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Clinical Psychophysiology in Neurological, Neurosurgical and Psychiatric Diseases
International Journal of Psychophysiology 37 Ž2000. 1]2
Editorial preface
Clinical Psychophysiology in Neurological, Neurosurgical and Psychiatric Diseases
At the opening ceremonies of the 8th World Congress of Psychophysiology of IOP, our President in his 1996 Presidential Address ŽMangina, 1997. had emphasized that: ‘ . . . the field of clinical psychophysiology is a very vast and fertile terrain open to fresh initiatives. The main goal of clinical psychophysiology is the identification and transformation of irregular physiological processes pertaining to or affecting the integrated functioning of the human being. In the realm of medical sciences, the established strength of clinical psychophysiology is based on its scientific rigor inherent to biomedical neurosciences. In this sense, the International Organization of Psychophysiology based on its constitution and by-laws ŽIOP, 1982. should promote the growth of high caliber clinical psychophysiology with these scientific standards to the benefit of humanity’ ŽMangina, 1997..
It is within this spirit that this special issue on ‘clinical psychophysiology in neurological, neurosurgical and psychiatric diseases’ was conceived. The contributors of this special issue are presenting data and their theoretical positions which link the end of the 20th century with the promising scientific and clinical directions of the 21st century. The order of appearance of each article published in this special issue was established according to their date of acceptance.
Risto Naatanen’s paper deals with promising ¨¨ ¨ applications of the mismatch negativity phenomenon as being particularly suitable for testing different medical conditions and clinical populations since it can be measured in the absence of attention and without any task requirements. The article of Natalia Bechtereva and Yalchin Abdullaev deals with the use of depth intracranial electrodes in medicine and neurosurgery for the diagnosis and treatment of certain medically intractable diseases such as epilepsy and Parkinsonism. Based on these intracerebral investigations, their paper provides a selective neurophysiological review of studies pertaining to neuronal activity of the human brain in relation to language, verbal memory and error detection. John Connolly and Ryan D’Arcy provide an interesting rationale for the clinical ERP assessment of language functions of individuals who display limited behavioral and communicative abilities using neuropsychological tests formatted for computer presentation with simultaneous ERP recordings. An appealing short review by Geoff Barrett stresses the importance of devising appropriate clinical ERP tests of verbal memory function to detect cognitive deficits in early dementia. J. Helen Beuzeron-Mangina and Constantine A. Mangina present research data which deal with the clinical psychophysiological application
0167-8760r00r$ - see front matter Q 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 1 6 7 - 8 7 6 0 Ž 0 0 . 0 0 0 9 0 - 8
2
Editorial preface r International Journal of Psychophysiology 37 (2000) 1]2
of the concomitant use of their original memory workload paradigm with visually presented words with surface ERPs as neurophysiological markers to tap cerebral regions and functions involved in memory disorders pertaining to early Alzheimer’s Disease as opposed to normal memory processes in age-matched normal control subjects. Their research paper also links their previous intracerebral ERP findings, which had demonstrated that their memory workload paradigm elicits memory processes and functions in deep limbic structures and associative temporal neocortices, which are also affected in Alzheimer’s Disease. In their subsequent contribution, Constantine A. Mangina et al. present their research findings which provide a valuable demonstration of an integrative and effective clinical psychophysiological application of central ŽERPs., autonomic Žbilateral electrodermal activity. and neuro-psychometric aspects ŽMangina-Test. that characterize pathological and normal pre-adolescents and underpin the neurophysiological basis of learning disabledrADHD with severe behavioral disorders as opposed to normal subjects. They also present a selective overview of their previous original research and its novel clinical applications in this field as it relates to their present research findings. Pietro Pietrini et al. present a highly promising application of clinical psychophysiology based on positron emission tomography ŽPET.. They provide a brief background on the metabolic bases of neural activity and present their main findings and implications of cerebral metabolism with PET in patients with Alzheimer’s Disease and demonstrate how in vivo assessments of neurometabolic functions enhance our understanding of the neurobiological correlates of cognitive decline. Aldo Ragazzoni et al. present research on an interesting application of clinical psychophysiology in patients with total locked-in syndrome due to fulminant Guillain-Barre´ Syndrome with a series of electrophysiological investigations. Their findings demonstrate that in patients with neurological disorders with severe communication im-
pairments, ERPs allow the monitoring of their level of alertness and attention and are more specific than EEG in identifying the state of awareness of these patients. Finally, Fotis Fotiou et al. provide a preliminary report of pupil reaction to light in patients with Alzheimer’s Disease. Their preliminary data suggest that, based on future research developments, dynamic pupillometry could prove to be a useful adjunct tool to assist in the diagnosis of early Alzheimer’s Disease. The common denominator of the articles composing this special issue is the insightful attempt of the authors to convey their research data within a clinically relevant context which paves the way for the clinical psychophysiology of the 21st century. Overall, the development of psychophysiological methods, theories and techniques reflects an exponential trend for therapeutic management which includes diagnosis of current clinical status, treatment and the objective evaluation of therapeutic outcome of patients afflicted ‘with either degenerati¨ e or non-degenerati¨ e and functional disorders of the ner¨ ous system’ ŽMangina, 1997, 1999.. J. Helen Beuzeron-Mangina Montreal Research and Treatment Center and Neurophysiology Section and Memory Clinic, Douglas Hospital, McGill University and World Health Organization Research Program, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. References Mangina, C.A., 1997. Some recent applications of clinical psychophysiology ŽPresidential Address 1996.. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 25, 1]6. Mangina, C.A., 1999. The role of the International Organization of Psychophysiology ŽIOP. in the 20 th century and its promising march towards the 21st ŽPresidential Address 1998.. Int. J. Psychophysiol., in press.
Editorial preface
Clinical Psychophysiology in Neurological, Neurosurgical and Psychiatric Diseases
At the opening ceremonies of the 8th World Congress of Psychophysiology of IOP, our President in his 1996 Presidential Address ŽMangina, 1997. had emphasized that: ‘ . . . the field of clinical psychophysiology is a very vast and fertile terrain open to fresh initiatives. The main goal of clinical psychophysiology is the identification and transformation of irregular physiological processes pertaining to or affecting the integrated functioning of the human being. In the realm of medical sciences, the established strength of clinical psychophysiology is based on its scientific rigor inherent to biomedical neurosciences. In this sense, the International Organization of Psychophysiology based on its constitution and by-laws ŽIOP, 1982. should promote the growth of high caliber clinical psychophysiology with these scientific standards to the benefit of humanity’ ŽMangina, 1997..
It is within this spirit that this special issue on ‘clinical psychophysiology in neurological, neurosurgical and psychiatric diseases’ was conceived. The contributors of this special issue are presenting data and their theoretical positions which link the end of the 20th century with the promising scientific and clinical directions of the 21st century. The order of appearance of each article published in this special issue was established according to their date of acceptance.
Risto Naatanen’s paper deals with promising ¨¨ ¨ applications of the mismatch negativity phenomenon as being particularly suitable for testing different medical conditions and clinical populations since it can be measured in the absence of attention and without any task requirements. The article of Natalia Bechtereva and Yalchin Abdullaev deals with the use of depth intracranial electrodes in medicine and neurosurgery for the diagnosis and treatment of certain medically intractable diseases such as epilepsy and Parkinsonism. Based on these intracerebral investigations, their paper provides a selective neurophysiological review of studies pertaining to neuronal activity of the human brain in relation to language, verbal memory and error detection. John Connolly and Ryan D’Arcy provide an interesting rationale for the clinical ERP assessment of language functions of individuals who display limited behavioral and communicative abilities using neuropsychological tests formatted for computer presentation with simultaneous ERP recordings. An appealing short review by Geoff Barrett stresses the importance of devising appropriate clinical ERP tests of verbal memory function to detect cognitive deficits in early dementia. J. Helen Beuzeron-Mangina and Constantine A. Mangina present research data which deal with the clinical psychophysiological application
0167-8760r00r$ - see front matter Q 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 1 6 7 - 8 7 6 0 Ž 0 0 . 0 0 0 9 0 - 8
2
Editorial preface r International Journal of Psychophysiology 37 (2000) 1]2
of the concomitant use of their original memory workload paradigm with visually presented words with surface ERPs as neurophysiological markers to tap cerebral regions and functions involved in memory disorders pertaining to early Alzheimer’s Disease as opposed to normal memory processes in age-matched normal control subjects. Their research paper also links their previous intracerebral ERP findings, which had demonstrated that their memory workload paradigm elicits memory processes and functions in deep limbic structures and associative temporal neocortices, which are also affected in Alzheimer’s Disease. In their subsequent contribution, Constantine A. Mangina et al. present their research findings which provide a valuable demonstration of an integrative and effective clinical psychophysiological application of central ŽERPs., autonomic Žbilateral electrodermal activity. and neuro-psychometric aspects ŽMangina-Test. that characterize pathological and normal pre-adolescents and underpin the neurophysiological basis of learning disabledrADHD with severe behavioral disorders as opposed to normal subjects. They also present a selective overview of their previous original research and its novel clinical applications in this field as it relates to their present research findings. Pietro Pietrini et al. present a highly promising application of clinical psychophysiology based on positron emission tomography ŽPET.. They provide a brief background on the metabolic bases of neural activity and present their main findings and implications of cerebral metabolism with PET in patients with Alzheimer’s Disease and demonstrate how in vivo assessments of neurometabolic functions enhance our understanding of the neurobiological correlates of cognitive decline. Aldo Ragazzoni et al. present research on an interesting application of clinical psychophysiology in patients with total locked-in syndrome due to fulminant Guillain-Barre´ Syndrome with a series of electrophysiological investigations. Their findings demonstrate that in patients with neurological disorders with severe communication im-
pairments, ERPs allow the monitoring of their level of alertness and attention and are more specific than EEG in identifying the state of awareness of these patients. Finally, Fotis Fotiou et al. provide a preliminary report of pupil reaction to light in patients with Alzheimer’s Disease. Their preliminary data suggest that, based on future research developments, dynamic pupillometry could prove to be a useful adjunct tool to assist in the diagnosis of early Alzheimer’s Disease. The common denominator of the articles composing this special issue is the insightful attempt of the authors to convey their research data within a clinically relevant context which paves the way for the clinical psychophysiology of the 21st century. Overall, the development of psychophysiological methods, theories and techniques reflects an exponential trend for therapeutic management which includes diagnosis of current clinical status, treatment and the objective evaluation of therapeutic outcome of patients afflicted ‘with either degenerati¨ e or non-degenerati¨ e and functional disorders of the ner¨ ous system’ ŽMangina, 1997, 1999.. J. Helen Beuzeron-Mangina Montreal Research and Treatment Center and Neurophysiology Section and Memory Clinic, Douglas Hospital, McGill University and World Health Organization Research Program, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. References Mangina, C.A., 1997. Some recent applications of clinical psychophysiology ŽPresidential Address 1996.. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 25, 1]6. Mangina, C.A., 1999. The role of the International Organization of Psychophysiology ŽIOP. in the 20 th century and its promising march towards the 21st ŽPresidential Address 1998.. Int. J. Psychophysiol., in press.