Occipito-posterior

Face perception involves a large set of regions distributed along the ventral temporal cortex and thus represents an interesting model to help understanding how visual information is processed along the ventral visual pathway. Here we shed light on the functional organization of this cortical network by recording focal intracerebral electroencephalogram in 20 epileptic patients implanted with depth electrodes. We objectively defined and quantified face-selective responses in the frequency domain by means of fast periodic visual stimulation with natural images (Rossion et al...

The ability to process and identify visual words requires efficient orthographic processing of print, consisting of letters in alphabetic languages or characters in Chinese. The N170 is a robust neural marker for orthographic processes. Both genetic and environmental factors, such as home literacy, have been shown to influence orthographic processing at the behavioral level, but their relative contributions and interactions are not well understood. The present study aimed to reveal possible gene-by-environment interactions on orthographic processing at the behavioral and neural level in a normal children sample...

Visual analysis of real-life scenes starts with the parallel extraction of different visual elementary features at different spatial frequencies. The global shape of the scene is mainly contained in low spatial frequencies (LSF), and the edges and borders of objects are mainly contained in high spatial frequencies (HSF). The present fMRI study investigates the effect of age on the spatial frequency processing in scenes. Young and elderly participants performed a categorization task (indoor vs. outdoor) on LSF and HSF scenes...

BACKGROUND: Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and anorexia nervosa (AN) are both characterized by distorted perception of appearance. Previous studies in BDD suggest abnormalities in visual processing of own and others' faces, but no study has examined visual processing of faces in AN, nor directly compared the two disorders in this respect. METHOD: We collected functional magnetic resonance imaging data on 60 individuals of equivalent age and gender in each of three groups--20 BDD, 20 weight-restored AN, and 20 healthy controls (HC)--while they viewed images of others' faces that contained only high or low spatial frequency information (HSF or LSF)...

PURPOSE: Osteoradionecrosis (ORN) is a rare yet well-recognized complication following radiotherapy to the head and neck. We illustrate the only case of a spontaneous extrusion of the sequestered C1 arch through the oral cavity and discuss our experience with a combined endoscopic transnasal and transoral approach for cervical ORN. METHODS: A 56-year-old female presented with a 3-month history of blood-stained nasal discharge. She had been treated with radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma 25 years earlier...

The neural correlates of visualization underlying word comprehension were examined in preschool children. On each trial, a concrete or abstract word was delivered binaurally (part 1: post-auditory visualization), followed by a four-picture array (a target plus three distractors; part 2: matching visualization). Children were to select the picture matching the word they heard in part 1. Event-related potentials (ERPs) locked to each stimulus presentation and task interval were averaged over sets of trials of increasing word abstractness...

We report an uncommon case of posterior circulation stroke in a young patient due to occlusion of posterior cerebral artery with reducible atlantoaxial dislocation (AAD). Plain dynamic radiography showed reducible AAD and intra-arterial digital subtraction angiography demonstrated occlusion of left posterior cerebral artery. Patient underwent stabilization of craniovertebral junction by occipito cervical fixation using occipit-C2/C3 lateral mass screws and rod fixation and has since experienced no recurrent symptoms...

OBJECTIVE: to explore back pain in labour from the perspectives of women and midwives. DESIGN: a qualitative study, which generated data through individual semi-structured interviews with postnatal women and focus groups with midwives. Data were analysed thematically. SETTING: two metropolitan maternity units in Queensland, Australia. PARTICIPANTS: nine postnatal women and 11 midwives, all of whom had participated in a randomized controlled trial investigating the use of sterile water injections for back pain in labour...

According to neuropsychological evidence, a distributed network of regions of the ventral visual pathway - from the lateral occipital cortex to the temporal pole - supports face recognition. However, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have generally confined ventral face-selective areas to the posterior section of the occipito-temporal cortex, i.e., the inferior occipital gyrus occipital face area (OFA) and the posterior and middle fusiform gyrus fusiform face area (FFA). There is recent evidence that intracranial electrical stimulation of these areas in the right hemisphere elicits face matching and recognition impairments (i...

OBJECTIVE: The aims of the present study were to investigate risk factors for failed vacuum extraction (VE), and to compare neonatal complications among infants delivered by failed VE with those delivered by successful VE. METHODS: Population-based study including all women (and their newborn infants) with singleton pregnancy who gave birth at term by failed VE (n = 4747) or successful VE (n = 83 671) in Sweden between 1999 and 2010. Failed VE was defined as VE followed by an emergency cesarean section (ECS), forceps, or both forceps and ECS...

The present fMRI study examined whether upper-limb action classes differing in their motor goal are encoded by different PPC sectors. Action observation was used as a proxy for action execution. Subjects viewed actors performing object-related (e.g., grasping), skin-displacing (e.g., rubbing the skin), and interpersonal upper limb actions (e.g., pushing someone). Observation of the three action classes activated a three-level network including occipito-temporal, parietal, and premotor cortex. The parietal region common to observing all three action classes was located dorsally to the left intraparietal sulcus (DIPSM/DIPSA border)...

PURPOSE: Damage to left ventral occipito-temporal cortex can give rise to written language impairment characterized by pure alexia/letter-by-letter (LBL) reading, as well as surface alexia and agraphia. The purpose of this study was to examine the therapeutic effects of a combined treatment approach to address concurrent LBL reading with surface alexia/agraphia. METHOD: Simultaneous treatment to address slow reading and errorful spelling was administered to 3 individuals with reading and spelling impairments after left ventral occipito-temporal damage due to posterior cerebral artery stroke...

We report a 72-year-old woman with complex partial status epilepticus who showed recurrent episodes of complex visual hallucinations (CVH). Brain diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance images revealed gyriform cortical hyperintensity in the right parietal, occipital and temporal lobes, and brain magnetic resonance angiograhy revealed a hyperintensity in the right dilated middle cerebral artery during ictal period. Ictal N-isopropyl-p-(iodine-123)-iodoamphetamine single photon emission computed tomography (123I-IMP-SPECT) with three-dimensional stereotactic surface projection (3D-SSP) 14 days after the onset of the first CVH revealed hyperperfusion in the right latero-inferior occipito-temporal region with relation to motion...

OBJECTIVES: We aim to evaluate the predictive capacity of intrapartum transperineal ultrasound (ITU) to predict cases of failure in fetal extraction in operative deliveries with vacuum. Prospective, observational study performed on 61 nulliparous women, ≥ 37 weeks, singleton pregnancies at full dilatation who underwent transperineal ultrasound before placement of vacuum to complete fetal extraction. Working on the transperineal longitudinal plane, we evaluated the following: Angle of Progression (AoP), Progression Distance (PD) and head direction...

STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective study. OBJECTIVE: To examine the link between major complications, surgical techniques, and perioperative care in the intralesional spondylectomy of the upper cervical spine. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Spondylectomy has been demonstrated to prolong cancer-free survival in many patients with locally aggressive spinal tumors. However, the challenging nature of this surgical procedure and the potential for severe complications often limit its application in the upper cervical spine...

The control of physiological arousal can assist in the regulation of emotional state. A subset cortical and subcortical brain regions are implicated in autonomic control of bodily arousal during emotional behaviors. Here, we combined human functional neuroimaging with autonomic monitoring to identify neural mechanisms that support the volitional regulation of heart rate, a process that may be assisted by visual feedback. During functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), 15 healthy adults performed an experimental task in which they were prompted voluntarily to increase or decrease cardiovascular arousal (heart rate) during true, false, or absent visual feedback...

AIM: To retrospectively analyse the synchondrosis from the occipital bone to the whole cervical spine and determine the feasibility and validity of age estimation using computed tomography (CT) images. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 231 cervical spine or neck CT images of young children (<7 years of age) were examined. Twelve ossification centres were assessed (occiput: n = 2; atlas: n = 2; axis, n = 6; whole sub-axial vertebra: n = 2), and the ossification process was graded as open (O, fully lucent), osseous bridging (B, partially ossified), and fusion (F, totally ossified)...

Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) is a neurodegenerative syndrome in which the most pronounced pathologic involvement is in the occipito-parietal visual regions. Herein, we aimed to better define the cortical reflection of this unique syndrome using a thorough battery of behavioral and functional MRI (fMRI) tests. Eight PCA patients underwent extensive testing to map their visual deficits. Assessments included visual functions associated with lower and higher components of the cortical hierarchy, as well as dorsal- and ventral-related cortical functions...

INTRODUCTION: Occipito-condylar hyperplasia is a very rare anomaly of the cranio-vertebral junction that was only reported in two patients before and managed through posterior approach. CASE MATERIAL: A 10-year-old girl with a sudden attack of quadriparesis and respiratory distress was admitted to our center. A detailed work up favored a high cervical myelopathy due to bilateral occipito-condylar hyperplasia and Chiari malformation. RESULTS: An endoscopic endo-nasal approach under navigation guide was used to drill the compressive lesion...

OBJECTIVES: There is an ongoing debate regarding the routine versus restrictive use of episiotomy The study aim was to investigate if episiotomy during vaginal deliveries can reduce both, the number and severity of genital lacerations. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included all women who gave vaginal birth at AOU. "G. Martino" Messina (n=382) and the Clinic for Ob/Gyn Clinical Center of Serbia, Belgrade (n=4227) during 2011. Lacerations during birth were recorded and divided according to location and severity Women with lacerations were subdivided into two groups: with or without mediolateral episiotomy We assessed potential risk factors for laceration: maternal age, parity use of labor stimulants and epidural analgesia, participation in antenatal classes, fetal presentation, neonatal birth weight, and duration of the second stage of labor...