Patients with epilepsy are at risk of traffic accidents when they have seizures while driving. However, driving is an essential part of normal daily life in many communities, and depriving patients of driving privileges can have profound consequences for their economic and social well being. In the current study, we collected ictal performance data from a driving simulator and two other video games in patients undergoing continuous video/EEG monitoring. We captured 22 seizures in 13 patients and found that driving impairment during seizures differed both in terms of magnitude and character, depending on the seizure type. Our study documents the feasibility of the prospective study of driving and other behaviors during seizures through the use of computerbased tasks. This methodology may be applied to further describe differential driving impairment in specific types of seizures and to gain data on anatomical networks disrupted in seizures that impair consciousness and driving safety.
Individuals suffering from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) experience significantly diminished quality of life. Here, we aim to stimulate the celiac plexus with noninvasive peripheral focused ultrasound (FUS) to modulate the enteric cholinergic antiinflammatory pathway. This approach may have clinical utility as an efficacious IBD treatment given the non-invasive and targeted nature of this therapy. We employed the dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) model of colitis, administering lower (5%) and higher (7%) doses to rats in drinking water. FUS on the celiac plexus administered twice a day for 12 consecutive days to rats with severe IBD improved stool consistency scores from 2.2 ± 1 to 1.0 ± 0.0 with peak efficacy on day 5 and maximum reduction in gross bleeding scores from 1.8 ± 0.8 to 0.8 ± 0.8 on day 6. Similar improvements were seen in animals in the low dose DSS group, who received FUS only once daily for 12 days. Moreover, animals in the high dose DSS group receiving FUS twice daily maintained colon length (17.7 ± 2.5 cm), while rats drinking DSS without FUS exhibited marked damage and shortening of the colon (13.8 ± 0.6 cm) as expected. Inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-17, tumour necrosis factor-α and interferon-γ were reduced with DSS but coincided with control levels after FUS, which is plausibly due to a loss of colon crypts in the former and healthier crypts in the latter. Lastly, overall, these results suggest non-invasive FUS of peripheral ganglion can deliver precision therapy to improve IBD symptomology.
Background: Sholl analysis has been used to analyze neuronal morphometry and dendritic branching and complexity for many years. While the process has become semi-automated in recent years, existing software packages are still dependent on user tracing and hence are subject to observer bias, variability, and increased user times for analyses. Commercial software packages have the same issues as they also rely on user tracing. In addition, these packages are also expensive and require extensive user training.
New Method:To address these issues, we have developed a broadly applicable, no-cost ImageJ plugin, we call AutoSholl, to perform Sholl analysis on pre-processed and 'thresholded' images. This algorithm extends the already existing plugin in Fiji ImageJ for Sholl analysis by allowing for secondary analysis techniques, such as determining number and length of root, intermediate, and terminal dendrites; functions not currently supported in the existing Sholl Analysis plugin in Fiji ImageJ.
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