Patients with ET have deficits in specific aspects of neuropsychological functioning, particularly those thought to rely on the integrity of the prefrontal cortex, which suggests involvement of frontocerebellar circuits in this disease.

No abstract

Background-Hippocampal volume reduction and declarative memory deficits are reported in humans and animals exposed to exogenous corticosteroids. The amygdala is another brain structure involved in the stress response that has important interactions with the hypothalamicpituitary-adrenal axis. To our knowledge, no studies in animals or humans have examined the impact of exogenous corticosteroid administration on the amygdala. We assessed amygdala volume in patients receiving chronic prescription corticosteroid therapy and control subjects with similar medical histories not receiving corticosteroids.

No abstract

Our findings, although preliminary in nature, suggest that long-term prednisone therapy is associated with initial changes in mood, memory and hippocampal volume that appear to stabilize over time.