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Hemispheric Dominance (hemispheric + dominance)
Selected AbstractsTonotopic representation of missing fundamental complex sounds in the human auditory cortexEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 2 2003Takako Fujioka Abstract The N1m component of the auditory evoked magnetic field in response to tones and complex sounds was examined in order to clarify whether the tonotopic representation in the human secondary auditory cortex is based on perceived pitch or the physical frequency spectrum of the sound. The investigated stimulus parameters were the fundamental frequencies (F0 = 250, 500 and 1000 Hz), the spectral composition of the higher harmonics of the missing fundamental sounds (2nd to 5th, 6th to 9th and 10th to 13th harmonic) and the frequencies of pure tones corresponding to F0 and to the lowest component of each complex sound. Tonotopic gradients showed that high frequencies were more medially located than low frequencies for the pure tones and for the centre frequency of the complex tones. Furthermore, in the superior,inferior direction, the tonotopic gradients were different between pure tones and complex sounds. The results were interpreted as reflecting different processing in the auditory cortex for pure tones and complex sounds. This hypothesis was supported by the result of evoked responses to complex sounds having longer latencies. A more pronounced tonotopic representation in the right hemisphere gave evidence for right hemispheric dominance in spectral processing. [source] Volitional control of attention and brain activation in dual task performanceHUMAN BRAIN MAPPING, Issue 2 2007Sharlene D. Newman Abstract This study used functional MRI (fMRI) to examine the neural effects of willfully allocating one's attention to one of two ongoing tasks. In a dual task paradigm, participants were instructed to focus either on auditory sentence comprehension, mental rotation, or both. One of the major findings is that the distribution of brain activation was amenable to strategic control, such that the amount of activation per task was systematically related to the attention-dividing instructions. The activation in language processing regions was lower when attending to mental rotation than when attending to the sentences, and the activation in visuospatial processing regions was lower when attending to sentences than when attending to mental rotations. Additionally, the activation was found to be underadditive, with the dual-task condition eliciting less activation than the sum of the attend sentence and attend rotation conditions. We also observed a laterality shift across conditions within language-processing regions, with the attend sentence condition showing bilateral activation, while the dual task condition showed a left hemispheric dominance. This shift suggests multiple language-processing modes and may explain the underadditivity in activation observed in the current and previous studies. Hum. Brain Mapp, 2007. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Direction-dependent visual cortex activation during horizontal optokinetic stimulation (fMRI study)HUMAN BRAIN MAPPING, Issue 4 2006Sandra Bense Abstract Looking at a moving pattern induces optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) and activates an assembly of cortical areas in the visual cortex, including lateral occipitotemporal (motion-sensitive area MT/V5) and adjacent occipitoparietal areas as well as ocular motor areas such as the prefrontal cortex, frontal, supplementary, and parietal eye fields. The aim of this functional MRI (fMRI) study was to investigate (1) whether stimulus direction-dependent effects can be found, especially in the cortical eye fields, and (2) whether there is a hemispheric dominance of ocular motor areas. In a group of 15 healthy subjects, OKN in rightward and leftward directions was visually elicited and statistically compared with the control condition (stationary target) and with each other. Direction-dependent differences were not found in the cortical eye fields, but an asymmetry of activation occurred in paramedian visual cortex areas, and there were stronger activations in the hemisphere contralateral to the slow OKN phase (pursuit). This can be explained by a shift of the mean eye position of gaze (beating field) in the direction of the fast nystagmus phases of approximately 2.6 degrees, causing asymmetrical visual cortex stimulation. The absence of a significant difference in the activation pattern of the cortical eye fields supports the view that the processing of eye movements in both horizontal directions is mediated in the same cortical ocular motor areas. Furthermore, no hemispheric dominance for OKN processing was found in right-handed volunteers. Hum Brain Mapp, 2005. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Quality of life in patients with right- or left-sided brain tumours: literature reviewJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 11 2008Alvisa Palese Bcsn Aims., To determine if patients with left- or right-sided hemisphere neoplasm perceive their quality of life (QoL) differently. Background., It is not clear whether patients with a lesion in the left hemisphere have a different QoL than those with a lesion in the right hemisphere. (1) In the pre-operative period, patients with a left-sided lesion may have different symptoms according to the position of the tumour. (2) Studies on patients with brain injury demonstrate an association between left frontal lesions and depression: depression can alter the patients' perception of QoL. (3) In the postoperative period, right-handed patients may be disadvantaged by surgical trauma to the motor cortex in the left hemisphere. (4) During the different phases of the disease, the various functions of the two hemispheres may influence the patient's capacity to control QoL; also, as suggested by authors, both the ego and the conscience are mostly located in the left hemisphere. This is the reason that patients with a left-sided lesion may perceive a worse QoL. Methods., A review of literature was carried out using the Medline database (1966,2007) and CINHAL (1982,2007), using the following Mesh Terms and key words: brain neoplasm, tumour or cancer, hemispheric dominance or laterality or right or left hemisphere, QoL. Results., Seven studies emerged that documented non-homogeneous results and which included different populations. The association between QoL and the side of the lesion was evaluated. Conclusions., The lack of a substantial number of recent, robust follow-up studies investigating the QoL in patients at different stages of disease and treatment indicates that more research is needed. Relevance to clinical practice., Understanding the QoL in patients with brain neoplasm and the differences between right and left hemisphere sites of the neoplasm can help nurses develop different interventions and offer more guidance for effective clinical intervention. [source] A Method for the Automated Assessment of Temporal Characteristics of Functional Hemispheric Lateralization by Transcranial Doppler SonographyJOURNAL OF NEUROIMAGING, Issue 3 2004M. Deppe ABSTRACT Background and Purpose. Transcranial Doppler sonography (TCD) can guide and complement investigations based on functional magnetic resonance and positron emission tomography imaging by providing continuous information on cerebral perfusion changes correlated to cerebral activation. So far, however, the role of functional TCD has been limited by a lack of sensitivity.Methods. Here, the authors present an outline of a method that increases the potential of TCD to detect perfusion changes within a vascular territory. Sensitivity on the order of 1% can be achieved by transformation of Doppler envelope curves, which accounts for systemic quasi-periodic and irregular spontaneous blood flow modulations and artificial disturbances related to the recording. A statistical technique is introduced that allows the automatic detection of time periods of significant hemispheric lateralization in evoked flow studies. Furthermore, an index of laterality is defined quantifying the extent of hemispheric dominance during stimulus processing.Results and Discussion. The analysis technique described in this article has been successfully employed in recent examinations on vision, motor activation, language, language recovery, and other cognitive tasks. Conclusion. The novel functional TCD technique permits valid and reproducible assessments of the temporal characteristics of functional hemispheric lateralization. [source] Isoprenoid pathway dysfunction in chronic fatigue syndromeACTA NEUROPSYCHIATRICA, Issue 5 2003Ravi Kumar Kurup Background and aims:, The isoprenoid pathway was assessed in 15 patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). The pathway was also assessed in individuals with differing hemispheric dominance to assess whether hemispheric dominance has any correlation with these disease states. Methods:, The isoprenoid metabolites , digoxin, dolichol and ubiquinone , RBC membrane Na+ -K+ ATPase activity, serum magnesium and tyrosine/tryptophan catabolic patterns were assessed. The free radical metabolism, glycoconjugate metabolism and RBC membrane composition were also assessed. Results:, Membrane Na+ -K+ ATPase activity and serum magnesium levels were decreased while HMG-CoA reductase activity and serum digoxin levels were increased in CFS. There were increased levels of tryptophan catabolites , nicotine, strychnine, quinolinic acid and serotonin , and decreased levels of tyrosine catabolites ,dopamine, norepinephrine and morphine , in CFS. There was an increase in dolichol levels, carbohydrate residues of glycoproteins, glycolipids, total/individual glycosaminoglycans (GAG) fractions and lysosomal enzymes in CFS. Reduced levels of ubiquinone, reduced glutathione and free radical scavenging enzymes as well as increased lipid peroxidation products and nitric oxide were noticed in CFS. The biochemical patterns in CFS correlated with those obtained in right hemispheric dominance. Conclusions:, The role of hypothalamic digoxin and neurotransmitter-induced immune activation, altered glycoconjugate metabolism and resultant defective viral antigen presentation, NMDA excitotoxicity and cognitive and mitochondrial dysfunction in the pathogenesis of CFS is stressed. CFS occurs in individuals with right hemispheric dominance. 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