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Biomedical subjects

Sumiko Shibuya-Tayoshi

Publications and source records attributed to Sumiko Shibuya-Tayoshi.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met polymorphism in schizophrenia is associated with age at onset and symptoms.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a neurotrophic factor that promotes several functions of neurons and modulates neurotransmissions. It has been reported that there are alterations of BDNF levels in schizophrenic brains and that BDNF gene expressional changes would be responsible for the etiology of schizophrenia. Recent studies have shown that a variation of BDNF gene (Val66Met polymorphism) affects the function of neurons, and is associated with several neurological and psychiatrical disorders. We investigated the relationship between BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and the onset age as well as levels of clinical symptoms in 159 of chronic schizophrenia in-patients diagnosed by DSM-IV. The mean onset ages were 27.5+/-9.5 for BDNF Val/Val, 25.5+/-7.4 for BDNF Val/Met and 22.9+/-6.0 for BDNF Met/Met and this polymorphism was significantly associated with age at onset (P=0.023). The mean Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale scores (BPRS) were significantly different among those three groups (P=0.003). No significant differences were demonstrated comparing the BDNF genotype distributions of positive and negative family history (P=0.21). Our investigation indicates that the BDNF gene Val66Met polymorphism is related to the onset age of schizophrenia and the levels of clinical symptoms that remain after long-term antipsychotic treatment.

Adult↗

Presenile dementia mimicking Pick's disease: an autopsy case of localized amygdala degeneration with character change and emotional disorder.

This report concerns an autopsy case showing localized amygdala degeneration. The patient was a Japanese single woman without hereditary burden who was 58 years old at the time of death. At the age of 55 years, the patient began to feel anxiety, agitation and depressive in mood. At age 58 years, she developed marked character changes and emotional disorders, although disorientation and memory disturbance were slight. We suspected her disease was a variant of presenile dementia, especially Pick's disease, and some neuroradiological examinations disclosed bilateral temporal involvements. We could not make a definitive diagnosis from the clinical findings. She choked to death 3 years after the disease onset. From the neuropathological examinations, the known neurodegenerative diseases causing dementia, including Pick's disease, were excluded and we diagnosed our case as having localized amygdala degeneration. Localized amygdala degeneration itself is very rare. Moreover, in this case, the amygdala degeneration was presumed to be idiopathic, without any apparent cause. To our knowledge, this is the first case of idiopathic localized amygdala degeneration. This case indicates that localized amygdala degeneration can cause presenile dementia, and that character changes and emotional disorders are predominant over memory disturbance and/or disorientation.

Affective Symptoms↗

Hemodynamic changes in the prefrontal cortex during mental works as measured by multi channel near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS).

To investigate the brain activation in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) during mental works, we examined blood oxygenation changes of healthy subjects by using multi channel near infrared spectropcopy (NIRS). It was directly confirmed that the PFC was activated during mental tasks in vivo and it was suggested that distribution of the activation in the PFC is different among healthy individuals.

Functional Laterality↗