Art is a product of human creativity; it is a superior skill that can be learned by study, practice and observation. Modern neuroscience and neuroimaging enable study of the processes during artistic ...performance. Creative people have less marked hemispheric dominance. It was found that the right hemisphere is specialized for metaphoric thinking, playfulness, solution finding and synthesizing, it is the center of visualization, imagination and conceptualization, but the left hemisphere is still needed for artistic work to achieve balance. A specific functional organization of brain areas was found during visual art activities. Marked hemispheric dominance and area specialization is also very prominent for music perception. Brain is capable of making new connections, activating new pathways and unmasking secondary roads, it is "plastic". Music is a strong stimulus for neuroplasticity. fMRI studies have shown reorganization of motor and auditory cortex in professional musicians. Other studies showed the changes in neurotransmitter and hormone serum levels in correlation to music. The most prominent connection between music and enhancement of performance or changing of neuropsychological activity was shown by studies involving Mozart's music from which the theory of "The Mozart Effect" was derived. Results of numerous studies showed that listening to music can improve cognition, motor skills and recovery after brain injury. In the field of visual art, brain lesion can lead to the visuospatial neglect, loss of details and significant impairment of artistic work while the lesions affecting the left hemisphere reveal new artistic dimensions, disinhibit the right hemisphere, work is more spontaneous and emotional with the gain of artistic quality. All kinds of arts (music, painting, dancing...) stimulate the brain. They should be part of treatment processes. Work of many artists is an excellent example for the interweaving the neurology and arts.
Epilepsy is the most common neurological complication in pregnancy. Women
with epilepsy have a higher risk of complications in pregnancy. In Croatia, women with epilepsy are
treated by neurologists ...at tertiary centers according to the place of residence. We prospectively
followed-up pregnancies in women with epilepsy and healthy controls, and analyzed the factors
responsible for their delivery outcomes and development of their babies. Healthy pregnant women
had a higher level of education and economic status, but pregnant women with epilepsy took folic acid
in a higher proportion than controls, possibly due to timely preconception counseling. Complications
during pregnancy depended on the number of antiepileptic drugs and epilepsy control. We noticed
some behavioral and cognitive aspects in children exposed in utero to valproic acid, which required
follow up. The rate of congenital malformations was not increased. In conclusion, women with epilepsy
should receive preconception counseling about the risk for pregnancy, but also about the possibilities
to minimize that risk. We have introduced a model of integrative management of pregnancy
and epilepsy based on close collaboration among different clinical experts in Croatia, in order to
provide prompt counseling and timely intervention.
Neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by progressive dysfunction of the nervous system as a result of neuronal loss in the brain and spinal cord. Despite extensive research efforts aimed at ...development of new disease-modifying therapeutics, there is still no effective treatment to halt neurodegenerative processes. Thus, modification of current therapeutic and diagnostic research strategies is a goal of increasing urgency. The biggest limitation in neurodegenerative disease research is the lack of appropriate biomarkers. Discovery of universal biomarkers capable of diagnosing patients with neurodegenerative diseases, monitoring their response to therapy, and predicting disease progression seems to be a tall order. Instead, a combination of different methodologies in the discovery of biomarkers specific for each described aspect of the disease seems to be a more viable approach. Although application of personalized medicine in diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases may seem far off, some recent developments, such as utilizing specific biological therapies in multiple sclerosis, microRNA profiling as a source of novel biomarkers in Parkinson’s disease, or combination of neuroimaging and proteomic analyses in diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease patients, already point to the way clinical neurology may integrate new achievements in everyday practice. Combination of genomic, proteomic, glycomic, and metabolomic approaches may yield novel insights into molecular mechanisms of disease pathophysiology, which could then be integrated and translated into clinical neurology. Based on the developments during the past decade, it is feasible to predict that a personalized approach to treating neurological disorders will become more widely applicable in the coming years.
This report presents the course of diagnostic examinations and treatment of a 20-year-old man with bipolar affective disorder for which an organic basis was demonstrated. Computed tomography of the ...brain revealed an arachnoid cyst that was surgically treated. The patient underwent both psychiatric and neurosurgical treatment. After two-year follow-up and medicamentous treatment prescribed, the patient was symptom-free requiring no psychopharmacotherapy for the next 5.5 years. His overall life functioning is normal, with no signs of disease.
The aim of this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was to determine the efficacy and safety of
extract in patients diagnosed with vascular cognitive impairment (VCI).
A total of 90 ...patients (aged 67.1±8.0 years; 59 women) were randomly allocated (1:1:1) to receive
120 mg,
60 mg, or placebo during a 6-month period. Assessment was made for efficacy indicators, including neuropsychological tests scores (Sandoz Clinical Assessment Geriatric Scale, Folstein Mini-Mental State Examination, Mattis Dementia Rating Scale, and Clinical Global Impression) and transcranial Doppler ultrasound findings. Safety indicators included laboratory findings, reported adverse reactions, and clinical examination.
At the end of 6-month study period,
120 and 60 mg showed a statistically significant positive effect in comparison with placebo only on the Clinical Global Impression score (2.6±0.8 vs 3.1±0.7 vs 2.8±0.7, respectively;
=0.038). The Clinical Global Impression score showed a significant deterioration from the baseline values in the placebo group (-0.3±0.5;
=0.021) as opposed to
groups. No significant differences were found in the transcranial Doppler ultrasound findings. Adverse reactions were significantly more common and serious in the placebo group (16 subjects) than in either of the two
extract groups (eight and nine subjects, respectively), whereas laboratory findings and clinical examinations revealed no differences between the groups receiving
extract and placebo.
According to our results,
seemed to slow down the cognitive deterioration in patients with VCI, but the effect was shown in only one of the four neuropsychological tests administered. However, because of this mild effect in combination with a few adverse reactions, we cannot say that it is ineffective or unsafe either. Further studies are still needed to provide unambiguous evidence on the efficacy and safety of
extract.
Many Faces of Déjà Vu: a Narrative Review Bošnjak Pašić, Marija; Horvat Velić, Emina; Fotak, Luka ...
Psychiatria Danubina,
03/2018, Volume:
30, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Open access
French expression standing for the phrase "already seen" is a déjà vu. It is thought that as much as 97% of the population have experienced déjà vu at least once in their lifetime and 67% experience ...it regularly. The explanations of this phenomenon in novels and poems include reincarnation, dreams, organic factors, and unconscious memories. In this narrative review connection between déjà vu and various other conditions has been mentioned: false memories, temporal lobe epilepsy and other neurological conditions. In psychiatric patients déjà vu phenomenon is more often seen in patients with anxiety and people with derealisation/ depersonalization. It seems that temporal region is the origin of déjà vu phenomena in both healthy individuals and in individuals with neurological and psychiatric conditions, but the exact mechanism of this phenomenon is however still unknown. More attention should also be given to déjà vu from philosophical and religious perspectives as well. Déjà vu is still an enigma which could only be revealed with multidisciplinary approach through cooperation between neurologists, brain scientists, psychiatrists and experimental psychologists.
The brain is no longer considered an immunoprivileged organ which is completely separated from the circulating immune cells by the blood-brain barrier and which shows a lowered or changed ...immunoreactivity. It has become clear that there are numerous interactions between the neurological, immune and neuroendocrinologic systems. The psychiatric disorder which is supposed to be connected to changes in the functioning of the immune system is depression. One of the hypotheses suggesting the pathophysiology of depression is the cytokine hypothesis of depression. According to it, the behavior changes in depressed patients are a consequence of changes in cytokines. Physiological and psychological effects of the immune activation during an infection, primarily mediated by central activity of peripherally excreted proinflammatory cytokines, are called "sickness behavior". Depression is connected with the activation of the inflammatory response system. When it comes to the immune characteristics of depressive disorders, it should be stressed that depression is a heterogeneous disorder, so different types of depression can differ not only psychopathologically but also at the immune level. Depression is characterized by disorders in noradrenergic and serotonergic neurotransmission. Proinflammatory cytokines are included in the noradrenergic and serotonergic neurotransmission in the brain areas that are thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of depression. According to this model, depression can be considered a psychoneuroimmune disease in which the peripheral immune activation is responsible (by excreting the inflammatory mediator) for various behavioral, neuroendocrinologic and neurochemical changes connected to the psychiatric condition.
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