Função vísuo-espacial em paralisia cerebral e proposta de novo teste com a ajuda de computador

The first idea of this study is trat there may be a disturbance of the visuo-spatial function in cerebral palsy. This idea is based upon the theories of Luria and Piaget. The second idea of this study is that the computer can help the investigation of visuo-spatial function. With the intention of evaluating the spatial function in cerebral palsy, the literature related to these themes was revised. We justify the proposal of a new test to study visuo-spatial function. This test uses straight lines in four different orientations and the subject has to recognize and arrange them individually or sets of them. This was done through the use of pencil and papel, and computer. The results confirm that there is a spatial disturbance and that a better understanding of the subject's difficulties was made possible through the use of the computer and the Logo computer language.

Hemiparesia congênita avaliação neuropsicológica complementar utilizando computador

We present the neuropsychological assessment with computer aid of six cerebral palsy children. Three children had right hemiparesis and three, left hemiparesis. The tomographic examination showed parietal cavities (porencephalic cyst in 4 children, ischemic injury in 1 case and subarachnoid cyst in 1 case). We have proposed to assess the visuo-spatial function since we suspected the children could have disturbance of this function. We did not detect this disturbance. On the other hand, the children had astereognosia and the right hemiparetic children preferred to execute signs on the right part of the computer visor. We discuss and propose explanations for both findings.

The Intrahippocampal Infusion Of Crotamine From Crotalus Durissus Terrificus Venom Enhances Memory Persistence In Rats.

Previous research has shown that crotamine, a toxin isolated from the venom of Crotalus durissus terrificus, induces the release of acetylcholine and dopamine in the central nervous system of rats. Particularly, these neurotransmitters are important modulators of memory processes. Therefore, in this study we investigated the effects of crotamine infusion on persistence of memory in rats. We verified that the intrahippocampal infusion of crotamine (1 μg/μl; 1 μl/side) improved the persistence of object recognition and aversive memory. By other side, the intrahippocampal infusion of the toxin did not alter locomotor and exploratory activities, anxiety or pain threshold. These results demonstrate a future prospect of using crotamine as potential pharmacological tool to treat diseases involving memory impairment, although it is still necessary more researches to better elucidate the crotamine effects on hippocampus and memory.

Metabolic Memory Of ß-cells Controls Insulin Secretion And Is Mediated By Camkii.

Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) functions both in regulation of insulin secretion and neurotransmitter release through common downstream mediators. Therefore, we hypothesized that pancreatic ß-cells acquire and store the information contained in calcium pulses as a form of metabolic memory, just as neurons store cognitive information. To test this hypothesis, we developed a novel paradigm of pulsed exposure of ß-cells to intervals of high glucose, followed by a 24-h consolidation period to eliminate any acute metabolic effects. Strikingly, ß-cells exposed to this high-glucose pulse paradigm exhibited significantly stronger insulin secretion. This metabolic memory was entirely dependent on CaMKII. Metabolic memory was reflected on the protein level by increased expression of proteins involved in glucose sensing and Ca(2+)-dependent vesicle secretion, and by elevated levels of the key ß-cell transcription factor MAFA. In summary, like neurons, human and mouse ß-cells are able to acquire and retrieve information.

Non-gaussian Spatial Correlations Dramatically Weaken Localization.

We perform variational studies of the interaction-localization problem to describe the interaction-induced renormalizations of the effective (screened) random potential seen by quasiparticles. Here we present results of careful finite-size scaling studies for the conductance of disordered Hubbard chains at half-filling and zero temperature. While our results indicate that quasiparticle wave functions remain exponentially localized even in the presence of moderate to strong repulsive interactions, we show that interactions produce a strong decrease of the characteristic conductance scale g^{*} signaling the crossover to strong localization. This effect, which cannot be captured by a simple renormalization of the disorder strength, instead reflects a peculiar non-Gaussian form of the spatial correlations of the screened disordered potential, a hitherto neglected mechanism to dramatically reduce the impact of Anderson localization (interference) effects.