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Pacientes com epilepsias farmacorresistentes estão cada vez mais se beneficiando do tratamento cirúrgico, dado o avanço nas técnicas de diagnóstico. Com a cirurgia, busca-se tornar o paciente livre de crises sem que para isso sejam provocados déficits neurológicos secundários. Para que isso seja alcançado é fundamental que a região cerebral epileptogênica seja delimitada com precisão. Os principais meios que o neurofisiologista dispõe para localizar a zona epileptogênica (ZE) na avaliação pré-cirurgica são a eletroencefalografia escapelar e a ressonância magnética (RM). Nos casos em que a RM não apresenta lesões ou os dados obtidos são conflitantes as técnicas de imagem funcional tais como a tomografia por emissão de fóton único (SPECT) e a tomografia por emissão de pósitron passam a ter um papel decisivo. O SPECT crítico apresenta uma imagem da perfusão sanguínea cerebral no momento da crise evidenciando, assim, as áreas cerebrais que estavam mais ativas. A técnica de subtração do SPECT intercrítico do crítico e o corregistro deste resultado coma RM do paciente (SISCOM) tem sido estudada como uma maneira de aumentar a sensibilidade e especificidade do SPECT crítico. Este trabalho buscou estudar e validar o papel dos SPECT crítico, intercrítico e SISCOM na localização da ZE. Todos os pacientes com suspeita de epilepsias refratária do lobo frontal baseada nos outros exames, operados no período de 2007 a 2011 e que realizaram um SPECT crítico e um intercrítico foram considerados nesse estudo. Para cada SPECT crítico foi realizado o SISCOM e o resultado comparado com o local da ressecção e o resultado cirúrgico sendo calculadas as métricas de desempenho diagnóstico de cada um dos métodos de neuroimagem funcional. No total foram operados 14 pacientes e 5 tiveram um bom resultado cirúrgico. O SPECT crítico apresentou 40% de sensibilidade e 88,9% de especificidade enquanto que o SPECT intercrítico apresentou 40% de sensibilidade e 66,7% de especificidade. O SISCOM foi o método com melhores parâmetros de desempenho apresentando uma sensibilidade de 60% e uma especificidade de 88,9%. Esses resultados coadunam com os dados encontrados na literatura em que o SISCOM é o estado da arte na interpretação do SPECT crítico e sugerem que o SISCOM tem potencial para ser utilizado na avaliação pré-cirurgica de pacientes com suspeita de epilepsias do lobo frontal. / The surgical treatment for patients with intractable epilepsies has become more efficient with the evolution of diagnosis techniques. The surgery aims at rendering the patient free of seizures, without postoperative neurological deficits. In order to accomplish this, it is of major importance to precisely delineate the epileptogenic zone (EZ). The main exams the neurologists use in order to find the EZ in the pre-surgical evaluation are the scalp electroencephalography and the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, in cases where the MRI doesn\'t show any lesion or there are conflicting data, functional imaging such as Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) and Positron Emission Tomography techniques play a crucial role. Ictal SPECT shows a snapshot of cerebral blood perfusion during the seizure, highlighting the most active areas during the ictus state and it has been shown this technique is useful in localizing the EZ in frontal lobe epilepsy cases. Sensitivity and specificity of ictal SPECT might be improved by a developed Computer Aided Diagnosis tool that subtracts the interictal SPECT image from the ictal one and coregisters the result with the MRI (SISCOM). In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the contribution of SISCOM to the pre-surgical evaluation in frontal lobe epilepsies. We considered for this study patients submitted to frontal lobe epilepsy surgery at our institution between 2007 and 2011 and with at least one ictal and one interictal SPECT. 14 patients were included and only 5 had a good outcome after the surgery. The ictal SPECT had a sensibility of 40% and specificity of 88,9% while the interictal SPECT showed a sensibility of 40% and a specificity of 66,7%. The sensitivity of the SISCOM tool was 60% and the specificity 88,9%.These results agree with the literature showing that SISCOM is the state-of-the-art in interpreting the ictal SPECT and has the potential to be used during presurgical evaluation of patients being considered for surgical treatment of frontal lobe epilepsy.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed November 7, 2007). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität zu Münster, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references.

Trots den omfattande forskning som utförts om både priming och emotioner, och relationen dem emellan, finns det ännu idag anledning att fortsätta söka fördjupa förståelsen av hur emotionell priming processeras i hjärnan. Den aktuella studien har ämnat utgöra en liten men relevant del av neuropsykologins kontinuerliga arbete med att underbygga fortsatta framsteg och fördjupad förståelse om hur människans hjärna arbetar. Experiment med emotionell priming har genomförts, för att med EEG-mätningar undersöka hjärnans reaktioner. Studiens resultat uppvisar en neurologisk skillnad mellan hur hjärnan reagerar på leende ansikten jämfört med neutrala ansikten. Däremot kunde ingen primingeffekt påvisas vid upprepade tester, vilket skulle kunna tyda på att priming inte sker på neurologisk nivå utan kräver någon form av medveten eller omedveten kognitiv aktivering för att ha någon effekt. / Despite the extensive research conducted on both priming and emotions, and the relationship between them, there is still reason to further seek to deepen our understanding of how emotional priming is processed in the brain. The current study aimed to be a small but relevant part of neuropsychology's ongoing work in supporting continued progress and in-depth understanding of how the human brain works. Experiments with emotional priming have been carried out to examine the brain's reactions with EEG measurements. The results of the study show a neurological difference between how the brain reacts to smiling faces versus neutral faces. However, no priming effect could be detected in repeated tests, which could indicate that priming does not occur at the neurological level but requires some form of conscious or unconscious cognitive activation to have an effect.

Inhibitory control, described as the ability to suppress one response in favor of a goal-directed response, is thought to play an important role in the development of emotional regulation as well as various forms of psychopathology, including ADHD. Up until very recently, inhibitory control has been researched within two completely separate fields of study: temperament and neuropsychology. In the temperament/personality literature, inhibitory control is a major component of the overarching temperament/personality factor of Effortful Control/Conscientiousness. In the field of neuropsychology, inhibitory control is considered one aspect of executive function. Further complicating the current understanding of inhibitory control is the complexity of the underlying neural networks implicated in inhibitory control. This study examined inhibitory control in temperament and executive function in children with and without ADHD, and it explored the relationship between inhibitory control and the superior frontal cortex (SFC) and orbital frontal cortex (OFC) volumes. In order to assess subareas of the OFC and SFC, an innovative parcellation method was used. Results suggested that the temperament and executive function measures of inhibitory control did form a single factor as long as they were measured within the same modality, parent-report. In contrast, the performance-based measure of inhibitory control was not correlated with any of the parent-report measures of inhibitory control and was, therefore, analyzed separately in relation to OFC and SFC volumes. Parent-rated inhibitory control was predicted by ADHD status only, but exploratory analyses suggested that left anterior SFC, right and left anterior medial OFC, and gender were related to parent-rated inhibitory control. In contrast, performance-based inhibitory control was predicted by gender and left SFC, specifically posterior left SFC. Taken together, these findings suggest a conceptual overlap between temperament and executive function that brings together two areas of the literature and has implications for the understanding of various forms of psychopathology characterized by deficits in inhibitory control. This study provides evidence for the role of the SFC and the OFC in inhibitory control, depending upon the measurement method, and contributes to the broader understanding of the neural mechanisms of inhibitory control in children.

Through an attractive hypothesis of work, we present the relaTionship between the frontal lobes and the neurobiological bases of Freud's psychoanalytic theory. We review and discuss the psycophysiological and clinical aproachs, in order to understand this relationship, arriving to the final examination of the organic and functional "disolutions" of the brain. We study and discuss the clinical progressive symptoms of the dementia and the differencial diagnosis of abnormal behavior, inrerpreted under the bases of Freud's theory. In this way it would be possible to arrive through some tempting interpretation of the psychopatic behavior, drug addiction and the last "syndrome of terrorism". / Se trata de establecer mediante una atractiva hipótesis de trabajo, las relaciones entre los lóbulo frontales y las bases neurobiológicas de la teoría freudiana del psicoanálisis. Se presenran y discuten las aproximaciones psicofisiológicas y clínicas, en la interpretación de estas relaciones, llegando al análisis final de las "disoluciones" orgánicas y funcionales del cerebro, pasando revista a los síntomas de la demencia y cuadros clínicos diferenciales, por los cuales se puede llegar a la interpretación freudiana de la psicopatía, la farmacodependencia y el síndrome del terrorismo.

Pacientes com epilepsias farmacorresistentes estão cada vez mais se beneficiando do tratamento cirúrgico, dado o avanço nas técnicas de diagnóstico. Com a cirurgia, busca-se tornar o paciente livre de crises sem que para isso sejam provocados déficits neurológicos secundários. Para que isso seja alcançado é fundamental que a região cerebral epileptogênica seja delimitada com precisão. Os principais meios que o neurofisiologista dispõe para localizar a zona epileptogênica (ZE) na avaliação pré-cirurgica são a eletroencefalografia escapelar e a ressonância magnética (RM). Nos casos em que a RM não apresenta lesões ou os dados obtidos são conflitantes as técnicas de imagem funcional tais como a tomografia por emissão de fóton único (SPECT) e a tomografia por emissão de pósitron passam a ter um papel decisivo. O SPECT crítico apresenta uma imagem da perfusão sanguínea cerebral no momento da crise evidenciando, assim, as áreas cerebrais que estavam mais ativas. A técnica de subtração do SPECT intercrítico do crítico e o corregistro deste resultado coma RM do paciente (SISCOM) tem sido estudada como uma maneira de aumentar a sensibilidade e especificidade do SPECT crítico. Este trabalho buscou estudar e validar o papel dos SPECT crítico, intercrítico e SISCOM na localização da ZE. Todos os pacientes com suspeita de epilepsias refratária do lobo frontal baseada nos outros exames, operados no período de 2007 a 2011 e que realizaram um SPECT crítico e um intercrítico foram considerados nesse estudo. Para cada SPECT crítico foi realizado o SISCOM e o resultado comparado com o local da ressecção e o resultado cirúrgico sendo calculadas as métricas de desempenho diagnóstico de cada um dos métodos de neuroimagem funcional. No total foram operados 14 pacientes e 5 tiveram um bom resultado cirúrgico. O SPECT crítico apresentou 40% de sensibilidade e 88,9% de especificidade enquanto que o SPECT intercrítico apresentou 40% de sensibilidade e 66,7% de especificidade. O SISCOM foi o método com melhores parâmetros de desempenho apresentando uma sensibilidade de 60% e uma especificidade de 88,9%. Esses resultados coadunam com os dados encontrados na literatura em que o SISCOM é o estado da arte na interpretação do SPECT crítico e sugerem que o SISCOM tem potencial para ser utilizado na avaliação pré-cirurgica de pacientes com suspeita de epilepsias do lobo frontal. / The surgical treatment for patients with intractable epilepsies has become more efficient with the evolution of diagnosis techniques. The surgery aims at rendering the patient free of seizures, without postoperative neurological deficits. In order to accomplish this, it is of major importance to precisely delineate the epileptogenic zone (EZ). The main exams the neurologists use in order to find the EZ in the pre-surgical evaluation are the scalp electroencephalography and the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, in cases where the MRI doesn\'t show any lesion or there are conflicting data, functional imaging such as Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) and Positron Emission Tomography techniques play a crucial role. Ictal SPECT shows a snapshot of cerebral blood perfusion during the seizure, highlighting the most active areas during the ictus state and it has been shown this technique is useful in localizing the EZ in frontal lobe epilepsy cases. Sensitivity and specificity of ictal SPECT might be improved by a developed Computer Aided Diagnosis tool that subtracts the interictal SPECT image from the ictal one and coregisters the result with the MRI (SISCOM). In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the contribution of SISCOM to the pre-surgical evaluation in frontal lobe epilepsies. We considered for this study patients submitted to frontal lobe epilepsy surgery at our institution between 2007 and 2011 and with at least one ictal and one interictal SPECT. 14 patients were included and only 5 had a good outcome after the surgery. The ictal SPECT had a sensibility of 40% and specificity of 88,9% while the interictal SPECT showed a sensibility of 40% and a specificity of 66,7%. The sensitivity of the SISCOM tool was 60% and the specificity 88,9%.These results agree with the literature showing that SISCOM is the state-of-the-art in interpreting the ictal SPECT and has the potential to be used during presurgical evaluation of patients being considered for surgical treatment of frontal lobe epilepsy.

Cette étude aborde le problème de l’aggravation du risque de fractures de côtes chez les automobilistesâgés en choc frontal. L’analyse de la bibliographie fait ressortir que les moyens actuels d’évaluationdu risque de fractures ne permettent pas de prendre en compte les différences anatomiques et depropriétés mécaniques du thorax observées chez les personnes âgées. Les modèles éléments finis (EF)personnalisés du corps humain offrent un grand potentiel en tant qu’outil avancé d’évaluation durisque de blessures. Toutefois, des données expérimentales sont nécessaires pour valider ces modèlesdans des conditions réalistes. De plus, le choix du niveau de personnalisation et la sensibilité de laréponse du modèle à celle-ci doivent être évaluées.Des expérimentations in vivo menés sur des volontaires ceinturés en choc léger, de différents âges etanthropométries, ont été réalisées. Ces tests ont permis d’étudier l’influence de l’âge et de lacorpulence sur la réponse mécanique du thorax et ont permis l’obtention de corridors nécessaires à lavalidation de modèles EF personnalisés. La géométrie du modèle numérique THUMS a été adaptée àcelle des volontaires et les propriétés mécaniques du thorax ont été modifiées au vu du vieillissementpour effectuer une analyse similaire dans le domaine lésionnel. Les simulations numériques ont mis enévidence un risque accru de fracture de côtes pour certains modèles personnalisés.Cette étude devrait permettre de mieux estimer le risque de blessure pour les automobilistesvulnérables. Elle devrait contribuer ainsi à promouvoir les modèles personnalisés du corps humaincomme outil avancé d’évaluation du risque de blessures. / This study deals with the topic of increased risk of rib fractures among elderly drivers infrontal impact. The analysis of the literature reveals that actual thorax injury assessment tools do nottake into account for the differences in anatomical features and biological material properties observedbetween adults and elderly. Personalized human body finite element (FE) models have great potentialas improved thorax injury assessment tools. However, experimental data are needed to validate thesemodels under real-world conditions. In addition, the choice of the level of personalization of the modeland the sensibility of the model response to this personalization must be assessed to predict thoracicinjury risk.In vivo sled tests were performed on belted volunteers of various anthropometries and age. These testswere used to assess the influence of age and corpulence on thorax mechanical response and allowed toobtain corridor responses needed to validate personalized FE models. The geometry of the FE modelTHUMS was adapted to the volunteers and the thorax material properties were modified consideringaging to carry out a similar analysis in the injurious domain. Numerical simulations highlighted anincreased risk of rib fractures for specific personalized models.This study should help to better estimate the injury risk for car occupants. It should contribute topromote personalized human body models as attractive thorax injury assessment tool ofvulnerable individuals.

Projections from medial agranular cortex to brain stem in rat were determined by use of the anterograde tracers Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin, or wheat germ agglutinin conjugated horseradish peroxidase. Axonal trajectories were also followed by means of the Wiitanen modification of the Fink-Heimer degeneration technique. AGm was identified on the basis of its cytoarchitectonics. AGm projected to the anterior pretectal nucleus, the rostral interstitial nucleus of the medial longitudinal fasciculus, the medial accessory oculomotor nucleus of Bechterew, the interstitial nucleus of Cajal, the nucleus of Darkschewitsch, the nucleus cuneiformis and subcuneiformis, intermediate and deep superior collicular layers, the paramedian pontine reticular formation (reticularis pontis oralis and caudalis, and reticularis gigantocellularis), and raphe centralis superior. Differences in connections between rostral and caudal injections were observed: pontine and medullary projections were lighter from the rostral portion of AGm than from the more caudal portions of AGm. The heaviest projections to the anterior pretectal nucleus were from the caudal portion of AGm. The subcortical projections were very similar to those described for the frontal eye field in monkeys, and the majority of them targeted areas thought to be involved in coordination of gaze with head and neck movements. Thus AGm in rats may contain the homologue of the primate frontal eye fields.