El cerebro y la toma de decisiones

Los continuos descubrimientos en el terreno de las neurociencias, junto con importantes avances de la psicología, permiten nuevos abordajes a los problemas propios de la toma de decisiones. El presente trabajo se centrará en la toma de decisiones en un terreno en particular, el de la ética, concentrándose en la interrelación de las emociones y la razón, a partir de las investigaciones de D. Kahneman, J. Haidt y J. Green, con el objeto de determinar el lugar que cada una ocupa

Factores de riesgo asociados a evento cerebro vascular en personas mayores de 40 años atendidas en el Hospital Vicente Corral Moscoso Cuenca 2006 - 2007

Se realizó un estudio de casos y controles. En una muestra de 345 pacientes: 115 considerados como casos, por tener enfermedad cerebrovascular diagnosticado por tomografía simple de cráneo y 230 controles; se parearon por edad y sexo. El tamaño de la muestra se calculó sobre la base de menor factor de exposición en los controles del 11y en los casos del 18.4, con un nivel de confianza del 95y una potencia del 80. Los datos se obtuvieron por entrevista directa y se analizaron con el software Epi-info. Resultados El promedio de edad en los casos fue de 67.1y en los controles del 65.6; en los casos y controles el 40.9fueron del sexo masculino y el 59.1de sexo femenino. La enfermedad cerebrovascular isquémica, hemorrágica y subaracnoidea según sexo da un valor de p=0.525 y según edad de 40 a 64 años y mayores de 65 años dio una p=0.528. La asociación entre enfermedad cerebrovascular con diabetes mellitus tipo 2 dio un Odds ratio (OR) de 1.8 (IC 951.1-1.3); con hipertensión arterial OR 3.8 (IC 952.1-6.1) y con la dislipidemia un OR 2.9 (IC 951.7-4.8). Conclusión: se encontró asociación significativa entre enfermedad cerebrovascular con los factores de riesgo, HTA, DM2 y dislipidemia. Palabras clave Enfermedad cerebro vascular, diabetes mellitus tipo 2, hipertensión arterial, dislipidemia

Síndrome metabólico (síndrome X, síndrome de resistencia a la insulina), como factor asociado a enfermedad cerebro vascular (ECV), junio de 2008 a mayo de 2009 en el Hospital Vicente Corral Moscoso, Cuenca

Sobre esta patología, se realizó un estudio descriptivo, el universo fueron los pacientes con

En ingeniería de consulta, tan importante es el capital como el cerebro

Fondo Margaritainés Restrepo

Cerebro-meningeal infections in HIV-infected patients: a study of 116 cases in Libreville, Gabon.

Background: Cerebro-meningeal pathology is common in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and the aetiology is often difficult to ascertain with certainty. Objective: To describe the major suspected and identified causes of meningeal or encephalitic syndromes in HIV infection in Libreville, Gabon. Methods: A descriptive study using clinical records of patients hospitalised in the Department of Medicine in the Military Hospital of Libreville (Gabon) between January 2006 and May 2010. Clinical features were evaluated using multivariable logistic regression to evaluate association with the outcome of a clinical improvement or death. Results: The most frequent neurological symptoms were reduced level of consciousness (54.3%), headache (55.2%), motor deficit (38.7%), and convulsions (36.2%). Cerebral toxoplasmosis represented 64.7% of diagnoses, followed by cryptococcal neuromeningitis in 12.9% of cases. Tuberculoma was diagnosed in 4 cases and lymphoma in 2 cases. In 9.5% of cases, no aetiology was determined. Toxoplasmosis treatment led to clinical improvement in 69.3% of cases with suspected cerebral toxoplasmosis. Overall mortality was 39.7%. Conclusion: The diagnosis of neurological conditions in HIV positive patients is difficult, particularly in a low-resource setting. A trial of treatment for toxoplasmosis should be initiated first line with all signs of neurological pathology in a patient infected with HIV.

Estudio clínico y epidemiológico de la enfermedad cerebro-vascular en el Hospital Vicente Corral Moscoso 1983-1984

Doctor en Medicina y Cirugía

Factores de riesgo según tipo de enfermedad cerebro vascular en pacientes del Hospital Vicente Corral Moscoso. Marzo 1994-Febrero 1995

Se realiza un estudio de tipo clínico descriptivo para investigar factores de riesgo según tipo de enfermedad cerebrovascular en pacientes ingresados al servicio de emergencia del Hospital Vicente Corral Moscoso, entre marzo de 1994 y febrero de 1995. Se estudian en dicho periodo 74 pacientes de los que se descartan 14 por no cumplir con los objetivos trazados. El evento cerebrovascular representa una tasa de 85.35 x100 ingresos hospitalarios emergentes en dicho servicio. El 65% corresponde a eventos cerebrovasculares de tipo isquémico y el 35% a eventos cerebrovasculares de tipo hemorrágico

El cerebro y la toma de decisiones

Los continuos descubrimientos en el terreno de las neurociencias, junto con importantes avances de la psicología, permiten nuevos abordajes a los problemas propios de la toma de decisiones. El presente trabajo se centrará en la toma de decisiones en un terreno en particular, el de la ética, concentrándose en la interrelación de las emociones y la razón, a partir de las investigaciones de D. Kahneman, J. Haidt y J. Green, con el objeto de determinar el lugar que cada una ocupa

El cerebro y la toma de decisiones

Los continuos descubrimientos en el terreno de las neurociencias, junto con importantes avances de la psicología, permiten nuevos abordajes a los problemas propios de la toma de decisiones. El presente trabajo se centrará en la toma de decisiones en un terreno en particular, el de la ética, concentrándose en la interrelación de las emociones y la razón, a partir de las investigaciones de D. Kahneman, J. Haidt y J. Green, con el objeto de determinar el lugar que cada una ocupa

Redução do alto risco cardio-cerebro-vascular na população do bairro Santa Helena II, no distrito Petrolândia, Contagem - Minas Gerais: um projeto de intervenção

Este trabalho tem como ponto de partida o resultado da análise situacional de saúde feita pela Equipe nº 65, do distrito Petrolândia, município de Contagem, Minas Gerais na área de abrangência do bairro de Santa Helena 2. De acordo com os dados do diagnóstico das famílias cadastradas, 13,8% da população apresentam Hipertensão Arterial Sistêmica dos quais 7,2% apresentam diabetes, 38% obesidade ou sobrepeso além de serem, em grande maioria, sedentários e fumantes. Todas estas condições de saúde relacionam-se diretamente com o risco cardio-cerebro-vascular e que constituem como a principal causa de morbimortalidade. Este estudo objetivou elaborar um plano de intervenção para a redução da doença cárdio-cerebro-vascular na população de Santa Helena II do distrito de Petrolândia, Contagem, Minas Gerais. Foi feita pesquisa bibliográfica na Biblioteca Virtual de Saúde, na base de dados da SciELO, com os descritores: hipertensão, fatores de risco, atenção básica em saúde. Também foi feita pesquisa na Biblioteca Virtual do Nescon e Programas do Ministério da Saúde. Espera-se que a implantação e desenvolvimento as ações de saúde propostas no plano alcancem os resultados esperados e as pessoas tenham melhor qualidade de vida.

Active Dendrites Enhance Neuronal Dynamic Range

Since the first experimental evidences of active conductances in dendrites, most neurons have been shown to exhibit dendritic excitability through the expression of a variety of voltage-gated ion channels. However, despite experimental and theoretical efforts undertaken in the past decades, the role of this excitability for some kind of dendritic computation has remained elusive. Here we show that, owing to very general properties of excitable media, the average output of a model of an active dendritic tree is a highly non-linear function of its afferent rate, attaining extremely large dynamic ranges (above 50 dB). Moreover, the model yields double-sigmoid response functions as experimentally observed in retinal ganglion cells. We claim that enhancement of dynamic range is the primary functional role of active dendritic conductances. We predict that neurons with larger dendritic trees should have larger dynamic range and that blocking of active conductances should lead to a decrease in dynamic range.

Harmine and imipramine promote antioxidant activities in prefrontal cortex and hippocampus

A growing body of evidence has suggested that reactive oxygen species (ROS) may play an important role in the physiopathology of depression. Evidence has pointed to the beta-carboline harmine as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of depression. The present study we evaluated the effects of acute and chronic administration of harmine (5, 10 and 15 mg/kg) and imipramine (10, 20 and 30 mg/kg) or saline in lipid and protein oxidation levels and superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities in rat prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. Acute and chronic treatments with imipramine and harmine reduced lipid and protein oxidation, compared to control group in prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. The SOD and CAT activities increased with acute and chronic treatments with imipramine and harmine, compared to control group in prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. In conclusion, our results indicate positive effects of imipramine antidepressant and beta-carboline harmine of oxidative stress parameters, increasing SOD and CAT activities and decreasing lipid and protein oxidation.

Systemic Model for Diagnosis of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises from Two Cities from the Countryside of the State of So Paulo in Brazil

This article presents a proposal of a systemic model composed for the micro and small companies (MSE) of the region of Ribeiro Preto and the agents which influenced their environment. The proposed model was based on Stafford Beer`s (Diagnosing the system for organizations. Chichester, Wiley, 1985) systemic methodologies VSM (Viable System Model) and on Werner Ulrich`s (1983) CSH (Critical Systems Heuristics). The VSM is a model for the diagnosis of the structure of an organization and of its flows of information through the application of the cybernetics concepts (Narvarte, In El Modelo del Sistema Viable-MSV: experiencias de su aplicacin en Chile. Proyecto Cerebro Colectivo del IAS, Santiago, 2001). On the other hand, CSH focus on the context of the social group applied to the systemic vision as a counterpoint to the organizational management view considered by the VSM. MSE of Ribeiro Preto and Sertozinho had been analyzed as organizations inserted in systems that relate and integrate with other systems concerning the public administration, entities of representation and promotion agencies. The research questions: which are the bonds of interaction among the subsystems in this process and who are the agents involved? The systemic approach not only diagnosed a social group, formed by MSE of Ribeiro Preto and Sertozinho, public authorities and support entities, but could also delineate answers that aimed the clarification of obscure questions generating financial assistance to the formularization of efficient actions for the development of this system.

Hemispheric Lateralization in Benign Focal Epilepsy in Childhood With Centrotemporal Spikes (BECTS)

Benign focal epilepsy in childhood with centrotemporal spikes (BECTS) is one of the most common forms of epilepsy. In adults there is a higher percentage of lateralized epileptic discharges in the left cerebral hemisphere; however, in children this pattern does not seem to have the same distribution. The objective of this study was to evaluate the lateralization of interictal spikes in children with BECTS in relation to the sex of the child and the age of onset of epilepsy. We studied the electroencephalograms (EEGs) of 114 children with a clinical diagnosis of BECTS according to ILAE. The results obtained from two EEGs, performed at intervals of 6 and 12 months, were correlated with the age of onset of the epileptic seizures and the sex of the child. There was no association between the onset of epileptic seizures and the age of the child (p=0.461). When we analyzed the relationship between laterality and sex we did not observe any difference in the first EEG (p = 0.767) results; however, in the results of the second EEG there was a difference (p = 0.002). In males, left and bilateral interictal spikes were predominant, and in females the right hemisphere showed predominant spikes and there were continuous spike-and-wave discharges during slow sleep (CSWSS). The analysis between laterality and a child`s age did not show predominant interictal spikes in the hemispheres, except in males where there were predominant multifocal and generalized spikes, but not lateralization (p=0.011). The conclusion was that in BECTS the lateralization of interictal spikes was not consistent as described in adult patients, but there was a slight left hemispheric predominance in boys and right hemispheric predominance in girls.

Primary antiphospholipid syndrome with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura: a very unusual association

This report considers the rare situation in which primary antiphospholipid syndrome (PAPS) is linked with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). It describes the case of a young lady with PAPS, characterized by recurring cerebro-vascular abnormalities and marked livedo reticularis, combined with circulating anticardiolipin and lupus anticoagulant antibodies. On follow-up, while on oral anticoagulation, she developed severe thrombocytopenia associated with hematuria, microangiophatic anaemia and neurological manifestations consistent with a diagnosis of TTP. The patient was treated with pulses of methylprednisolone and plasmapheresis with plasma exchange. The result was a favourable outcome. To our knowledge, this is the seventh report on this rare association in the English-language literature of this field. Lupus (2009) 18, 841-844.