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Biomedical subjects

F J Pirozzolo

Publications and source records attributed to F J Pirozzolo.

35 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

Relationship of motor symptoms to intellectual deficits in Parkinson disease.

We studied 60 patients with idiopathic Parkinson disease with motor and neuropsychologic tests to ascertain whether the severity of motor symptoms was associated with the degree of neuropsychologic deficity. Significant correlations were found between the severity of brady kinesia and impaired performance on tests assessing visual-spatial reasoning and psychomotor speed. More severe tremor was associated with better performance on a spatial orientation memory test. There relationships remained when age, age at onset, and self-rated depression were controlled. The findings suggested that cognitive impairment may result from the same subcortical lesions that cause motor symptoms.

Cognition Disorders↗
PubMed1982

Progressive supranuclear palsy.

Progressive supranuclear palsy has been recognized as a distinct nosological entity for about three decades now. Typically, this progressive neurological disease manifests itself late in the sixth decade with a terminal course of approximately four to six years. Well over one hundred cases have been described in the literature and the heterogeneous nature of progressive supranuclear palsy includes the characteristic vertical ophthalmoplegia, frequent falling and a profound nuchal rigidity. Other features are similar in many respects to those found in Parkinson's disease. The present article reviews the literature on progressive supranuclear palsy with particular reference to its clinical manifestations including the ophthalmoplegia, characteristic sleep disturbances and unique dementia. Also addressed, are neuropathological and epidemiological findings. Finally, conclusions and recommendations for further investigation are offered especially with regard to the neuropsychological nature of this neurological disorder.

Brain↗
PubMed1981

Oculomotor reaction time in dementia reflects degree of cerebral dysfunction.

The effects of diffuse cerebral dysfunction on oculomotor reaction time were assessed in patients with dementia of presumed Alzheimer's etiology and in normal age-matched control subjects. Patients were classified into mild, moderate, and severe groups on the basis of independent neurological, neuropsychological, and neuroradiological ratings for disease severity. Saccadic latencies to targets appearing in parafoveal and near peripheral vision showed significant increases from the normal controls to dementia groups, with each severity subdivision clearly differentiated from the others in terms of mean oculomotor reaction time. These data offer strong evidence for a direct relationship between degree of cortical structural integrity and simple oculomotor reaction time and suggest a higher cortical regulatory role in sensory-motor integration.

Alzheimer Disease↗
PubMed1981

Simple and choice reaction time in dementia: clinical implications.

The present study investigated differences between normal elderly subjects matched for age and education and patients with dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT) on two measures of reaction time (RT). Statistically significant group differences clearly demonstrate that normal elderly subjects have faster RT than subjects with senile dementia on all RT tasks. The DAT patients were most clearly differentiated in terms of overall group means and clinical classification from their age-matched counterparts on the choice of RT task. Eleven of 12 (92%) DAT patients displayed choice RT's 2 or more standard deviations above those of age-matched normals. While both RT measures were discriminative between patients and normals, the overall results argue for increased sensitivity when choice is required in RT in accessing the cognitive deficits in DAT.

Aged↗
PubMed1981

Neurolinguistic analysis of the language abilities of a patient with a "double disconnection syndrome": a case of subangular alexia in the presence of mixed transcortical aphasia.

In contrast to the classic form of alexia without agraphia, subangular alexia results from a single lesion located deep in the white matter of the left parietal lobe. In the present report, a patient with subangular alexia and features of mixed transcortical aphasia is described. Neurolinguistic findings include: alexia without agraphia, paucity of spontaneous speech, moderate auditory comprehension difficulty, excellent repetition, echopraxia, colour agnosia, and naming disorder. Neurolinguistic tests revealed intact phonological organisation and grammatical filter." Our studies revealed a "double disconnection syndrome," the co-existence of two relatively rare neurobehavioural disorders. Furthermore, the studies reported here clearly show dissociations of language functions in both the visual and auditory modality, which demonstrates that the stages of language processing are separable.

Aphasia↗
PubMed1979

Oculomotor programming disturbances in the dementia syndrome.

Three types of oculomotor programming disturbances are described in patients with the dementia syndrome. This report describes two of these abnormalities, poorly regulated gaze patterns and a programming type of gaze perseveration. All patients showed poorly regulated gaze patterns in contrast to the normal controls, whereas on the whole only the moderately affected patients showed the programming type of gaze perseveration. The third type of oculomotor programming disturbance is efferent perseveration of gaze (a hypokinetic, "staring" type of gaze pattern) and can be seen with severe dementia. The possible significance of these findings is discussed.

Aged↗
PubMed1978

Slow saccades.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Eye Movements↗
PubMed1977

Lateral asymmetries in visual perception: a review of tachistoscopic visual half-field studies.

Experiments using the visual half-field paradigm are reviewed with special reference to the three theories which purport to account for perceptual asymmetries: the left-to-right internal scanning mechanism theory, the direct anatomical access theory, and the attentional bias theory. Recent evidence has clearly shown that the direct anatomical access theory can account for virtually all lateral asymmetries in the perception of verbal and spatial stimuli. The results of the studies reviewed strongly support a model of brain function which suggests that the simultaneous processing of verbal and spatial stimuli does not constrict the attention of either hemisphere. The difficulty in separating the factors of hemispheric processing and stimulus characteristics is discussed. It is suggested that a reliable conclusion about the role of the cerebral hemispheres can only be made when a better description of the operating characteristics of the hemispheres is available.

Attention↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Progressive nonfluent aphasia with dementia: a case report.

We report a patient with progressive nonfluent aphasia and mild dementia. On 9-month follow-up evaluation, there was significant deterioration in both language and cognition. Unlike in Alzheimer's disease, the aphasia was of the Broca's type. In contrast with primary progressive aphasia, a dementia was present and the cognitive and language decline showed a rather rapid course.

Alzheimer Disease↗