Neural basis of maternal communication and emotional expression processing during infant preverbal stage.

During the first year of life, exchanges and communication between a mother and her infant are exclusively preverbal and are based on the mother's ability to understand her infant's needs and feelings (i.e., empathy) and on imitation of the infant's facial expressions; this promotes a social dialog that influences the development of the infant self. Sixteen mothers underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while observing and imitating faces of their own child and those of someone else's child. We found that the mirror neuron system, the insula and amygdala were more active during emotional expressions, that this circuit is engaged to a greater extent when interacting with one's own child, and that it is correlated with maternal reflective function (a measure of empathy). We also found, by comparing single emotions with each other, that joy expressions evoked a response mainly in right limbic and paralimbic areas; by contrast, ambiguous expressions elicited a response in left high order cognitive and motor areas, which might reflect cognitive effort.

Uso de Benzodiazepínicos entre Idosos residentes na comunidade: prevalencia, impacto sobre a funçäo cognitiva e sobre o sono / Benzodiazepine tratment among elderly patients in the comunity: prevalence and impact in the cognitive function and sleep

OBJETIVOS: 1) Determinar a prevalencia do uso diario e continuo de benzoadiazepínicos entre idosos residentes na comunidade.2) Identificar o impacto deste uso sobre os padröes do sono e sobre a funçäo cognitiva.MATERIAL E METODOS: de

The rhythms of human premolar eruption: a study using continuous observation.

New optical technology now allows for precise observation of erupting human premolars. Continuous overnight tracking of an erupting tooth with a video microscope system shows that eruption occurs almost exclusively during the early evening. During the day, slight intrusion is likely to occur. When Moiré magnification is used to provide extremely high resolution (0.05 micrometer), slight movements of the erupting tooth in concert with the arterial pulse can be observed, and a previously unknown cyclic movement with a period of 20 to 50 seconds is seen consistently. Rhythms in skeletal growth and tooth eruption suggest that treatment to influence jaw growth and move teeth may be most effective at specific times of the day.

High-resolution observations of human premolar eruption.

Using an optical instrument based on the principle of Moire magnification to obtain resolution of less than 0.1 mu m, eruption of maxillary second premolars was observed during the prefunctional phase of eruption in 10 children. The participants were observed on four occasions for approx. 30 min each, once in the afternoon and once in the evening on two consecutive days. For all participants, a pulsatile movement of the erupting tooth was noted in concert with the arterial pulse. Significant variations in short-term eruption rates and patterns were observed, with a mean rate of 0.28 mu m/min over continuous 20-min periods but a range from -0.91 to 2.29 mu m/min. During most sessions net eruption occurred, but in several of the 30-min periods there was little movement or intrusion. An unexplained cyclic phenomenon was observed consistently, which had a period of 20-50 s and a range of magnitudes from 0.12 to 2.22 mu m. It seems clear that a discontinuous pattern of eruption occurs in short-term as well as longer-term observations.

The application of Moire magnification to high-resolution studies of human premolar eruption.

The optical phenomenon of Moire magnification can be used to provide real-time measurements of the position of an erupting human premolar, with a resolution of 0.1 micron or better. A new instrument for this purpose, which allows repeated measurements in the same individual, is described. Cyclic changes in the position of the erupting tooth in concert with the heartbeat, with a magnitude of 0.05-0.35 micron, can be discerned. An unusual cyclic rhythm, with a period of 20-50 s, was observed.

Evaluation of the use of orthodontic records to measure the width of keratinized tissue.

Understanding the gingival tissue response in patients undergoing orthodontic treatment requires accurate pretreatment measurements of the width of the attached and keratinized tissue. Even though these may not be routinely recorded, it has been suggested that the orthodontic records can provide an accurate method of assessing the pretreatment keratinized tissue width. This clinical study was conducted to compare measures of the width of the keratinized tissue calculated from intraoral photographs and study models with direct clinical measures. Maxillary and mandibular study models and intraoral photographs were obtained from 33 patients. The width of the keratinized gingiva facial to the mandibular incisors was measured on two occasions to the nearest 0.5 mm. The width of the gingiva was calculated for the same teeth from two measures taken from projected photographic slides and the study models using a modification of Coatoam's technique. The method error was determined to be 0.43 mm for clinical measures and 0.32 mm for the calculated gingival tissue width. The reliability of measurement from orthodontic records was slightly greater than direct clinical measurement, with intraclass correlations of 0.93 and 0.90, respectively. The differences between the averaged clinical measure and averaged calculated measure for each tooth were small and not statistically significant (paired t-test, P = 0.21, 0.66, 0.24, 0.24 for teeth 23 through 26 respectively). The results indicate that carefully taken photographic slides and study models can provide an accurate measure of keratinized tissue width.

The effect of treatment on facial attractiveness.

Pretreatment and posttreatment frontal and profile slides of 13 orthodontic camouflage and 13 orthognathic surgery patients were shown to three panels of judges: an orthodontic, an oral surgery, and a "lay" panel of first-semester dental students. Each judge rated the facial attractiveness of the pretreatment and posttreatment views of each patient using a visual analog scale. A mean pretreatment and posttreatment score was then calculated for each treatment group for each judge. Paired t tests were used to compare the treatment groups and time periods. The orthodontic camouflage group was rated as significantly more attractive than the orthognathic surgery patients before treatment. There was no significant change in the facial attractiveness mean score for the orthodontic group, whereas the orthognathic surgery group was rated as showing a significant improvement. However, the orthognathic surgery group was still rated as being significantly less attractive after treatment than the orthodontics-only group.