Manon Auffret

Does Facial Amimia Impact the Recognition of Facial Emotions? An EMG Study in Parkinson’s Disease

According to embodied simulation theory, understanding other people’s emotions is fostered by facial mimicry. However, studies assessing the effect of facial mimicry on the recognition of emotion are still controversial. In Parkinson’s disease (PD), one of the most distinctive clinical features is facial amimia, a reduction in facial expressiveness, but patients also show emotional disturbances. The present study used the pathological model of PD to examine the role of facial mimicry on emotion recognition by investigating EMG responses in PD patients during a facial emotion recognition task (anger, joy, neutral). Our results evidenced a significant decrease in facial mimicry for joy in PD, essentially linked to the absence of reaction of the zygomaticus major and the orbicularis oculi muscles in response to happy avatars, whereas facial mimicry for expressions of anger was relatively preserved. We also confirmed that PD patients were less accurate in recognizing positive and neutral facial expressions and highlighted a beneficial effect of facial mimicry on the recognition of emotion. We thus provide additional arguments for embodied simulation theory suggesting that facial mimicry is a potential lever for therapeutic actions in PD even if it seems not to be necessarily required in recognizing emotion as such.

Apomorphine pump in advanced Parkinson's disease: Effects on motor and nonmotor symptoms with brain metabolism correlations.

INTRODUCTION Patients with advanced Parkinsons disease (PD) and contraindications for subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (DBS) could particularly benefit from subcutaneous infusion therapy with apomorphine. This original study was designed to evaluate the general efficacy of add-on apomorphine in motor and nonmotor symptoms in advanced PD, while characterizing the changes induced in brain glucose metabolism. The aim was to look at the underlying anatomical-functional pathways. METHODS 12 patients with advanced PD were assessed before and after 6months of add-on apomorphine, using resting-state 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography and exhaustive clinical assessments. RESULTS After 6months of therapy, oral treatment was significantly reduced. Both motor and nonmotor scores improved, with a beneficial effect on executive functions, quality of life and apathy. Significant metabolic changes were observed, with overall increases in the right fusiform gyrus and hippocampus, alongside a decrease in the left middle frontal gyrus. Consistent correlations between significant changes in clinical scores and metabolism were established. CONCLUSION Well tolerated, add-on apomorphine appears to be an interesting option for patients with fluctuations and contra-indications for DBS. Changes in brain metabolism, with beneficial effects on motor and nonmotor symptoms were observed after 6months. These preliminary results have to be confirmed by further studies.

Evaluating Cognitive Action Control Using Eye-Movement Analysis: An Oculomotor Adaptation of the Simon Task.

Cognitive action control has been extensively studied using conflict tasks such as the Simon task. In most recent studies, this process has been investigated in the light of the dual route hypothesis and more specifically of the activation-suppression model using distributional analyses. Some authors have suggested that cognitive action control assessment is not specific to response modes. In this study we adapted the Simon task, using oculomotor responses instead of manual responses, in order to evaluate whether the resolution of conflict induced by a two-dimensional stimulus yielded similar results to what is usually reported in tasks with manual responses. Results obtained from 43 young healthy participants revealed the typical congruence effect, with longer reaction times (RT) and lesser accuracy in the incongruent condition. Conditional accuracy functions (CAF) also revealed a higher proportion of fast errors in the incongruent condition and delta plots confirmed that conflict resolution was easier, as the time taken to respond increased. These results are very similar to what has been reported in the literature. Furthermore, our observations are in line with the assumptions of the activation-suppression model, in which automatic activation in conflict situations is captured in the fastest responses and selective inhibition of cognitive action control needs time to build up. Altogether, our results suggest that conflict resolution has core mechanisms whatever the response mode, manual or oculomotor. Using oculomotor responses in such tasks could be of interest when investigating cognitive action control in patients with severe motor disorders.

Enhanced Impulsive Action Selection in Middle-Aged Adults—Insights From an Oculomotor Simon Task

Several studies have investigated the age-related impact in cognitive action control. However, to our knowledge, none of the studies have focused on the effect of moderate age on the strength of automatic activation according to the activation-suppression model. We therefore investigated the effect of moderate age on cognitive action control using an oculomotor version of the Simon task and distributional analyses. A group of middle-aged (n = 39; 57 ± 9 years) healthy adults were compared to a group of young healthy participants (n = 43; 24 ± 3 years). We first analyzed the overall impact of age on the congruence effect and then used conditional accuracy functions (CAFs) and delta plots to assess the strength of automatic activation and selective inhibition, respectively. Compared to young participants, middle-aged participants showed a greater congruence effect as well as higher rates of fast errors in conflict situations indicating an enhanced impulsive action selection. Furthermore, the overall downward slope of the congruence effect’s evolution was significantly steeper in older participants and the last slope tended to be significantly steeper. This may indicate that the middle-aged participants exerted a stronger selective inhibition. Our results suggest that middle-aged adults are more prone to impulsive action selection than young adults. Recent theories postulate that older adults might implement compensatory mechanisms to supply cognitive difficulties. This is in line with our results suggesting a potential greater selective inhibition. Overall, this study proposes that moderate aging impacts both processes of impulsive response selection and suppression underlying cognitive action control.

Genetic determinants associated with cfxA-positive clinical Capnocytophaga isolates

Sir, Capnocytophaga spp. have a role in the pathogenesis of various forms of periodontal disease and systemic infections, particularly severe in neutropenic cancer patients. The prevalence of β-lactam-resistant oral bacteria is increasing in clinical isolates [1]. All of the reported β-lactam-resistant Capnocytophaga isolates are β-lactamase-producers, but minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for the different β-lactams are variable [2]. The objective of the current study was therefore to explain the variability in β-lactam MIC profiles in 31 cfxA gene-positive oral Capnocytophaga spp. clinical isolates with various antibiotypes...

Pharmacological Insights into the Use of Apomorphine in Parkinson’s Disease: Clinical Relevance

The present paper consists of a comprehensive review of the literature on apomorphine pharmacological properties and its usefulness in Parkinson’s disease (PD). The chemistry, structure–activity relationship, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of apomorphine are described with regard to its effects on PD symptoms, drug interactions, interindividual variability and adverse events. Apomorphine chemical structure accounts for most of its beneficial and deleterious properties, both dopaminergic and non-dopaminergic. Its pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics are complex and subject to interindividual variability, particularly for subcutaneous absorption and metabolism. Subcutaneous apomorphine, either as injections or infusion, is particularly useful for the treatment of PD motor symptoms and growing evidence supports its clinical value for nonmotor disorders. Owing to interindividual variability and sensitivity, apomorphine treatment must be tailored to each patient. While the subcutaneous route has been the gold standard for decades, the search for alternative routes is ongoing, with promising results from studies of pulmonary, sublingual and transdermal routes. In addition, the potential of apomorphine as a disease-modifying therapy deserves to be investigated, as well as its ability to induce brain plasticity through chronic infusion. Moreover, the ongoing progress in the development of analytical methods should be accompanied by new pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies of apomorphine metabolism and sites of action in humans, as its biochemistry has yet to be fully described.

Correction to: The Many Faces of Apomorphine: Lessons from the Past and Challenges for the Future

In the original publication, the name of the author in T.

The Many Faces of Apomorphine: Lessons from the Past and Challenges for the Future

Apomorphine is now recognized as the oldest antiparkinsonian drug on the market. Though still underused, it is increasingly prescribed in Europe for patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease (PD) with motor fluctuations. However, its history is far from being limited to movement disorders. This paper traces the history of apomorphine, from its earliest empirical use, to its synthesis, pharmacological development, and numerous indications in human and veterinary medicine, in light of its most recent uses and newest challenges. From shamanic rituals in ancient Egypt and Mesoamerica, to the treatment of erectile dysfunction, from being discarded as a pharmacological tool to becoming an essential antiparkinsonian drug, the path of apomorphine in the therapeutic armamentarium has been tortuous and punctuated by setbacks and groundbreaking discoveries. Throughout history, three main clinical indications stood out: emetic (gastric emptying, respiratory disorders, aversive conditioning), sedative (mental disorders, clinical anesthesia, alcoholism), and antiparkinsonian (fluctuations). New indications may arise in the future, both in PD (palliative care, nonmotor symptoms, withdrawal of oral dopaminergic medication), and outside PD, with promising work in neuroprotection or addiction.

Est-ce que l’amimie faciale a un impact sur la reconnaissance des émotions du visage ? Une étude EMG dans la maladie de Parkinson

Selon la theorie de la simulation integree, comprendre les emotions d’autres personnes est favorise par la mimique faciale. Toutefois, les resultats des etudes evaluant l’effet de la mimique faciale dans la reconnaissance des emotions restent encore controverses. Dans la maladie de Parkinson, une des caracteristiques cliniques est l’amimie faciale, et les patients montrent des troubles emotionnels. Cette etude se base sur le modele pathologique de la maladie de Parkinson afin d’examiner le role de la mimique faciale sur la reconnaissance des emotions en etudiant les reponses EMG chez les patients parkinsoniens durant un test de reconnaissance d’emotions faciales [1] , [2] . Nos resultats montrent une reduction significative de l’expression faciale pour la joie chez les patients atteints de la maladie de Parkinson, essentiellement liee a l’absence de reaction des muscles zygomaticus major et orbicularis oculi en reponse a des avatars heureux, alors que la mimique faciale pour les expressions de colere est relativement preservee. Nous apportons donc des arguments complementaires a la theorie de la simulation integree, suggerant que la mimique faciale est un indice pour les interets therapeutiques dans la maladie de Parkinson meme si elle ne semble pas reconnue comme tel.