This article is part of a Special Issue entitled ‘Schizophrenia’.
(C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“This article reviews a free-energy formulation that advances Helmholtz’s agenda to find principles of brain function based on conservation laws and neuronal energy. It rests on advances in statistical physics, theoretical biology and machine learning to explain a remarkable range of facts about brain structure and function. We could have just scratched the surface of what this formulation offers; for example, it is becoming clear that the Bayesian brain is just one facet of the free-energy principle and that perception is an inevitable consequence of active exchange with the environment. Furthermore, one can see
easily how constructs like memory, attention, value, reinforcement and salience might disclose selleck kinase inhibitor their simple relationships within Milciclib research buy this framework.”
“The amygdala is hypothesized to play a critical role in mood regulation, yet its involvement in bipolar disorder remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to compare measurements of amygdala volumes in a relatively large sample of bipolar disorder patients and healthy controls ranging in age from 18 to 49 years. Subjects comprised 54 adult patients meeting DSM-IV criteria for bipolar disorder and 41 healthy controls matched for age, sex, and education. Magnetic resonance imaging (1.5 T) was performed to obtain volumetric measurements of the amygdala using a manual region-of-interest tracing method with software that allowed simultaneous visualization of the amygdala in three orthogonal planes. The anterior head of the hippocampus was removed in the sagittal plane
prior to amygdala volumetry measurement. Multiple regression analysis others was computed on amygdala volume measurements as a function of diagnosis, age, sex, and cerebral volume. Bipolar patients showed an age-related reduction of amygdala volume, but controls did not. Among bipolar subjects, amygdala volume was unrelated to medication history. There were no significant hemispheric or sex interactions with the main effects. Results support a role for amygdala dysfunction in bipolar disorder which appears most robustly in older relative to younger adult patients. Differential aging effects in bipolar disorder may compromise amygdala integrity and contribute to mood dysregulation. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Staged repair of extensive thoracic aortic aneurysms is complicated, with a high incidence of interval rupture between stages. We tic scribe the systematic staged hybrid procedure of a previous endovascular repair of a descending aortic aneurysm and open surgical repair of an aortic arch aneurysm.