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The motor cortex and facial expression: new insights from neuroscience.

BACKGROUND: For more than a century, unusual and complex deficits in facial expression have been known to occur following localized brain damage. Some brain injuries leave the face with pronounced alterations in affect whereas others result in movement disorders such as blepharospasm and Meige syndrome. There is also a historic trail of clinical observations that document deficits in either voluntary or emotional control of the facial muscles following central nervous system damage. REVIEW SUMMARY: Recent studies in the nonhuman primate cerebral cortex reveal the existence of multiple cortical facial representations in the frontal lobe and adjacent anterior cingulate cortex. These comprise the facial representation of the primary motor cortex (M1), ventral lateral premotor cortex (LPMCv), supplementary motor cortex (M2), rostral cingulate motor cortex (M3), and caudal cingulate motor cortex (M4). Homologous facial representations reside in the human brain based on observations following cortical stimulation, functional neuroimaging, and localized surgical resection. In the nonhuman primate, all these facial representations have been found to be directly interconnected through topographically organized corticocortical connections, and each facial area has also been found to send direct corticobulbar projections to the facial motor nucleus. The facial representations of M2 and M3 are both located on the medial wall of the hemisphere, in the vascular territory of the anterior cerebral artery. Both preferentially give rise to bilateral projections to parts of the facial nucleus that innervate the upper facial musculature as demonstrated in the monkey. The facial representation of M1, LPMCv, and M4 preferentially give rise to contralateral axonal projections ending in parts of the facial nucleus that innervate the lower facial musculature. The facial representation of M1 and LPMCv both reside in the vascular territory of the middle cerebral artery (MCA). The classic clinical presentation of paralysis in the contralateral lower facial musculature and intact bilateral upper facial musculature following typical MCA in infarction in the human parallels this mapping pattern of corticobulbar connections found in the nonhuman primate. CONCLUSIONS: Facial movements are undoubtedly under the powerful influence of the cerebral cortex and are essential for the appropriate execution of many important functions such as mastication, swallowing, and social interaction, including speech and nonverbal communication. This information provides a theoretic template for interpreting the clinical effects of neuropathologic disease and localized cortical trauma on facial movements.

Animals↗

A rehabilitation protocol for the neuroscience intensive care unit.

Because of modern technology, the rate of survival after neurologic injury has increased. The severity of patients' disabilities has also increased. Early rehabilitation intervention is beneficial from both a functional and an economic standpoint. This article describes a formal multidisciplinary protocol for comprehensive rehabilitation beginning with admission to the neurosurgical intensive care unit. A case study is also presented.

Adult↗

Computer-assisted instruction: design and content in neuroscience nursing.

Computer-assisted instruction (CAI) includes games, tutorials, simulations, and drills. Computer simulation exercises can be used to simulate patient care and promote diagnostic reasoning skills in nursing. Computer simulation exercises (CSEs) based on case studies of patients with head injury, spinal cord injury, epilepsy, febrile seizures and meningitis have been developed and implemented at the University of Washington School of Nursing, Department of Physiological Nursing, in conjunction with the Health Sciences Center for Educational Resources. These simulations provide a realistic, constantly changing scenerio in which the nurse-learner collects data, analyzes it, and makes decisions about the patient's nursing care. The patient's condition may change dramatically as a result of the decisions made by the nurse-learner.

Computer Simulation↗

The neuroscience nurse as an expert witness.

Serving as an expert witness in cases alleging nursing negligence is an interesting, rewarding and stressful role. Having knowledge about qualifications of an expert, what is expected of the expert, how to assess adequacy of nursing care, and how to bill for services may lower the stress. If after careful consideration you choose to serve as an expert witness, you should experience satisfaction knowing you are fulfilling a professional responsibility to maintain standards of care and to protect nurses accused unjustly of negligence.

Accidental Falls↗

Compliance and noncompliance in neuroscience.

Among the responses to this month's question, the most common strategy for motivating compliance is providing information. This finding is also supported with the example from Australia, where stoke sufferers are highly compliant with any intervention aimed at prevention of future strokes. In this case, the high level of compliance and (probably) motivation can be explained by the fact that stroke is potentially fatal and highly disabling. Other important issues also were identified in the responses: (a) patients' trust and belief in healthcare professionals in terms of providing information and motivation, and (b) a lack of motivation in some patients who simply do not want to comply and prefer a certain level of seizure activity or other impairments and disabilities over the potential side effects of the treatment. This raises another question that goes beyond the concept of compliance and noncompliance: How does the system comply to the patient? I will leave this topic open, and I welcome comments for a future round of discussion here at Global Views.

Australia↗

The Ligand Gated Ion Channel database: an example of a sequence database in neuroscience.

Multiple comparisons of receptor sequences, or receptor subunit sequences, has proved to be an invaluable tool in modern pharmacological investigations. Although of outstanding importance, general sequence databases suffer from several imperfections due to their size and their non-specificity. Room therefore exists for expert-maintained databases of restricted focus, where knowledge of the research field helps to filter the huge amount of data generated. Accordingly, neuroscientists have designed databases covering several types of proteins, in particular receptors for neurotransmitters. Ligand-gated ion channels are oligomeric transmembrane proteins involved in the fast response to neurotransmitters. All these receptors are formed by the assembly of homologous subunits, and an unexpected wealth of genes coding for these subunits has been revealed during the last two decades. The Ligand Gated Ion Channel database (LGICdb) has been developed to handle this growing body of information. The database aims to provide only one entry for each gene, containing annotated nucleic acid and protein sequences.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Genetic neuroscience of mammalian learning and memory.

Our primary research interest is to understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms on neuronal circuitry underlying the acquisition, consolidation and retrieval of hippocampus-dependent memory in rodents. We study these problems by producing genetically engineered (i.e. spatially targeted and/or temporally restricted) mice and analysing these mice by multifaceted methods including molecular and cellular biology, in vitro and in vivo physiology and behavioural studies. We attempt to identify deficits at each of the multiple levels of complexity in specific brain areas or cell types and deduce those deficits that underlie specific learning or memory. We will review our recent studies on the acquisition, consolidation and recall of memories that have been conducted with mouse strains in which genetic manipulations were targeted to specific types of cells in the hippocampus or forebrain of young adult mice.

Animals↗

What imitation tells us about social cognition: a rapprochement between developmental psychology and cognitive neuroscience.

Both developmental and neurophysiological research suggest a common coding between perceived and generated actions. This shared representational network is innately wired in humans. We review psychological evidence concerning the imitative behaviour of newborn human infants. We suggest that the mechanisms involved in infant imitation provide the foundation for understanding that others are 'like me' and underlie the development of theory of mind and empathy for others. We also analyse functional neuroimaging studies that explore the neurophysiological substrate of imitation in adults. We marshal evidence that imitation recruits not only shared neural representations between the self and the other but also cortical regions in the parietal cortex that are crucial for distinguishing between the perspective of self and other. Imitation is doubly revealing: it is used by infants to learn about adults, and by scientists to understand the organization and functioning of the brain.

Child Development↗