Cognitive control enhancement in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and neurotypical individuals.

Cognitive control, which has been localized to the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) based on functional imaging and brain lesion studies, is impaired in patients with ADHD. The present study aims to investigate whether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the rIFG might improve cognitive control in ADHD subjects. We hypothesized poorer performance in a cognitive control task, but not in a control language task, in the ADHD subjects. Crucially, following tDCS, we expected the ADHD group to improve their cognitive control. In a double-blind randomized control trial, 42 participants performed the stop signal task (SST) to index their cognitive control level and the language task. Half of them were randomly assigned to the anodal stimulation condition and half to the sham stimulation. The anodal or sham stimulation was applied over the right IFG. Following the stimulation, the participants reset the two tasks to see whether stimulation improved the (predicted) weaker performance in the ADHD group. Stimulation significantly enhanced cognitive control for both groups, with or without ADHD, in the SST task, but no significant stimulation effects were found for the control task. tDCS seems as a promising tool to improve cognitive control in the general population.

The Role of 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron-Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography in the Diagnosis of Postoperative Hardware-Related Spinal Infections.

BACKGROUND: Implant-related spinal infections are a surgical complication associated with high morbidity. Due to infection, hardware removal may be necessary, which could lead to pseudarthrosis and the loss of stability and alignment. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the accuracy and diagnostic value of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) in the workup of patients with suspected implant-related infections of the spine and to assess the clinical impact of PET/CT results on the management of these infections. METHODS: The study included nine consecutive patients with a history of spinal surgery who underwent PET/CT for evaluation of suspected spinal implant related infection. All imaging studies were performed between January 2011 and December 2013. All 18F-FDG PET/CT scans were performed on an 8 slice PET/CT following an 18F-FDG injection. Images were scored both visually and semi-quantitatively by a radiology expert. Results were compared to additional imaging studies when available, which were correlated to clinical and bacteriological findings allowing calculation of sensitivity, specificity and accuracy. RESULTS: Among the patients, five experienced hardware-related spinal infection. 18F-FDG PET/CT sensitivity was 80%, specificity 100%, and accuracy 88.9%. One scan produced a false negative; however, a second PET/CT scan revealed an infection. CONCLUSIONS: PET/CT was found to be valuable for the diagnosis of postoperative hardware-related spinal infection, especially when other imaging modalities were uninformative or inconclusive. As such, PET/CT could be useful for management of infection treatment.