ABSTRACT
Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) associated vasculitis is a systemic autoimmune disease that typically presents as a multi-organ manifesting disease of unclear etiology that can predispose to rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (RPGN). If left untreated, ANCA-associated vasculitis can be fatal, and RPGN can progress to irreversible renal failure. Environmental and genetic factors have been implicated in the pathogenesis of this vasculitis. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been noted to have various physiologic impacts on the body, with literature indicating possible autoimmune effects. We present a rare case of ANCA-associated vasculitis in an elderly male with no known autoimmune history after a recent illness with COVID-19. The patient had been seen as an outpatient with progressively declining renal function until he presented to the hospital with acute renal failure and pericarditis. Workup revealed elevated anti-myeloperoxidase antibody (MPO-AB) and perinuclear ANCA (p-ANCA) antibodies with a biopsy confirming focal cresenteric glomerulonephritis, and the patient was initiated on steroid therapy with notable improvement and a return to baseline kidney function.
ABSTRACT
To examine when in the perception-action cycle resolving information-processing conflict modulates signals of the current need for cognitive control, the present work examined event-related potential correlates of response preparation (lateralized readiness potentials; LRPs) and of information-processing conflict (fronto-central N2 responses) on trial n flanker trials, as a function of whether trial n-1 entailed a congruent flanker, an incongruent flanker, or a NoGo cue. Although LRP-indexed erroneous response preparation was substantial on incongruent trials across all levels of trial n-1, N2 amplitudes and behavioral interference effects were attenuated on incongruent trials following NoGo and incongruent (relative to congruent) trials. Even after initial attentional and motor-preparation processes have transpired, then, relatively later control mechanisms appear sufficient to signal a reduced need to engage cognitive control anew.
Subject(s)
Cognition/physiology , Evoked Potentials/physiology , Executive Function/physiology , Mental Processes/physiology , Psychomotor Performance/physiology , Adaptation, Psychological/physiology , Adolescent , Conflict, Psychological , Cues , Data Interpretation, Statistical , Electroencephalography , Female , Humans , Male , Young AdultABSTRACT
Does encountering information-processing conflict recruit general mechanisms of cognitive control or change only the representations of specific cues and responses? In the present experiments, a flanker task elicited responses to symbolic information (arrow meaning), whereas Stroop-like tasks elicited responses to nonsymbolic information (color of a letter or location of a target box). Despite these differences, when participants performed the flanker and Stroop tasks intermittently in randomized orders, the extent of information-processing conflict encountered on a particular trial modulated performance on the following trial. On across-task trial pairs, increases in response time to incongruent relative to congruent stimulus arrays were smaller immediately following incongruent trials than immediately following congruent trials. The degree of cognitive control exerted on a particular task thus appears to reflect not only the quality, but also the quantity, of recent experiences of information-processing conflict.