Zinn, Zinn, Jason: Functional Neural Network Connectivity in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

[mango]

Functional Neural Network Connectivity in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.

Zinn, M. L., Zinn, M. A., & Jason, L. A. (2016).

NeuroRegulation, 3(1), 28–50.

Abstract
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) is a chronic illness with debilitating neurocognitive impairment that remains poorly understood.

Previous studies have characterized cognitive deficits as a process by which brain abnormalities are inferred from pre-established testing paradigms using neuroimaging with low temporal
resolution. Unfortunately, this approach has been shown to provide limited predictive power, rendering it inadequate for the study of neuronal communication between synchronized regions.

More recent developments have highlighted the importance of modeling spatiotemporal dynamic interactions within and between large-scale and small-scale neural networks on a millisecond time scale.

Here, we focus on recent emergent principles of complex cortical systems, suggesting how subtle disruptions of network properties could be related to significant disruptions in cognition and behavior found in ME.

This review, therefore, discusses how electrical neuroimaging methods with time-dependent metrics (e.g., coherence, phase, cross-frequency coupling) can be a useful approach for the understanding of the cognitive symptoms in ME.

By providing a platform for utilizing real-time alterations of the perpetual signals as an outcome, the disruptions to higher-level cognition typically seen in ME can be readily identified, creating new opportunities for better diagnosis and targeted treatments.

http://dx.doi.org/10.15540/nr.3.1.28

Source:
https://www.facebook.com/leonard.jason.12/posts/10207157210661620

 

[mango]

Full text available here:
https://www.scribd.com/doc/303205562/tmpE341-tmp

 

[sdmcvicar]

I've seen several links to articles with Dr. Jason as one of the authors. His bibliography on ResearchGate shows that he is extremely prolific, and I know of his academic appointment and qualifications. However, aside from a case study, everything I have seen from him is either a review or opinion article. Does anyone know if his laboratory publishes (continues to publish?) any primary research? Or is he mostly theoretical, designing frameworks for testing and interpreting data from other groups?

 

[taniaaust1]

I've seen several links to articles with Dr. Jason as one of the authors. His bibliography on ResearchGate shows that he is extremely prolific, and I know of his academic appointment and qualifications. However, aside from a case study, everything I have seen from him is either a review or opinion article. Does anyone know if his laboratory publishes (continues to publish?) any primary research? Or is he mostly theoretical, designing frameworks for testing and interpreting data from other groups?

He's done a lot of studies in which weren't reviews or opinion articles. I suggest to go to pubmed and look up what studies he's done.

 

[JaimeS]

It's a good review article, very logical and well laid-out. The intro gives the impression of being completely unbiased, which is pretty rare!

-J

 

[Pyrrhus]

Selected excerpts from this paper:

The 19th-century neurologist John Hughlings Jackson (1835–1911) once said that a major impediment in understanding a neurological disease is a lack of a method for doing so (York & Steinberg, 2011). This problem has challenged the investigation of neurological disease for over a century and, more recently, has posed a significant challenge for the study of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME).
[...]
The most debilitating symptoms pertain to neurocognitive dysfunction; that is, symptoms such as memory impairment, poor concentration and attention, and slow information processing speed are reported by nearly all (at least 90% of) patients as having a severe impact on their everyday living.
[...]
A recurrent theme throughout the ME literature, neuroimaging in particular, is that patients are underperforming, compensating, and otherwise utilizing neural resources more inefficiently than healthy controls.
[...]
Another important facet of ME cognitive dysfunction may be the degree to which measurable spatiotemporal changes in normal dynamic brain function is occurring, thereby contributing to the diminishment of cognitive processes involved in attention, memory, and information transfer rates. Understanding neurocognitive impairment at the spatiotemporal level may sufficiently describe what may be happening to patients because these global state interactions may underpin disturbances to homeostatic systems and represent a failure to adapt in ME, thereby producing measurable deficits in cognition.

 

[Pyrrhus]