A sample of 'automatic speech' (counting from 1 to 10) was tape-recorded and the times taken up by phonation and pauses measured. In four healthy volunteers, both phonation times and pause times remained constant over a period of two months. In four moderately depressed patients, with no history of manic illness and with no obvious clinical signs of motor retardation, the pause times were significantly elongated while the patients were depressed compared to pause times measured after recovery. The phonation times were constant throughout the period of observation (4-6 months). Other tests for motor retardation (tapping time; Nurses' rating scale; Hamilton Retardation Scores) did not give consistent results. It is concluded that the simple test described here may reveal a degree of motor retardation in cases where other tests fail to do so.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

1H-NMR relaxation times and water content of red blood cells from chronic alcoholic patients during withdrawal.

Red blood cell proton nmr, T1 and T2 times, and water content were measured for normal control subjects and thirteen patients with chronic alcoholism during the withdrawal phase. T1 and T2 were significantly increased without significant alteration in cell water content. The relaxation times were more markedly affected in those with symptoms of delirium tremens. These findings suggest that the intracellular free:bound water states rather than water content is the more likely explanation for these changes. The results are discussed in relation to similar findings obtained from in vivo studies in man and in vitro studies in animals.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Regional variation in rat brain proton relaxation times and water content.

Relaxation times (T1 and T2) and water content are measured in frontal cortex, amygdaloid cortex, hippocampus, mid-brain and cerebellum of rat brain. Differences are found in relaxation times, between areas containing a mixture of grey and white matter, and grey matter only. Differences were also found between certain grey matter areas. Relaxation times correlated with water content.

Amygdala↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Differential diagnosis in dementia using the cerebral blood flow agent 99mTc HM-PAO: a SPECT study.

One of the potential clinical uses of the new cerebral blood flow agent 99mTc-hexamethylpropyleneamineoxime (HM-PAO) is the investigation of dementia, in particular to differentiate between dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) and multiinfarct dementia (MID). In this study 27 patients, 17 with DAT and 10 with MID, and three normal volunteers were imaged both with single photon emission CT and magnetic resonance. The HM-PAO perfusion deficits were much more common in the DAT group than in the MID group, especially in the temporoparietooccipital (TPO) regions. The two groups of patients were found to be significantly different (p less than 0.02), as regards the frequency of occurrence of bilateral TPO perfusion deficits. Four of the 17 DAT patients did not have bilateral TPO deficits but these included the three least impaired patients as assessed by psychometric testing.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease--similarities in magnetic resonance imaging parameters and their possible explanation].

Eight demented and eight non-demented Parkinson patients are compared with ten controls and 22 Alzheimer patients. NMR images as well as NMR parameters (T1) show similarities within the demented and non-demented sub-groups. The neuropathological and physiological basis of this finding is discussed.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Relation between Parkinson disease and dementia conditions studied with proton NMR imaging parameters].

The value of the spin lattice relaxation time (T1) obtained during nuclear magnetic resonance imaging of the brain in patients with Idiopathic Parkinson's disease with and without dementia is studied. T1 increases significantly in the basal ganglia and cerebral white matter of the demented and nondemented groups. T1 of the cerebral white matter correlates with the severity of dementia.

Aged↗