Higher Brain Function Research
Online ISSN : 1880-6716
Print ISSN : 0285-9513
ISSN-L : 0285-9513
Volume 10, Issue 4
Displaying 1-8 of 8 articles from this issue
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Original article
  • —The Latent Sinistralization in Non-hemiparetic Partial Epileptics with Left EEG Foci—
    Kousuke Kanemoto, Miki Kanzaki, Tomoko Akamatsu, Etsuko Uemura
    1990 Volume 10 Issue 4 Pages 244-250
    Published: 1990
    Released on J-STAGE: July 06, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
         This paper has examined motor preference in one hundred and seven non-hemiparetic patients with epilepsy who could be classified into either generalized epilepsies, idiopathic : GE (I), generalized epilepsies, non-idiopatic : GE (non-I) , or partial epilepsies : PE. The patients were compared with 18 normal control subjects (NC). The classification was based on the revised classification of epilepsies (1989) and defined as follows. GE (I) corresponded to idiopathic age-dependent generalized epilepsies (2.1), GE (non-I) to cryptogenic or symptomatic age-dependent generalized epilesies (2.2) and symptomatic generalized epilepsies (2.3), PE to symptomatic localization-related epilepsies (1.2). GE (I) group consisted of eight patients, GE (non-I) of twenty two patients, and PE of sixty four patients. Instead of answering quessionnaire verbally, they were encouraged to use real objects in practice. The test battery consisted of 4 hand preference items, 4 eye preference items, 4 ear preference items and 4 foot preference items. Testers rated subjects' motor preference on a 3-point scale. Each item was scored from—1 (left) to+1 (right). A composite score derived by summing the scores on all items.
        The results were as follows. Differences in total motor preference score between NC (10.1±4.1) and GE (I) (10.1±2.6) group did not reached statistical significance. So did PE group as a total. The patients of GE (non-I) used left side significantly more often than control group (p < 0.05, t = 2.23). Footedness score indicated the most conspicuous sinstrality in these patients (t = 2.52, p < 0.01). PE-group with left EEC foci (18 patients) had a significant lower motor preference score (4.3±7.3) than control group (t = 2.86, p < 0.01) while PE-group with right EEC foci (29 patient) did not have such a tendency. Intelligence Quotient, measured by WAIS, revealed no significant effect of groups between both subgroups of the partial epilepsy. The correlative coefficient revealed significant correspondences between handedness and footedness in all groups including normal control subjects. In GE (non-I) subgroup and PE group, however, earedness was also significantly correlated to handedness as well as footedness.
        The results provides support for the model which predicts that this raised incidence of lower motor preference score in partial epileptics with left EEG foci depends largely on unilateral (left) rather than non-specific brain dysfunction or direct neurological sequleae.
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  • Masako Tateishi, Haruo Kashima, Naoichi Chino, Motoichiroh Katoh
    1990 Volume 10 Issue 4 Pages 251-258
    Published: 1990
    Released on J-STAGE: July 06, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
        Fifty-five chronic aphasic patients were investigated as to their “adaptation.” In this study, adaptation was discussed in a sense of “coping,” that is, behavior directed at the resolution of a problematic situation. The subjects included 17 Broca's aphasics, 23 Wernicke's aphasics and 15 anomics. SLTA, CADL, CPM, a questionnaire concerning social, familial and economic states, and an interview with the patients and their families were all undertaken for the evaluation. The results were as follows :
        1) There was no distinct relation between SLTA score and CADL score and a “favorable” adaptation.
        2) The correlation coefficient between SLTA score and CADL score was highest in Broca's aphasics, followed by Wernicke's aphasics and anomics.
        3) In the group of mild aphasics, the most important factors behind a “favorable” adaptation were the degree of demand imposed by the patients themselves and the full support given by their families.
        4) In the group of severe aphasics, the most important factors behind a patient's “favorable” adaptation were changes in character due to brain damage and the support given by their families. Though character change is generally considered a negative factor, it was suggested that this could work positively at times, due to the fact that the degree of self-imposed demand could decreaseas a result of such change.
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  • Sumio Ishiai, Takanori Yokota, Tetsuo Furukawa, Hiroshi Tsukagoshi, Mo ...
    1990 Volume 10 Issue 4 Pages 259-264
    Published: 1990
    Released on J-STAGE: July 06, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
         We analyzed the process of copying letters in a patient of agraphia for Kanji due to posteroinferior temporal lesion. Eye-fixation patterns and writing procedures were recorded during the copying of 28 Kanji characters which the patient could write to dictation and 28 ones which he could not, using an eye camera. We matched the number of strokes in writing between these two groups of Kanji characters. The mean fixation times spent for recognizing a model Kanji character were 0.86 sec for those which the patient could write to dictation and 0.92 sec for those which he could not. The mean writing times in copying were 3.67 sec and 3.69 sec respectively. As for the mean fixation time and the mean writing time, there was no difference between the two groups of Kanji. The error in the order of making strokes in writing a character was observed in one Kanji character of each group. These results show that the mere recognition of the configuration of a Kanji character which the patient can not write to dictation enables him to write it down fluently in his own style. In addition, agraphia for Kanji became more prominent, as the configuration of Kanji became more complex and the grade at which they should be learned was increased. These facts suggest the possibility that amnesia for Kanji characters plays a major role in agraphia for Kanji due to posteroinferior temporal lesion.
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  • Naoyasu Motomura, Yoji Tomoda, Takashi Seo, Shinji Murata
    1990 Volume 10 Issue 4 Pages 265-271
    Published: 1990
    Released on J-STAGE: July 06, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    123 I- IMP SPECT was investigated in 6 cases with alcoholic Korsakoff's syndrome which revealed the manifest confabulation. The pattern of SPECT was variable but all of them demonstrated the reduced medial frontal lobe uptake of IMP. One of these patients was conducted the follow-up SPECT after the disappearance of the confabulation and the increased uptake of IMP in the frontal region was found. This result suggests that frontal lobe dysfunction was thought to be related to the mechanism of confabulation in Korsakoff's syndrome.
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  • Jun Tanemura
    1990 Volume 10 Issue 4 Pages 272-280
    Published: 1990
    Released on J-STAGE: July 06, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
         The aim of this study was to analyze patterns and associations between written naming and dictation of Kanji and Kana words in aphasic patients. The subjects were 23 moderate and mild aphasics who showed dissociations among writing modalities. They were examined in 11 word-level language modalities, and experiments were undertaken on deblocking of writing prestimulated through good modalities. Four patterns of writing performance were found : dication was better than written naming ; Kanji was better than Kana ; Kana was better than Kanji ; and all writing modalities were poor. When a patient's performance in a target modality was not impaired severely and a prestimulation modality had close similarity to the target modality, then the facilitation rate was good. Similarity of output modalities, i. e., pointing, speech and writing, was more effective than that of input modalities in facilitation. Similarity of characters (Kanji or Kana) was also a factor of facilitation.
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  • Mutsuko Sato, Shunsuke Matsumoto, Tsuneo Goto, Kazuo Watanabe
    1990 Volume 10 Issue 4 Pages 281-286
    Published: 1990
    Released on J-STAGE: July 06, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
        We reported on a 77-year-old right-handed woman who manifested intermanual conflict due to cerebral infarction.
        She showed the right hemiparesis and became mute at onset. A CT scan revealed an abnormally low density area in the regions of the anterior portion of cingulate gyrus and genu-trunk of corpus callosum. Though cerebral angiography revealed no steno-occlusive lesion, an abnormal intensity area was identified by MRI in the same regions as CT scan. Her motor weakness and muteness had improved several weeks after onset, and then instinctive grasp reaction of the right hand and intermanual conflict became the main symptoms: her left hand carried out her intention, but the right hand interfered compulsively with the acts being performed by the left hand. She was aware of the abnormal behavior of her right hand, but couldn't restrain the acts of the right hand.
        It is said that the left hand usually displays interference in intermanual conflict. However, the present case was abnormal in that it showed effects contrary to those previously reported. In this case, motor co-ordination might be disturbed by the left anterior cingulate gyrus. At the same time, since corpus callosum was destroyed, then, her motor co-ordination might be disrupted from the right, normal, cingulate gyrus.
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  • Masato Kaneko, Akira Uno, Jun Tanernura
    1990 Volume 10 Issue 4 Pages 287-296
    Published: 1990
    Released on J-STAGE: July 06, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
         We investigated factors which govern spontaneous writing of sentences and evaluated the recovery process shown by Broca's aphasic patients by means of an index measuring velocity of spontaneous writing, namely, the number of written words per minute. Factors were analyzed according of the scores achieved for “ writing about a comic strip ” in the Standard Language Test of Aphasia (SLTA) ; the recovery process was described by comparing scores between the second and third evaluations. In addition, the influence of phonological disturbance was examined by the coefficient of variation as determined by speech duration among three speech modalities : reading aloud Kana phonograms, reading aloud Kanji ideograms and naming objects. Results of the factor analysis shed light on three factors : factor 1 for the quantity of written sentences, factor 2 for phonological errors and factor 3 for grammatical errors.
        Two types of recovery process of spontaneous writing in Broca's aphasic patients were recognized : one shows a gradual improvement in writing velocity, the other shows little change in it. It was infered from these findings that impairment of phonological processing has an influence on Kana reading and writing. Monitoring of phoneme levels was also discussed.
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