Marcelo Caixeta

Primary progressive aphasia beginning with a psychiatric disorder

Primary progressive aphasia (PPA), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and semantic dementia (SD) are clinical subtypes of frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). PPA is characterized by marked changes in language ability.1 Although anxiety is identified in 39% of FTLD subjects, agitation, irritability, and depression may also be observed.2 Frustration and anxiety have been frequently reported as early symptoms of PPA, but they are commonly construed by patients and their relatives as secondary consequences of the social embarrassment caused by the difficulty with language.3 Similarly, the avoidance of social situations by these patients is frequently interpreted as a reaction to the loss of language abilities. Here, we report a patient with PPA who initially presented with panic attacks. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of PPA manifesting with panic attacks as the first symptom. This case provides further evidence of the variable and circumscribed nature of the clinical presentation of focal cerebral degeneration.

Psychiatry disorders and dengue: is there a relationship?

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to examine the relationship of compulsive hoarding with dengue. METHOD Fifty two adults notified by health vigilance authorities because of inappropriate trash accumulation in vacant lots in Goiânia, Central Brazil, completed a questionnaire regarding the presence and severity of hoarding behavior (Hoarding Rating Scale-Interview HRS-I). Five dimensions of hoarding are evaluated with this instrument: difficulty using spaces due to clutter, difficulty discarding possessions, excessive acquisition of objects, emotional distress and functional impairment due to hoarding behaviors. RESULTS The sample was primarily male, with an average age of 49 years. Eighty six percent of the sample scored 14 or greater on the HRS-I, indicating pathological hoarding. The medias of the five HRS-I domains were high, indicating severeness of all dimentions of pathological hoarding. CONCLUSION These results highlight the relationship between psychiatric disorder and actions upon environmental conditions that favors dengue, as well as its associated public health burden.

Transtorno somatoforme de causa orgânica: relato de caso

Based on the neuropsychological and imagenological evaluation of a frontal damaged patient with a somatoform disorder, we study the differential diagnosis of this condition compared to that of other patients: temporal or parietal damaged ones, schizophrenics, melancholics, obsessives, hypochondriacs and dismorphophobics.

Neuropsicologia da atividade onírica: considerações teóricas sugeridas por aspectos clínicos

Based on observations in five patients, we review the main theories concerning dreams and propose a comprehensive theory on their cognitive function. We classify dreams based on the role performed by them in inhibition, stimulation or creation of cognitive strategies around an emotional nucleus. These are stored in the memory bank and retrieved by an elicitation mechanism linking affective experiences on awareness and the strategies processed in previous dreams. We also propose that the changes in logical and emotional patterns in dreams are based on fronto-limbic dominance oscillations during each REM period. Preliminary observations we made show that awakening patients during most rapid frontal EEG activity during REM sleep elicits more logical and less bizarre dreams. Contrariwise, when they are awakened during slower REM cortical EEG activity, mainly over the frontal lobes, their dreams are more bizarre and consequently less elaborated from a cognitive point of view.

Tipos clínicos psicopatológicqs associados ao tabagismo

Dependence and withdraw syndromes related with tobacco are mentioned. Clinical forms and types associated to tabagism considered are: psychopathic, borderline, neurotic, narcisic, psychotic, depressive, hedonic, and bulimic. Psychopathological and etiopathogenic factors of tabagism are listed.Dependence and withdraw syndromes related with tobacco are mentioned. Clinical forms and types associated to tabagism considered are: psychopathic, borderline, neurotic, narcisic, psychotic, depressive, hedonic, and bulimic. Psychopathological and etio-pathogenic factors of tabagism are listed.