ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: A number of neuroimaging and neuropathological studies have reported abnormalities in the cerebellar vermis in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. In an effort to further understand vermal abnormalities in mental illness, we have analyzed ectopic placement of Purkinje-like cells. METHODS: The superior cerebellar vermis was evaluated in 39 cases of severe mental illness [schizophrenia (n = 12), bipolar disease (n = 12), and depression (n = 15)]. We also examined 9 subjects with polysubstance abuse and 15 normal controls. All normally placed Purkinje cells and displaced Purkinje-like cells (i.e., in the internal granule layer and intrafoliar white matter) were counted in the same foliar field. The ratio of displaced Purkinje-like cells to total Purkinje cells and Purkinje cell density were calculated. RESULTS: No significant difference in the ratio of displaced to normally placed Purkinje cells or in Purkinje cell density between groups of subjects was found. CONCLUSIONS: Our study does not support a hypothesis of abnormalities of Purkinje cell migration or other events related to their displacement as a basis for the vermal abnormalities reported previously in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Subject(s)
Cerebellum/cytology , Mental Disorders/pathology , Purkinje Cells/cytology , Adult , Alcoholism/pathology , Analysis of Variance , Bipolar Disorder/pathology , Cell Count , Cerebellum/pathology , Depressive Disorder/pathology , Female , Humans , Male , Purkinje Cells/pathology , Schizophrenia/pathology , Substance-Related Disorders/pathologyABSTRACT
A 60-year-old patient developed leg weakness leading to spasticity, secondary to a sharply localized infarction of the medullary pyramids. Within a month, spasticity had replaced the initial flaccidity. Several years later, rupture of an atherosclerotic aneurysm of the basilar artery led to subarachnoid hemorrhage and eventual death.
Subject(s)
Infarction/complications , Pyramidal Tracts/blood supply , Brain/pathology , Female , Humans , Infarction/pathology , Intracranial Aneurysm/complications , Medulla Oblongata , Middle Aged , Muscle Spasticity/etiology , Spinal Cord/pathologyABSTRACT
The syndrome of slowly progressive aphasia usually has been associated with Pick's disease, Alzheimer's disease, or an isolated focal degenerative disorder of unknown etiology involving the left perisylvian cortex. This report is of a patient with progressive aphasia due to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
