Hemiparesia congênita e adquirida na criança: interrelação entre presença de crises epilépticas, os achados eletrencefalográficos e de neuroimagem por ressonância nuclear magnética

The purpose of this paper was to study patients with congenital and acquired hemiparesis, their clinical aspects, the presence or not of epileptic seizures, and electroencephalographic (EEG) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) findings. We analyzed the interrelation between etiology, the presence and seriousness of epileptic seizures (ES) and the possible causes of refractoriness. This is a prospective study using the clinical diagnosis of a child neurologist, who attested to the presence of unilateral motor lesions. We compared the electroencephalographic findings in patients with or without epileptic seizures, and investigated if among the former, these seizures were controlled or not, their likely etiology and risks of refractoriness. EEG background activity on the lesion and contralateral side was analyzed, in addition to the presence of concomitant epileptiform activity. Encephalon MRIs of all the patients were studied to correlate etiology and the control or not of epileptic seizures. The disorganization of bilateral EEG activity correlated with the difficult-to-control epileptic seizures. Suitably organized background activity contralateral to the lesion is a good prognosis in relation to epileptic seizures. Focal epileptogenic activity does not necessarily predispose to epileptic manifestation. The MRI is more important in determining etiology than in prognosing epileptic seizures. This study used a multidisciplinary approach involving child neurologists, a physical therapist and a neuroradiologist. This meets the criteria of multidisciplinarity of the Postgraduate Program in Health Sciences

Mapeando fundamentos do Constructo Neuromarketing com profissionais de empresa de publicidade

This study aims to acknowledge the domain level and influence of the neuromarketing construct. This is done considering professionals at advertising agencies in Brazil. The presence of concepts related to this new approach is very little divulged, and there are little analysis performed on this area. Thus, the research is of qualitative and exploratory nature and used as primary fonts books, articles related to marketing, neuroscience, and psychology as well as secondary fonts. A profound interview was realized aiming the main advertising agencies in Brazil. The public was composed by managers responsible for planning. A content analysis was performed afterwards. The advances related to the brain science have permitted the development of technological innovation. These go primarily towards knowledge and unconscious experiences of consumers, which are responsible for the impulse of decision making and consumer behavior. These issues are related to Neuromarketing, that in turn, uses techniques such as FMRI, PET and FDOT. These scan the consumer s brain and produces imagines on the neuron s structures and functioning. This is seen while activities such as mental tasks for the visualization of brands, images or products, watching videos and commercials are performed. It is observed that the agencies are constantly in search of new technologies and are aware of the limitations of the current research instruments. On the other hand, they are not totally familiar with concepts related to neuromarketing. In relation to the neuroimage techniques it is pointed out by the research that there is full unawareness, but some agencies seem to visualize positive impacts with the use of these techniques for the evaluation of films and in ways that permit to know the consumer better. It is also seen that neuroimage is perceived as a technique amongst others, but its application is not real, there are some barriers in the market and in the agencies itself. These barriers as well as some questioning allied to the scarce knowledge of neuromarketing, make it not possible to be put into practice in the advertising market. It is also observed that even though there is greater use of neuromarketing; there would not be any meaningful changes in functioning and structuring of these agencies. The use of the neuro-image machines should be done in research institutes and centers of big companies. Results show that the level of domain of the neuromarketing construct in the Brazilian advertising agencies is only a theoretical one. Little is known of this subject and the neurological studies and absolutely nothing of neuroimage techniques

Alterações da default mode network provocadas pela ingestão de Ayahuasca investigadas por Ressonância Magnética Funcional

Ayahuasca is psychotropic beverage that has been used for ages by indigenous populations in South America, notably in the Amazon region, for religious and medicinal purposes. The tea is obtained by the decoction of leaves from the Psychotria viridis with the bark and stalk of a shrub, the Banisteriopsis caapi. The first is rich in N-N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), which has an important and well-known hallucinogenic effect due to its agonistic action in serotonin receptors, specifically 5-HT2A. On the other hand, β-carbolines present in B. caapi, particularly harmine and harmaline, are potent monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOi). In addition, the tetrahydroharmine (THH), also present in B. caapi, acts as mild selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor and a weak MAOi. This unique composition induces a number of affective, sensitive, perceptual and cognitive changes in individuals under the effect of Ayahuasca. On the other hand, there is growing interest in the Default Mode Network (DMN), which has been consistently observed in functional neuroimaging studies. The key components of this network include structures in the brain midline, as the anterior medial frontal cortex, ventral medial frontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus, and some regions within the inferior parietal lobe and middle temporal gyrus. It has been argued that DMN participate in tasks involving self-judgments, autobiographical memory retrieval, mental simulations, thinking in perspective, meditative states, and others. In general, these tasks require an internal focus of attention, hence the conclusion that the DMN is associated with introspective mental activity. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) changes in DMN caused via the ingestion of Ayahuasca by 10 healthy subjects while submitted to two fMRI protocols: a verbal fluency task and a resting state acquisition. In general, it was observed that Ayahuasca causes a reduction in the fMRI signal in central nodes of DMN, such as the anterior cingulate cortex, the medial prefrontal cortex, the posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus and inferior parietal lobe. Furthermore, changes in connectivity patterns of the DMN were observed, especially a decrease in the functional connectivity of the precuneus. Together, these findings indicate an association between the altered state of consciousness experienced by individuals under the effect of Ayahuasca, and changes in the stream of spontaneous thoughts leading to an increased introspective mental activity

Mapeando fundamentos do Constructo Neuromarketing com profissionais de empresa de publicidade

This study aims to acknowledge the domain level and influence of the neuromarketing construct. This is done considering professionals at advertising agencies in Brazil. The presence of concepts related to this new approach is very little divulged, and there are little analysis performed on this area. Thus, the research is of qualitative and exploratory nature and used as primary fonts books, articles related to marketing, neuroscience, and psychology as well as secondary fonts. A profound interview was realized aiming the main advertising agencies in Brazil. The public was composed by managers responsible for planning. A content analysis was performed afterwards. The advances related to the brain science have permitted the development of technological innovation. These go primarily towards knowledge and unconscious experiences of consumers, which are responsible for the impulse of decision making and consumer behavior. These issues are related to Neuromarketing, that in turn, uses techniques such as FMRI, PET and FDOT. These scan the consumer s brain and produces imagines on the neuron s structures and functioning. This is seen while activities such as mental tasks for the visualization of brands, images or products, watching videos and commercials are performed. It is observed that the agencies are constantly in search of new technologies and are aware of the limitations of the current research instruments. On the other hand, they are not totally familiar with concepts related to neuromarketing. In relation to the neuroimage techniques it is pointed out by the research that there is full unawareness, but some agencies seem to visualize positive impacts with the use of these techniques for the evaluation of films and in ways that permit to know the consumer better. It is also seen that neuroimage is perceived as a technique amongst others, but its application is not real, there are some barriers in the market and in the agencies itself. These barriers as well as some questioning allied to the scarce knowledge of neuromarketing, make it not possible to be put into practice in the advertising market. It is also observed that even though there is greater use of neuromarketing; there would not be any meaningful changes in functioning and structuring of these agencies. The use of the neuro-image machines should be done in research institutes and centers of big companies. Results show that the level of domain of the neuromarketing construct in the Brazilian advertising agencies is only a theoretical one. Little is known of this subject and the neurological studies and absolutely nothing of neuroimage techniques