Our data show that elderly patients with DM without dementia have accelerated progression of brain atrophy with significant consequences in cognition compared to subjects without DM. Our findings add further evidence to the hypothesis that diabetes exerts deleterious effects on neuronal integrity.

Objective. To investigate the relationship between quantitative estimates of global brain damage based on magnetization transfer imaging (MTI) and cerebral functioning, as measured by neurologic, psychiatric, and cognitive assessments, as well as disease duration in patients with a history of neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE).Methods. In patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), neurologic, psychiatric, and psychological symptoms often occur. The frequency of nervous system involvement has been reported to range from 11% to 60% (1). Infection, drug side effects, hypertension, or metabolic derangements, as well as an intrinsic brain manifestation of SLE (i.e., neuropsychiatric SLE [NPSLE]), can cause such symptoms. The uncertain pathogenesis and the wide variety of manifestations of NPSLE complicate the development of a uniform diagnostic decision-making protocol and a uniform method of monitoring a patient with this type of SLE. Findings of routine brain imaging studies are often unremarkable in patients with NPSLE, or the studies reveal abnormalities, such as cerebral atrophy and white matter hyperintensities (on magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]), that can also be found in SLE patients without neuropsychiatric symptoms. Furthermore, no correlation has thus far been demonstrated between quantitative measures of such nonspecific abnormalities and measures of brain function (2-5).Recently, magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) histogram analysis, a quantitative MRI technique based on magnetization transfer imaging (MTI), was applied in patients with primary NPSLE but without abnormalities on MRI that could account for the clinical picture. With this technique, cerebral abnormalities were identified in these patients (6,7). Such abnormalities were found in SLE patients who had had episodes of neuropsychiatric symptoms in the past (chronic NPSLE) as well as in patients who were experiencing an active phase of neuropsychiatric symptoms (active NPSLE) (6,7). The

The authors describe 10 patients with reflex sympathetic dystrophy that progressed to a multifocal or generalized tonic dystonia. The neuropsychologic profile was similar to that of other patients with chronic pain, irrespective of its cause. The distribution pattern of dystonia, the stretch reflex abnormalities, and the worsening of dystonia after tactile and auditory stimuli suggest impairment of interneuronal circuits at the brainstem or spinal level. Antibody titers for glutamic acid decarboxylase, tetanus, and Sjögren antigens were all normal.

Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is associated with occipital changes in blood flow and metabolism, but structural changes in this region have not previously been assessed. The authors performed volumetric MRI measurement of the occipital lobe blind to the diagnosis in 23 subjects with DLB, 25 with AD, and 24 age-matched control subjects. There were no significant differences between groups in occipital lobe volume. The authors conclude gross structural changes in the occipital lobe do not occur in patients with mild to moderate DLB or AD.

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