Blood biomarkers of post-stroke cognitive impairment / 国际脑血管病杂志

The diagnosis of post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI) mainly depends on clinical manifestation and scale assessment now, but lacks specificity. Studies in recent years have shown that there are biomarkers closely related to PSCI. This article reviews the blood biomarkers of PSCI.

Chasing Tics in the Human Brain: Development of Open, Scheduled and Closed Loop Responsive Approaches to Deep Brain Stimulation for Tourette Syndrome

Tourette syndrome is a childhood-onset disorder characterized by a combination of motor and vocal tics, often associated with psychiatric comorbidities including attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Despite an onset early in life, half of patients may present symptoms in adulthood, with variable degrees of severity. In select cases, the syndrome may lead to significant physical and social impairment, and a worrisome risk for self injury. Evolving research has provided evidence supporting the idea that the pathophysiology of Tourette syndrome is directly related to a disrupted circuit involving the cortex and subcortical structures, including the basal ganglia, nucleus accumbens, and the amygdala. There has also been a notion that a dysfunctional group of neurons in the putamen contributes to an abnormal facilitation of competing motor responses in basal ganglia structures ultimately underpinning the generation of tics. Surgical therapies for Tourette syndrome have been reserved for a small group of patients not responding to behavioral and pharmacological therapies, and these therapies have been directed at modulating the underlying pathophysiology. Lesion therapy as well as deep brain stimulation has been observed to suppress tics in at least some of these cases. In this article, we will review the clinical aspects of Tourette syndrome, as well as the evolution of surgical approaches and we will discuss the evidence and clinical responses to deep brain stimulation in various brain targets. We will also discuss ongoing research and future directions as well as approaches for open, scheduled and closed loop feedback-driven electrical stimulation for the treatment of Tourette syndrome.

Changes of sympathetic skin responses at the acute stage of shoulder-hand syndrome after stroke / 实用医学杂志

Objective To investigate the role of activities of sympathetic nerve in the pathogenesis of shoulder-hand syndrome (SHS) by analyzing the hand sympathetic skin response (SSR) at the acute stage of SHS after stroke. Methods 50 stroke patients with SHS at the acute stage were assigned as SHS group, another 50 stroke patients without SHS as control group (N-SHS group) and 50 health volunteers as health group. Every patient was subjected to the detection of bilateral hand SSR. Results The detection rates of SSR in the SHS group and N-SHS group were significantly lower than that in the Health group (P 0 . 05 ) . In comparison with the health group , bilateral SSR latencies of the SHS group were longer than those of the health group (P<0.05) and bilateral SSR amplitudes were all lower than those of the health group (P<0.01). Conclusions The bilateral hand sympathetic skin responses could change at the acute stage of SHS after stroke, with possible presentations of central inhibition of sympathetic activity. The abnormality of SSR may be an early warning indicator in patients with hemiplegia after stroke complicated with SHS.