is especially useful for end-stage patients with Alzheimer's disease. Snoezelen provides an enabling atmosphere in a failure-free environment. It has been a popular intervention in Great Britain and is just beginning to appear in the United States.

Remedes homeopathiques et canaux sensoriels / Homeopathic medicines and sensorial chanels

Il existe de multiples voies pour trouver le Similimum. Cette quete noble et eperdue du bon homeopathe consciencieux peut prendre de multiples formes. De la repertorisation uniciste... (AU)

Inhalation studies in laboratory animals--current concepts and alternatives.

Highly standardized and controlled inhalation studies are required for hazard identification to make test results reproducible and comparable and to fulfill general regulatory requirements for the registration of new drugs, pesticides, or chemicals. Despite significant efforts, the results of inhalation studies have to be analyzed judiciously due to the great number of variables. These variables may be related to technical issues or to the specific features of the animal model. Although inhalation exposure of animals mimics human exposure best, ie, error-prone route-to-route extrapolations are not necessary, not all results obtained under such very rigorous test conditions may necessarily also occur under real-life exposure conditions. Attempts are often made to duplicate as closely as possible these real-life exposure conditions of humans in appropriate bioassays. However, this in turn might affect established baseline data, rendering the interpretation of new findings difficult. In addition, specific use patterns, eg, of inhalation pharmaceuticals or pesticide-containing consumer products, may impose test agent-specific constraints that challenge traditional approaches. Moreover, specific modes of action of the substance under investigation, the evaluation of specific endpoints, or the clarification of equivocal findings in common rodent species may require exposure paradigms or the use of animal species not commonly used in inhalation toxicology. However, particularly in inhalation toxicology, the choice of animal models for inhalation toxicity testing is usually based on guideline requirements and practical considerations, such as exposure technology, expediency, and previous experience rather than validity for use in human beings. Larger animal species, apart from the welfare aspects, may require larger inhalation chambers to accommodate the animals, but for technical reasons and the difficulty of generating homogeneous exposure atmospheres in such inhalation chambers, this may jeopardize the outcome of the study. Some of the many variables and possible artifacts likely to occur in animal inhalation studies are addressed in this paper.

Importância dos sentidos naturais em estomatologia / The importance of natural senses in stomatology

Neste trabalho os autores procuram destacar a importância dos sentidos naturais na elaboraçäo do diagóstico clínico em Estomatologia e sublinha a ascendência dos sinais sobre os sintomas e faz uma exposiçäo dos sentidos naturais mais utilizados em Semiologia, quais sejam: visäo, palpaçäo, auscultaçäo e olfaçäo e relaciona suas limitaçöes, vantagens e desvantagens de cada um e completa com uma relaçäo concisa dos principais distúrbios relacionados com a possibilidade de percepçäo através dos sentidos naturais

Alteraciones sensoriales en el niño con antecedentes de asfixia severa al nacer / Sensorial changes in the child with history of severe asphyxia at birth

Se estudiaron 131 niños con antecedentes de asfixia severa al nacer (grupo A) y un grupo control constituido por 131 niños aparentemente sanos (grupo B). Se siguieron estos pacientes por consulta externa hasta los 3 años de edad y a los mismos se les realizó la prueba de Gesell para valorar el cociente de desarrollo (CD), además se les realizaron pruebas para investigar las alteraciones sensoriales como la visión, la cual se exploró al nacer, a los 6 meses y a los 2 años de edad; el lenguaje y la audición, explorados por logopedas y mediante potenciales evocados de tallo cerebral. Se utilizó el porcentaje como medida resumen de algunas características de interés, así como el modelo logarítmico lineal para determinar la interrelación entre combinaciones de 3 variables. Se encontró entre los datos obtenidos que en las alteraciones sensoriales la que predominó fue la visión, luego le siguió el lenguaje y después la audición. Se expresa que es importante señalar los efectos de la asfixia severa al nacer sobre las áreas específicas del cerebro, sus vías y órganos como tales, pues en ellas se observó una interrelación entre el CD, las alteraciones del lenguaje y la audición, lo que sugiere que en el niño con un CD bajo, cabe esperar un lenguaje retardado, ocasionado por una posible lesión orgánica del sistema nervioso central, así como que las alteraciones auditivas pueden secundariamente causar un lenguaje retardado

Alteraciones sensoriales en el niño con antecedentes de asfixia severa al nacer / Sensorial changes in the child with history of severe asphyxia at birth

Se estudiaron 131 niños con antecedentes de asfixia severa al nacer (grupo A) y un grupo control constituido por 131 niños aparentemente sanos (grupo B). Se siguieron estos pacientes por consulta externa hasta los 3 años de edad y a los mismos se les realizó la prueba de Gesell para valorar el cociente de desarrollo (CD), además se les realizaron pruebas para investigar las alteraciones sensoriales como la visión, la cual se exploró al nacer, a los 6 meses y a los 2 años de edad; el lenguaje y la audición, explorados por logopedas y mediante potenciales evocados de tallo cerebral. Se utilizó el porcentaje como medida resumen de algunas características de interés, así como el modelo logarítmico lineal para determinar la interrelación entre combinaciones de 3 variables. Se encontró entre los datos obtenidos que en las alteraciones sensoriales la que predominó fue la visión, luego le siguió el lenguaje y después la audición. Se expresa que es importante señalar los efectos de la asfixia severa al nacer sobre las áreas específicas del cerebro, sus vías y órganos como tales, pues en ellas se observó una interrelación entre el CD, las alteraciones del lenguaje y la audición, lo que sugiere que en el niño con un CD bajo, cabe esperar un lenguaje retardado, ocasionado por una posible lesión orgánica del sistema nervioso central, así como que las alteraciones auditivas pueden secundariamente causar un lenguaje retardado (AU)

Vitamin A deficiency and sensory function.

Morphological investigation of tongue, olfactory epithelia, trachea and inner ear in vitamin A deficiency are reported. The results support assumptions concerning the loss of sensory function as been at least a secondary effect of alterations of the neighbourhood of the sensory cells caused by vitamin A deficiency. Taste buds are hindered in function by a dense layer of squamous cells and olfaction is decreased by atrophy of the surrounding respiratory epithelium. Inner ear functionality seems to be affected by vitamin A status via a stabilizing effect on the endolymph-perilymph barrier.

Neurophysiology of photically induced epilepsy in Papio papio.

This chapter critically reviews arguments supporting the role of the frontal cortex in light-sensitive epilepsy of the baboon Papio papio in the light of the most recent neurophysiological research. In particular, it is known that spontaneous or ILS-induced paroxysmal discharges, as well as generalized seizures, originate in the frontorolandic cortical region. In this region during ILS, neurons behave in the same manner as hyperexcitable neurons in focal epileptogenic lesions of animals and man. Aso, section of the corpus callosum causes deterioration or even destruction of the synchronization that exists naturally between the two frontorolandic areas. Lastly experimental focal irritative lesions enhance light sensitivity if they are located in the frontorolandic region and inhibit it if they are located in the occipital cortex. Opposing these arguments are those that support the important role the occipital cortex plays, since its ablation makes excessive light sensitivity in the baboon disappear. Studies of the primary and nonprimary visual messages and pathways have also contributed evidence. In particular, demonstration of the existence of large numbers of direct occipitofrontal connections may help reconcile the two opposing arguments. Other evidence favoring the role of the frontal cortex is furnished by the still fragmentary studies on activation of the motor pathways and by studies in neuropharmacology. The significance and value of this type of epilepsy as an animal model of the generalized reflex epilepsies of man are discussed.