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Biomedical subjects

A Basso

Publications and source records attributed to A Basso.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Age and evolution of language area functions. A study on adult stroke patients.

This study attempted to verify some of the hypotheses advanced to explain the repeatedly reported finding that non-fluent aphasics are younger than fluent aphasics. One hundred and ninety eight vascular patients with cerebral infarcts documented by CT-scan were investigated. Also in this sample fluent patients were older than non-fluent patients. Age was found not to differ according to lesion site (anterior versus posterior). Patients with extensive lesions were, on average, younger than those with more restricted damage. The most interesting finding was that more than half patients with anterior lesion had fluent aphasia and that were remarkably older than anterior patients presenting with the classical non-fluent picture. It is inferred that anterior language areas undergo some kind of progressive functional evolution with age, though not in the sense postulated by Brown and Jaffe.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Aphasia arising from purely deep lesions.

In this study we investigated the relationship between deep-seated lesions of the left hemisphere and the aphasic disturbances. Thirty-seven vascular patients with CT-scan, language and neuropsychological examination carried out between 15 and 60 days post-onset were studied. Presence and frequency of apraxic disorders and acalculia are also reported. A consistent relationship between the site of the lesion and the pattern of aphasic disturbances could not be established. The most striking finding was a dissociation between oral and written expression, the latter being disproportionately impaired in a number of subjects.

Aged↗
PubMed1987

Recovery from ideomotor apraxia. A study on acute stroke patients.

In this study we investigated whether there are predictors for recovery from ideomotor apraxia (IMA) in patients with focal left hemisphere vascular lesions. Recovery was followed in 26 patients, first examined between 15 and 30 days postonset. They were apraxic at the first examination and had a second (and in some cases, a third) neuropsychological assessment after some months. Six patients with bilateral lesions were also studied to help to define the role of the right hemisphere in recovery from IMA. Other neuropsychological variables (Token Test, Progressive Matrices and Oral Apraxia scores) and site and size of the lesion were also determined. The main results are that improvement from IMA is related to the site of the lesion (anterior lesions faring better); the evolution of IMA is related more to the evolution of oral apraxia than to the evolution of other neuropsychological variables; and the presence of a second lesion in the right hemisphere did not have the negative influence on recovery that might have been expected.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1987

Ideomotor apraxia: a study of initial severity.

This study investigated whether there are predictors for initial severity of ideomotor apraxia (IMA) in focal left-hemisphere vascular patients. One hundred and twenty-nine subjects were examined between 15 and 30 days post-onset. Twenty-five patients with bilateral lesions were also studied in order to delineate the role of the right hemisphere. Other neuropsychological variables (i.e., token test, progressive matrices and oral apraxia scores) and size of the lesion were included in the experimental design. The main results were that a) token test, progressive matrices, oral apraxia scores, and lesion size correlate significantly with IMA, and b) that the presence of a second lesion in the right hemisphere is not found to have any significant effect on initial severity of IMA.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

Impaired adaptive receptor regulation: an index of aging?

Many neuroendocrine functions are altered in old animals and their study may represent important steps in the understanding of the mechanisms of aging. A deeper insight, however, can be achieved by investigating the responsiveness to stimuli, which may reveal alterations not evident in the unstimulated conditions. At this level of study, many of such impairments have been found to be caused by receptor changes. In the present paper a third level of study is suggested in order to gain evidence of some remote failure of adaptive processes strictly linked to intimate mechanisms of aging. As at the second level of study different receptor characteristics can frequently be found at the basis of age-related alterations of biological responsiveness, at the proposed third level altered capacity of receptor regulation may be hypothesized as responsible for altered cell adaptation following hormone and drug stimuli. Experimental data are given which support this view. The possibility that receptor regulation may be used as an index of aging is suggested. This hypothesis leads to the problem of judging the validity of biological parameters deputed to represent good indices of aging. In order to solve this problem, the potential use of a mathematical model of mortality kinetics is discussed.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed1985

Different basic components in the performance of Broca's and Wernicke's aphasics on the Colour-Figure Matching Test.

It is known that focal damage of the left hemisphere causes poor performances in a number of tasks devoid of overt verbal connotation, often referred to as "non-verbal intelligence", "association" or "abstract attitude" tasks. However, it is not clear whether the existence of a unitary basic functional defect to account for the faulty performances outlined above can be supposed. In this investigation we have compared the behaviour of left-hemisphere damaged patients grouped according to aphasia type and have studied the extent to which two different, widely used tests of this supposed "non-verbal basic ability" (i.e. the Weigl Sorting Test and the Raven Progressive Matrices) overlap in their predictive power of the performance of a non-verbal association task, i.e. the Colour-Figure Matching Test. Notwithstanding the identical level of performance in the three tests between groups having different aphasia types, a clear-cut dissociation was found between Broca's and Wernicke's aphasics; in the former group the Colour-Figure Matching Test was highly correlated only with Weigl Sorting Test and in the latter only with Progressive Matrices. The conclusions are that in this case the breakdown of non-verbal basic resources does not coincide in patients with different types of aphasia, and the hypothesis of the existence of a unitary basic defect caused by left hemisphere damage is not in line with our findings.

Aphasia↗
PubMed1985

Anatomoclinical correlations of the aphasias as defined through computerized tomography: exceptions.

We have studied the frequency of exceptions to classical aphasia localizations in right-handed, literate, adult, native speakers of Italian with focal vascular left-hemisphere lesions, correlating clinical and computerized tomography data. Two hundred sixty-seven subjects were given computerized tomography (CT) examinations; lesions were mapped onto lateral diagrams and the sites of the lesions were defined. Patients were then classified as nonfluent aphasics, fluent aphasics, and nonaphasics. Patients with negative CT scans (n = 10) or only "deep" lesions (n = 50) were not studied for anatomoclinical correlations. Of the remaining 207 patients, 36 presented unexpected findings. There were seven cases of fluent aphasia and "anterior" CT lesions and six cases with nonfluent aphasia and "posterior" CT lesions among them. The significance of these findings is discussed.

Aged↗
PubMed1985

Crossed aphasia: one or more syndromes?

Seven strongly right-handed patients developed aphasia following a right hemisphere vascular lesion documented by computerized tomography. One patient had a severe unilateral neglect, indication of its presence were evident in three and absent in three patients. The Token Test scores were significantly higher than in matched controls. Two patients had Broca aphasia, four had Wernicke aphasia and one had agraphia. The correlation between type of aphasia and locus of lesion was not much different from that normally found in standard left hemisphere brain damaged aphasics.

Aphasia↗
PubMed1985

Spared musical abilities in a conductor with global aphasia and ideomotor apraxia.

A conductor suddenly developed global aphasia and severe ideomotor apraxia as a result of an infarct in the territory of the left middle cerebral artery. Although aphasia and apraxia remained unchanged during the following six years, his musical capacities were largely spared and he was still able to conduct. This case provides some evidence in favour of right hemisphere dominance for music.

Aged↗
PubMed1985

Acebutolol-induced decrease of mononuclear leukocyte beta-adrenoceptors in hypertension.

The regulatory action exerted on receptors by acebutolol, a cardioselective beta-blocker containing intrinsic sympathomimetic activity, has been investigated. beta-Adrenoceptor affinity and density of human mononuclear leukocytes were assayed in hypertensive patients before and after treatment with 400 mg/day acebutolol. While receptor affinity showed no changes between pre- and post-treatment values, a statistically significant decrease has been demonstrated in receptor density following treatment. Blood pressure and heart rate were also measured in order to test the efficacy of the administered drug. All these parameters showed a fall in the post-treatment values. It is concluded that the partial agonist acebutolol, in spite of the fact that it acts clinically as a beta-blocker, has the regulatory mechanism characteristic of agonists.

Acebutolol↗
PubMed1984

Atenolol-induced regulation of leukocyte beta 2-adrenoceptors in hypertension.

beta 2-Adrenoceptor characteristics of human mononuclear leukocytes were assayed in hypertensive patients before and after treatment with 100 mg/day atenolol. While no changes have been observed in receptor affinity, a statistically significant increase (36%) has been demonstrated in receptor density following treatment. Blood pressure and heart rate were also measured in order to test the efficacy of the administered drug. All these parameters showed a fall in the post-treatment values. It is concluded that at therapeutic concentration, beta 2-adrenoceptors undergo up-regulation by atenolol in spite of its cardioselectivity. Such a regulation, which may represent a fundamental step in the mechanism leading to withdrawal syndrome, may, therefore, be suggested being quite widespread.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Left hemisphere damage and selective impairment of auditory verbal short-term memory. A case study.

The case of a left-hemisphere damaged patient with an impairment of auditory verbal memory span is described. The neuropsychological study showed a dissociation between short-term and long-term auditory verbal memory, which may be attributed to a selective defect of auditory verbal short-term memory. Since a tachistoscopic study displayed a short-term memory superiority of the left hemisphere, it can be argued that the performance for visual verbal stimuli may still be held by the left hemisphere, albeit computerized tomography showed a left-hemisphere lesion involving the whole language area.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Pattern of recovery of oral and written expression and comprehension in aphasic patients.

Three hundred and eighty-eight aphasic patients (250 rehabilitated and 138 non-rehabilitated) were subjected to a study whose aim was to analyze the relationship between recovery in 4 specific language skills: oral and written expression and comprehension. By means of Cohen's K coefficient of agreement we sought to ascertain whether recovery of one out of these language skills significantly affected recovery of the remaining 3 language modalities. In rehabilitated patients recovery of oral ad written comprehension and expression always turned out to be linked; in non-rehabilitated patients oral comprehension recovery was not associated with recovery of oral expression, reading and writing. Regarding the evolution of aphasia type, none of the experimental subjects changed from a fluent to a non-fluent form of aphasia.

Agraphia↗
PubMed1982

Sex differences in recovery from aphasia.

The influence of sex on recovery from aphasia was investigated for oral expression and auditory verbal comprehension separately in 264 males and 121 females subdivided according to presence/absence of rehabilitation. The conclusions were that females recover significantly better than males in oral expression, but not in auditory verbal comprehension. These results are discussed with regard to the possible existence of a different cerebral organization in males and females.

Aphasia↗