To characterise the activation of the contra- and ipsilateral primary somatosensory cortex (SI) after tactile stimulation of the face.
Trigeminal somatosensory evoked magnetic fields (TSEFs) were ...recorded after tactile stimulation of the lower lip, cheek, chin and forehead in 11 healthy subjects. The responses were determined visually from the waveforms and modelled with equivalent current dipoles (ECDs).
Contralateral SI responses were evoked in all subjects after lip stimulation, and in 91% and 64% after right and left cheek, 73% and 82% after chin and 64% and 27% after forehead stimulation. The responses usually showed an early double-peak wave pattern, the underlying sources localising to the SI. In addition, altogether 37 ipsilateral SI responses were evoked in eight subjects. Fourteen of these responses were amenable to ECD modelling and localised to ipsilateral SI.
Tactile stimulation of the lip area reliably activates the contralateral SI in normal subjects, but the success rate for other trigeminal areas is lower. Ipsilateral responses can be present after stimulation of any of the trigeminal branches in normal subjects.
Recording of TSEFs after tactile stimulation of particularly the lip area provides a non-invasive technique to study the function of the trigeminal nerve.
Background: No information is available on allergenicity of tree nut oils, and information on peanut oils has been conflicting. Many of the nut oils now on the market undergo minimal processing and ...may contain residual antigen.
Objective: This study was carried out to determine whether several of the new “gourmet” tree nut oils, as well as peanut oils, contain residual proteins that could bind IgE from sera of patients with allergy.
Methods: Several brands of walnut, almond, hazelnut, pistachio, and macadamia nut oils were examined. Peanut oils, both unrefined oils (which have been shown to contain allergenic proteins) and refined oils (without previously demonstrable allergens), were also examined to confirm reproducibility of immunoreactivity as reported by other investigators. Oils were extracted with 0.2 mol/L ammonium bicarbonate, and protein concentrations in the aqueous extracts were measured. IgE binding was assayed by slot-blot and Western immunoblotting. Pooled sera from patients with a history of systemic reactions to various tree nuts or peanuts were used as appropriate.
Results: The oil extracts known to be from oils that had undergone less processing at lower temperatures tended to demonstrate qualitatively greater IgE binding and higher protein concentrations.
Conclusion: Tree nut and peanut oils may pose a threat to patients with allergy, depending on the method of manufacture and processing. (J Allergy Clin Immunol 1997;99:502-6.)
Reading skill is suggested to be related to phonological processing ability and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Here we investigated whether fatty acids (FAs) are related to phonological ...processing, whether the relations between PUFAs and reading generalize to other FAs, whether these relations are mediated by phonological processing, and whether relations of FAs are specific for language-related functions. Blood samples of 49 ten-year-old children with oral clefts were collected for FA proportion analysis in serum cholesteryl esters and phospholipids. On the same day, they performed tasks of phonological processing, reading, and both verbal and nonverbal intelligence. Sequential regression analyses (adjusted for age, gender, and cleft type) showed that phonological processing was inversely related to myristic acid in phospholipids and positively related to eicosapentaenoic acid in cholesteryl esters. Reading was inversely related to palmitoleic and gammalinolenic acids in phospholipids. The relations between FAs and reading were not mediated by phonological processing and FAs related only to language-related functions.
We investigated the relation between a biological factor (fatty acids, FA) and a cognitive processing speed factor (temporal processing acuity, TPA) that are both suggested to relate to neuronal and ...cognitive functioning. Blood samples of 49 ten-year-old children with oral clefts were collected for FA analysis in serum triglycerides, cholesteryl esters, and phospholipids on the same day as they performed behavioral TPA tasks (simultaneity/nonsimultaneity judgments) in several perceptual modalities (visual, auditory, tactile, audiotactile, visuotactile, and audiovisual). This population has larger than expected variation in the relevant cognitive measures (TPA, learning ability, and intelligence). Sequential regression analyses (adjusted for age, gender, and cleft type) showed that saturated FAs were not generally associated with TPA. Monounsaturated erucic and nervonic acids were inversely related with TPA. Of the polyunsaturated fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids were positively associated with TPA, whereas
γ-linolenic acid was inversely related to TPA. In summary, we found significant relations between a biological (certain FAs) and a cognitive factor (TPA).
•Sustainability challenges require both specialized and integrative approaches.•Domination of specialism and reductionism calls for emphasis on comprehensiveness.•The GHH framework can be used as a ...tool to add comprehensiveness in education.•The framework consists of three dimensions: generalism, holism, and holarchism.•The dialectical approach combines comprehensive and differentiative approaches.
Sustainability challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, poverty and rapid urbanization are complex and strongly interrelated. In order to successfully deal with these challenges, we need comprehensive approaches that integrate knowledge from multiple disciplines and perspectives and emphasize interconnections. In short, they aid in observing matters in a wider perspective without losing an understanding of the details. In order to teach and learn a comprehensive approach, we need to better understand what comprehensive thinking actually is. In this paper, we present a conceptual framework for a comprehensive approach, termed the GHH framework. The framework comprises three dimensions: generalism, holism, and holarchism. It contributes to the academic community’s understanding of comprehensive thinking and it can be used for integrating comprehensive thinking into education. Also, practical examples of the application of the framework in university teaching are presented. We argue that an ideal approach to sustainability challenges and complexity in general is a balanced, dialectical combination of comprehensive and differentiative approaches. The current dominance of specialization, or the differentiative approach, in university education calls for a stronger emphasis on comprehensive thinking skills. Comprehensiveness should not be considered as a flawed approach, but should instead be considered as important an aspect in education as specialized and differentiative skills.
Up to 46% of individuals with oral clefts suffer from language-learning disabilities. The degree of these disabilities varies according to cleft type. The pathogenesis of cognitive malfunctioning or ...its relationship with cleft type is not known. We investigated persistence of auditory short-term memory (STM) that is implicitly involved in language-specific perception in children with clefts, grouped using fine-graded cleft classification.
Cortical evoked potentials were recorded in 78 children with non-syndromic oral clefts and in 32 healthy peers. A mismatch negativity (MMN) potential that indexes preattentive detection of change in auditory input was obtained in response to tone sounds. In order to test durability of short-term memory traces, sounds were presented with three stimulation rates.
With slowest stimulation, MMN amplitudes were reduced in cleft children as compared to the healthy peers (P < 0.00065). Only cleft-lip children did not significantly differ from controls. Among isolated palatal clefts, the more posteriorly delimited the cleft was, the smaller was the amplitude of MMN. MMNs of smallest amplitudes were obtained in the subgroup of complete unilateral cleft of lip and palate.
Reduced MMN amplitudes, found in cleft children, imply deficiency in auditory STM trace maintenance. This dysfunction is likely to contribute to their language and learning disabilities. The MMN diminution with shorter/more posterior clefts suggests that differences in auditory cortex function are one of the underlying mechanisms of the cleft type-malcogniton association.
Language and learning disabilities occur in almost half of individuals with oral clefts. The characteristics of these cognitive dysfunctions vary according to the cleft type, and the mechanisms ...underlying the relation between cleft type, cognitive dysfunction, and cleft-caused middle-ear disease are unknown. This study investigates preattentive auditory discrimination, which plays a significant role in language acquisition and usage, in infants with different cleft types. A mismatch negativity (MMN) component of brain evoked potentials, which indexes preconscious sound discrimination, and brain responses to rare sine-wave tones were recorded in 12 healthy infants and 32 infants with oral clefts at the ages of 0 and 6 months. Infants with clefts were subdivided into two categories: those with cleft lip and palate (CLP) (n=11 at birth, n=6 at the age of 6 months) and those with cleft palate only (CPO) (n=17 at birth, n=8 at the age of 6 months). At both ages, brain responses to rare sounds tended to be smaller in both cleft subgroups than in healthy peers. However, in the latency range of 300 to 500 ms, the MMN was significantly smaller in infants with CPO. In infants with CLP, the MMN was comparable to that of healthy infants. Differences in auditory discrimination between infants with CLP and CPO, as reflected by MMN, were detectable at birth and persisted into later infancy. This pattern parallels known behavioural differences between children with these cleft types. Brain responses to rare sounds, in contrast, had no differentiative power with respect to the cleft type.
CATCH syndrome, caused by a microdelection in chromosome 22, is characterized by cleft palate and cardiac anomalies. The majority of these children also have learning difficulties or speech and ...language deficits. These problems are often due to the dysmorphology of the articulatory system. In the present study, the duration of auditory sensory memory, which is of central importance to speech perception and understanding, was investigated. As a research method we used mismatch negativity (MMN), an attention independent event-related potential, which provides an objective electrical index of auditory sensory memory. The present data suggest that the duration of this memory span is considerably shorter in 6-10-year-old children with CATCH than in healthy controls. Thus, the language-related problems encountered in children suffering from CATCH syndrome are likely to be caused also by CNS dysfunctions.
Our recent study demonstrated with the brain's automatic change-detection response, the mismatch negativity (MMN) of the event-related potentials (ERPs), that the duration of auditory sensory memory ...is significantly shorter in school-age children with CATCH syndrome than in healthy age-matched controls. One of the characteristic symptoms of this syndrome, caused by a microdelection in chromosome 22, is cleft palate. The most common problems in these children, however, are learning difficulties and, according to our results, it is likely that these problems are not due to the dysmorphology of peripheral speech mechanisms only but are also caused by CNS dysfunctions. In the present study we show with MMN that auditory sensory memory is also shortened in school-age children with cleft palate but without the CATCH syndrome. It has been shown in previous studies with neuropsychological tests that although children with cleft palate have language and learning-related problems these difficulties are usually less severe than those of CATCH children. Likewise the present study demonstrates that the auditory sensory memory trace seems to decay more rapidly in CATCH children than in children with cleft palate.
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