Emotional reactions in patients after frontal lobe stroke.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Emotional reactions have been documented after tumor lesions and the other damages of the brain. The aim of this paper was to examine the correlation between frontal lobe lesions and emotional reactions in patients with stroke. METHODS: The research included 118 patients after stroke. Lesion localization was defined on computed axial tomography records, whereas the area and perimeter of lesion were measured by AutoCAD 2004 software. Examinations by means of the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety and Depression (HRSA and HRSD) were carried out 11-40 days after stroke. Statistic data were processed by simple linear/nonlinear regression, Cox's and the generalized linear model. RESULTS: A higher frequency of emotional reactions, i.e. anxiety, was determined in women after stroke (p = 0.024). A negative correlation between the lesion size and the intensity of anxiety manifestations was determined (Spearman's r = -0.297; p = 0.001). Anxiety was more frequent in patients with frontal lobe lesions in the dominant hemisphere (interaction: frontal lesion * hand dominant hemisphere, p = 0.017). Also, HRSD score values showed the tendency for lesser decline in case of greater frontal lobe lesions in relation to lesions of other regions of prosencephalon (interaction: frontal lesion * lesion area, p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate the correlation between evolutionary younger structures of the central nervous system and emotional reactions of man. Therefore, it is necessary to undertake proper early psychopharmacotherapy in the vulnerable group of patients.

[Digital morphometric study of the extrasulcal surface of the cingulate gyrus in man].

INTRODUCTION: The frequency of different morphological types and extrasulcal (visible) surface area of the cingulate gyrus, were measured and analysed in order to obtain more precise data about morphology, right/left and sex differences in the human brain. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 42 brains (84 hemispheres) from persons of both sexes and of different age (26 males, 16 females, 20-65 years old), without neuropathological changes. After fixation in 10% formaline (3-4 weeks) and removal of meninges the brains were photographed under standard conditions by digital camera. Following determination of morphological type, regions of interest of cingulate gyrus were determined in stereotactic system system of coordinates and the extrasulcal surface was measured by digital AutoCAD planimetry. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Three basic morphological types of cingulate gyrus were found: the continuous type (34.5%), segmented type (35.7%) and double paralel type (29.8%). There was no statistically significant difference in the frequency of morphological types related to the side (right/left) or sex (p 0.05). The area of extrasulcal cortex of cingulate gyrus was statistically significantly (p < 0.05) larger on the left hemispheres (for 1.13 cm) than on the right (left: 14.58 cm; right: 13.45 cnm. 7he extrasulcal surface of the left cingulate gyrus was significantly larger (p 0 .05) in males (males 15.9 cm; females - 13.6 cm), while for the right cingulate gyrus this difference was not significant. CONCLUSION: Morphometry indicated sex and right/left differences of extrasulcal surface area of the human cingulate gyrus. However, the morphological analysis itself did not indicate corresponding differences, suggesting complexity of the problem of sex dimorphism and of right/left asymmetries in the domain of limbic cortex.

[Asymmetry and sexual dimorphism of the medial frontal gyrus visible surface in humans].

BACKGROUND/AIM: Studies of visible (extrasulcal) surface of the brain hemispheres are not feasible for measurements of the brain size, but are valuable for analysis and quantification of sexual dimorphism and/or asymmetries of the human brain. Morphological and morphometric investigations of the brain may contribute in genetic studies of the human nervous system. The aim of this study was to determine and to quantify sexual dimorphism and the right/left morphological asymmetry of the visible surface of medial frontal gyms (gyrus frontalis medialis - GFM). METHODS: Measurements and analysis of the visible surface of GFM were done on 84 hemispheres (42 brains from the persons of both sexes: 26 males and 16 females, 20-65 years of age). After fixation in 10% formalin and dissection, digital morphometric measurements were performed. We studied these in relation to the side of the hemisphere and the person's sex. Standardized digital AutoCAD planimetry of the visible surface of GFM was enabled by the use of coordinate system of intercommissural line. RESULTS: In the whole sample, the visible surface of the right GFM (21.39 cm2) was statistically significantly greater (p < 0.05) than the left GFM (18.35 cm2) indicating the right/left asymmetry of the visible surface of GFM. Also, the visible surface of the right GFM in the males (22.66 cm2) was significantly greater (p < 0.05) than in the females (19.35 cm2), while the difference in size of the left GFM between the males and the females was not significant (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Morphological analysis of visible surface of GFM performed by digital planimetry showed sexual dimorphism of the visible surface and the presence of right/left asymmetry of GFM.

[Sexual dimorphism of the human corpus callosum--digital morphometric study].

BACKGROUND/AIM: Changes in the morphology and the size of the corpus callosum, are related to various pathological conditions. An analysis of these changes requires data about sexual dimorphism of the corpus callosum, which we tried to obtain in our study. We also investigated the method of digital morphometry and compared the obtained results with the results of other authors obtained by magnetic resonance imaging or by planimetry. METHODS: A morphological research included 34 human brains (cadavers of both sexes--19 female and 15 male aged 26-72 years). By digital morphometry using an AutoCAD software we performed measurements in the corpus callosum: the length (L), width in the half of its length (WW'), length of its cortical margin (LCM), area and perimeter of the anterior and posterior callosal segments, as well as the area and perimeter of the corpus callosum section area. The investigated parameters were analyzed and compared between the females and males. RESULTS: There was not a statistically significant difference between the males and females in the investigated parameters of the corpus callosum (t test; p > 0.05), including the mean values of the two most important parameters, the surface of its mid-sagittal section area (males 654.11 mm2; females 677.40 mm2) and of its perimeter (males 19.61 cm; females 19.72 cm). The results obtained by digital morphometry were in the range of the results of other authors obtained by magnetic resonance and by planimetry. However, the value of Pearson coefficient of linear correlation between the section surface area and perimeter of the corpus callosum in the males was highly significant (rxy = 0.6943, p < 0.01), while in the females this value was statistically insignificant. CONCLUSION: Digital morphometry is accurate method in encephalometric investigations. Our results suggest that the problem of sexual dimorphism of the corpus callosum is very complex, because the identical variables (section surface area or its perimeter) do not exhibit the same behavior in males and in females, implicating that these variables even cannot be simply compared between the sexes.