A foreign speech accent in a case of conversion disorder.

Posted on July 6, 2007 by Maurice Preter MD
Behav Neurol. 2005;16(4):225-32. Related Articles, Links
 
A foreign speech accent in a case of conversion disorder.

Verhoeven J, Mariën P, Engelborghs S, D’Haenen H, De Deyn P.

Department of Linguistics, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium. jo.verhoeven@ua.ac.be

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper is to report the psychiatric, neuroradiological and linguistic characteristics in a native speaker of Dutch who developed speech symptoms which strongly resemble Foreign Accent Syndrome. BACKGROUND: Foreign Accent Syndrome is a rare speech production disorder in which the speech of a patient is perceived as foreign by speakers of the same speech community. This syndrome is generally related to focal brain damage. Only in few reported cases the Foreign Accent Syndrome is assumed to be of psychogenic and/or psychotic origin. METHOD: In addition to clinical and neuroradiological examinations, an extensive test battery of standardized neuropsychological and neurolinguistic investigations was carried out. Two samples of the patient’s spontaneous speech were analysed and compared to a 500,000-words reference corpus of 160 normal native speakers of Dutch. RESULTS: The patient had a prominent French accent in her pronunciation of Dutch. This accent had persisted over the past eight years and has become progressively stronger. The foreign qualities of her speech did not only relate to pronunciation, but also to the lexicon, syntax and pragmatics. Structural as well as functional neuroimaging did not reveal evidence that could account for the behavioural symptoms. By contrast psychological investigations indicated conversion disorder. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge this is the first reported case of a foreign accent like syndrome in conversion disorder.

Publication Types:

PMID: 16518013 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]

Posted in News | Tagged |

Unexplained neurologic symptoms: an fMRI study of sensory conversion disorder.

Posted on July 6, 2007 by Maurice Preter MD
Neurology. 2006 Dec 12;67(11):2036-8. Related Articles, Links
 
Comment in:

Unexplained neurologic symptoms: an fMRI study of sensory conversion disorder.

Ghaffar O, Staines WR, Feinstein A.

Neuropsychiatry Division, Department of Psychiatry, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, FG08-2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, ON M4N 3M5, Canada.

We investigated three subjects with unexplained sensory loss meeting criteria for conversion disorder using brain fMRI during unilateral and bilateral vibrotactile stimulation. In each subject, stimulation of the affected limb did not produce activation of the contralateral primary somatosensory (S1) region, whereas bilateral limb stimulation did. These findings implicate selective alterations in primary sensorimotor cortex activity in conversion disorder, and may also reconcile the discordant results of previous studies.

Publication Types:

PMID: 17159115 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]

Posted in News | Tagged |

Practice and perfect: length of training and structural brain changes in experienced typists.

Posted on June 17, 2007 by Maurice Preter MD
 
Neuroreport. 2007 Jul 2;18(10):1063-6. Related Articles
Practice and perfect: length of training and structural brain changes in experienced typists.

Cannonieri GC, Bonilha L, Fernandes PT, Cendes F, Li LM.

aLaboratory of Neuroimaging, Department of Neurology, State University of Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil bDepartments of Neuropsychiatry and Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, South Carolina, USA.

Motor training results in performance improvement. It is not yet fully understood the extent to which functional improvement is reflected in changes in brain structure. To investigate the presence and degree of structural brain plasticity induced by long-term bimanual motor activity, we studied 17 right-handed professional typists with average duration of typing practice of 11 years. Using optimized voxel-based morphometry, we correlated the duration of practice and grey matter volume. Regions of interest were applied using 116 previously segmented predefined brain sites. We found a significant positive regression between grey matter volume and duration of practice in brain regions related to the programming of motor tasks. Long-term bimanual training may increase grey matter volume in the brains of professional typists.

PMID: 17558297 [PubMed – in process]

Posted in Psychiatry/Neurology | Tagged |

Traditional Chinese herbal remedies for asthma and food allergy.

Posted on June 17, 2007 by Maurice Preter MD
 
J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2007 Jun 7; [Epub ahead of print]
 Related Articles
Traditional Chinese herbal remedies for asthma and food allergy.

Li XM.

From the Department of Pediatrics, Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

The increasing prevalence of allergic diseases in Westernized countries is a significant health problem. Curative therapies for these diseases are not available. There are also significant concerns regarding the potential side effects from the chronic use of conventional drugs such as corticosteroids, especially in children. Many patients with chronic allergic conditions seek complementary and alternative medicine therapies including traditional Chinese medicines. This trend has begun to attract interest from mainstream health care providers and scientific investigators and has stimulated government agencies in the United States to provide support and guidance for the scientific investigation of complementary and alternative medicine. This effort may lead to improved therapies and better health care/patient outcomes. This review presents an update on the most promising Chinese herbal remedies for asthma and food allergy.

PMID: 17560638 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]

Posted in Events |

Well-being of institutionalized elders after Yang-style Tai Chi practice

Posted on June 17, 2007 by Maurice Preter MD

Well-being of institutionalized elders after Yang-style Tai Chi practice

  • Kuei-Min Chen PhD, RN,
  • Ya-Chuan Hsu MS, RN,
  • Wen-Ting Chen MS, RN and
  • Hung-Fu Tseng PhD
  • Associate Professor, Department of Nursing, Fooyin University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
  • Instructor, Department of Nursing, Meiho Institute of Technology, Pingtung, Taiwan
  • Instructor, Department of Nursing, Fooyin University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
  • Associate Professor, Institute of Medical Research, Chang-Jung Christian University, Taiwan, Taiwan
Kuei-Min Chen
Department of Nursing
Fooyin University
151 Chin-Hsueh Rd.
Ta-Liao Township
Kaohsiung 831
Taiwan
Telephone: +886-931378188
E-mail: ns148@mail.fy.edu.tw
chen k-m, hsu y-c, chen w-t & tseng h-f (2007)  Journal of Clinical Nursing 16, 845–852
Well-being of institutionalized elders after Yang-style Tai Chi practice

Abstract

Aims and objectives. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Tai Chi on the physical and psychological well-being of elders who resided in long-term care facilities.

Background. The beneficial effects of Tai Chi on elders’ well-being have been well-documented; however, most of the studies focused on community-dwelling or healthier elders.

Design and methods. In this longitudinal, time-series, quasi-experimental study, a convenience sample of 28 institutionalized elders was recruited. A six-month Yang-style Tai Chi intervention was administered twice a week for 60 minutes per practice. The well-being outcome variables, including physical and mental health status, blood pressure, quality of sleep, occurrence of falls and fear of falling, were measured before the intervention and then at one-month, two-month, three-month and six-month intervals.

Results. Results indicated that the physical health status and social functioning of frail elders were significantly improved after Tai Chi practice [F(4,24) = 3·42, p = 0·038; F(4,24) = 9·66, p = 0·001 respectively].

Conclusions. Tai Chi practice is beneficial for frail older people.

Relevance to clinical practice. The findings provide a basis for using Yang-style Tai Chi as a floor activity in long-term care facilities to promote the well-being of the older residents.

Posted in Aging |