Mutations of Cu, Zn‐superoxide dismutase (SOD1) gene have been identified in a subset of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Conformational change, that is, misfolding, of mutant SOD1 underlies its toxic gain of function for motor neuronal degeneration. Mutant SOD1 is prone to cause oxidative stress through the copper exposed on the protein by misfolding. The protein structure of SOD1...

Astrocytes are glial cells that play a crucial role in providing a supportive environment for neurons, mainly by cellcell interactions mediating numerous physiological and biochemical functions in the central nervous system (CNS). Astrocytes are also critical for intercellular signaling in the neurovascular unit. Although numerous reports have detailed the complex effects of astrocytes upon neu...

Clinical Management of a Maxillary Lateral Incisor With Vital Pulp and Type 3 Dens Invaginatus: A Case Report Sashi Nallapati, BDS A maxillary right lateral incisor with a type 3 dens invaginatus and a large periapical lesion with vital pulp in a separate root canal was treated both nonsurgically and surgically. Care was taken not to expose or devitalize the vital pulp in the main root canal sy...

Visual attention has many effects on neural responses, producing complex changes in firing rates, as well as modifying the structure and size of receptive fields, both in topological and feature space. Several existing models of attention suggest that these effects arise from selective modulation of neural inputs. However, anatomical and physiological observations suggest that attentional modul...

They are runners-up in the Current Biology photomicrography competition. During normal development of the nervous system in Drosophila, a process called 'lateral inhibition' ensures that only a single neural precursor is selected from a group of initially equipotent cells. Where lateral inhibition fails, excess neural cells develop, as shown in the image above, where a 'tuft' of thorn-like bris...

Objectives: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative motor neuron disease whose clinical presentation and evolution varies greatly among patients. The limited role of conventional Magnetic Resonance Imaging in ALS encourages the study of new advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) techniques. Our aim was to review the advances of MRI techniques applied to ALS and to an...

Transcriptional regulators and neurotrophic factors in the pathogenesis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Histopathological and biochemical studies in the G93A ALS mouse model and in ALS post mortem tissue THESIS submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree-Doctor rerum naturalium-Parts of the thesis have been published or submitted previously in: milder impairment o...

A 67-year-old male patient was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia and respiratory insuffi ciency. Neurological examination showed lower and upper motor system involvement. One year and eight months after the initiation of artifi cial ventilation, he presented specifi c oculomotor disturbances. He predominantly showed slow eye movement: saccade speed was approximately 67 degree/second. Somet...

A possibility of recognition of the clinical status of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in relation to severity of the disease was investigated. Three groups: (i) healthy controls (n=15) and two subgroups of ALS patients (ii) mild (n=15) and (iii) severe (n=15) were considered as classes. Four features of the subjects: (i) their age (AGE) (ii) erythropoietin concentration in se...

Background: The existing diagnostic criteria for definite, probable and possible amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) require at least one upper motor neuron (UMN) sign. However, we think some cases of ALS or motor neuron disease may be not able to fulfill the required criteria. We investigated whether the clinical presentation and course of patients with ALS or motor neuron disease fulfill the ...