Progess in Clinical Neurophysiology, Vol. 3: Language and Hemispheric Specialization in Man: Cerebral Event-Related Potentials

1979 ◽  
Vol 136 (6) ◽  
pp. 873-873
Author(s):  
DAVID CAPLAN
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Neurophysiology ◽  
Hemispheric Specialization ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Cerebral Event

scholarly journals Cortical Auditory Disorders: A Case of Non-Verbal Disturbances Assessed with Event-Related Brain Potentials

1998 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sönke Johannes ◽  
Michael E. Jöbges ◽  
Reinhard Dengler ◽  
Thomas F. Münte
Keyword(s):  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Hemispheric Specialization ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Absolute Pitch ◽  
Oddball Paradigm ◽  
Auditory Modality ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Sensory Processes ◽  
Auditory Disorders

In the auditory modality, there has been a considerable debate about some aspects of cortical disorders, especially about auditory forms of agnosia. Agnosia refers to an impaired comprehension of sensory information in the absence of deficits in primary sensory processes. In the non-verbal domain, sound agnosia and amusia have been reported but are frequently accompanied by language deficits whereas pure deficits are rare. Absolute pitch and musicians’ musical abilities have been associated with left hemispheric functions. We report the case of a right handed sound engineer with the absolute pitch who developed sound agnosia and amusia in the absence of verbal deficits after a right perisylvian stroke. His disabilities were assessed with the Seashore Test of Musical Functions, the tests of Wertheim and Botez (Wertheim and Botez, Brain 84, 1961, 19–30) and by event-related potentials (ERP) recorded in a modified 'oddball paradigm’. Auditory ERP revealed a dissociation between the amplitudes of the P3a and P3b subcomponents with the P3b being reduced in amplitude while the P3a was undisturbed. This is interpreted as reflecting disturbances in target detection processes as indexed by the P3b. The findings that contradict some aspects of current knowledge about left/right hemispheric specialization in musical processing are discussed and related to the literature concerning cortical auditory disorders.

scholarly journals An Examination of Pain Perception and Cerebral Event-Related Potentials following Carbon Dioxide Laser Stimulation in Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease and Age-Matched Control Volunteers

2001 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 126-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J Gibson ◽  
Xenophon Voukelatos ◽  
David Ames ◽  
Leon Flicker ◽  
Robert D Helme
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Laser ◽  
Pain Threshold ◽  
Pain Perception ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Subjective Rating ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Cerebral Event

BACKGROUND: Pain perception is known to depend on integrated cognitive processing. Alzheimer's disease affects 5% to 10% of older adults, but the impact of this disease on pain sensitivity and report has yet to be fully investigated.AIM OF INVESTIGATION: The present study examined pain threshold, the reliability of pain report and the central nervous system processing of noxious input, as indexed by cerebral event-related potentials (CERP).METHODS: Carbon dioxide laser detection and heat pain thresholds were determined on the hand dorsum of 15 healthy older adults (Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE] score 29.9±0.3) and 15 persons with cognitive impairment (MMSE score 12.7±6.1). Using an array of 15 silver/silver chloride scalp electrodes, the CERP and subjective rating of stimulus intensity were recorded after fixed intensity, 25 W laser stimuli.RESULTS: Compared with age-matched controls, the detection threshold for just noticeable sensation was significantly increased in elderly adults suffering from Alzheimer's disease. There was no difference in pain threshold intensity between persons with cognitive impairment and controls, although the former group was less reliable in reporting detection and pain threshold sensations. The subjective rating of a 25 W stimulus was virtually identical in both groups, and the amplitude of the major CERP component (P400) was similar; however, cognitively impaired adults exhibited a significant increase in the latency of the P400 response.CONCLUSION: The present findings indicate that pain perception in response to an acute heat pain stimulus is not diminished in older persons with cognitive impairment. Patients with Alzheimer's disease may be slightly less reliable in threshold pain report, although the subjective rating of evoked pain and the level of poststimulus cortical activation following noxious stimulation were found to be similar to those of controls. A longer latency of the CERP may suggest slower cortical processing of nociceptive input by persons with Alzheimer's disease.

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