Uner Tan

Cukurova University | CU · Department of Physiology

Relations between the hearing durations of right and left ears and points on the introductory examination for entrance to the Science School of Ataturk University in Erzurum were investigated in 31 male and 13 female students. The hearing duration of the left ear was significantly associated with the scores of the examination for the university ent...

Sex difference in 2D:46 digit ratio was studied in 386 right-handed students. The lengths of index (2D) and ring (4D) fingers were measured using a caliper. Height and weight of participants were recorded. Body height correlated negatively with right- and left-hand digit ratios in the total sample (N = 386); correlations were significant for the le...

A 7-month-old baby was born in a village near Iskenderun (Turkey) where “Unertan Syndrome” with quadrupedality and primitive cognitive abilities was discovered. The clinical diagnosis was anencephaly. However, his head did not show the classical symptoms of anencephaly because it was covered with bony structures. The baby has an ape-like, prognasth...

The integrity and dynamic properties of the microtubule cytoskeleton are indispensable for the development of the mammalian brain. Consequently, mutations in the genes that encode the structural component (the α/β-tubulin heterodimer) can give rise to severe, sporadic neurodevelopmental disorders. These are commonly referred to as the tubulinopathi...

Background: Uner Tan syndrome (UTS) cases with habitual quadrupedal locomotion (QL), impaired intelligence, and dysarthric or no speech predominantly use lateral sequence (LS) gait like nonprimates rather than the predominantly diagonal sequence (DS) gait of nonhuman primates. However, these studies neglected possible sex-related differences in the...

Purpose: To review palmar grasp reflex in human infants regarding psychomotor development. Method: “Palmar grasp reflex” and “grasping reflex” were searched in scientific journals published between 2000 and 2016. Two groups were identified in newborns up to six months: (1) Palmar grasp reflex was studied as part of instruments of neuropsychomotor e...

The integrity and dynamic properties of the microtubule cytoskeleton are indispensable for the development of the mammalian brain. Consequently, mutations in the genes that encode the structural component (the α/β-tubulin heterodimer) can give rise to severe, sporadic neurodevelopmental disorders. These are commonly referred to as the tubulinopathi...

Background/aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate perfusion computed tomography (PCT) findings in patients with Alzheimer disease and to compare them with those of patients without dementia. Materials and methods: PCT was performed in 35 patients: 20 with Alzheimer disease (mean age, 69.7 ± 5.5 years) and 15 control subjects (mean age, 67.5...

Uner Tan syndrome (UTS) consists of habitual quadrpedal locomotion (QL), impaired intelligence, and dysarthric or no speech. The current work presents a gait analysis of UTS cases (n = 33) from 10 families (n = 33), to obtain a more representative sample than Shapiro et al. (PlosOne, 2014). Hip and knee angles during quadrupedal standing were meas...

Introduction: Uner Tan syndrome (UTS) consists of quadrupedal locomotion (QL), impaired intelligence and dysarthric or no speech. Gait analysis performed for UTS were a few cases with lateral sequence (LS) QL. The current work presents a gait analysis of UTS in more families. Methods: Hip and knee angles during quadrupedal standing were...

We evaluated the diagnostic value of gradient-echo (GRE) imaging in patients with “cerebral venous and sinus thrombosis” (CVST). Materials and Methods In total, 130 thrombosed venous segment signal intensities in 45 patients with CVST were analyzed retrospectively using MRI and MR venography. Results The T2* GRE sequence had diagnostic value for...

Objective: To investigate siblings from Kars (n = 2), Turkey, with diagonal-sequence quadrupedal locomotion (QL), severe mental retardation, and no speech (Uner Tan syndrome, UTS), in relation to the evolutionary emergence of human bipedal locomotion (BL). Methods: Video recordings were made to assess gaits. Brain MRI scanning was performed to v...

Patients with Uner Tan syndrome (UTS) exhibit habitual quadrupedal locomotion (QL), intellectual disability, dysarthric speech and truncal ataxia. Examination of cognitive ability in this syndrome has not yet been demonstrated in the scientific literature. Aims: (i) To analyze the cognitive abilities of the siblings with UTS; (ii) to assess the gra...

Introduction: Neurological involvements were shown in 20% of patients with Primary Sjogren's Syndrome (pSS). Neurological symptoms may be the first signs of pSS in 57% of the cases. In addition, early diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders may save or improve the quality of life of these cases. There have been reports about the neurolog...

Two consanguineous families with Uner Tan Syndrome (UTS) were analyzed in relation to self-organizing processes in complex systems, and the evolutionary emergence of human bipedalism. The cases had the key symptoms of previously reported cases of UTS, such as quadrupedalism, mental retardation, and dysarthric or no speech, but the new cases also ex...

Introduction: In this study, we report the results of our experience of therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) for neuroimmunologic disorders performed at our hospital over a seven-year period. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 91 patients (53 male, 38 female) who had been treated at our center with TPE. Results: 60 patien...

Two adult siblings from a consanguineous famiy in Kars, Turkey, exhibited Uner Tan syndrome with severe mental retardation, and no speech, but with some developmental differences.. There was no homozygocity in the genetic analysis, but the extremely low socio-economic status suggested epigenetic changes occurred during pre- and post-natal develo...

Uner Tan syndrome (UTS), discovered in 2005 in Southern Turkey, mainly consists of habitual quadrupedal locomotion, mental retardation, and dysarthric or no speech, with or without cerebello-vermial hypoplasia and mildly simplified cortical gyri. A man walking on all four extremities, probably exhibiting the symptoms of the UTS, was first discovere...

Why are only some rare cases predisposed to walk on all four extremities similar to our early ancestors? The quest to find an answer to this and similar questions was the starting point for establishing a new discipline, “Darwinian medicine”, which is a novel concept providing a foundation for all medicine [47]. The aim of the Darwinian medicine is...

Two cases with quadrupedal locomotion (QL) were presented. In both cases, cognitive and psychiatric functions were normal and, no neurological deficits were observed, except for a sequel paralysis of left leg in Case 2. It was suggested that human QL (1) should not be considered as an epiphenomenon caused by neurodevelopmental malformation and atax...

Cerebellar ataxia, mental retardation and dysequilibrium syndrome is a rare and heterogeneous condition. We investigated a consanguineous family from Turkey with four affected individuals exhibiting the condition. Homozygosity mapping revealed that several shared homozygous regions, including chromosome 13q12. Targeted next-generation sequencing of...

The first phase in the development of locomotion, primary variability, would occur in normal fetuses and infants, and those with UTS. In both normal and pathological cases, the primary neural repertoire would be set by evolutionary epigenetic mechanisms inherited from the very primitive tetrapods with diagonal-sequence quadrupedal locomotion that l...

Uner Tan syndrome (UTS), discovered in 2005 in Southern Turkey, mainly consists of habitual quadrupedal locomotion, mental retardation, and dysarthric or no speech, with or without cerebello-vermial hypoplasia and mildly simplified cortical gyri. A man walking on all four extremities, probably exhibiting the symptoms of the UTS, was first discovere...

To elucidate mechanisms of Parkinsonian rigidity by assessing excitability of alpha-motoneurons innervating right and left soleus muscles in healthy controls and Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with rigidities in the right, left and both legs. One group of 45 controls was recruited and 60 PD patients in three groups: rigidities, predominantly in...

The biological basis for the development of the cerebro-cerebellar structures required for posture and gait in humans is poorly understood. We investigated a large consanguineous family from Turkey exhibiting an extremely rare phenotype associated with quadrupedal locomotion, mental retardation, and cerebro-cerebellar hypoplasia, linked to a 7.1-Mb...

Background. Uner Tan Syndrome (UTS) was first described in 2005 and consists of three main symptoms: habitual locomotion on all four extremities, impaired intelligence with no conscious experience, and dysarthria. Since then, seven further families have been found, mostly in southern and eastern Turkey, giving a total of 23 individuals in eight fam...

This review includes for the first time a dynamical systems analysis of human quadrupedalism in Uner Tan syndrome, which is characterized by habitual quadrupedalism, impaired intelligence, and rudimentary speech. The first family was discovered in a small village near Iskenderun, and families were later found in Adana and two other small villages n...

Supplementary material is available on the publishers Web site along with the published article.

It was believed that human quadrupedalism with the related novel syndrome (Uner Tan syndrome, UTS) first described in 2005 was the first to be discovered in the world. However, it was later revealed a boy with a paralyzed leg walking on all fours was already reported in 1901. The boy did not exhibit the whole symptom complex of UTS, however. We wil...

The association of nonverbal intelligence (NVI) with latencies of the somatosensory evoked potentials from the right and left posterior tibial nerves (PTNs) was studied in right-handed male and female subjects without familial sinistrality (FS-). There was a significant negative linear correlation between N49-P39 interpeak latencies from the right...

The relation of the carpal tunnel (CT) diameters (depth and width) to the motor conduction velocities of the median and ulnar nerves were studied for the right and left hands of the male and female controls and carpet weavers. The CT depth and width were measured by the computerized axial tomography. The mean CT depth and width of the left hand wer...

Reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome associated with hypertension rarely presents with predominant involvement of the brainstem and sparing of the supratentorial regions. In this study, the clinical and neuroimaging features of a 39-year-old woman with hypertensive encephalopathy and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings localized...

We report a 20-year-old woman with sickle cell disease (SCD) who presented with a severe pulsating headache, nausea, and vomiting. Her history was significant for a past thrombotic event during which she had not used anticoagulation therapy as prescribed. Her mental status was mildly confused. On funduscopic examination, papilledema and retinal hem...

Mutations in the ganglioside-induced differentiation-associated protein 1 gene (GDAP1) cause Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 2 (CMT2), a severe autosomal recessive form of neuropathy associated with axonal phenotypes. It has been screened in this study for the presence of mutations in the coding region of GDAP1, which maps to chromosome 8q21, in a family...

Guillain-Barré syndrome is a relatively common, acute, and rapidly progressive, inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. The diagnosis is usually established on the basis of symptoms and signs, aided by cerebrospinal fluid findings and electrophysiologic criteria. Previously, radiologic examinations have been used only to rule out other spinal ab...

Single seizure and epilepsy is one of the most commonly encountered neurologic disorders in elderly individuals, arising as a result of complex and often multiple acquired underlying pathologies. Adenosine, acting at A1 receptors, exhibits anticonvulsant effects in experimental epilepsy and inhibits progression to status epilepticus. Adenosine deam...

Adenosine has been shown to play a significant role as a modulator of neuronal activity in convulsive disorders, acting as an endogenous anticonvulsant agent. Any change in adenosine deaminase (ADA) levels will reflect to adenosine levels. In the present study, we have investigated the effect of glutathione on brain tissue ADA levels due to seizure...

Earlier studies have reported right-sided lateralization for different organ cancers except breast cancer. In the present study, lateralization of head-neck cancers and their relation with the peripheral cell-mediated immune asymmetry was investigated. The sample was comprised of 42 men and 20 women diagnosed with cancer in the head-neck region. Th...

A new variant of Unertan Syndrome (UTS) is described in two Turkish children who exhibit both bipedal and quadrupedal locomotion and have normal cognitive abilities, including speech and intelligence. Quadrupedal locomotion was used by these individuals for rapid motivity when needed. An X-linked autosomal recessive transmission appears to be respo...

Ecchordosis physaliphora is a rare congenital, benign, hamartomatous, retroclival mass derived from notochordal tissue that is typically located intradurally in the prepontine cistern. Ecchordosis physaliphora is usually asymptomatic. In rare cases, ecchordosis physaliphora can be symptomatic due to tumor expansion and compression of the surroundin...

Sex differences in second (2D) and fourth (4D) fingertip extensions relative to the middle fingertip and 4D:2D fingertip extension ratios were studied in men and women. Body height positively correlated with index fingertip extensions, not with ring fingertip extensions, nor with their ratio. Mean 2D extension (both hands) was smaller in women than...

Mutations in the very low-density lipoprotein receptor VLDLR are responsible for cerebellar hypoplasia with quadrupedal gait (1). The most likely mechanism leading to this phenotype is that VLDLR deficiency in the brain at a key stage of development precludes the normal formation of neural structures critical for gait. Quadrupedal gait is an integr...

During this chaotic state, full of a high-level excitation, I realized all at once that they were exhibiting the walking style of our ape-like ancestors—a case of reverse evolution. Both ideas leapt spontaneously and simultaneously to mind, without conscious thought. In addition to quadrupedality, they had a ‘zero’ score on the Mini-Mental-State ex...

Quadrupedal gait in humans, also known as Unertan syndrome, is a rare phenotype associated with dysarthric speech, mental retardation, and varying degrees of cerebrocerebellar hypoplasia. Four large consanguineous kindreds from Turkey manifest this phenotype. In two families (A and D), shared homozygosity among affected relatives mapped the trait t...

"Unertan syndrome" consists of two main symptoms: quadrupedal gait and primitive cognitive abilities including language and conscious experience. To assess the central mechanisms involved in this syndrome, the authors performed MRI and PET scans on affected and unaffected individuals from both families. All affected individuals were also subjected...

In the present study, the relations of simple reaction times of right and left hands with muscle powers of right and left hands, back, and leg were examined. Hand preference was assessed by the modified Edinburgh Handedness Inventory. Measurements for reaction time were taken using the Newtest 2000 Reaction Time Apparatus. Takei Kiki Kogyo Dynamome...

Hand skill was analyzed using a computerized peg moving task. The durations of single hand movements (PMTs) were accurately measured in right-hand (RH) and left-hand (LH) writers. One trial consisted of 10 movements of the right hand and 10 movements of the left hand. Each participant performed five trials. Women showed significantly higher percent...

The aim of this study was to describe additional patients (n= 3) exhibiting the Unertan syndrome (UTS), resident in rural areas of Canakkale. The 8th and 9th families with the UTS, with a total of 16 members affected, have not been previously characterized. A single, non-familial case (Bayramic, Canakkale) occurred during early childhood after an i...

The author has discovered a new syndrome with quadrupedal gait, flexed head and body, primitive speech, severe mental retardation, and mild cerebellar signs with a disturbed conscious experience. This syndrome was exhibited by 5 of 19 children from a consanguineous family. The pedigree demonstrated a typical autosomal-recessive inheritance. The gen...

A large family with six individuals exhibiting the Unertan syndrome (UTS) was identified residing in southern Turkey. All of the individuals had mental impairments and walked on all four extremities. The practice of intra-familial marriages suggested that the UTS may be an autosomal recessive disorder, similar to previously described cases. The inf...

Epilepsy, the most common neurological disorder worldwide, changing cellular interactions and connectivity may have effects on sialic acid levels. A total of 80 mice were separated into 8 groups: the sham, control, pentylentetrazole (PTZ), PTZ plus progesterone, five dose progesterone, single dose progesterone, kindling, and kindling plus progester...

A 39-year-old man with a 4-month history of transient pins and needles sensations occurring below the waist while walking and difficulty walking presented to our outpatient clinic. He had an approximate 1-year history of bilateral hearing loss, the etiology of which was unknown. His symptoms had been progressive, and there was no significant family...

The growth promoting effects of growth hormone (GH) are well-known. However, the studies in this respect did not consider the sexual dimorphism. The adverse--growth limiting--GH effects were also reported in human newborns (see Tan, 1992, 1995; Tan et al., 1998). A similar study was replicated in the newborn rat pups in the present work. The serum...

Hyperhomocysteinemia is a risk factor for ischemic stroke. Hypothyroidism may cause hyperhomocysteinemia. To date, no works have examined the association between hypothyroidism and hyperhomocysteinemia in ischemic stroke. We aimed to investigate the roles of hypothyroidism and hyperhomocysteinemia in ischemic stroke, and whether any relationship ex...

Epilepsy can be described as a group of neurological disorders, characterized by recurrent episodes of convulsive seizures, loss of consciousness, sensory disturbances, abnormal behavior, or all of these. Altered glutathione metabolism in association with increased oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathogenesis of many diseases such as se...

Professor Uner Tan was born at Unye which is at the Black Sea cost on May 1st, 1937. He graduated from secondary school at Corum and started higher education at Ege University, Faculty of Medicine, at 1956. He continued his higher education at Goettingen University and graduated from this faculty simultaneously from the neuroscience PhD program at...

In this study I have outlined the grounds of a new theory, to explain the mind-brain-body triad in health and disease. This is the psychomotor theory. First, I have briefly analyzed the historical development of the relationship between mind and brain, which is being discussed since more than a few thousand years. The tight junctions between psycho...

The recently discovered “UNERTAN SYNDROME” consists of quadrupedal gait, severe mental retardation, and primitive language. This syndrome can be considered as devolution of human being, throwing a light into the transition from quadrupedality to bipedality with co-evolution of human mind. The genetic nature of this syndrome supports the punctuated...

This study presents a new theory to explain the neural origins of human mind. This is the psychomotor theory. The author briefly analyzed the historical development of the mind-brain theories. The close relations between psychological and motor systems were subjected to a rather detailed analysis, using psychiatric and neurological examples. The fe...

Acupuncture is applied, especially in treatment of pain, hemiplegia, obesity, and psychological illnesses including addiction. Recently, ear and body acupuncture have been frequently used in the treatment of smoking. An increase in levels of endorphin, enkephalin, epinephrine, norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine in the central nervous system an...

The aim was to study the effect of placebo EA, electroacupuncture (EA), and diet on obesity and accompanying psychological symptoms. One hundred and sixty-five volunteer women participated in the study. There were three groups: (i) Placebo EA, (ii) EA, and (iii) diet restriction group. EA was performed by using three ear and six body points. There...

A 33-year-old pregnant woman (gestational age, 39 weeks and 2 days) presented with a one-day history of abdominal rhythmic myoclonus. Gynecological examination revealed that the cervix was unfavorable with irregular contractions that were ineffective. Electroencephalography, MRI of the dorsal spine and blood biochemical, examinations were normal. E...

After discovering two families with handicapped children exhibiting the "Uner Tan syndrome," the author discovered a man exhibiting only wrist-walking with no primitive mental abilities including language. According to his mother, he had an infectious disease with high fever as a three months old baby; as a result, the left leg had been paralyzed a...

"Uner Tan Syndrome" was further studied in a second family. There was no cerebellar atrophy, except a mild vermial atrophy in MRI scans of the affected individuals. This is not, however, the pathogenesis of the "Uner Tan Syndrome", since in the first and second families there were bipedal men exhibiting very similar MRI scans. The second family may...

The long-term effects of acute submaximal exercise on intraocular pressures (IOPs) of right-and left-eyes and recovery times to basement levels of IOP in postexercise periods in sedentary and physically fit subjects were investigated. Twenty-five sedentary and 24 physically fit subjects, ranging in age 17 to 22 years, participated. Intraocular pres...