Memory Dysfunctions after Mild and Moderate Traumatic Brain Injury: Comparison between Patients with and without Frontal Lobe Injury

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess memory dysfunction in patients with mild and moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI) with and without frontal lobe injury (FLI). METHODS: The subjects were 110 TBI patients, who had recovered from the acute clinical phase, and comprised 20 (18.2%) mild TBI (MTBI) patients with FLI, 16 (14.5%) MTBI patients without FLI, 51 (46.4%) moderate TBI (MOTBI) patients with FLI and 23 (20.9%) MTBI patients without FLI. All patients were administrated the Korean version of the Memory Assessment Scale (K-MAS). RESULTS: Almost all the Summary Scale scores on the K-MAS failed to show any differences between TBI patients with and without FLI, but differences did emerge by types at severities. TBI patients with FLI showed higher Global Memory ability than TBI patients without FLI if their TBI was only mild, but when their TBI was more severe, this finding was reversed, and TBI patients with FLI showed lower Verbal and Global Memory abilities than TBI patients without FLI. CONCLUSION: Different kinds of assessment tools are needed for the measurement of memory abilities in TBI patients with FLI, and that the selection of the appropriate tool depends on the severity of the TBI.

The Effect of Spiritual Well-being on the Mental Health of the Cho-Sun Tribal Women Residing in P.R. of China / 영남의대학술지

BACKGROUND: Spirituality has been an important part of Transpersonal Psychology and is believed to have a large effect on the mental health because it has been systematized. The aim of this study was to determine the level of spiritual disposition on human beings along with its effects on one's mental health. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study targeted 400 women residing in Youn-Gil city of JiLin Prov., which is a district of the Cho-Sun tribe in China. Their spiritual well-being was studied using the Spiritual Well-being Scale-Korean Version. The spiritual well-being scale consists of 2 sub-scales of religious well-being and existential well-being. The study was evaluated using a lie scale, psychotic trend, and a combined anxiety-depression scale. The results were considered to be factors of one's mental health. The correlation between the spiritual well-being and each tendency was analyzed by regression analysis. RESULTS: The total score of the Cho-Sun tribal women according to the spiritual well-being scale was 68.29 which was much less than the 100.65 of Korean Christian women. There was no significant correlation between the spiritual well-being and the Lie trend. However, it was found that 86% (344) of Cho-Sun tribal women scored above 70 in the Lie trend with a mean score of 74.57 which is higher than normal populations. Regarding the correlation between the spiritual well-being and psychotic trend, the psychotic trend became significantly higher when the religious well-being was at a high level. On the other hand, the psychotic trend became significantly lower when the existential well-being was at a high level. Regarding the correlation between the spiritual well-being and anxiety, the anxiety was significantly higher when the religious well-being was at a high level. However, the anxiety level was significantly low when the existential well-being was at a high level. Regarding the correlation between the spiritual well-being and depression, the depression level was somewhat significantly high when the religious well-being was at a high level. However, the depression level was significantly low when the existential well-being was at a high level. CONCLUSION: This study evaluated the effects of spiritual well-being on a person's mental health among Cho-Sun tribal women in Youn-Gil city of JiLIn Prov., P.R. of China. The results found that the religious well-being, which is a sub-scale of spiritual well-being, had negative effects while the existential well-being had positive effects on the mental health. These results proved that a person's religious disposition had negative effects on their mental health in a communitarian society.

A Case of Acute Colchicine-induced Myopathy with Myotonia in Behcet Disease

Colchicine has been used in the treatment of autoimmune diseases such as Behcet disease. Long-term use of colchicine can cause vacuolar myopathy on rare occasions. We report colchicine-induced myopathy with myotonia in Behcet disease. A 34-year-old man with Behcet disease presented progressive proximal weakness, myalgia, and difficulty in relaxation of grip after increasing the dosage of colchicine. Electrophysiological findings showed myotonic myopathy. Muscle biopsy revealed vacuolar myopathy. His symptoms were resolved with the discontinuation of colchicine.

Prognostic Value of Parent Arterial Lesions in the Patients with Lacunar Syndrome

BACKGROUND: It is well known that a lacunar infarction has characteristic clinical features and a relatively good prognosis. However, the significance of lesions in the parent artery of patients with lacunar syndrome as regard to the prognosis remains unsettled. METHODS: Using the data of consecutive patients with their first ischemic stroke and were followed longer than 1 year, were divided the patients by their clinical features and the results of the work-up was as follows; (1) mismatching [MM] group; lacunar syndrome and the presence of parent arterial lesion, (2) large artery artherosclerosis [LAD]; non-lacunar syndrome and the presence of parent arterial lesion, (3) no determined etiology [NE]; non-lacunar syndrome without parent arterial lesion, and (4) small artery disease [SAD]; lacunar syndrome without parent arterial lesion. Patients with a potential source of embolism were excluded from this study. The prognosis and recurrence rate of patients with the MM group were compared with those of other groups. RESULTS: A total of 176 patients were included; 56 LAD, 62 SAD, 22 MM and 36 NE groups. An unstable hospital course was more frequently found in LAD than in the other groups. The recurrence rate of the MM group (23%) was significantly higher than that of SAD (2%), but was similar to that of patients with non-lacunar syndrome (LAD 16%, NE 28%). CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with lacunar syndrome, the prognosis of those with parent arterial lesions was different from those without lesions. Therefore, a systematic work up of the stroke mechanism may be important in patients with lacunar syndrome.

Comparison of Clinical and Neuroradiological Characteristics between Internal Carotid Artery and Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusive Diseases

BACKGROUND: The relative importance of embolic mechanisms as opposed to hemodynamic factor in the pathogenesis of ischemic strokes associated with atherosclerotic middle cerebral artery (MCA) or internal carotid artery (ICA) disease remains unresolved. We conducted the present study to identify the differences of clinicoradiological patterns between MCA or ICA diseases. METHODS: We defined atherosclerotic disease of MCA or ICA as > 50% stenotic lesions or ulcerative plaques. We divided the patients into groups of MCA and ICA diseases, and analyzed clinical, laboratory, and neuroradiological data. RESULTS: Among the 620 consecutive patients with acute ischemic strokes, 84 (12.9%) patients met the criteria for atherosclerotic MCA or ICA disease: 54 patients with MCA disease and 30 patients with ICA disease. The mean age was younger in patients with MCA than ICA disease (p=0.003). MCA disease clinically more frequently presented with lacunar syndrome (p=0.001). ICA disease more frequently presented with total anterior circulation infarct and had higher initial NIHSS scores than MCA disease (p=0.004 and 0.003, respectively). While whole MCA territorial infarcts were common in ICA disease, deep perforator infarcts were more significantly caused by MCA disease (p< 0.05). MR topographic patterns showed difference between MCA and ICA diseases according to the degree of stenosis (p< 0.05). Cortical dots were significantly accompanied by superficial perforator infarcts than internal borderzone infarcts (p=0.017). CONCLUSIONS: Our present study suggests that clinical and neuroradiological representations might be different between MCA and ICA diseases, which might reflect difference of underlying pathogenesis.

Comparison of Clinical and Neuroradiological Characteristics between Internal Carotid Artery and Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusive Diseases

BACKGROUND: The relative importance of embolic mechanisms as opposed to hemodynamic factor in the pathogenesis of ischemic strokes associated with atherosclerotic middle cerebral artery (MCA) or internal carotid artery (ICA) disease remains unresolved. We conducted the present study to identify the differences of clinicoradiological patterns between MCA or ICA diseases. METHODS: We defined atherosclerotic disease of MCA or ICA as > 50% stenotic lesions or ulcerative plaques. We divided the patients into groups of MCA and ICA diseases, and analyzed clinical, laboratory, and neuroradiological data. RESULTS: Among the 620 consecutive patients with acute ischemic strokes, 84 (12.9%) patients met the criteria for atherosclerotic MCA or ICA disease: 54 patients with MCA disease and 30 patients with ICA disease. The mean age was younger in patients with MCA than ICA disease (p=0.003). MCA disease clinically more frequently presented with lacunar syndrome (p=0.001). ICA disease more frequently presented with total anterior circulation infarct and had higher initial NIHSS scores than MCA disease (p=0.004 and 0.003, respectively). While whole MCA territorial infarcts were common in ICA disease, deep perforator infarcts were more significantly caused by MCA disease (p< 0.05). MR topographic patterns showed difference between MCA and ICA diseases according to the degree of stenosis (p< 0.05). Cortical dots were significantly accompanied by superficial perforator infarcts than internal borderzone infarcts (p=0.017). CONCLUSIONS: Our present study suggests that clinical and neuroradiological representations might be different between MCA and ICA diseases, which might reflect difference of underlying pathogenesis.

A Case of Gliomatosis Cerebri; MRI and MR Spectroscopy Findings

No abstract available.

Neurobiological Pathophysiology of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder / 영남의대학술지

BACKGROUND: Models of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD) that have proposed a hypodopaminergic state resulting in hypofunction of the prefrontal circuitry have assumed a unitary dopamine system, which largely ignores the distinct functional differences between mesocortical dopamine system and nigrostriatal dopamine system. PURPOSE: The author's goal was to develop a pathophysiological model for ADHD with greater explanotory power than dopaminergic hypofunction hypothesis in prefronal circuitry. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Published clinical findings on ADHD were integrated with data from genetic, pharmacological, neuroimaging studies in human and animals. RESULTS: Molecular genetic studies suggest that three genes may increase the susceptibility to ADHD. The three candidate genes associated with ADHD are each involved in dopaminergic function, and this consistent with the neurobiologic studies implicating catecholamines in the etiology of ADHD. Pharmacological data also provide compelling support for dopamine and noradrenergic hypothesis of ADHD. Neuroimaging studies lend substantial support for the hypothesis that right-sided abnormalities of prefrontal-basal ganglia circuit would be found in ADHD. CONCLUSIONS: The present hypothesis takes advantage of the major differences between the two pertinent dopamine systems. Mesocortical dopamine system, which largely lacks inhibitory autoreceptors, is ideally positioned to regulate cortical inputs, thus improving the signal-to-noise ratio for biologically valued signals. In this circuit, therapeutic doses of stimulants are hypothesized to increase postsynaptic dopamine effects and enhance executive functions. By contrast, symptoms of hyperactivity/impulsivity in ADHD are hypothesized to be associated with relative overactivity of nigrostriatal circuit. This nigrostriatal circuit is tightly regulated by inhibitory autoreceptoors as well as by long distance feedback from the cortex, and slow diffusion of therapeutic doses of stimulant via oral administration is hypothesized to produce a net inhibition of dopaminergic neurotransmission and improves hyperactivity.

Changes of Antioxidant Enzyme Activities of Rat Brain in the Stress-Related Responses / 대한정신약물학회지

Renin-Angiotensin system (RAS) has been suggested as one of important factors in stress-related responses, and also suggested to be a pro-oxidant in mammals. Studies about antioxidant activity changes in brain by systemic administration of angiotensin II (Ang II) may be valuable data in the clarification of pathogenesis and development of treatment modalities for the psychologic stress-induced somatic disease, such as stress-induced hypertension. We examined, therefore, antioxidant defense changes in the brain induced by Ang II. Antioxidant enzyme activities including superoxide dismutase (SOD), contents of glutathione (GSH), and lipoperoxidation (LPO) were measured in the dissected specimens of the brain regions after subcutaneous injection of human Ang II. In this study, peripheral administration of Ang II decreased LPO in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, striatum, hypothalamus of Sprague-Dawley rats. Ang II increased activities of SOD, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione reductase in the hippocampus and striatum. Borderline-hypertensive rats (BHR), a well-known animal model for stress-induced hypertension, showed some differences in the Ang II-induced antioxidant activity changes, comparing with SD rats. In the BHR, peripheral administration of Ang II significantly decreased the activities of antioxidant enzymes and contents of GSH, increased LPO contents in the various regions of brain. These results suggested that oxidative stress on the brain due to Ang II may be greater in the BHR than SDs, and RAS may be one of important pathophysiologic factors for stress-induced hypertension in BHR.