Browsing by Subject "Globus pallidus"

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    Association of exposure to manganese and fine motor skills in welders - Results from the WELDOX II study
    (Elsevier, 2021) Lotz, Anne; Pesch, Beate; Casjens, Swaantje; Lehnert, Martin; Zschiesche, Wolfgang; Taeger, Dirk; Yeh, Chien-Lin; Weiss, Tobias; Schmidt-Wilcke, Tobias; Quetscher, Clara; Gabriel, Stefan; Samis Zella, Maria Angela; Woitalla, Dirk; Dydak, Ulrike; van Thriel, Christoph; Brüning, Thomas; Behrens, Thomas; Radiology and Imaging Sciences, School of Medicine
    The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of exposure to manganese (Mn) on fine motor functions. A total of 48 welders and 30 unexposed workers as controls completed questionnaires, underwent blood examinations, and a motor test battery. The shift exposure of welders to respirable Mn was measured with personal samplers. For all subjects accumulations of Mn in the brain were assessed with T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Welders showed normal motor functions on the Movement Disorder Society-Sponsored Revision of the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale part III. Furthermore welders performed excellent on a steadiness test, showing better results than controls. However, welders were slightly slower than controls in motor tests. There was no association between fine motor test results and the relaxation rates R1 in globus pallidus and substantia nigra as MRI-based biomarkers to quantify Mn deposition in the brain.
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    Association of exposure to manganese and iron with striatal and thalamic GABA and other neurometabolites - Neuroimaging results from the WELDOX II study
    (Elsevier, 2018-01) Casjens, Swaantje; Dydak, Urike; Dharmadhikari, Shalmali; Lotz, Anne; Lehnert, Martin; Quetscher, Clara; Stewig, Christoph; Glaubitz, Benjamin; Schmidt-Wilcke, Tobias; Edmondson, David; Yeh, Chien-Lin; Weiss, Tobias; van Thriel, Christoph; Herrmann, Lennard; Muhlack, Siegfried; Woitalla, Dirk; Aschner, Michael; Brüning, Thomas; Pesch, Beate; Radiology and Imaging Sciences, School of Medicine
    OBJECTIVE: Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is a non-invasive method to quantify neurometabolite concentrations in the brain. Within the framework of the WELDOX II study, we investigated the association of exposure to manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe) with γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and other neurometabolites in the striatum and thalamus of 154 men. MATERIAL AND METHODS: GABA-edited and short echo-time MRS at 3T was used to assess brain levels of GABA, glutamate, total creatine (tCr) and other neurometabolites. Volumes of interest (VOIs) were placed into the striatum and thalamus of both hemispheres of 47 active welders, 20 former welders, 36 men with Parkinson's disease (PD), 12 men with hemochromatosis (HC), and 39 male controls. Linear mixed models were used to estimate the influence of Mn and Fe exposure on neurometabolites while simultaneously adjusting for cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) content, age and other factors. Exposure to Mn and Fe was assessed by study group, blood concentrations, relaxation rates R1 and R2* in the globus pallidus (GP), and airborne exposure (active welders only). RESULTS: The median shift exposure to respirable Mn and Fe in active welders was 23μg/m3 and 110μg/m3, respectively. Airborne exposure was not associated with any other neurometabolite concentration. Mn in blood and serum ferritin were highest in active and former welders. GABA concentrations were not associated with any measure of exposure to Mn or Fe. In comparison to controls, tCr in these VOIs was lower in welders and patients with PD or HC. Serum concentrations of ferritin and Fe were associated with N-acetylaspartate, but in opposed directions. Higher R1 values in the GP correlated with lower neurometabolite concentrations, in particular tCr (exp(β)=0.87, p<0.01) and choline (exp(β)=0.84, p=0.04). R2* was positively associated with glutamate-glutamine and negatively with myo-inositol. CONCLUSIONS: Our results do not provide evidence that striatal and thalamic GABA differ between Mn-exposed workers, PD or HC patients, and controls. This may be due to the low exposure levels of the Mn-exposed workers and the challenges to detect small changes in GABA. Whereas Mn in blood was not associated with any neurometabolite content in these VOIs, a higher metal accumulation in the GP assessed with R1 correlated with generally lower neurometabolite concentrations.
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    Synchronized Beta-Band Oscillations in a Model of the Globus Pallidus-Subthalamic Nucleus Network under External Input
    (Frontiers, 2016-12-20) Ahn, Sungwoo; Zauber, S. Elizabeth; Worth, Robert M.; Rubchinsky, Lenold L.; Department of Mathematical Sciences, School of Science
    Hypokinetic symptoms of Parkinson's disease are usually associated with excessively strong oscillations and synchrony in the beta frequency band. The origin of this synchronized oscillatory dynamics is being debated. Cortical circuits may be a critical source of excessive beta in Parkinson's disease. However, subthalamo-pallidal circuits were also suggested to be a substantial component in generation and/or maintenance of Parkinsonian beta activity. Here we study how the subthalamo-pallidal circuits interact with input signals in the beta frequency band, representing cortical input. We use conductance-based models of the subthalamo-pallidal network and two types of input signals: artificially-generated inputs and input signals obtained from recordings in Parkinsonian patients. The resulting model network dynamics is compared with the dynamics of the experimental recordings from patient's basal ganglia. Our results indicate that the subthalamo-pallidal model network exhibits multiple resonances in response to inputs in the beta band. For a relatively broad range of network parameters, there is always a certain input strength, which will induce patterns of synchrony similar to the experimentally observed ones. This ability of the subthalamo-pallidal network to exhibit realistic patterns of synchronous oscillatory activity under broad conditions may indicate that these basal ganglia circuits are directly involved in the expression of Parkinsonian synchronized beta oscillations. Thus, Parkinsonian synchronized beta oscillations may be promoted by the simultaneous action of both cortical (or some other) and subthalamo-pallidal network mechanisms. Hence, these mechanisms are not necessarily mutually exclusive.