Luria audiomotor integrative tasks

Pitch tests should be kept simple, give 2 sounds ask which is higher or lower.

reproduction of tones

reproduction of rhythmic taps first by imitation, then by verbal instruction, then by reproduction with verbal enforcement



Tactile functions p. 444

discriminative sensation "epicritic" (Head, 1920).
Ideas test with head and point of pin, patient must discriminate which, or use 3 items and ask patient to discriminate. Localize touch by asking patient to point to spot, and make it harder by asking him to point to same spot on the opposite limb. Use Weber's touch compass to discriminate 2 point differentiation threshold in millimeters. Also use it to differentiate Double simultaenous stimulation which is difficult in patients with right parietal injury. Finally measure up and down movements and ability to trace numbers and letters in the hand. Cites Teuber, 1959. Notes that lesions is left hemisphere for are tightly organized in postcentral area, but right hemisphere lesions are more distributed and even left hemisphere lesions occassionally cause left arm abnormalities.

Kinesthetic function (position sense)
simple move a finger, toe, arm and ask whether its up or down (or mimic with other side)
More complicated-- mimic posture in the other hand.

Asterognosis
differentiates from amorphosythesis (denny brown 1952, 1958).

More Luria tests

from "Higher Cortical Functions in Man" p. 428

Complex motor functions

1. Reaction tests-- basic format is for subject to raise his hand in response to a tap or another stimulus. This then can be the basis of more complex tests.
Abnormalities are rarely seen with simple reaction tests, exceptions being "freezing" in position in htn, motor impersistence in frontal lesions, or premature responses in frontal lesions.
Next step is to respond alternately, eg. raise the left hand to one tap, and the right to two taps, or raise the hand with one tap and refrain from moving the hand with two. Start with strict alternating pattern, eg a-b-a-b-a-b- then suddenly break the stereotype and go out of order eg b-b and see what the patient does. Alternately, can ask for an oral answer to a stimulus eg. to one tap, say "I must" or "left" and to 2 taps "I must not" or "right." The third stage is to tell the subject to respond orally and perform appropriate motor action at same time (cites Kohomskaya, 1956, 1958). Then give a complex response, eg to one stimulus give a weak response, and to another a strong response of same hand.

2. " Raise finger if I raise fist, and fist if I raise my finger"
3. Ask patient to copy a series of figure eg. circle, triangle, square and cross, then a second series eg square square triangle, cross and see if they perseverate. May use five elements. May see forget last response, perseverate, not remember etc. Temporal lobe lesions may make it difficult to copy to verbal instruction but OK to copy from sight. Differentiate the two by asking patient to repeat the command before performing it.

4.

Apathy with subthalamic stimulation (and face recognition)

apathy evaluation scale
http://www.tbims.org/combi/aes/AES.PDF

Le Jeune et al. Neurology 2009; 73:1746-1751.

Studied STN stimulation in PET study. All had bilateral STN implantation. 12 patients showed worse apathy 3 months after STN stimulation. Motor function was used. The AES was used. PET showed positive correlation with right Brodmann's areas 10 (r frontal middle gyrus) and area 46 (R IFG) and negative correlation with right posterior cingulum (are 31) and left media frontal lobe ( area 9).

Postop neuropsych differed on WCST perseverative errors and Stroop.

raloxifene improves verbal memory in postmenopausal women

Raloxifene improves verbal memory in late postmenopausal women: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial; Jacobsen DE, Samson MM, Emmelot-Vonk MH, Verhaar HJ; Menopause (Nov 2009)

OBJECTIVE:: The aim of this study was to examine the effects of raloxifene compared with those of placebo on verbal memory, mental processing speed, depression, anxiety, and quality of life. METHODS:: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 213 healthy women 70 years or older was conducted between July 2003 and January 2008 at the University Medical Centre Utrecht, the Netherlands. Participants were randomly assigned to receive raloxifene (60 mg) or placebo daily for 12 months. Measurements were taken at baseline and after 3, 6, and 12 months. The change in scores from baseline was calculated. The main outcome measures were direct and delayed verbal memory (Groningen 15 Words test), mental processing speed (Trails B test), mood/depression (Geriatric Depression Scale), anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory 1 and 2), and quality of life (Women's Health Questionnaire and EuroQol-5 dimensional questionnaire). RESULTS:: Direct verbal memory improved significantly with raloxifene compared with placebo: the women receiving raloxifene repeated more words in the words A + B test than did the women receiving placebo (P = 0.025). At 12 months, the change from baseline was 16 words in the raloxifene group and 10 words in the placebo group. In the words A test, direct repetition was also significantly better among women receiving raloxifene than among women receiving placebo (P = 0.023), with the change from baseline in the number of words repeated being nine words in the raloxifene group and six words in the placebo group at 12 months. CONCLUSIONS:: In postmenopausal women, raloxifene gave significantly improved verbal memory when compared with placebo.