Naoyasu Motomura

Event‐related potential (P300) in epilepsy

The P300 component of auditory event‐related potential was studied in 39 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), 26 with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) and 28 controls. The age‐corrected P300 latencies were significantly longer in TLE patients compared with those in IGE patients and controls. Neither the duration of epilepsy nor clinical manifestation was related to the P300 component in the same epileptic syndrome. The age‐corrected P300 latencies recorded from Cz were significantly prolonged in TLE patients with bilateral temporal EEG foci compared with those with unilateral focus. The effects of anti‐epileptic drugs on the P300 component were not significant. Our findings imply that prolonged P300 latency in TLE patients, especially in those with bilateral EEG foci is due to damage of the hippocampus, which is potentially an epileptogenic focus.

A case of ideational apraxia with impairment of object use and preservation of object pantomime

A case of tool use disturbance without impairment of motor skills and of conceptual knowledge of how tool must be used is reported. The patient could not manipulate objects isolatedly or in succession but could pantomime their use on command and on imitation. This finding suggests that manipulation of objects may dissociate from pantomime without objects. We interpret this syndrome as a results of mismatch of tool and tool use.

Unilateral spatial neglect due to hemorrhage in the thalamic region

ABSTRACT— In a series of 33 cases of thalamic hemorrhage, unilateral spatial neglect (USN) was found in 11 patients all of whom had right‐sided lesions. An analysis of results suggests that the posteromedial portion of the thalamus plays an important role in the pathogenesis of USN and that extensive lesions beyond the thalamus involving nearby structures may be necessary to cause persistent USN.

Failure to manipulate objects secondary to active touch disturbance.

A peculiar type of sensori-motor disturbance consequent to a lesion in the contralateral postcentral gyrus was reported. The symptom was characterized by motor clumsiness of the left hand without loss of strength and with preserved finger movements on visual imitation. Motor difficulty was most marked when the patient had to manipulate an object. The analysis of the patients behavior and of his sensory deficits suggests that the basis of the clumsiness was a deficit in active touch perception.

Motor Learning in Ideomotor Apraxia

Using Lurias motor sequence test, we studied the learning ability of 34 right-handed patients with unilateral hemisphere lesions. Patients with ideomotor apraxia needed 4 to 6 trials in the test, while the remainder needed only 1 or 2. Ideomotor apraxics also required more time to complete the test. The lesions of patients who failed to master this test were not always found in the frontal lobes. These results suggest that the ability to learn motor sequences is impaired in apraxic patients and that the left hemisphere of the brain plays the major role in learning a new motor sequence. Patients with ideomotor apraxia are impaired not only when performing previously learned motor tasks but also when learning a new motor task.

Event‐related potentials (P300) in myotonic dystrophy

ABSTRACT The P300 component of the auditory event‐related potential in 8 patients with myotonic dystrophy was studied and compared with that of 13 healthy controls. Abnormalities of P300 (prolongation of the latency and/or decrease of the amplitude) were observed in 6. These observations imply that the function of cognitive and information processing are impaired in myotonic dystrophy.

Lateral hemispheric asymmetries in senile dementia of Alzheimer's type (SDAT) assessed by I-123 IMP SPECT imaging : a preliminary report

Lateral hemispheric asymmetries (LHA) of I-123 IMP single photon emission tomography (SPECT) in senile dementia of Alzheimers type (SDAT) were investigated. Significant left-right asymmetries were found by SPECT imaging in 13/17 SDAT patients. LHA were found in mild as well as in moderate or severe cases of SDAT. No relationships were found between LHA and the duration of illness or between LHA and the severity of disease, suggesting that LHA reflect subtypes more than the evolutive stages of the disease. LHA was more frequent in right hemisphere (10 of 17 cases) and all male subjects were right hemisphere damaged type which is not consistent with past reports.

Disappearance of sleep apnea by traccheal intubation in creutzfeldt-jakob disease

We have described a patient with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease who showed disappearance of sleep apnea by tracheal intubation. All night polygraphic study revealed a clear correlation between the cyclic EEG change and sleep apnea. The periodic synchronous discharge (PSD) phase in EEG corresponded to the breathing phase in respiration and non-PSD phase corresponded to the apneic phase. Intratracheal intubation has completely stopped both the apnea and the cyclic EEG change. Therefore, we assumed that the PSD-non-PSD cycle in EEG might causally relate with the peripheral obstruction of the airway during sleep.

Cognitive behavioural therapy for Japanese children and adolescents with anxiety disorders: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND Thirty-three Japanese children and adolescents diagnosed with an anxiety disorder participated in individual or group Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) that was modelled after evidence-based intervention programs developed in Western countries. METHOD The treatment consisted of: (a) building rapport and education; (b) identifying emotions and recognizing cognitive self-talk; (c) challenging anxious self-talk; (d) developing an anxiety hierarchy and in vivo exposures; and (e) planning for future challenges. RESULTS Three months following treatment, 20 of the 33 children and adolescents (60.91%) no longer met criteria for their principal anxiety disorders and 16 (48.48%) were free from all anxiety disorders. Self-reported anxiety, depression, and cognitive errors also decreased significantly from pre- to post-treatment and these gains were maintained at 3-month follow-up. For the most part, similar outcomes were found in both the group and individual formats of CBT. CONCLUSIONS This study provides preliminary support for the transportability of CBT in both an individual and group format to Japan.