Biomedical subjects

G Miscio

Publications and source records attributed to G Miscio.

22 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1990

Ataxia in myxoedema: a neurophysiological reassessment.

In a long-standing case of myxoedema with ataxia and dysarthria, neurophysiological investigations were carried out to assess how much of the ataxic dysbasic syndrome depended on the slowness of mechanical contraction and how much resulted from primary cerebellar involvement. It was observed that the Achilles reflexogram showed a marked prolongation of contraction and relaxation time and that in both quadriceps and triceps surae mechanical percussion induced a marked myxoedema and prolonged relaxation time. The EMG of these muscles during voluntary contraction and stopping reaction detected an excessive recruitment of the antagonistic muscles, starting without any abnormal delay, a finding at variance with a typical cerebellar pattern. Post-urographic analysis gave a pattern of oscillations still within the normal range. These findings suggest that the gait alterations of our patient depended on the increase in muscle contraction time and the consequent excessive recruitment of the antagonists.

Achilles Tendon↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Crossed aphasia: considerations on a clinical case].

A right-handed patient with no family history of either neurological disorders or of left-handedness was affected by crossed aphasia due to a focal hemorrhagic lesion in the right hemisphere at the level of the basal ganglia. The CAT-scan revealed the site of the brain change. Our case is uncommon in that the aphasia. Assessed by neuropsychological tests, was associated with impairment of right functions such as visual and spatial cognition. Thus he does not fit the classic description of crossed aphasia, exhibiting instead language disorders similar to those following deep brain lesions. Various hypotheses were considered in attempting to explain the pathogenesis of our neurological data, none of which proved adequate to account for all the reported findings.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Multiparametric quantitative evaluation of the speech production system: a study in normal subjects.

This paper describes a systems architecture developed for the study of the speech production system. The architecture utilizes two personal computers: the "Word-Image Presenter" (WIP) that presents a sequence of words to the subject under examination as visual stimulation, and the "Signal Acquisition System" that controls the WIP, acquires the acoustic signal, the oromandibular electromyographic signals, the kinematic lip and jaw signals and measures reaction times and durations. Thirty normal subjects divided into three age groups (18-44, 45-59, 60-80) underwent examination by means of the described system. During the test a random sequence of two words was presented to the subjects; the protocol consisted of an immediate reading task and two delayed reading tasks with variable foreperiods of 0.1 and 1.5 s for one task and 0.5 and 4 s for the other. The analysis of the resultant acoustic and electromyographic signals indicated that reaction times increased with age in both the immediate and delayed tasks. The analysis of variance showed that the difference between the young and elderly groups was statistically significant. The sample size of the groups, however, is too small to consider these results normative data.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Processes of speech production: Analysis of the methods and applications in a group of normal subjects (I)].

The measurement of reaction times in response to suitable stimuli may provide insight into the separate functional blocks corresponding to diverse speech production mechanisms. The quantitative evaluation of speech motor performance provides useful information for the early detection and long-term monitoring of many neurological diseases. The vocal reaction times (VRTs) technique and its application in the assessment of a group of normal subjects is presented. Speech motor performance and the effect of age were investigated by measuring VRTs and speech duration, in a group of thirty normal subjects divided into three age groups (18-44, 45-59, 60-80). VRTs were measured by using an immediate and delayed reaction stimulation paradigm. Analysis of the acoustic and electromyographic signals indicated that reaction times increased with age in both the immediate and delayed tasks; also the acoustic signal durations increased with age. The analysis of variance showed that the difference between the young and elderly groups was statistically significant. This technique may be considered a useful tool to provide qualitative and quantitative measures of the processes involved in speech production.

Adolescent↗