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Wolfgang Staffen

Publications and source records attributed to Wolfgang Staffen.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Evidence for a dysfunction of left posterior reading areas in German dyslexic readers.

The brain activity during a sentence reading task and a visual control task was examined with fMRI in 13 German dyslexic readers and 15 age-matched fluent readers (age: 14-16 years). These participants came from a longitudinal study and the dyslexic readers exhibited a persistent reading fluency deficit from early on. For the first time with German dyslexic readers, and in correspondence with the majority of functional imaging studies, we found reduced dyslexic activation in the left occipitotemporal cortex and in a small region of the left supramarginal gyrus. Enhanced activation was found in left inferior frontal and subcortical regions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Do visual perspective tasks need theory of mind?

Reviews [Frith, U., Frith, C.D., 2003. Development and neurophysiology of mentalising. Philos. Trans. R. Soc., B 358, 685-694.] of several imaging studies report robust involvement of medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) in "theory of mind" (ToM) tasks. Surprisingly, this activation is notably absent when judging another person's visual perspective [Vogeley, K., May, M., Ritzl, A., Falkai, P., Zilles, K., Fink, G.R., 2004. Neural correlates of first-person perspective as one constituent of human self-consciousness. J. Cogn. Neurosci. 16, 817-827.]. The objective of our study was to see whether this activation can be recovered when the difference between what observers see is clearly one of perspectives (in front vs. behind) and not potentially a difference in what observers are looking at. Despite this change, there was still no apparent activation of MPFC. We did find activation in the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) recently emphasized as centrally involved in processing false belief stories [Saxe, R., Kanwisher, N., 2003. People thinking about thinking people: The role of the temporo-parietal junction in "theory of mind". NeuroImage 19, 1835-1842.], which also create a stark contrast of perspectives. By integrating extant neurophysiological evidence on theory of mind processing, we suggest that the dorsal part of the TPJ region is responsible for representing perspective differences and making behavioral predictions, while the more ventral part of TPJ and the MPFC region is responsible for predicting behavioral consequences and the MPFC also emotional consequences of mental states.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy of memory and frontal brain region in early multiple sclerosis.

In vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) has been used to assess biochemical changes that occur in demyelinating lesions and in normal appearing white matter (NAWM) in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. N-acetylaspartate (NAA) levels in MS patients may indicate neural viability. In early stages of MS, patients may suffer from slight cognitive impairment. The objective of this study was to investigate memory function in relation to biochemical properties of frontal brain areas of MS patients. Twenty-one patients with relapsing-remitting MS and 21 healthy comparison subjects were examined psychometrically using the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) and the Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite (MSFC) scale, and (1H-MRS) was used to examine frontal deep white matter (left hemisphere) and the frontal cingulate gyrus (Brodmann areas 24/32, bihemispheric). A significant reduction of the NAA/Creatine (Cr) ratio in the frontal cingulate gyrus among the MS patient group was detected when compared to healthy subjects. A significant decrease in the NAA/Cr ratio was also found in volumes of cerebral deep white matter, including plaques, in the MS patients. No NAA/Cr ratio changes were found in NAWM. Differences in MSFC results did not reach statistical significance, but the WMS general memory score showed a significant statistical difference between the patient group and healthy subjects. Regression analysis showed the gray matter NAA/Cr ratio of the frontal cingulate gyrus to be significantly related to distinct memory functions. The authors conclude that (1H-MRS) of gray matter in early stages of MS may be pertinent in the detections of early metabolic disturbances, particularly in subjects with or without minor neurological impairment. Findings suggest a general relationship between the metabolic status of the frontal cortices and memory function.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Stimulating music increases motor coordination in patients afflicted with Morbus Parkinson.

The present study measured the short-term effect of special stimulating music on motor coordination in Parkinson patients. Eleven patients with a dominant akinetic Parkinson syndrome as well as ten healthy persons (age-matched control group) participated in this study. In the Parkinson group, the measurement of fine motor coordination with the 'Vienna Test System' showed an improvement in two (aiming, line tracking) of the four subtests after listening to the music. The patients improved their performance with the right arm significantly in the subtest aiming-error-time. No statistical differences were found in the other two subtests (steadiness, tapping) in both groups. There was also no improvement in frequency of tapping movement on the power-force-working-plate. Accordingly, music effects more the precision of a movement than the speediness. The measurements on the power-force-working-plate showed a significant improvement in two of five measured parameters: contact time, variability coefficient for total step and impact maximum changed significantly. This study gives evidence that specific music can improve the precision of arm and finger movements.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2004

The visual word form area and the frequency with which words are encountered: evidence from a parametric fMRI study.

Cohen and Dehaene et al. proposed that the Visual Word Form Area (VWFA) in the left midfusiform gyrus, contrary to its name, is limited to the extraction of an abstract letter string and not involved in proper visual word recognition. We examined this prelexical function of the VWFA by a parametric block design with five levels of written word frequency. The lowest level was represented by pseudowords and the highest level by words of very high frequency. Contrary to the assumed prelexical function of the VWFA, increasing frequency was associated with decreasing brain activation in a large posterior cluster of the left hemisphere including middle and posterior fusiform regions. The same negative relation between frequency and activation was found in several left frontal clusters. The relation of increasing frequency and decreasing activation in occipitotemporal regions corresponds to a similar relation in the same brain regions found by studies which experimentally manipulated object or face familiarity. This convergence suggests that fusiform regions are specialized for extracting and storing abstract patterns when processing visual objects and these patterns serve as recognition units in subsequent encounters with the same objects.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Acamprosate and its efficacy in treating alcohol dependent adolescents.

BACKGROUND: About 50 % of adult alcoholic patients relapse within 3 months of treatment. Previous studies have suggested that acamprosate may help to prevent such relapse. The aim of our study was to assess the efficacy and safety of long-term acamprosate treatment in alcohol dependence of adolescents. METHODS: In this, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, we recruited 26 patients, aged 16-19 years, with chronic or episodic alcohol dependence. Patients were randomly allocated treatment with acamprosate (1332 mg daily) or placebo for 90 days. Patients were assessed on the day treatment started and on days 30, and 90 by interview, self report, questionnaire, and laboratory screening. FINDINGS: 13 acamprosate-treated and 13 placebo-treated patients completed the treatment phase: of those withdrawn, 11 (1 vs 6) relapsed, 5 (3 vs 2) refused to continue treatment, 3 (1 vs 2) had concurrent illness, and 2 (1 vs 1) had adverse side-effects. At the end of treatment, 7 acamprosate treated and 2 placebo-treated patients had been continuously abstinent (p = 0.0076). Mean cumulative abstinence duration was significantly greater in the acamprosate group than in the placebo group (79.8 [SD 37.5] vs 32.8 [19.0] days; p = 0.012). INTERPRETATION: Acamprosate is an effective and well-tolerated pharmacological adjunct to psychosocial treatment programmes.

Acamprosate↗
PubMed2003

Comparison of disulfiram and placebo in treatment of alcohol dependence of adolescents.

About 50% of alcoholic patients relapse within 3 months of treatment. Previous studies have suggested that disulfiram may help to prevent such relapse. The aim of our study was to assess the efficacy and safety of long-term disulfiram treatment in alcohol dependence of adolescents. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled study we recruited 26 adolescents, aged 16-19 years, with chronic or episodic alcohol dependence. Patients were allocated treatment randomly with disulfiram (200 mg daily) or placebo for 90 days. Patients were assessed on the day treatment started and on days 30 and 90 by interview, self-report, questionnaire and laboratory screening. Patients were classified as abstinent, relapsing or non-attending. Time to first treatment failure (relapse or non-attendance) was the primary outcome measure. The disulfiram (n=13) and placebo (n=13) groups were well matched in terms of baseline demographic and alcohol-related variables. Thirteen disulfiram-treated and 13 placebo-treated patients completed the treatment phase; seven (1 vs. 6) relapsed, five (3 vs. 2) refused to continue treatment, three (1 vs. 2) had concurrent illness and two (1 vs. 1) had adverse side effects. At the end of treatment, seven disulfiram-treated and two placebo-treated patients had been abstinent continuously (p=0.0063). Mean cumulative abstinence duration was significantly greater in the disulfiram group than in the placebo group [68.5 (SD 37.5) vs. 29.7 (19.0) days; p=0.012]. Apart from occasional diarrhoea, there was no difference in side effects between groups. In some cases, disulfiram may be an effective and well-tolerated pharmacological adjunct to psychosocial and behavioural treatment programmes for treatment of adolescent alcohol-dependent patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

A placebo-controlled study of lofexidine in the treatment of children with tic disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of Lofexidine in treating children with tic disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Subjects from a specialty tic disorders clinic were randomly assigned to receive 8 weeks of treatment with lofexidine or placebo under double-blind conditions. Follow-up visits occurred every 2 weeks for safety monitoring and dose adjustment. Fourty-four medication-free subjects (41 boys and three girls; mean age of 10.4 years) with ADHD, combined type, and a tic disorder participated. After 8 weeks of treatment, lofexidine was associated with a mean improvement of 41% in the total score on the teacher-rated ADHD Rating Scale compared to 7% improvement for placebo. Eleven of 22 subjects who received lofexidine were blindly rated on the Clinical Global Scale-Improvement as either much improved or very much improved compared to none of 22 subjects who received placebo. The mean score on the parent-rated hyperactivity index improved by 29% in the lofexidine group and 18% in the placebo group, which was not a significant difference. On the Continuous Performance Test, commission errors decreased by 25% and omission errors by 20% in the lofexidine group, compared with increases of 33% in commission errors and of 36% in omission errors in the placebo group. Tic severity decreased by 27% in the lofexidine group, compared to 0% in the placebo group. One lofexidine subject with sedation withdrew at week 4. Lofexidine was associated with insignificant decreases in blood pressure and pulse. Lofexidine appears to be a safe and effective treatment for children with tic disorders and ADHD.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Comparison of cyanamide and placebo in the treatment of alcohol dependence of adolescents.

AIMS: About 50% of alcoholic patients relapse within 3 months of treatment. Previous studies have suggested that cyanamide may help to prevent such relapse. The aim of our study was to assess the efficacy and safety of long-term cyanamide treatment in alcohol dependence of adolescents. METHODS: In this, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, we recruited 26 patients, aged 16-19 years, with chronic (frequent and regular) or episodic (frequent, but irregular) alcohol dependence. Patients were randomly allocated treatment with cyanamide (200 mg daily) or a placebo for 90 days. Patients were assessed on the day the treatment was started, and on days 30 and 90, by interview, self-report, questionnaire and laboratory screening. Patients were classified as abstinent, relapsing or non-attending. Time to first treatment failure (relapse or non-attendance) was the primary outcome measure. RESULTS: The cyanamide (n = 13) and placebo (n = 13) groups were well matched in terms of baseline demographic and alcohol-related variables. Mean cumulative abstinence duration was significantly greater in the cyanamide group than in the placebo group. Apart from occasional diarrhoea, there was no difference in side effects between groups. CONCLUSIONS: Cyanamide seems to be an effective and well tolerated pharmacological adjunct to psychosocial and behavioural treatment programmes for the treatment of some adolescent alcohol-dependent patients. Because of reported hepatotoxic, haematological and dermatological side effects, patients should be observed continuously by experienced clinicians. Further studies are necessary to prove the efficacy of cyanamide in adolescents.

Adolescent↗