Biomedical subjects

D Libon

Publications and source records attributed to D Libon.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2000

The role of the dynamic body schema in praxis: evidence from primary progressive apraxia.

On an influential model of limb praxis, ideomotor apraxia results from damage to stored gesture representations or disconnection of representations from sensory input or motor output (Heilman & Gonzalez Rothi, 1993; Gonzalez Rothi et al., 1991). We report data from a patient with progressive ideomotor limb apraxia which cannot be readily accommodated by this model. The patient, BG, is profoundly impaired in gesturing to command, to sight of object, and to imitation, but gestures nearly normally with tool in hand and recognizes gestures relatively well. In addition, performance is profoundly impaired on imitation of meaningless gestures and on tasks requiring spatiomotor transformations of body-position information. We provide evidence that BG's apraxia is largely attributable to impairments external to the stored gesture system in procedures coding the dynamic positions of the body parts of self and others; that is, the body schema. We propose a model of a dynamic, interactive praxis system subserved by posterior parietal cortex in which stored representational elements, when present, provide "top-down" support to spatiomotor procedures computed on-line. In addition to accounting for BG's performance, this model accommodates a common pattern of ideomotor apraxia more readily than competing accounts.

Aged↗

PubMed1998

[Background music in the family physician's surgery: patient reactions].

Music is a universal language, and its effects on pain relief and stress reduction are well known. We evaluated patients' opinions of the effects of background music in their family doctors' surgery. Low volume, background, classical music was played in the doctors' surgery on 5 consecutive clinic days. All patients were asked to fill a short anonymous questionnaire on leaving. Among the 135 consecutive patients offered the questionnaire, there was 87.4% compliance. Among the 118 who completed the questionnaire, 95% said that the background music did not disturb them, 89% thought it made them feel better and 80% thought that it aided the doctor's performance. We conclude that low volume, background music in the doctors's surgery may contribute to better doctor-patient interaction, although larger studies are needed to confirm our findings.

Family Practice↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Neuropsychological functioning in treated phenylketonuria.

Comprehensive neuropsychological assessment was performed on a series of patients with treated classical phenylketonuria. All patients showed a similar cluster of performance deficits in motor and visual-motor functions, spatial operations, academic skill areas, and select areas of higher level reasoning. The results are consistent with other neuropsychological studies of patients with early and late diet termination that have used differing assessment methods, thus allowing for greater confidence in the findings. Examination of underlying factors indicates that poor motor coordination, limits in the complexity of spatial problem solving, and limits in the amount of information that can be "processed" simultaneously may account for most or all of the performance deficits observed among these patients. Suggestions for future research and both clinical and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The effect of maternal smoking during pregnancy on sleep respiratory and arousal patterns in neonates.

Ten term infants who were exposed to maternal smoking during pregnancy and 10 age- and sex-matched control infants participated in the study. At the age of 48 hours (+/- 10), all infants underwent a 150- to 200-minute polygraphic study in a soundproof laboratory. Respiratory and heart rates, distribution of sleep states, and oxygen saturation were comparable in the two groups. The number and length of apneic events were similarly distributed in the two groups. The proportion of obstructive apneic events followed by arousal was significantly higher in the control group especially during quiet sleep (p = 0.001). It appears that exposure to smoking during pregnancy is associated with a higher arousal threshold in term infants. This finding could be of relevance in the assessment of maternal smoking as a risk factor for sudden infant death syndrome.

Apnea↗