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ABSTRACT: To explore potentially impaired social functioning in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE), we evaluated facial emotion recognition (FER) using dynamic facial stimuli. We evaluated FER in 88 patients with MTLE, including 25 posttemporal lobectomy (PTL) patients, when they watched videos of actors expressing the six basic emotions of happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, and disgust. Thirty-two healthy subjects were examined as controls. The relationships between task, performance, and neurophysiological and radiological variables potentially affecting the ability to recognize moving facial emotions were examined by multivariate analysis. Both the patients with MTLE and the PTL subset demonstrated significantly impaired FER compared with healthy controls. Of the six emotions, they showed impaired recognition of sadness, fear, and disgust. Facial emotion recognition was impaired in patients with chronic MTLE, particularly those with bilateral damage. Failure to recognize emotional expressions, particularly fear, disgust, and sadness, may contribute to difficulties in social functioning and relationship building.
Epilepsy & Behavior 05/2013; 28(1):12-16. · 2.34 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Abstract The importance of neuropsychological examinations in epilepsy care and, especially, in epilepsy surgery is centered on the following roles: they offer a means to confirm the epileptic focus by multi-modal preoperative assessments and they help to assess postoperative functional changes based on preoperative cognitive functions. Furthermore, assessments of the cognitive functions of patients with epilepsy using various tests aid in providing comprehensive medical care. Thus far, research on cognitive functions related to temporal lobe epilepsy has focused on memory, language, and general intelligence. However, the concept of social cognitive function has been recently proposed in the field of neuropsychology. This cognitive function, proposed by Brothers in 1990, is a collective term for functions needed in social life; these include functions required to interpret the expressions, feelings, and intentions of others and to form and maintain smooth human relationships while making decisions necessary for self-survival. These functions mainly involve facial expression recognition and decision-making. Findings of research on neural mechanisms underlying social cognitive functions have emphasized the roles of the cerebral limbic system, such as the amygdalo-hippocampal complexes, and the emotional system in the ventromedial prefrontal area. Studies on social cognitive functions in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy are being pursued currently. Early-onset right mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis is the key substrate determining a severe deficit in recognizing emotional facial expressions and decision-making. In the future, neuropsychological examinations of social cognition, in addition to those of global intelligence, memory, and verbal function, will contribute to the provision of comprehensive medical care to patients with epilepsy.
Brain and nerve = Shinkei kenkyū no shinpo 05/2013; 65(5):551-9.
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ABSTRACT: Research on cognitive function related to temporal lobe epilepsy has thus far focused on memory, language, and general intelligence. Recently, however, the concept of social cognitive function has been proposed in the field of neuropsychology. Social cognitive function refers collectively to the higher cognitive functions that are essential in our social lives, and its representative aspects are facial expression recognition and decision-making. Emotional processing centered around the amygdala is thought to play a key role in the neural mechanism of this function. We conducted a study on the social cognitive function (decision-making) of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy, and found that this function is reduced in these patients, and that the right amygdalo-hippocampal complexes play an important role. In order to ensure the best possible treatment for epilepsy patients, it is necessary not only to make an accurate diagnosis and provide appropriate treatment, but also to provide support for enabling a smoother social life from the perspective of social cognitive function. Future research developments in this field are expected to contribute to total management in medical care for epilepsy patients.
Journal of UOEH 09/2012; 34(3):245-58.
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Circulation Journal 07/2011; 75(10):2508-10. · 3.77 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Many guidelines for the management of epilepsy have been published since the introduction of evidence-based medicine. In Japan, the first clinical guideline for epilepsy management was published by the Japanese Society of Neurology (JSN) in 2002. The Japan Epilepsy Society (JES) has been publishing guidelines for several topics since 2005. However, owing to recent advances in epileptology and the accumulation of related knowledge, it has become necessary to revise these guidelines. Four medical societies-JSN, JES, the Japanese Society of Neurological Therapeutics, and the Japanese Society of Child Neurology-have together published new epilepsy-related clinical guidelines for practitioners. The guideline committee consists of 23 specialists representing the 4 societies. The guidelines primary target general practitioners treating epilepsy patients and are designed to be user friendly-in the form of 81 "clinical questions" (CQs). The CQs comprehensively cover various aspects of epilepsy management including those related to diagnosis, treatment, surgery, pregnancy, and social issues. Recommendations are concisely described with levels from A to D. The evidence level (I to IV) of the references is based on the literature review conducted by the committee. These guidelines were published in October 2010.
Brain and nerve = Shinkei kenkyū no shinpo 04/2011; 63(4):309-12.
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ABSTRACT: Despite the advances in pharmacologic treatments for epilepsy, approximately one-third of patients with epilepsy continue to have seizures, and alternative treatment approaches are necessary in such cases. For many patients, resective surgery can be an alternative for achieving seizure freedom; however, its success depend on identifying seizure foci before surgery. Many patients with medically intractable epilepsy are not suitable candidates for surgery. The therapeutic effect of electrical stimulation on the brain has been studied for decades. Currently, the thalamus, subthalamic nucleus, hippocampus, cerebellar nuclei, and cortical seizure foci are stimulated for treating epilepsy. In 2010, the results of the first, multicenter randomized double-blinded controlled study were published. This report documents a clinical trial involving stimulation of the anterior nucleus of the thalamus for epilepsy (SANTE). These results showed bilateral stimulation of the anterior nucleus of the thalamus reduces seizures. The responsive neurostimulator, which can be called a brain pacemaker, is another stimulation device for the treatment of epilepsy. A clinical trial involving the Neuropace system is in progress in the USA. Preliminary results indicating the efficacy of the Neuropace study were presented at the annual American Epilepsy Society meeting in 2010; the final results of this study are awaited.
Brain and nerve = Shinkei kenkyū no shinpo 04/2011; 63(4):365-9.
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ABSTRACT: Although memory, language, and executive functions have been extensively studied in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE), few investigations of the decision-making abilities of these patients have been performed. We studied implicit decision-making (decisions under ambiguity) in right and left MTLE patients using the Iowa Gambling Task. The Iowa Gambling Task is believed to detect deficits in decision-making caused by either ventromedial prefrontal cortex or amygdalo-hippocampal lesions. In the present study, MTLE patients scored poorly compared to healthy controls on this task, and right MTLE patients exhibited worse performance than left MTLE patients. Our findings indicate that the amygdalo-hippocampal complexes play important roles in decision-making. The right amygdalo-hippocampal complexes may play more important roles in implicit decision-making in particular.
Epilepsy research 01/2011; 93(1):33-8. · 2.48 Impact Factor
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Naoki Akamatsu
Rinshō shinkeigaku = Clinical neurology. 11/2010; 50(11):895.
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ABSTRACT: A 34-year-old man was admitted with his unsteady gait, difficulty in speech and a paroxysmal severe headache accompanied with sensori-motor disturbance of the right extremities and aphasic symptom. His family history was unremarkable. His unsteadiness has progressed very slowly from childhood. He noted to be inarticulate at the age of 18 years. At the age of 33 years, he suddenly had an attack of severe throbbing headache, which was mainly left parietal, with nausea and photophobia. During the headache, his right extremities were paralyzed and he became aphasic. He had lost a partial memory of the event All these symptoms had gone within 24 hours. Thereafter, the same headache occurred about once a month. Neurological examination revealed a mild truncal ataxia and ataxic dysarthria. Electroencephalography (EEG) showed intermittent delta waves restricted over the left fronto-temporal region. Brain MRI showed a moderate atrophy of superior cerebellar vermis and anterior cerebellar lobe. The diagnosis of sporadic hemiplegic migraine (SHM) with cerebellar ataxia was made. Our case was very similar to familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM) 1, of which some families are accompanied with transient amnesia, cerebellar ataxia and EEG abnormality. Although we did not detect any mutations in CACNA1A gene previously reported in FHM1, our case might share same pathogenesis with FHM1.
Rinsho shinkeigaku = Clinical neurology 06/2009; 49(5):267-70.
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ABSTRACT: To determine whether partial loss of the hippocampal striation (PLHS) at 3.0 T is more accurate than the currently accepted methods of using conventional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to detect hippocampal sclerosis in medial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE).
This retrospective study had institutional review board approval, and informed consent was waived. Fluid-attenuated inversion-recovery (FLAIR) MR images and T2-weighted MR images in the oblique coronal plane in 22 consecutive patients (10 men, 12 female patients; mean age, 41.0 years; range, 14-76 years) (25 hemispheres) with a clinical diagnosis of MTLE were retrospectively evaluated. Twenty-five hippocampi in 15 subjects without epilepsy were evaluated as age-matched controls. The volumes and thicknesses of the four anatomic sections of the hippocampi were quantitatively measured on the T2-weighted images. Two radiologists independently reviewed the MR imaging findings of the hippocampus regarding atrophy, abnormal signal intensity, and PLHS on each side separately, without comparing both sides. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated among the MR imaging findings.
Signal intensity abnormality on FLAIR images had a sensitivity of 36%, a specificity of 96%, and an accuracy of 66% for the diagnosis of hippocampal sclerosis. PLHS on T2-weighted MR images had a sensitivity of 76% and a specificity of 80% for the diagnosis of hippocampal sclerosis. The sensitivity for PLHS was higher than that for atrophy (44%) and abnormal signal intensity (48%) of the hippocampus on T2-weighted MR images. Although the mean volume of the hippocampus and the thickness of the hippocampal body were significantly smaller for patients with MTLE than for control subjects (P < .001 for both), there was no clear distinguishing threshold value between abnormal and normal hippocampi.
PLHS showed the highest sensitivity for MTLE. This MR imaging feature might improve the accuracy of the diagnosis of bilateral hippocampal sclerosis, although further research is required.
Radiology 04/2009; 251(3):873-81. · 5.73 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder that affects one million people in Japan. Medical treatment is highly effective for this disorder. The antiepileptic treatment brings 70% of the patients to seizure freedom. Current guidelines recommend carbamazepine for partial (focal) seizures and valproate for generalized seizures as the first-line drug; however, indivizualized drug selection in accordance to the patients' condition is mandatory. Modern antiepileptic medications have better tolerability and less dug-to-drug interaction, and some of them are waiting to be approved in Japan. Special attention is necessary for the care of woman in child-bearing age, adolescents, and elderly persons. Advances of surgical treatment of the epilepsy brought many medically intractable patients to be seizure free. Early identification of the surgical candidate is an important task for clinicians.
Rinsho shinkeigaku = Clinical neurology 09/2008; 48(8):550-5.
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ABSTRACT: To determine the characteristics of high-frequency oscillations (HFOs) of cortical somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs), the effect of general anesthesia on HFOs and low-frequency primary cortical responses was studied. The authors recorded SEPs elicited by median nerve stimulation directly from human brains of seven patients who underwent implantation of subdural electrodes before surgical treatment of intractable epilepsy. Recordings were made before and during general anesthesia. Changes in the number of HFOs and amplitude ratios of HFOs/primary cortical responses were analyzed. Under general anesthesia, the number of HFO peaks and the amplitude ratios were significantly decreased. General anesthesia induced remarkably decreased HFO activities when compared to low-frequency SEPs, suggesting that each of those originated from different generators. Possible relations between gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA)ergic inhibitory interneurons and HFOs are discussed.
Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology 11/2006; 23(5):426-30. · 1.45 Impact Factor
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Supplements to Clinical neurophysiology 02/2006; 59:135-42.
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Supplements to Clinical neurophysiology 02/2006; 59:159-65.
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Naoki Akamatsu
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ABSTRACT: The antiepileptic medication and surgical treatment had brought many patients with epilepsy to be seizure free, however, one third of the patients continue to experience seizures. There has recently been an explosion of research into brain stimulation for treating these intractable epilepsy patients. This is largely due to the success of deep brain stimulation of movement disorders. The intelligent cardiac pacemakers also stimulated the neurosurgeons to utilize the implantable devices. In this paper, brain stimulations with vagus nerve stimulator (VNS), depth electrodes, subdural electrodes, external responsive neuro-stimulator, implantable brain stimulator and transcranial magnetic stimulator are reviewed. The VNS had been approved in Europe and United States for clinical use. The efficacy of the VNS has already proven by the controlled trials. Stimulation of the thalamus, subthalamic nucleus and hippocampus showed some efficacy in a small number of patients, however, large scale traials remains to be undertaken. External responsive neurostimulator has shown efficacy and safety to justify further studies with implantable brain stimulators. The multi-center cooperative study is ongoing in the US to examine the usefulness of the implantable stimulator. Animal studies showed efficacy of the transcranial magnetic stimulation for the treatment and prevention of the seizures and status epilepticus.
Rinsho shinkeigaku = Clinical neurology 12/2005; 45(11):928-30.
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ABSTRACT: We report a tailored temporal lobectomy for surgical treatment of medically intractable temporal lobe epilepsy. Surgery was conducted on 30 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy, 15 of whom required intracranial electrode placement. A precise skin incision had to be designed when subdural electrodes were placed, taking into consideration the electrodes' size and where they should be placed. Drawing of the Sylvian line and Rolandic line using Taylor's method on the patient's scalp provided useful information to determine the place of craniotomy. Fundamental surgical techniques and tips are described, including how to open the inferior horn after minimal removal of the lateral temporal cortex, and the introduction of a newly developed needle electrode combined with the ring type for recording electrocorticography from the exposed hippocampal surface. Twenty-three patients with mesial temporal epilepsy were treated surgically and the surgical results of 20 patients followed-up for more than one year (mean 44 months)were analyzed. Eighteen patients (90%)were seizure free (Engel class I), and 2 patients were categorized as having a significant seizure reduction (class III). Despite the good surgical results to date, further follow-up is needed to evaluate the long-term surgical effects.
Journal of UOEH 10/2004; 26(3):303-14.
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ABSTRACT: A 59-year-old, right-handed woman had a paroxysmal polyoptic visual illusion, in which multiple copies of the object she saw spread horizontally in the left hemi-visual field. Polyopsia appeared for a few seconds. Neurological examination was normal. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a tumor-like lesion involving the cortical and subcortical matters in the right mesial temporal regions. An interictal EEG showed frequent spikes in the right mesial temporal area and intermittent theta waves in the right fronto-temporal area. Video-EEG monitoring using the sphenoidal electrodes showed the seizure discharges originating in the right sphenoidal lead accompanying the polyoptic visual illusion. The seizure discharges were restricted within the right mesial temporal lobe. Paroxysmal visual illusion disappeared after administration of anti-epileptic drugs. EEG showed rare spikes in the right mesial temporal area. Polyopsia in this patient presumed to be associated with right mesial temporal lobe epilepsy because polyopsia and seizure activities on the ictal EEG were coupled and polyopsia ceased after administration of anti-epileptic drugs. Polyopsia is recognized as visual perseveration in space and a rare visual illusion. The lesion causing polyopsia has been reported to be mostly within posterior cerebral areas including occipital, parietal and temporal regions. This patient whose ictal polyopsia associated with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy is a very rare case because most reported cases presenting ictal polyopsia are neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy. The precise mechanism of polyopsia remains unknown. The mesial temporal lobe includes the hippocampus and parahippocampal formation that have been reported to receive information from the diverse association cortex and work as memory controllers. Ictal polyopsia may result from dysfunction of the visual association cortex or visual memory systems induced by the epileptic activities in the mesial temporal lobe. Polyopsia is a rare ictal semeiology of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy and may be one of the important ictal symptoms.
Rinsho shinkeigaku = Clinical neurology 02/2004; 44(1):39-42.
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ABSTRACT: We reviewed the current diagnosis and treatment of status epilepticus (SE). The SE is defined as the condition in which a seizure persists for a sufficient length of time or is repeated frequently enough that recovery between attacks does not occur. Until recently, the most popular duration of seizures qualifying as SE has been 30 min. Nonetheless some clinicians suggest that the duration of the seizures that qualifies the SE should be shorter. In clinical settings the diagnosis of SE could be difficult without EEGs in patients who have complex partial SE or subtle SE, as their manifestation is coma without apparent motor sings. Pseudo-SE (psychogenic seizures) should be included in the differential diagnosis. Antiepileptic treatment should be administered immediately according to the protocol once the diagnosis of SE is made. In patients with refractory SE, general anesthesia with propofol or midazolam is recommended. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation to the brain is effective for the treatment of SE in experimental animals, however further studies are necessary for clinical use.
Rinsho shinkeigaku = Clinical neurology 12/2003; 43(11):799-801.
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ABSTRACT: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been used as a potential therapeutic tool in various neurological and psychiatric disorders. We reviewed the effects of rTMS as a treatment of Parkinson disease in this paper. The existing reports have been conflicting regarding the efficacy of the rTMS in PD. The controversy arises from the differences of the stimulation parameters and evaluation methods of the effects in those studies. Furthermore, placebo effects are common in trials of therapy for PD. The Japanese multi-center, double blinded, sham stimulation controlled trial showed an efficacy in both the rTMS-treated and control patients. The stimulation parameters used in this trial showed some efficacy; however, the degree of the effects were not significantly different from randomized, controlled patients. The result does not prove the efficacy of the rTMS; on the other hand, it does not rule out the efficacy. Further trials are necessary to reveal the therapeutic effect of rTMS in PD. Further studies should be performed aiming to reveal the optimal stimulation parameters.
Journal of Neurology 11/2003; 250 Suppl 3:III47-50. · 3.47 Impact Factor
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Nihon Naika Gakkai Zasshi 09/2003; 92(8):1456-60.
