Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

Front Neurosci 2018 13;12:809. Epub 2018 Nov 13.

Division of Interdisciplinary Medicine and Biotechnology, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.

Sleep electroencephalography (EEG) provides an opportunity to study sleep scientifically, whose chaotic, dynamic, complex, and dissipative nature implies that non-linear approaches could uncover some mechanism of sleep. Based on well-established complexity theories, one hypothesis in sleep medicine is that lower complexity of brain waves at pre-sleep state can facilitate sleep initiation and further improve sleep quality. However, this has never been studied with solid data. Read More

Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc 2018 Jul;2018:5422-5425

We have designed and developed a novel, noninvasive modular headmount to be used for awake animal scalp electroencephalography (EEG). The design is based on a developing rat that will accommodate rapid head growth. Desired characteristics include non-invasiveness, adjustable quantity and positioning, light weight, and tolerability by the animal. Read More

PLoS One 2018 6;13(11):e0207031. Epub 2018 Nov 6.

Department of Neurology and the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America.

The neonatal brain undergoes rapid maturational changes that facilitate the normal development of the nervous system and also affect the pathological response to brain injury. Electroencephalography (EEG) and analysis of sleep-wake vigilance states provide important insights into the function of the normal and diseased immature brain. While developmental changes in EEG and vigilance states are well-described in people, less is known about the normal maturational properties of rodent EEG, including the emergence and evolution of sleep-awake vigilance states. Read More

J Neurosci 2018 Oct 27;38(41):8772-8786. Epub 2018 Aug 27.

Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, and Institute for Neuroscience, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20037

Two major checkpoints of development in cerebral cortex are the acquisition of continuous spontaneous activity and the modulation of this activity by behavioral state. Despite the critical importance of these functions, the circuit mechanisms of their development remain unknown. Here we use the rodent visual system as a model to test the hypothesis that the locus of circuit change responsible for the developmental acquisition of continuity and state dependence measured in sensory cortex is relay thalamus, rather than the local cortical circuitry or the interconnectivity of the two structures. Read More

Korean J Anesthesiol 2018 May 30. Epub 2018 May 30.

Associate Professor of Anesthesia, Assiut University Hospitals, Egypt & Anesthesia Dept., HAMAD Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar & Clinical Ass. Prof. Weill Cornell Medicine Qatar.

Background: Autism is a challenging neurodevelopmental disorder. Previous clinical observations suggest altered sedation requirements for autistic children. Our study aimed to test this observation experimentally with an animal model and, to explore its possible mechanisms. Read More

Front Hum Neurosci 2018 13;12:142. Epub 2018 Apr 13.

Laboratory for Human Brain Dynamics, AAI Scientific Cultural Services Ltd., Nicosia, Cyprus.

Neurofeedback has been around for half a century, but despite some promising results it is not yet widely appreciated. Recently, some of the concerns about neurofeedback have been addressed with functional magnetic resonance imaging and magnetoencephalography adding their contributions to the long history of neurofeedback with electroencephalography. Attempts to address other concerns related to methodological issues with new experiments and meta-analysis of earlier studies, have opened up new questions about its efficacy. Read More

Biomed Pharmacother 2018 Mar 20;99:913-920. Epub 2018 Feb 20.

Department of Public Health Sciences, Korea University, Seoul, 02841, Republic of Korea. Electronic address:

The aim of this study was to investigate the beneficial effect of Valerian/Cascade mixture on sleeping in mammal models. In pentobarbital-induced sleep model, Valerian, Cascade, and Valerian/Cascade mixture significantly reduced the latency time for sleeping, and total sleeping time effectively increased in these sample groups compared with the control. Valerian/Cascade mixture increased sleep duration by 37%. Read More

Brain 2018 Apr;141(4):1130-1144

Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

In contrast to scalp EEG, our knowledge of the normal physiological intracranial EEG activity is scarce. This multicentre study provides an atlas of normal intracranial EEG of the human brain during wakefulness. Here we present the results of power spectra analysis during wakefulness. Read More

Georgian Med News 2017 Nov(272):104-109

M. Iashvili Children Central Hospital; David Tvildiani Medical University; Institute of Neurology and Neuropsychology, Tbilisi, Georgia.

West syndrome hasn't been thoroughly investigated in Georgia. The purposes of our study were a) to assess the clinical and etiological peculiarities of West syndrome, based on MRI data and its relation to the long-term outcome; b) to assess the evolution of West syndrome and its relation to patient characteristics; c) to compare the efficacies of treatments with ACTH and antiepileptic drugs (AEDs); d) to evaluate the neuropsychological outcome after 12 and 24 months and their early predictors. We evaluated 31 patients (17 male, 14 female) with infantile spasms. Read More

J Neurosci 2017 11 16;37(46):11220-11232. Epub 2017 Oct 16.

Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Cathederal Court, Sheffield, S1 1HD, United Kingdom.

Brief epochs of beta oscillations have been implicated in sensorimotor control in the basal ganglia of task-performing healthy animals. However, which neural processes underlie their generation and how they are affected by sensorimotor processing remains unclear. To determine the mechanisms underlying transient beta oscillations in the LFP, we combined computational modeling of the subthalamo-pallidal network for the generation of beta oscillations with realistic stimulation patterns derived from single-unit data recorded from different basal ganglia subregions in rats performing a cued choice task. Read More

Epilepsy Behav 2017 11 3;76:101-104. Epub 2017 Sep 3.

Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN, USA.

Objective: To study generalized paroxysmal fast activity (GPFA) in patients with genetic generalized epilepsy (GGE).

Introduction: GPFA is an electroencephalographic (EEG) finding in patients with symptomatic generalized epilepsy consisting of 15-25Hz bifrontally predominant generalized fast activity seen predominantly in sleep. Historically GPFA is linked to epileptic encephalopathy with drug resistant epilepsy and intellectual disability. Read More

Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 2017 Sep 21;313(3):R280-R289. Epub 2017 Jun 21.

Department of Neuroscience and Behavioral Neuroendocrinology Group, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio.

The long-term consequences of early life nicotine exposure are poorly defined. Approximately 8-10% of women report smoking during pregnancy, and this may promote aberrant development in the offspring. To this end, we investigated potential enduring effects of perinatal nicotine exposure on murine sleep and affective behaviors in adulthood (~13-15 wk of age) in C57Bl6j mice. Read More

Oman Med J 2017 May;32(3):256-258

Department of Neurology, King's Neuroscience Centre, King's College Hospital, London, UK.

Objectives: A measure to increase the electroencephalogram (EEG) outcome includes a short period of nap sleep during a routine standard EEG with the aim of increasing its sensitivity to interictal abnormalities or provoking seizures. As part of an ongoing auditing of our EEG data, we aimed to investigate the contribution of nap sleep during routine outpatient department based EEGs requested for a variety of reasons.

Methods: EEG data at the Department of Clinical Physiology at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Oman, from July 2006 to December 2007 and from January 2009 to December 2010 (total 42 months) were reviewed. Read More

Sleep Med 2017 Jun 14;34:1-6. Epub 2017 Mar 14.

Danish Center for Sleep Medicine, Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, University of Copenhagen, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark. Electronic address:

Objective: To compare diurnal and nocturnal electrophysiological data from narcolepsy patients with undetectable (<20 pg/mL), low (20-110 pg/mL) and normal (>110 pg/mL) cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) hypocretin-1 levels.

Patients/methods: A total of 109 narcolepsy patients and 37 controls were studied; all had available CSF hypocretin-1 measurements. The sleep laboratory studies were conducted between 2008 and 2014. Read More

Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc 2016 08;2016:4487-4490

Multimodal brain monitoring is an important approach to gain insight into brain function, modulation, and pathology. We have developed a unique micromachined neural probe capable of real-time continuous monitoring of multiple physiological, biochemical and electrophysiological variables. However, to date, it has only been used in anesthetized animals due to a lack of an appropriate interface for awake animals. Read More

Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc 2016 08;2016:2307-2310

In this work we propose a detailed EEG epoch selection method and compare epochs with rare and abundant alpha rhythm (AR) of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and normal controls. Epochs were classified as Dominant Alpha Scenario (DAS) and Rare Alpha Scenario (RAS) according to the AR percentage (energy within the 8-13 Hz bandwidth) in O1, O2 and Oz electrodes. Participants were divided into four groups: 17 DAS controls (N1), 15 DAS mild-AD patients (AD1), 12 RAS controls (N2) and 15 RAS mild-AD patients (AD2). Read More

J Neural Eng 2017 04 4;14(2):026001. Epub 2017 Jan 4.

Department of Neurology, Mayo Systems Electrophysiology Laboratory, Mayo Clinic, 200 First St SW, Rochester, MN 55905, USA. Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics, Czech Technical University in Prague, Zikova street 1903/4, 166 36 Prague 6, Czech Republic. Department of Physiology and Biomedical Engineering, Mayo Clinic, 200 First St SW, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.

Objective: Automated behavioral state classification can benefit next generation implantable epilepsy devices. In this study we explored the feasibility of automated awake (AW) and slow wave sleep (SWS) classification using wide bandwidth intracranial EEG (iEEG) in patients undergoing evaluation for epilepsy surgery.

Approach: Data from seven patients (age [Formula: see text], 4 women) who underwent intracranial depth electrode implantation for iEEG monitoring were included. Read More

Hear Res 2017 02 9;344:13-23. Epub 2016 Nov 9.

School of Biological Sciences and Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience, Washington State University, Vancouver, WA, USA.

The neurochemical serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) is involved in a variety of behavioral functions including arousal, reward, and attention, and has a role in several complex disorders of the brain. In the auditory system, 5-HT fibers innervate a number of subcortical nuclei, yet the modulatory role of 5-HT in nearly all of these areas remains poorly understood. In this study, we examined spiking activity of neurons in the dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) following iontophoretic application of 5-HT. Read More

J Clin Neurophysiol 2017 Jan;34(1):69-76

*Coastal Neurology Services, Wentworth Douglass Hospital, Dover, NH; †Department of Neurology, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.; and ‡Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA.

Purpose: The EEG rhythms demonstrate changes in frequency and power with spontaneous changes in behavioral state that do not have well-understood metabolic correlates within the brain. To investigate this question and compare the temporal lobe theta and delta rhythms, resting-state functional MRI was obtained with simultaneous EEG.

Methods: Simultaneous EEG-functional MRI was recorded from 14 healthy sleep-deprived subjects in awake and drowsy states. Read More

Int J Cardiol 2016 Dec 30;225:65-72. Epub 2016 Sep 30.

Institute of Brain Science, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address:

Background: Autonomic imbalance with increased sympathetic and decreased parasympathetic activities is observed in patients after myocardial infarction (MI). We aimed to investigate sleep-related changed in autonomic regulation in left coronary artery (LCA) ligation rats.

Methods: Wireless transmission of polysomnographic recording was performed in sham and LCA ligation male rats during normal daytime sleep with and without atenolol treatment. Read More

Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 2016 10 23;31(10):1124-35. Epub 2016 Aug 23.

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.

Objective: This investigation sought to determine whether delta activity at sleep onset (DASO) in the sleep electroencephalography of older adults represents normal variation or is associated with clinical pathology. To this end, we examined its longitudinal associations with cognitive and affective function in older adults without dementia.

Methods: Participants were 153 community-dwelling older adults without dementia. Read More

Ear Hear 2017 Jan/Feb;38(1):94-102

School of Audiology and Speech Sciences, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Objectives: Newborns reliably orient to sound location soon after birth; by age 1 month this orienting disappears until after age 4 months. It has been suggested that orienting by the newborn reflects subcortical-mediated reflexes, which are suppressed by age 1 month; reappearance of orienting then occurs after age 4 months with maturation of cortical mechanisms of sound localization. In the present study, we assess auditory lateralization in young infants (and adults) by recording slow cortical auditory evoked potentials to lateralization shifts in dichotic noise produced by changes in interaural time difference (ITD). Read More

Physiol Meas 2016 07 31;37(7):981-9. Epub 2016 May 31.

Department of Neurology, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.

This study investigates the cerebral hemodynamic changes during a routine sleep-deprived video-electroencephalogram (SD-VEEG) in healthy children. Forty-two children with normal intelligence were examined. The children were 5-14 years of age, and their electroencephalograms (EEGs) were within the normal range. Read More

Exp Neurol 2016 Sep 27;283(Pt A):39-48. Epub 2016 May 27.

Laboratory of Cerebrovascular Mechanisms of Brain Disorders, Department of Neuroscience, Institute of functional Genomics, France. Electronic address:

Nuclear receptors (NRs) are a group of transcription factors emerging as players in normal and pathological CNS development. Clinically, an association between the constitutive androstane NR (CAR) and cognitive impairment was proposed, however never experimentally investigated. We wished to test the hypothesis that the impact of CAR on neurophysiology and behavior is underlined by cerebrovascular-neuronal modifications. Read More

Clin EEG Neurosci 2017 Jan 22;48(1):54-59. Epub 2016 Apr 22.

School of Medicine, Marmara University, Department of Neurology, Istanbul, Turkey.

Sarcoidosis is a multisystem granulomatous disease affecting nervous system in 5% to 10% of patients. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is accepted as the most sensitive method for detecting neurosarcoidosis. However, the most common findings in MRI are the nonspecific white matter lesions, which may be unrelated to sarcoidosis and can occur because of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking, and other inflammatory or infectious disorders, as well. Read More

Zhonghua Er Ke Za Zhi 2016 Mar;54(3):192-6

Department of Pediatrics, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, China.

Objective: To investigate electroencephalographic (EEG) characteristics of anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (anti-NMDAR) encephalitis in children.

Method: Clinical data of 28 children diagnosed as anti-NMDAR encephalitis were retrospectively analyzed for EEG characteristics in different periods and severity of disease and outcome.

Result: Among the 28 patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis, 15 were males and 13 were females. Read More

J Alzheimers Dis 2016 ;51(1):21-6

Alzheimer's disease has been shown to affect vision in human patients and animal models. This may pose the risk of bias in behavior studies and therefore requires comprehensive investigation. We recorded electroretinography (ERG) under isoflurane anesthesia and visual evoked potentials (VEP) in awake amyloid expressing AβPPswe/PS1dE9 (AβPP/PS1) and wild-type littermate mice at a symptomatic age. Read More

J Clin Neurophysiol 2016 Aug;33(4):367-72

*Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, School of Science, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland; †Elekta Oy, Helsinki, Finland; ‡MEG Core, Aalto Neuroimaging, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland; and §Departments of Clinical Neurosciences and Neurology, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.

Purpose: Detection of pathologic slow-wave oscillations (0.5-7 Hz) in awake subjects has gained increasing interest in clinical diagnostics. Their significance, however, is hampered by the occasional presence of slow waves in healthy subjects, as well as the abundance of artefactual signals at low measurement frequencies. Read More

Sci Rep 2015 Dec 9;5:17847. Epub 2015 Dec 9.

State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience &Learning, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.

Neural oscillatory activities have been shown to play important roles in neural information processing and the shaping of circuit connections during development. However, it remains unknown whether and how specific neural oscillations emerge during a postnatal critical period (CP), in which neuronal connections are most substantially modified by neural activity and experience. By recording local field potentials (LFPs) and single unit activity in developing primary visual cortex (V1) of head-fixed awake mice, we here demonstrate an emergence of characteristic oscillatory activities during the CP. Read More

Epilepsy Behav 2015 Dec 30;53:78-82. Epub 2015 Oct 30.

The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, PR China. Electronic address:

Benign epilepsy affecting children with normal mental development often occurs at a particular age, responds well to medication, and could be resolved completely by puberty. Although several studies have shown neuropsychological disabilities of children with benign epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BECTS), there is no clear evidence about the impairment of attentional systems and the comorbidity of attentional problems. Our research was based on the attention network model and assessed the characteristics of three anatomically defined subnetworks (alerting, orienting, and executive control) of 90 children with BECTS and 90 healthy children. Read More

Hum Brain Mapp 2015 Dec 9;36(12):4972-85. Epub 2015 Sep 9.

Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.

Chinese processing has been suggested involving distinct brain areas from English. However, current functional localization studies on Chinese speech processing use mostly "indirect" techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalography, lacking direct evidence by means of electrocortical recording. In this study, awake craniotomies in 66 Chinese-speaking glioma patients provide a unique opportunity to directly map eloquent language areas. Read More

Brain 2015 Oct 13;138(Pt 10):2875-90. Epub 2015 Aug 13.

1 Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale Unité 901, 13009 Marseille, France 2 Aix-Marseille Université, Unité Mixte de Recherche S901, 13009 Marseille, France 3 Institut de Neurobiologie de la Méditerranée, 13009 Marseille, France

Epilepsy is characterized by recurrent seizures and brief, synchronous bursts called interictal spikes that are present in-between seizures and observed as transient events in EEG signals. While GABAergic transmission is known to play an important role in shaping healthy brain activity, the role of inhibition in these pathological epileptic dynamics remains unclear. Examining the microcircuits that participate in interictal spikes is thus an important first step towards addressing this issue, as the function of these transient synchronizations in either promoting or prohibiting seizures is currently under debate. Read More

Childs Nerv Syst 2015 Nov 7;31(11):2051-4. Epub 2015 Aug 7.

Division of Neuropediatrics, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.

In pediatric patients, brain tumors have been estimated to be the cause for seizures in only 0.2-0.3% of cases, whereas seizures occurred in about 13% of pediatric brain tumor patients at presentation. Read More

Sleep 2015 Nov 1;38(11):1743-9. Epub 2015 Nov 1.

Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR_S 1158 "Neurophysiologie Respiratoire Expérimentale et Clinique", Paris, France.

Study Objectives: The obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) involves recurrent sleep-related upper airways (UA) collapse. UA mechanical properties and neural control are altered, imposing a mechanical load on inspiration. UA collapse does not occur during wakefulness, hence arousal-dependent compensation. Read More

G Ital Nefrol 2015 May-Jun;32(3)

The Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS) is a childhood epileptic encephalopathy. Incidence: 1/1.000. Read More

Schizophr Res 2015 Aug 23;166(1-3):171-7. Epub 2015 May 23.

Pharmaceutical Research Division, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Fujisawa, Japan. Electronic address:

In recent schizophrenia clinical research, electroencephalographic (EEG) oscillatory activities induced by a sensory stimulus or behavioral tasks have gained considerable interest as functional and pathophysiological biomarkers. The Brown Norway (BN) rat is a putative schizophrenia model that shows naturally low sensorimotor gating and deficits in cognitive performance, although other phenotypes have not been studied. The present study aimed to investigate the neurophysiological features of BN rats, particularly EEG/event-related potential (ERP). Read More

Biol Psychiatry 2015 Jun 28;77(12):1098-107. Epub 2015 Feb 28.

Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts. Electronic address:

Background: Low-frequency (delta/theta) oscillations in the thalamocortical system are elevated in schizophrenia during wakefulness and are also induced in the N-methyl-D-asparate receptor hypofunction rat model. To determine whether abnormal delta oscillations might produce functional deficits, we used optogenetic methods in awake rats. We illuminated channelrhodopsin-2 in the thalamic nucleus reuniens (RE) at delta frequency and measured the effect on working memory (WM) performance (the RE is involved in WM, a process affected in schizophrenia [SZ]). Read More

Respiration 2015 10;89(5):374-82. Epub 2015 Apr 10.

Department of Cardiology, Heart and Diabetes Centre North Rhine-Westphalia, Ruhr University Bochum, Bad Oeynhausen, Germany.

Background: Nocturnal adaptive servoventilation (ASV) therapy is now frequently used to treat Cheyne-Stokes respiration (CSR), which is highly prevalent in patients with moderate-to-severe heart failure (HF) and characterized by periodical breathing (hyperventilation).

Objectives: This study analyzed and compared the acute effects of a novel ASV device on carbon dioxide pressure (pCO2) and oxygen saturation (SaO2) in HF patients with CSR and healthy volunteers. The influence of being asleep or awake on the ASV algorithm was also determined. Read More

No To Hattatsu 2015 Jan;47(1):14-6

Objective: This study was undertaken to investigate the electroencephalographic (EEG) characteristics in patients with febrile status epilepticus.

Methods: Medical records and EEG findings were retrospectively examined in 14 patients with febrile status epilepticus, who were transferred to the Shiga University Hospital between November, 2009 and March, 2012.

Results: Mean time to the initial EEG examination from the cessation of febrile status epilepticus was 3. Read More

Seizure 2015 Jan 18;24:12-6. Epub 2014 Nov 18.

Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, Brazil.

Purpose: Eyelid myoclonia (EM) is considered a seizure type and has been described in several epileptic conditions. Previous studies reported that EM are precipitated only by slow eye closure, but little is known about the characteristics of blinking in patients with EM seizures and differences in precipitation of EM by different kinds of eye closure. We analyzed by video-EEG the characteristics of blinking and eye closure in these patients. Read More

Brain Dev 2015 Jun 27;37(6):599-611. Epub 2014 Oct 27.

Department of Pediatrics, Tungs' Taichung Metroharbor Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.

Objective: The aim of this study was to characterize the awake EEG features of patients with SCN1A-positive Dravet syndrome.

Methods: Between January 2002 and December 2012, clinical data of 37 SCN1A-positive Dravet syndrome patients were collected. The first interictal awake EEG features, hot water bath test induced ictal seizure patterns and the concomitant EEG results, as well as follow-up interictal awake EEG recordings were analyzed. Read More

IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 2015 Apr 26;62(4):1159-1168. Epub 2014 Nov 26.

Department of Thoracic Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University, School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.

In this paper, two modern adaptive signal processing techniques, empirical intrinsic geometry and synchrosqueezing transform, are applied to quantify different dynamical features of the respiratory and electroencephalographic signals. We show that the proposed features are theoretically rigorously supported, as well as capture the sleep information hidden inside the signals. The features are used as input to multiclass support vector machines with the radial basis function to automatically classify sleep stages. Read More

Clin EEG Neurosci 2015 Oct 11;46(4):357-63. Epub 2014 Nov 11.

State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.

In the research field of epilepsy, it is a challenge to understand the transition of brain activity to electrical status epilepticus in sleep (ESES). In this study, an S-estimator method is proposed to describe the course of global synchronization in multichannel electroencephalograph (EEG) from awake to sleep in 11 patients with ESES. The study confirms that there is a significant increase in spikes and global synchronization from awake to sleep. Read More

Iran J Child Neurol 2014 ;8(3):38-43

Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, Republic of Ireland.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of associated behavioral problems and prognosis with Benign Childhood Epilepsy with CentroTemporal Spikes (BCECTS). Descriptive, Cross Sectional study that was conducted from October 2009 to April 2013 in the Department of Pediatric Neurology, the Children's Hospital Taif, KSA.

Material & Methods: This study was conducted after approval from the Ethics Committee of the Children's Hospital Taif, Saudi Arabia. Read More

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2014 Aug 28;111(32):E3343-52. Epub 2014 Jul 28.

Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037;

Glial cells are an integral part of functional communication in the brain. Here we show that astrocytes contribute to the fast dynamics of neural circuits that underlie normal cognitive behaviors. In particular, we found that the selective expression of tetanus neurotoxin (TeNT) in astrocytes significantly reduced the duration of carbachol-induced gamma oscillations in hippocampal slices. Read More

ScientificWorldJournal 2014 25;2014:140863. Epub 2014 Mar 25.

State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China ; Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.

Background electroencephalography (EEG), recorded with scalp electrodes, in children with electrical status epilepticus during slow-wave sleep (ESES) syndrome and control subjects has been analyzed. We considered 10 ESES patients, all right-handed and aged 3-9 years. The 10 control individuals had the same characteristics of the ESES ones but presented a normal EEG. Read More

Epilepsy Res 2014 Jul 27;108(5):861-71. Epub 2014 Mar 27.

Laboratoire de Cartographie fonctionnelle du Cerveau (LCFC), UNI - ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address:

Previous studies investigating cerebral metabolic changes associated with continuous spike-waves during sleep (CSWS) compared the metabolism of children with CSWS with that of healthy adults, precluding any assessment in brain areas showing physiologic age-related metabolic changes. Here, we investigated the metabolic and connectivity changes characterizing the acute phase of CSWS activity by comparing awake brain metabolism of children with CSWS with that of pediatric pseudo-controls. Positron emission tomography using [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG-PET) was performed in 17 awake children with cryptogenic CSWS (5 girls, age: 5-11 years). Read More

J Neurosci 2014 Apr;34(16):5477-85

Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, and Institute for Neuroscience, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052.

The ability to generate behaviorally appropriate cortical network states is central to sensory perception and plasticity, but little is known about the timing and mechanisms of their development. I paired intracellular and extracellular recordings in the visual cortex of awake infant rats to determine the synaptic and circuit mechanisms regulating the development of a key network state, the persistent and stable subthreshold membrane potential (Vm) depolarization associated with wakefulness/alertness in cortical networks, called the "desynchronized" or "activated" state. Current-clamp recordings reveal that the desynchronized state is absent during the first 2 postnatal weeks, despite behavioral wakefulness. Read More

PLoS One 2014 24;9(1):e84534. Epub 2014 Jan 24.

UMR_S1158, Inserm-Université Paris 6, Paris, France ; Centre National de Référence Maladies Rares pour le syndrome d'Ondine (adultes)-Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière Charles Foix, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France ; Service de Pneumologie et Réanimation Médicale-Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière Charles Foix, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France.

Background: Congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS) is a rare neuro-respiratory disorder associated with mutations of the PHOX2B gene. Patients with this disease experience severe hypoventilation during sleep and are consequently ventilator-dependent. However, they breathe almost normally while awake, indicating the existence of cortical mechanisms compensating for the deficient brainstem generation of automatic breathing. Read More

Monaldi Arch Chest Dis 2013 Jun;79(2):93-5

Cattedra di Malattie dell'Apparato Respiratorio, Università di Brescia, Italy.

A 16 year-old girl was admitted after suffering from recurrent episodes of dyspnea and stridor, cyanosis, loss of contact, stiffening of all four limbs, clenching of the jaw and eye retroversion that lasted for a few seconds to a minute, followed by slow recovery of consciousness without any loss of sphincter control. These symptoms began at the age of 11 and worsened over time. Prolonged rate corrected QT intervals was observed with an ECG. Read More