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We evaluated the modifications of electroencephalographic (EEG) power spectra and EEG connectivity in overweight and obese patients with elevated food addiction (FA) symptoms. Fourteen overweight and obese patients (3 men and 11 women) with three or more FA symptoms and fourteen overweight and obese patients (3 men and 11 women) with two or less FA symptoms were included in the study. EEG was recorded during three different conditions: 1) five minutes resting state (RS), 2) five minutes resting state after a single taste of a chocolate milkshake (ML-RS), and 3) five minutes resting state after a single taste of control neutral solution (N-RS). EEG analyses were conducted by means of the exact Low Resolution Electric Tomography software (eLORETA). Significant modification was observed only in the ML-RS condition. Compared to controls, patients with three or more FA symptoms showed an increase of delta power in the right middle frontal gyrus (Brodmann Area [BA] 8) and in the right precentral gyrus (BA 9), and theta power in the right insula (BA 13) and in the right inferior frontal gyrus (BA 47). Furthermore, compared to controls, patients with three or more FA symptoms showed an increase of functional connectivity in fronto-parietal areas in both the theta and alpha band. The increase of functional connectivity was also positively associated with the number of FA symptoms. Taken together, our results show that FA has similar neurophysiological correlates of other forms of substance-related and addictive disorders suggesting similar psychopathological mechanisms.

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The aim of the study was to evaluate the EEG modifications in patients with Huntington disease (HD) compared with controls, by means of the exact LOw REsolution Tomography (eLORETA) software. We evaluated EEG changes during wake, non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Moreover, we reviewed the literature concerning EEG modifications in HD. Twenty-three consecutive adult patients affected by HD were enrolled, 14 women and 9 men, mean age was 57.0 ± 12.4 years. Control subjects were healthy volunteers (mean age 58.2 ± 14.6 years). EEG and polygraphic recordings were performed during wake (before sleep) and during sleep. Sources of EEG activities were determined using the eLORETA software. In wake EEG, significant differences between patients and controls were detected in the delta frequency band (threshold T = ±4.606; P < .01) in the Brodmann areas (BAs) 3, 4, and 6 bilaterally. In NREM sleep, HD patients showed increased alpha power (T = ±4.516; P < .01) in BAs 4 and 6 bilaterally; decreased theta power (T = ±4.516; P < .01) in the BAs 23, 29, and 30; and decreased beta power (T = ±4.516; P < .01) in the left BA 30. During REM, HD patients presented decreased theta and alpha power (threshold T = ±4.640; P < .01) in the BAs 23, 29, 30, and 31 bilaterally. In conclusion, EEG data suggest a motor cortex dysfunction during wake and sleep in HD patients, which correlates with the clinical and polysomnographic evidence of increased motor activity during wake and NREM, and nearly absent motor abnormalities in REM.

BACKGROUND The survival benefit in maximizing resection in glioblastomas (GBMs) has been demonstrated by numerous studies. The true limit of infiltration of GBMs has been an overwhelming obstacle, and several technological advances have been introduced to improve the identification of residual tumors. OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether the integration of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) with microbubble contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) improves residual tumor identification and has an impact on the extent of resection (EOR), overall survival (OS), and progression-free survival (PFS). METHODS A total of 230 GBM procedures were retrospectively studied. Cases were stratified according to the surgical procedure into 4 groups: 5-ALA- and CEUS-guided surgeries, 5-ALA-guided surgeries, CEUS-guided surgeries, and conventional microsurgical procedures. RESULTS Patients undergoing conventional microsurgical procedures showed the worst EORs compared to the assisted techniques (5-ALA and CEUS procedures). Both 5-ALA and CEUS techniques improved the EOR compared to conventional microsurgical procedures. However, their combination gave the best results in terms of the EOR (P = .0003). The median EOR% and the number of supramarginal resections are hence superior in the 5-ALA + CEUS + group compared to the others; this observation had consequences on PFS and OS in our series. CONCLUSION In terms of the EOR, the best results can be achieved through a combination of both techniques, where the 5-ALA-guided procedure is followed by a final survey with CEUS. Compared with other intraoperative imaging techniques, CEUS is a real-time, readily repeatable, safe, and inexpensive technique that provides valuable information to the surgeon before, during, and after resection.

In our relatively small group of epileptic patients, HV is associated with activation of cingulate cortex; moreover, it modifies brain connectivity. The significant differences in mean lagged coherence, path length, and clustering coefficient permit to hypothesize that this activation method leads to different brain connectivity patterns in patients with epilepsy when compared with normal subjects. If confirmed by other studies involving larger populations, this analysis could become a diagnostic tool in epilepsy.

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