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Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess cortical hemodynamic response patterns in 3- to 7-year-old children listening to two speech modes: normally vocalized and whispered speech. Understanding whispered speech requires processing of the relatively weak, noisy signal, as well as the cognitive ability to understand the speaker's reason for whispering. Method: Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) was used to assess changes in cortical oxygenated hemoglobin from 16 typically developing children. Results: A profound difference in oxygenated hemoglobin levels between the speech modes was found over left ventral sensorimotor cortex. In particular, over areas that represent speech articulatory body parts and motion, such as the larynx, lips, and jaw, oxygenated hemoglobin was higher for whisper than for normal speech. The weaker stimulus, in terms of sound energy, thus induced the more profound hemodynamic response. This, moreover, occurred over areas involved in speech articulation, even though the children did not overtly articulate speech during measurements. Conclusion: Because whisper is a special form of communication not often used in daily life, we suggest that the hemodynamic response difference over left ventral sensorimotor cortex resulted from inner (covert) practice or imagination of the different articulatory actions necessary to produce whisper as opposed to normal speech.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess cortical hemodynamic response patterns in 3- to 7-year-old children listening to two speech modes: normally vocalized and whispered speech. Understanding whispered speech requires processing of the relatively weak, noisy signal, as well as the cognitive ability to understand the speaker's reason for whispering. Method: Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) was used to assess changes in cortical oxygenated hemoglobin from 16 typically developing children. Results: A profound difference in oxygenated hemoglobin levels between the speech modes was found over left ventral sensorimotor cortex. In particular, over areas that represent speech articulatory body parts and motion, such as the larynx, lips, and jaw, oxygenated hemoglobin was higher for whisper than for normal speech. The weaker stimulus, in terms of sound energy, thus induced the more profound hemodynamic response. This, moreover, occurred over areas involved in speech articulation, even though the children did not overtly articulate speech during measurements. Conclusion: Because whisper is a special form of communication not often used in daily life, we suggest that the hemodynamic response difference over left ventral sensorimotor cortex resulted from inner (covert) practice or imagination of the different articulatory actions necessary to produce whisper as opposed to normal speech., Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) was used to assess cortical hemodynamics in 3- to 7-year-old children who listened to two speech modes: normal speech and whispered speech. NIRS has the advantage over [...]

Purpose Olprinone is a phosphodiesterase type III inhibitor that is often used to increase cardiac output after cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Hemodilution by CPB is likely to decrease total olprinone concentration, but it may also increase the free (unbound) concentration of olprinone due to reduced protein binding. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of hemodilution on the protein binding of olprinone. Methods Eleven patients scheduled for elective cardiac surgery with CPB were enrolled in our study. Olprinone was continuously infused at a rate of 0.2 µg/kg/min from the time of the first surgical incision until the patient arrived at the recovery unit. Protein binding was evaluated twice, just before the start of CPB and at the beginning of withdrawal from CPB. Olprinone concentration and protein binding were determined with high-performance liquid chromatography and ultrafiltration methods, respectively. Olprinone protein binding was also evaluated in vitro. Results Olprinone protein binding to albumin was 63 % in vitro, but it did not bind to alpha-1 acid glycoprotein. Olprinone protein binding in patients before CPB was 81.5 ± 4.3 %, whereas protein binding at withdrawal from CPB was 63.3 ± 14.3 %. Conclusions Unbound olprinone concentration increased by 20 % during CPB, which suggests that the pharmacological effects of olprinone might be enhanced during and after CPB. Close hemodynamic monitoring is necessary to control the effects of olprinone after CPB, because CPB alters olprinone's pharmacokinetics. Keywords Olprinone * Cardiac surgery * Cardiopulmonary bypass * Protein binding * Albumin, Introduction Olprinone (Coretec®; Eisai, Tokyo, Japan) is a phosphodiesterase type III inhibitor (PDEI) with both strong inotropic and vasodilatory effects [1] that is often used in cardiac surgery for weaning [...]

Purpose Olprinone, a phosphodiesterase type III inhibitor, is a strong inotrope and vasodilator that does not increase oxygen consumption and is often used during weaning from cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). To control the pharmacological effects of olprinone, pharmacokinetic information is essential; however, there is little published information on the pharmacokinetics of olprinone in a large population. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine olprinone pharmacokinetic parameters in a large population undergoing cardiac surgery with CPB. Methods Olprinone was infused at a rate of 0.2 µg/kg/min when weaning from CPB was started. Whole blood samples were periodically obtained to determine the olprinone concentrations using high-performance liquid chromatography. Measured olprinone concentrations were analyzed with a one-compartment model via a population approach. Results A total of 86 blood samples from 26 patients were used for pharmacokinetic analysis. The calculated clearance, volume of distribution ([V.sub.d]), and elimination half-life were 378 ml/min, 40.7 l, and 97.1 min, respectively. Olprinone clearance depended on weight and creatinine clearance, whereas [V.sub.d] depended only on weight. Conclusion We investigated the pharmacokinetic parameters of olprinone in patients undergoing cardiac surgery with CPB. Olprinone clearance depended on weight and creatinine clearance, whereas [V.sub.d] depended only on weight. When olprinone is infused according to the recommended dosing regimen, it takes more than 60 min to reach the target concentration (20 ng/ml). However, there is a possibility that a lower concentration is sufficient for weaning from CPB in combination with a continuous infusion of dopamine. Keywords Olprinone * Cardiac surgery * Cardiopulmonary bypass * Population pharmacokinetics, Introduction Phosphodiesterase type III inhibitors (PDEIs) have strong inotropic and vasodilatory effects [1-3] without increasing oxygen consumption in cardiomyocytes [4, 5]. They are also effective when there is downregulation of [...]

Background: Neuromuscular blocking agents induce muscle paralysis via the prevention of synaptic transmission at the neuromuscular junction and may have additional effects at other sites of action. With regard to potential effects of neuromuscular blocking agents on the central nervous system, a definitive view has not been established. We investigated whether intravenous infusion of rocuronium bromide affects the emergence from propofol anesthesia. Methods: Using an in vivo rat model, we performed propofol infusion for 60 minutes, along with rocuronium bromide at various infusion rates or normal saline. Sugammadex or normal saline was injected at the end of the infusion period, and we evaluated the time to emergence from propofol anesthesia. We also examined the neuromuscular blocking, circulatory, and respiratory properties of propofol infusion along with rocuronium bromide infusion to ascertain possible factors affecting emergence. Results: Intravenous infusion of rocuronium bromide dose-dependently increased the time to emergence from propofol anesthesia. Sugammadex administered after propofol infusion not containing rocuronium bromide did not affect the time to emergence. Mean arterial pressure, heart rate, partial pressures of oxygen and carbon dioxide, and pH were not affected by rocuronium bromide infusion. Neuromuscular blockade induced by rocuronium bromide, even at the greatest infusion rate in the emergence experiment, was rapidly antagonized by sugammadex. Conclusions: These results suggest that intravenous infusion of rocuronium bromide dose-dependently delays the emergence from propofol anesthesia in rats. Future studies, such as detection of rocuronium in the cerebrospinal fluid or central nervous system, electrophysiologic studies, microinjection of sugammadex into the brain, etc., are necessary to determine the mechanism of this effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

B Correction: JA Clin Rep 9, 23 (2023) b B https://doi.org/10.1186/s40981-023-00617-9 b Following publication of the original article [[1]], the author reported that there are citations to Figs. Reference 1 Katori N, Yamakawa K, Kida K. The incidence of hypotension during general anesthesia: a single-center study at a university hospital. The paragraph should read: From We also calculated the percentage of events that continued for more than or equal to 10 min at each hypotensive threshold using the data presented in Fig. [Extracted from the article]

Optimal brain sensitivity to the fundamental frequency (F0) contour changes in the human voice is important for understanding a speaker’s intonation, and consequently, the speaker’s attitude. However, whether sensitivity in the brain’s response to a human voice F0 contour change varies with an interaction between an individual’s traits (i.e., autistic traits) and a human voice element (i.e., presence or absence of communicative action such as calling) has not been investigated. In the present study, we investigated the neural processes involved in the perception of F0 contour changes in the Japanese monosyllables “ne” and “nu.” “Ne” is an interjection that means “hi” or “hey” in English; pronunciation of “ne” with a high falling F0 contour is used when the speaker wants to attract a listener’s attention (i.e., social intonation). Meanwhile, the Japanese concrete noun “nu” has no communicative meaning. We applied an adaptive spatial filtering method to the neuromagnetic time course recorded by whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG) and estimated the spatiotemporal frequency dynamics of event-related cerebral oscillatory changes in beta band during the oddball paradigm. During the perception of the F0 contour change when “ne” was presented, there was event-related de-synchronization (ERD) in the right temporal lobe. In contrast, during the perception of the F0 contour change when “nu” was presented, ERD occurred in the left temporal lobe and in the bilateral occipital lobes. ERD that occurred during the social stimulus “ne” in the right hemisphere was significantly correlated with a greater number of autistic traits measured according to the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), suggesting that the differences in human voice processing are associated with higher autistic traits, even in non-clinical subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Socio-communicative impairments are salient features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from a young age. The anterior prefrontal cortex (aPFC), or Brodmann area 10, is a key processing area for social function, and atypical development of this area is thought to play a role in the social deficits in ASD. It is important to understand these brain functions in developing children with ASD. However, these brain functions have not yet been well described under conscious conditions in young children with ASD. In the present study, we focused on the brain hemodynamic functional connectivity between the right and the left aPFC in children with ASD and typically developing (TD) children and investigated whether there was a correlation between this connectivity and social ability. Brain hemodynamic fluctuations were measured non-invasively by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in 3- to 7-year-old children with ASD (n = 15) and gender- and age-matched TD children (n = 15). The functional connectivity between the right and the left aPFC was assessed by measuring the coherence for low-frequency spontaneous fluctuations (0.01 – 0.10 Hz) during a narrated picture-card show. Coherence analysis demonstrated that children with ASD had a significantly higher inter-hemispheric connectivity with 0.02-Hz fluctuations, whereas a power analysis did not demonstrate significant differences between the two groups in terms of low frequency fluctuations (0.01 – 0.10 Hz). This aberrant higher connectivity in children with ASD was positively correlated with the severity of social deficit, as scored with the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule. This is the first study to demonstrate aberrant brain functional connectivity between the right and the left aPFC under conscious conditions in young children with ASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent neuroimaging studies support the view that a left-lateralized brain network is crucial for language development in children. However, no previous studies have demonstrated a clear link between lateralized brain functional network and language performance in preschool children. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a noninvasive brain imaging technique and is a practical neuroimaging method for use in young children. MEG produces a reference-free signal, and is therefore an ideal tool to compute coherence between two distant cortical rhythms. In the present study, using a custom child-sized MEG system, we investigated brain networks while 78 right-handed preschool human children (32- 64 months; 96% were 3-4 years old) listened to stories with moving images. The results indicated that left dominance of parietotemporal coherence in theta band activity (6-8 Hz) was specifically correlated with higher performance of languagerelated tasks, whereas this laterality was not correlated with nonverbal cognitive performance, chronological age, or head circumference. Power analyses did not reveal any specific frequencies that contributed to higher language performance. Our results suggest that it is not the left dominance in theta oscillation per se, but the left-dominant phase-locked connectivity via theta oscillation that contributes to the development of language ability in young children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Accurate perception of fundamental frequency (F0) contour changes in the human voice is important for understanding a speaker''s intonation, and consequently also his/her attitude. In this study, we investigated the neural processes involved in the perception of F0 contour changes in the Japanese one-syllable interjection “ne” in 21 native-Japanese listeners. A passive oddball paradigm was applied in which “ne” with a high falling F0 contour, used when urging a reaction from the listener, was randomly presented as a rare deviant among a frequent “ne” syllable with a flat F0 contour (i.e., meaningless intonation). We applied an adaptive spatial filtering method to the neuromagnetic time course recorded by whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG) and estimated the spatiotemporal frequency dynamics of event-related cerebral oscillatory changes in the oddball paradigm. Our results demonstrated a significant elevation of beta band event-related desynchronization (ERD) in the right temporal and frontal areas, in time windows from 100 to 300 and from 300 to 500ms after the onset of deviant stimuli (high falling F0 contour). This is the first study to reveal detailed spatiotemporal frequency characteristics of cerebral oscillations during the perception of intonational (not lexical) F0 contour changes in the human voice. The results further confirmed that the right hemisphere is associated with perception of intonational F0 contour information in the human voice, especially in early time windows. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Scented face masks are commonly used during the induction phase of anesthesia. The present study investigated whether the use of a scented mask improved mask acceptance before the slow induction of anesthesia in pediatric patients., Methods: This prospective, randomized controlled trial enrolled patients aged 2-10 years who were scheduled to undergo surgery under general anesthesia. Patients were randomly assigned to either of regular unscented (control group) or scented (experimental group) face masks before anesthesia induction with a parent. The primary outcome was the mask acceptance score, rated on a validated 4-point from 1 point (not afraid; easily accepts the mask) to 4 points (afraid of a mask; crying or struggling). The secondary outcome was heart rate assessed by pulse oximetry in the pediatric ward before transfer to the operating room (OR), at the entrance to the OR, at the patient notification of mask fitting by the anesthesiologist, and after mask fitting., Results: Seventy-seven patients were accessed for eligibility, with 67 enrolled in the study: 33 in the experimental group and 34 in the control group. Mask acceptance was significantly greater among patients aged 2-3 years in the experimental than in the control group ( p  < 0.05)., Conclusion: The use of a scented mask can improve mask acceptance before anesthesia induction with a parental presence in pediatric patients aged 2-3 years. Clinical Trial Registration : https://upload.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr&#95;e/ctr&#95;view.cgi?recptno=R000040819., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Abukawa, Takano, Hobo, Hosaka, Kimura, Suga, Katori and Tsubokawa.)

A child-customized magnetoencephalography system was used to investigate somatosensory evoked field (SEF) in 3- to 4-year-old children. Three stimulus conditions were used in which the children received tactile-only stimulation to their left index finger or visuotactile stimulation. In the two visuotactile conditions, the children received tactile stimulation to their finger while they watched a video of tactile stimulation applied either to someone else's finger (the finger-touch condition) or to someone else's toe (the toe-touch condition). The latencies and source strengths of equivalent current dipoles (ECDs) over contralateral (right) somatosensory cortex were analyzed. In the preschoolers who provided valid ECDs, the stimulus conditions induced an early-latency ECD occurring between 60 and 68 ms mainly with an anterior direction. We further identified a middle-latency ECD between 97 and 104 ms, which predominantly had a posterior direction. Finally, initial evidence was found for a late-latency ECD at about 139-151 ms again more often with an anterior direction. Differences were found in the source strengths of the middle-latency ECDs among the stimulus conditions. For the paired comparisons that could be formed, ECD source strength was more pronounced in the finger-touch condition than in the tactile-only and the toe-touch conditions. Although more research is necessary to expand the data set, this suggests that visual information modulated preschool SEF. The finding that ECD source strength was higher when seen and felt touch occurred to the same body part, as compared to a different body part, might further indicate that connectivity between visual and tactile information is indexed in preschool somatosensory cortical activity, already in a somatotopic way.

Background: Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is used to measure the auditory evoked magnetic field (AEF), which reflects language-related performance. In young children, however, the simultaneous quantification of the bilateral auditory-evoked response during binaural hearing is difficult using conventional adult-sized MEG systems. Recently, a child-customised MEG device has facilitated the acquisition of bi-hemispheric recordings, even in young children. Using the child-customised MEG device, we previously reported that language-related performance was reflected in the strength of the early component (P50m) of the auditory evoked magnetic field (AEF) in typically developing (TD) young children (2 to 5 years old) [Eur J Neurosci 2012, 35:644-650]. The aim of this study was to investigate how this neurophysiological index in each hemisphere is correlated with language performance in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and TD children., Methods: We used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to measure the auditory evoked magnetic field (AEF), which reflects language-related performance. We investigated the P50m that is evoked by voice stimuli (/ne/) bilaterally in 33 young children (3 to 7 years old) with ASD and in 30 young children who were typically developing (TD). The children were matched according to their age (in months) and gender. Most of the children with ASD were high-functioning subjects., Results: The results showed that the children with ASD exhibited significantly less leftward lateralisation in their P50m intensity compared with the TD children. Furthermore, the results of a multiple regression analysis indicated that a shorter P50m latency in both hemispheres was specifically correlated with higher language-related performance in the TD children, whereas this latency was not correlated with non-verbal cognitive performance or chronological age. The children with ASD did not show any correlation between P50m latency and language-related performance; instead, increasing chronological age was a significant predictor of shorter P50m latency in the right hemisphere., Conclusions: Using a child-customised MEG device, we studied the P50m component that was evoked through binaural human voice stimuli in young ASD and TD children to examine differences in auditory cortex function that are associated with language development. Our results suggest that there is atypical brain function in the auditory cortex in young children with ASD, regardless of language development.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is often described as a disorder of aberrant neural connectivity and/or aberrant hemispheric lateralization. Although it is important to study the pathophysiology of the developing ASD cortex, the physiological connectivity of the brain in young children with ASD under conscious conditions has not yet been described. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a noninvasive brain imaging technique that is practical for use in young children. MEG produces a reference-free signal and is, therefore, an ideal tool for computing the coherence between two distant cortical rhythms. Using a custom child-sized MEG, we recently reported that 5- to 7-year-old children with ASD (n = 26) have inherently different neural pathways than typically developing (TD) children that contribute to their relatively preserved performance of visual tasks. In this study, we performed non-invasive measurements of the brain activity of 70 young children (3-7 years old, of which 18 were aged 3-4 years), a sample consisting of 35 ASD children and 35 TD children. Physiological connectivity and the laterality of physiological connectivity were assessed using intrahemispheric coherence for 9 frequency bands. As a result, significant rightward connectivity between the parietotemporal areas, via gamma band oscillations, was found in the ASD group. As we obtained the non-invasive measurements using a custom child-sized MEG, this is the first study to demonstrate a rightward-lateralized neurophysiological network in conscious young children (including children aged 3-4 years) with ASD.

A subset of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) performs more proficiently on certain visual tasks than may be predicted by their general cognitive performances. However, in younger children with ASD (aged 5 to 7), preserved ability in these tasks and the neurophysiological correlates of their ability are not well documented. In the present study, we used a custom child-sized magnetoencephalography system and demonstrated that preserved ability in the visual reasoning task was associated with rightward lateralisation of the neurophysiological connectivity between the parietal and temporal regions in children with ASD. In addition, we demonstrated that higher reading/decoding ability was also associated with the same lateralisation in children with ASD. These neurophysiological correlates of visual tasks are considerably different from those that are observed in typically developing children. These findings indicate that children with ASD have inherently different neural pathways that contribute to their relatively preserved ability in visual tasks.

In humans, oxytocin (OT) enhances prosocial behaviour. However, it is still unclear how the prosocial effects of OT are modulated by emotional features and/or individuals' characteristics. In a placebo-controlled design, we tested 20 healthy male volunteers to investigate these behavioural and neurophysiological modulations using magnetoencephalography. As an index of the individuals' characteristics, we used the empathy quotient (EQ), the autism spectrum quotient (AQ), and the systemising quotient (SQ). Only during the perception of another person's angry face was a higher SQ a significant predictor of OT-induced prosocial change, both in the behavioural and neurophysiological indicators. In addition, a lower EQ was only a significant predictor of OT-induced prosocial changes in the neurophysiological indicators during the perception of angry faces. Both on the behavioural and the neurophysiological level, the effects of OT were specific for anger and correlated with a higher SQ.

Object: The goal of this study was to determine the incidence of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) after spine surgery. Another purpose was to clarify the rapid changes of the fibrin monomer complex (FMC) and D-dimer levels during the perioperative period of spine surgery for early diagnosis of venous thromboembolism (VTE)., Methods: The participants were 72 patients who underwent spine surgery between September 2007 and March 2008. The FMC and D-dimer levels were measured 6 times: 1) at induction of general anesthesia; 2) just after implantation or during surgery; 3) immediately following surgery; 4) 1 day after surgery; 5) 3 days postsurgery; and 6) 7 days after surgery. All patients received mechanical prophylaxis, including compression stockings and intermittent pneumatic compression devices, and all were examined with duplex ultrasonography assessments of both lower extremities and with lung perfusion scintigraphy 7-10 days after surgery. If DVT or PE was suspected, the patient underwent multidetector CT venography., Results: There were no patients with clinical signs of DVT and PE, but 6 (8.3%) showed VTE, among whom 5 had DVT and 3 had PE. Patients with VTE had significantly higher FMC levels 1 day after surgery, compared with those without VTE (55.9 ± 17.2 μg/ml vs 11.1 ± 2.89 μg/ml; p < 0.01). Patients with VTE had significantly higher D-dimer levels 7 days postsurgery, compared with those without VTE (12.5 ± 2.95 μg/ml vs 4.3 ± 0.39 μg/ml; p < 0.01). Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that the FMC result was more useful than the D-dimer assay for diagnosis of VTE. When the cutoff value was set to 20.8 μg/ml for FMC, sensitivity was 100% and specificity was 86.3%., Conclusions: In this study the prevalence of VTE after spine surgery was 8.3%. The FMC measured 1 day after spine surgery is considered to be useful as an indicator of VTE.

The influence of drug interaction and protein variants on the binding disposition of ropivacaine to alpha1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) was examined. The subjects were five patients who received epidural infusion of ropivacaine for 24-54 h in off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting followed by drug combination therapy, and 10 healthy volunteers. The post-operation plasma albumin concentration showed little overall change, while the AGP concentration in the five patients decreased for 6 h, then increased gradually to about 3-times the initial value by 54 h. The unbound fraction in plasma (fu) of ropivacaine gradually decreased as the AGP concentration increased, but there was large inter-individual variation among the five patients. In contrast, there was a good correlation between the fu value and AGP concentration when ropivacaine was added to blood samples from the 10 healthy volunteers. Among the volunteers, eight showed F1S variants and two showed F1 variant without S variant of AGP. The fu value of ropivacaine did not differ between these two groups. However, when ropivacaine was added in combination with dipyridamole, the fu values of ropivacaine in blood from volunteers with F1S variants were greater than those in blood from volunteers without S variant. In the case of co-administration of disopyramide or lidocaine, there was no such difference. Among the patients, one showed F1S variants and four showed F1 variant without S variant. The results indicate that variability in the side-effects of therapy with ropivacaine alone is caused by the change of the unbound concentration upon changes in the AGP concentration. However, in combination therapy, it is also important to consider the AGP variant-dependence of the inhibitory effect of concomitantly administered drugs.