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In 1992, the Laboratory of Human Physiology at the University of Parma (Italy) publish a study describing "mirror" neurons in the macaque that activate both when the monkey performs an action and when it observes an experimenter performing the same action. The research team behind this discovery postulates that the mirror neurons system is the neural basis of our ability to understand the actions of others, through the motor mapping of the observed action on the observer's motor repertory (direct-matching hypothesis). Nevertheless, this conception met serious criticism. These critics attempt to relativize their function by placing them within a network of neurocognitive and sensory interdependencies. In short, the essential characteristic of these neurons is to combine the processing of sensory information, especially visual, with that of motor information. Their elementary function would be to provide a motor simulation of the observed action, based on visual information from it. They can contribute, with other non-mirror areas, to the identification/prediction of the action goal and to the interpretation of the intention of the actor performing it. Studying the connectivity and high frequency synchronizations of the different brain areas involved in action observation would likely provide important information about the dynamic contribution of mirror neurons to "action understanding". The aim of this review is to provide an up-to-date analysis of the scientific evidence related to mirror neurons and their elementary functions, as well as to shed light on the contribution of these neurons to our ability to interpret and understand others' actions.

Addictive disorders restrict addicts' physical activity. On a neurobiological level, the reward system is disrupted. Pleasure is transformed into a constraint and patients lose control of themselves. Differing from a physical activity technique, psychomotor therapy, by drawing on the body's experience, in relation to the environment, can form part of the care plan. It is based on sensation, tonus, posture and tonico-emotional engagement.

There are several barriers to older adults using internet and information and communication technology (ICT). It has been suggested that appropriate training is necessary to support the learning process and is an important issue with regards to digital inclusivity for older adults. This study explored the impact of a tablet-PC training program for older adults, provided in a group setting.Thirteen community-dwelling older adults attended the program (ten one and half hour training sessions, taking place once every 2 weeks) and completed pre- and post- assessments. After the intervention, participants showed significantly higher levels of ICT acceptance (87.6 vs. 113.5, p=0.002) and proficiency (109.5 vs. 132.7, p=0.003) than before the intervention. However, they did not showed improvement in feelings of loneliness, symptoms of depression and global cognitive function. Qualitative analyses indicated that the intervention enabled older adults to become more up to date with the information society and promoted tablet-PC acceptance. Although it helped older adults to feel less isolated, it did not enable them to form genuine friendships.The intervention was effective in improving older adults' digital literacy and promoting ICT acceptance, allowing the digital divide to be narrowed.

The ability to preserve a good command of two languages decreases with old age. This decline can be more observed in bilingual patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The linguistic deficit is the most frequent cognitive disturbance after memory disorders in AD semiology. Besides, most of the studies dealing with the linguistic semiology of the AD were essentially interested in describing the linguistic behavior of the monolingual people, and based on modest samples. This study aims to locate the disturbed levels of processing in language production of bilingual Alzheimer's subjects by analyzing the discourses of 120 participants including 60 bilingual patients with Alzheimer's disease and 60 healthy bilinguals. The results focus on the deficit of processing in language production of bilingual patients with Alzheimer's disease at the semantic level of the first language in two aspects, which are the procedure based on the lexical implications of the terms and the continuity. However, the grammatical aspects in the second language (connector and deictic) are dysfunctional, while they are relatively preserved in the first language (L1). It appears that the semantic aspects are affected and the grammatical aspects are relatively spared on the first language, however the grammatical aspect of the second language is affected. The grammatical aspect of L1 resists better because it depends on procedural memory that is relatively resistant to AD; however, the semantic aspect of the L1 and grammatical aspect of L1 are disturbed in the L2 too because they depend on the declarative memory which is early disturbed.

Psychomotor impairments in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have frequently been described in scientific literature. Such deficits impact upon the development of social motor function and interfere with the ability to adjust to everyday life. The inclusion of sensory-motor signs in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) confirms their importance in the diagnosis of ASD. Previous literature has shown the presence precocity of these signs, sometimes before the alteration of the social communication. To our knowledge, there are no existing clinical tools to measure sensory-psychomotor deficit, specifically in ASD. The current paper presents the construction and validation of a new scale, designed to evaluate sensory-psychomotor signs in Autism: 'the Sensory-psychomotor Particularities Scale in Autism' (SPSA).The scale is composed of 160 items describing common sensory-psychomotor signs in autism. These items are grouped into 20 variables: touch, nociception, vestibular sensitivity, proprioceptive sensitivity, vision, auditory, multimodality, tone, posture, balance, global coordination, manual dexterity, body schema, bodily self-consciousness, relational adjustment, emotional expression, use of objects, space, time and tonico-emotional regulation. For each item, the psychomotor therapist evaluated sensori-psychomotor signs according to a five-level Likert scale (0="the sign is never expressed by the person", 1="weakly expressed", 2="moderately expressed", 3="severely expressed" and 4="the sign is very characteristic of the person and very severely expressed"). This is completed by a family interview in order to assess the impact of these signs on everyday situations. The study included 111 children with autism. The presence of neurological and genetic diseases was exclusion criteria. For each child, a global developmental evaluation was carried out by an expert clinical team specializing in ASD. Standardized clinical tools were used: Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), Behavior Summarized Evaluation scale (BSE-R), Repeated and Restricted Behavior scale (RRB), Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M-ABC), Motor Development Rating scale (MDR), Sensory Profile (SP). Developmental quotients (DQ) were evaluated using various tests depending on age and ability.Factor analysis produced three clinically relevant factors: F1: "sensory-emotional synchronization", F2: "multisensory integration" and F3: "motor skills": each containing a similar quantity of items. They account for roughly equal percentages of variance (18.9%, 18.0%, 16.8%, respectively). The factorial structure does not change if the 26 children with comorbid developmental coordination disorder are removed. The three factors show good internal consistency and excellent inter-rater reliability. F1 is comprised of 6 items: touch, nociception, proprioceptive sensitivity, vision, emotional expression and tonico-emotional regulation. This factor is significantly associated with items of the Sensory Profile (touch processing, poor registration, sensory seeking). F2 is comprised of 5 items: multimodality, bodily self-consciousness, relational adjustment, use of objects and space. This factor is associated with ADOS, BSE-R and RRB scores, and the item "touch processing" of the Sensory Profile. F3 is comprised of 4 items: tone, posture, global coordination, manual dexterity. This factor is associated with the M-ABC, the MDR and the item "low endurance" of the Sensory Profile.The SPSA is a relevant clinical tool to assess the severity of sensory-psychomotor clinical signs in order to describe the individual profiles of children with ASD. It represents a critical step in advancing knowledge of the complex and heterogeneous pattern of psychomotor development in autism. It could make a valuable contribution to the field, both in research and clinical practice.

The link between deformational plagiocephaly and psychomotor development is a recurrent question in medical publications. Main publications concentrate on term infants, but there is a lack of data on the impact of deformational plagiocephaly on the long-term neurodevelopment of premature infants. We attempted to establish a possible relation between deformational plagiocephaly during the 1st year of life and the psychomotor score at 4 years in prematurely born infants. Other risk factors potentially impacting the psychomotor score were also studied.A retrospective study of the files of the children followed by the "Naître et Devenir Région PACA Ouest Corse Sud" healthcare network and included in the database allowed us to select a cohort of 594 infants born prematurely at under 33 weeks of gestational age. These children were developmentally evaluated during the 1st year of life and at 4 years or age using the "EVAL Mater" test. The "Naître et Devenir" network is following up infants born prematurely at under 33 weeks of gestation in the West Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur and South Corsica region, from discharge to 7 years. A group of 170 specially trained pediatricians follow these infants developmentally at term, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months of corrected age and 3, 4 5, 6, and 7 years. Data are collected in a specially designed database.There was no significant link between deformational plagiocephaly during the 1st year of life and a pathological psychomotor score at age 4, but some risk factors were demonstrated: male gender, birth at under 28 weeks of gestational age, weight at birth under 1000g, having a Latal and Ferriero neuromotor score equal to or greater than 2 at 3 months of corrected age, and to a lesser extent having a prescription for physiotherapy during the 1st year.The research on deformational plagiocephaly in the full-term infant suggests a relation between deformational plagiocephaly and developmental delay predominantly on the motor side, with an increased rate of special needs services at school age. The question is raised of whether deformational plagiocephaly is the cause of the delay or an early sign of cerebral anomaly with an early motor delay in full-term infants. The results suggest that deformational plagiocephaly in the prematurely born infant may not be related to neurodevelopmental delay but simply to the extended time spent in the supine position because of the early birth associated with physiological hypotonia and axial extension. Other risk factors such as male gender, birth before 28 weeks of gestation, weight less than 1000g, a Latal and Ferriero neuromotor score greater than 2 at 3 months of corrected age, and having a prescription for physiotherapy during the 1st year of life are strongly related to delayed psychomotor development at age 4.

Early damage to episodic memory encoding and consolidation processes has been demonstrated in dementia of the Alzheimer type. However, in the domain of verbal episodic memory assessment, there are few diagnostic tools adapted to the old and oldest old as far as ease of administration and accuracy of normative data are concerned. Classic tasks are either too effortful (like the free recall/cued recall of 16 items), not sensitive enough (like the 5 words test), or insufficiently accurate for people above 70 years old in terms of normative data.The aim of this study was to develop a reduced task (in terms of number of items and number of trials) assessing verbal episodic memory in people aged between 70 and 89 years old.The task (GERIA-12) used the same procedure as the RL/RI-16 task but the list comprised only 12 words and there were only 2 learning trials. In order to assess consolidation processes, we included 2 delayed recall trials, one after 20 minutes and the other after 24 hours. We also calculated indexes adapted from the Item-Specific Deficit Approach developed by Wright et al., which has the advantage of providing measures specific to encoding, consolidation and retrieval processes. Standardization was done with data from 220 people aged between 70 and 89 years old and belonging to 3 education levels.We obtained a significant effect of age and education level: scores decrease with age and increase with education. Norms have thus been calculated taking those two variables into consideration. Concerning the standardization, Barona method has been used for free recall scores while percentiles have been used for all other scores (total recall, free recall, encoding, consolidation and retrieval indexes). Normative data are also provided for intrusions and perseverations.This new task allows encoding, consolidation and retrieval processes assessment in older people and has the following advantages: the procedure is more suitable (ease and time of administration), there are accurate normative data for old and oldest old people, and there are normative data for two delayed recalls (at 20 minutes and at 24 hours).

International audience; Prospective memory is a complex cognitive function requiring to remember a planned action. For example, this function is particularly important for elderly people to remember taking medication at the appropriate time. The comparison of the performance of old and young peoples on different prospective memory tasks led to two contradictory results, a configuration that has been dubbed "age-prospective memory-paradox". The first set of results of the age-prospective memory-paradox configuration is in keeping with the effects of aging on cognitive functioning, older peoples generally performing less well than younger peoples on laboratory prospective memory tasks. The second set of results is at odds with the first one, as older peoples generally perform better than younger peoples on naturalistic prospective memory tasks. The aim of the present paper is to expose the main explanatory hypotheses of the age related deficit on laboratory prospective memory tasks in one hand and on the age related benefit on naturalistic prospective memory tasks on the other hand. Concerning laboratory prospective memory tasks, the main hypothesis is that the detrimental effect of age would be principally due to negative influence of age on executive control processes and retrospective memory processes involved in this kind of tasks. With respect to naturalistic prospective memory tasks, a higher motivational level and the fact that older people have more frequently recourse to external memory aids and to compensation strategies could explain the better results of older people.; La mémoire prospective renvoie très généralement à la capacité d'une personne à se souvenir d'effectuer une action qu'elle a prévu d'accomplir dans le futur. Cette mémoire est sollicitée quotidiennement et particulièrement chez les personnes âgées qui sont, par exemple, fréquemment amenées à se souvenir de prendre un traitement médical à différents moments de la journée. Les études comparatives portant sur les effets du vieillissement sur la mémoire prospective ont mis en évidence un pattern de résultats contradictoires. Le premier résultat montre un déficit lié à l'âge lorsque la mémoire prospective est évaluée avec des tâches de laboratoire. Le second résultat révèle un bénéfice lié à l'âge, en faveur des personnes âgées, lorsque la mémoire prospective est évaluée avec des tâches conduites en milieu naturel. L'objectif de cette revue de question est de présenter et de discuter les hypothèses explicatives de cet "effet paradoxal de l'âge sur la mémoire prospective".

Picture naming tasks are widely used both in children and adults to investigate language production for research and for assessment purposes. The main theoretical models of single word production based on the investigation of picture naming in adults provide a detailed account of the principal mental operations involved in the transformation of an abstract concept into articulated speech and their temporal dynamics. These models and in particular their time-course do not apply directly to children who display much longer production latencies than adults. Here we investigate the functional processes and the temporal dynamics of word encoding in school-age children and adults. ERPs were analysed from picture onset to the onset of articulation in 32 children and 32 adults performing the same overt picture naming task. Waveform analyses were not informative since differences appeared throughout the entire period, due to an early shift of waveform morphology and to larger amplitudes in children. However, when the sequences of periods of topographic stability were considered, different patterns of electric fields at scalp only appeared in approximately the first third of the analysed period, corresponding to the P1-N1 complex. From about 200 ms in adults and from 300 ms in children to articulation onset similar patterns of global topography were observed across groups but with a different time distribution. These results indicate qualitative changes in an early time-window, likely corresponding to pre-linguistic processes, and only quantitative changes in later time-windows, suggesting similar mental operations underlying lexical processes between age-school children and adults, with temporal dynamic changes during development.

Cognitive assessment among foreign patients is a growing need for several reasons: foreign patients have a different culture, they have an insufficient command of the language of the consulting center, and the available cognitive tools are largely unsuitable. For these reasons, we developed a non-verbal test of long-term memory called the Brumory test. This test is based on incident encoding of 48 colored images followed by retrieval by recognition. We compared the performance of indigenous participants with that of immigrant participants (mainly from Morocco). Immigrant participants did not speak French properly and had a low educational level. The results indicate no significant difference in memory performance between the two groups of participants. Moreover, the instructions were easily understood by immigrant participants, despite the fact they do not master French. We conclude that the Brumory test is an appropriate test to assess memory among foreign non-French-speaking patients people with low educational level.

In neonatology units, the professional approach of the psychomotor therapist focuses on the observation of the baby to favour his or her psychomotor development. She acts in close cooperation with the medical and nursing teams and includes the parents in her work.

Neurocognitive dysfunction is increasingly recognized as a prominent feature of bipolar disorder. Cognitive function seems to be impaired across different states of bipolar illness. Nervertheless, research that studies neuropsychological functioning in acute phases is scarce. Acutely ill patients have shown dysfunctions in several cognitive areas. We reviewed the literature on neuropsychological studies of acute phases to highlight neurocognitive deficits in mixed and pure mania. The results show dysfunctions in sustained attention that are significantly more important in mixed mania rather than in pure mania. Impulsive pattern of responding seems to characterize pure manic state. We also found impairments in processing speed, verbal and spatial learning/memory and executive functions, including cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, conceptual reasoning, planning and problem solving. Disturbance in executive functioning seems to be more important in pure mania rather than mixed mania.

Driving requires alertness at every moment. If everybody knows that between drink and drive, you must choose, few people know that many drugs can have an adverse effect on their ability to drive a vehicle. Most often it is because they can cause drowsiness, make them less attentive or slow reflexes that some drugs increase the risk of accidents, but they can also affect the ability of judgment, impair the view or cause dizziness what becomes dangerous when you're on the road. It is the responsibility of the pharmacist to attract the attention of the patient during the provision of these drugs on the negative impact they can have on driving.

Psychomotricity therapists work with patients following a medical prescription, for prevention, rehabilitation or therapeutic purposes. Psychomotricity therapy is often used with children or adolescents suffering from osteosarcomas.

The South and West Francilien Pediatric Network (Réseau Pédiatrique du Sud et Ouest Francilien [RPSOF]) has established a protocol for the developmental follow up of infants inspired by the existing developmental scales adapted to the current practice of out patient consultation. The consultation described here collects a set of very simple objects and trade toys that are a support for a qualitative exploration of the development for the infants of less than 4 years of age. Different fields are taken into account: global motor skills, hand-eye coordination, manipulation and construction, communication and language, attentional capacity, relational and social behaviour. The time of exchange and play between the paediatrician and the infant allows a first detection of possible problems: the orientation towards a specialized professional for a consultation, a standard check-up or even a therapeutic care becomes easier and clearer. This playful environment also offers a space for the parents, and supports their participation as primary role players in the development of their child. This time, integral part of the consultation, is completed by the somatic examination and sensory screening tests. At present reserved for children identified as being at risk, this type of consultation could be universalised for all infants.

Resume Introduction L’amelioration de la qualite des soins perinatals a permis d’augmenter la survie des nouveau-nes. Toutefois, les soins intensifs sont source de stimulations nociceptives qui pourraient avoir a long terme un impact negatif sur le developpement neurocomportemental. Aussi, offrir des soins de soutien au developpement durant la periode de plasticite cerebrale maximale, aurait des effets benefiques. Le but de cette etude etait le developpement et la validation d’un outil d’observation du comportement du nouveau-ne, a l’intention du personnel soignant. Methode Une grille d’observation comportementale integrant 45 variables dans 6 domaines du comportement sensorimoteur a ete validee en deux temps a l’aide de sequences video de nouveau-nes entre 25–37 semaines. Le coefficient de correlation intra-classe sur 65 evaluations a permis de simplifier l’outil a 23 variables avant l’analyse de validite et de fiabilite. Resultats Pour les 23 variables, la fiabilite entre observateurs etait faible pour 7 (coefficient de correlation intra-classe [CCI] 0,5). L’accord entre observateurs novices et experts variait entre 46,7 % et 98,7 %. Vingt variables avaient un niveau d’accord superieur a 60 %. Conclusion Cette etude de validation d’un outil d’evaluation du comportement sensorimoteur du nouveau-ne a permis d’identifier les variables pertinentes permettant une observation structuree et realisable par les soignants.

Improved perinatal care has increased the survival of newborns. However, neonatal intensive care is a source of nociceptive stimuli that may have a negative long-term impact on the child's neurobehavioral development. During the period of maximal brain plasticity, supportive developmental care can therefore be beneficial. The purpose of this study was to develop an assessment tool of neonatal behavior for daily use by healthcare providers and validate its content.A behavioral assessment tool starting off with 45 clinical variables in 6 areas of sensory-motor behavior was validated in two stages using footage of babies between 25 and 37 weeks gestational age. The intraclass correlation coefficient of 65 evaluations allowed simplification of the tool down to 23 variables, prior to a final analysis of validity and reliability.For the 23 variables, the reliability between observers was low for 7 (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC]0.4), fair for 4 (ICC 0.4-0.5) and good for 12 (ICC0.5). The agreement between novice and expert observers ranged from 46.7% to 98.7%. Twenty variables had a level of agreement above 60%.This validation study of a newborn sensory-motor behavior assessment scale has identified pertinent variables for a structured assessment by healthcare providers.

Does normal aging inexorably lead to diminished motor learning abilities? This article provides an overview of the literature on the question, with particular emphasis on the functional dissociation between two sets of memory processes: declarative, effortful processes, and non-declarative, automatic processes. There is abundant evidence suggesting that aging does impair learning when past memories of former actions are required (episodic memory) and recollected through controlled processing (working memory). However, other studies have shown that aging does not impair learning when motor actions are performed non verbally and automatically (tapping procedural memory). These findings led us to hypothesize that one can minimize the impact of aging on the ability to learn new motor actions by favouring procedural learning. Recent data validating this hypothesis are presented. Our findings underline the importance of developing new motor learning strategies, which "bypass" declarative, effortful memory processes.

The decline of postural abilities with age leads to increased falls. In this study, we suggest that a disturbance in the perception of postural affordances, characterized by an overestimation of performance, could be a major risk of falls specifically in the elderly. In addition, we test the possible link between the overestimation of capabilities and postural balance as we know degraded in the elderly. A group of 10 young subjects (M = 24.2 years ± 2.04) and a group of 10 elderly subjects (M = 75.9 years ± 5.7) must evaluate, without action, the maximum height of an obstacle that they can stride over. Then their postural performances are measured. The results show that, contrary to young people who correctly evaluate their performance (difference of 1.75 cm between estimated performance and real performance), older participants overestimate their maximum height of crossing over (12.5 cm difference between performance and estimated real performance). Moreover, the overestimation of performance is associated with poor postural stability. The bias of overestimation may stem from a lack of updating of motor programs caused by a functional brain change with age and/or lack of exercise who reduces updating by trial and error.

International audience; The decline of postural abilities with age leads to increased falls. In this study, we suggest that a disturbance in the perception of postural affordances, characterized by an overestimation of performance, could be a major risk of falls specifically in the elderly. In addition, we test the possible link between the overestimation of capabilities and postural balance as we know degraded in the elderly. A group of 10 young subjects (M = 24.2 years ± 2.04) and a group of 10 elderly subjects (M = 75.9 years ± 5.7) must evaluate, without action, the maximum height of an obstacle that they can stride over. Then their postural performances are measured. The results show that, contrary to young people who correctly evaluate their performance (difference of 1.75 cm between estimated performance and real performance), older participants overestimate their maximum height of crossing over (12.5 cm difference between performance and estimated real performance). Moreover, the overestimation of performance is associated with poor postural stability. The bias of overestimation may stem from a lack of updating of motor programs caused by a functional brain change with age and/or lack of exercise who reduces updating by trial and error.; Le déclin des capacités posturales avec l’âge entraîne une augmentation des chutes. Dans cette étude, nous suggérons qu’un trouble dans la perception des affordances posturales, se caractérisant par une surestimation des performances, pourrait constituer un risque majeur de chute spécifique chez la personne âgée. De plus, nous testons le lien éventuel entre la surestimation des capacités et l’équilibre postural de base que nous savons dégradé chez les personnes âgées. Un groupe de 10 sujets jeunes (M = 24,2 ± 2,04 ans) et un groupe de 10 sujets âgés (M = 75,9 ± 5,7 ans) doivent évaluer, sans faire l’action, la hauteur maximale d’un obstacle qu’ils peuvent franchir par enjambement. Leurs performances posturales réelles sont dans un deuxième temps mesurées. Les résultats montrent que, contrairement aux personnes jeunes qui évaluent correctement leurs performances (différence de 1,75 cm entre performances estimées et performances réelles), les participants âgés surestiment la hauteur maximale de franchissement (différence de 12,5 cm entre performances estimées et performances réelles). Par ailleurs, la surestimation des performances est associée à une mauvaise stabilité posturale. Le biais de surestimation pourrait provenir d’un défaut d’actualisation des programmes moteurs causé par un déclin des fonctions cognitives et/ou par le manque d’exercice réduisant les mises à jour par essais/erreurs.

Given the significant health and socioeconomic consequences of falls, to develop and promote effective falls prevention strategies among older adults represents a major issue. Jaques-Dalcroze eurhythmics is a music education program through movement method developed in Geneva, Switzerland, in the early 20th century. This new exercise form, adapted for elderly people, features various multitask exercises performed to the rhythm of improvised piano music and mainly challenge gait and balance, but also memory, attention and coordination. We report here the results of a randomized controlled trial conducted in Geneva showing that Jaques-Dalcroze eurythmics practice can improve gait performance under single and dual-task conditions, and balance, as well as reduce both rate of falls and the risk of falling in at-risk elderly community-dwellers.

Neuroenhancement is an anglo-saxon concept concerning the use of stimulating psychotropic drugs by healthy subjects, outside any established medical indication or festive setting, to achieve an improvement of their mental functioning. In 2009, because of increasing requests for neuroenhancement in USA, the American Association of Neurology has published practical recommendations stating that "it is ethically permissible to prescribe medications for neuroenhancement" if a number of conditions is met. We present these ethical and psychopharmacological conditions ("the inverted U-Shape principle" in which cognitive performance is related to catecholamine levels and "the trade-off principle" to cognitive enhancement) through a clinical case of methylphenidate prescription in a healthy 24 years old medical student, preparing for the "examen classant national" (the French national ranking before postgraduate education). We then discuss anglo-saxon ethical context in which these recommendations have been proposed.

Among psychomotor disorders in children, developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is characterized by a motor skill impairment that interferes with psychomotor development, academic performance and activities of daily living, despite normal intelligence. The main behavioural phenomena (lack of postural control, coordination and motor learning) suggest involvement of cerebellum, basal ganglia and frontal and parietal lobes. Our studies on a synchronisation/syncopation task, with EEG recording (coherence analysis and evoked potential), show that DCD children (8 to 12 years old) exhibit major interindividual variability and do not improve performance with repetition. In younger DCD children, an increase of coherence between fronto-central regions was reported, and, for evoked potential, an increase of motor preparation component and a N100 latency longer than control children. These findings support the idea of a general synchronization disorder in DCD children and furnish elements allowing a better understanding of intra- and interindividual variability.

We have examined and diagnosed confabulation in a 20-year-old woman who had suffered severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) when she was 12. Spontaneous confabulations were associated with dysexecutive behavior involving perseveration and impulsiveness. The patient was amnesic during neuropsychological tests but did not present intrusion, confabulation or false recognition. She could evoke self-constitutive autobiographical events accurately and without fantasizing. The only difference between her false and true recollections is that the patient could never envision herself as an actor in a scene involving confabulation. She succeeded, albeit slowly, in carrying out the classic executive tests: Stroop, Trail Making A and B and Wisconsin Card Sorting (WCST). She showed particularly slow reaction time and was impulsive and hurried in her performance of the D2 attention test, the errands (Martin) test and the chocolate cake test. Her working memory was significantly impaired. A peculiar inability to inhibit the generation of fictional constructions may reflect a problem in control of short-term memory. Diagnosis of the confabulation phenomenon has had three clinical consequences: 1) information has been given to the patient, her family and other people close to her; 2) reeducation by means of voluntary memory control prior to speaking has been proposed; 3) reporting on the case has been improved.

Treatment of obstetrical brachial plexus palsy (OBPP) is always debated, especially for upper plexus palsy. Some authors perform early surgical treatment in case of absence of biceps contraction at the age of 3 months. Others prefer to wait until the age of 6 months before considering a surgical procedure when no suspicion of root avulsion is found. We think that a conservative approach with intensive rehabilitation program can obtain good functional outcome for patients who will recover biceps function spontaneously between 3 and 6 months, and that it is not necessary to perform surgery at 3 months. To argue our choice, we have compared the long-term outcome of two groups of children with upper OBPP conservatively treated regarding the age of biceps recovery (before or after 3 months).Twenty-two patients with non operated upper roots birth palsy, followed in Timone's Hospital of Marseille by a multidisciplinary team, have recovered a biceps contraction between 1 and 8 months and were retrospectively included in this study. All children underwent an intensive rehabilitation program since birth, performed by a specialized physiotherapist. Patients were reviewed, and their shoulder function was assessed using Mallet score. The score was analysed regarding the age of biceps recovery.The mean follow up was 8.2 years. Nine children recovered a biceps contraction at 3 months of age or before; the mean global Mallet score was 4.11. Thirteen children recovered a biceps contraction after 3 months of age (between 3 and 8 months); the mean global Mallet score was 3.92. The difference was not statistically significant.This study shows that global shoulder function is comparable for two groups. The children who did not recover a biceps contraction at 3 months of age had a global shoulder function as good as the one who recovered biceps function earlier. We think our intensive rehabilitation program allowed us to avoid a useless early surgery. Surgical plexus treatment was indicated for children who did not have biceps contraction after 6 months of age.

Visual field deficit (VFD) is one of the most commonly observed symptoms following brain injury. Persistent VFD and defective exploratory oculomotor scanning patterns often cause severe impairment in daily activities, particularly as regards visual exploration and reading. Homonymous hemianopia is consequently a powerful negative predictor of patient outcome. In spite of these quantitative and qualitative factors, there currently exists no consensus on rehabilitative therapy and treatment. Different approaches have nevertheless been developed, all of them having one therapeutic principle in common; repeated practice of a specific visual task, with the hope/expectation that improved performance will extend to a wide range of ecologically useful visual functions. The four main available methods aim at replacing part of the intact visual field with part of the damaged visual field (optical therapy using prisms), at partially restoring the lost visual field region (restorative therapies), at stimulating detection capacities in the blind field (stimulation or blindsight) or at substituting for the lost region by reorganizing the control of visual information processing and eye movements (compensatory therapies). This review explores the key data relative to these different approaches in terms of behavioral or imagery results. It also aims at critically analyzing the advantages and limits of each one. The importance of strict assessment in terms of deficiencies or disabilities is underlined. Finally, upon consideration of these data taken as a whole, it is suggested that efficient treatment would probably have to associate general components and more specific elements, according to what may be done with regard to other aspects of cognitive rehabilitation.

Given the significant health and socioeconomic consequences of falls, to develop and promote effective falls prevention strategies among older adults represents a major issue. Jaques-Dalcroze eurhythmics is a music education program through movement method developed in Geneva, Switzerland, in the early 20th century. This new exercise form, adapted for elderly people, features various multitask exercises performed to the rhythm of improvised piano music and mainly challenge gait and balance, but also memory, attention and coordination. We report here the results of a randomized controlled trial conducted in Geneva showing that Jaques-Dalcroze eurythmics practice can improve gait performance under single and dual-task conditions, and balance, as well as reduce both rate of falls and the risk of falling in at-risk elderly community-dwellers.

Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) is a clinical neurodegenerative syndrome associated with atrophy in parieto-occipital cortices, and characterized by prominent disorders of higher visual processing, affecting both dorsal and ventral streams.We used a questionnaire (Q-ACP) specifically designed to assess visual and praxis dysfunctions in PCA. The Q-ACP contains 32 items (combined in 12 domains) aimed at describing everyday deficiencies that patients or caregivers notice about visual and gestural domains. It was administered to 34 patients with PCA (MMSE = 20.0 ± 5.1) which were compared with 17 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) (MMSE = 23.4 ± 1.9) and 31 normal controls (MMSE = 28.9 ± 1.1).Q-ACP of PCA patients (18.4 ± 5.3) was significantly greater than those of AD patients (2.7 ± 2.0) or normal controls (0.97 ± 1.6), and revealed disproportionate deficits on questions of visuospatial ability. Q-ACP was comparable in right (18.5 ± 4.3) and left (18.2 ± 6.8) PCA patients (p = 0.88). There was a negative correlation between MMSE and Q-ACP in PCA patients (r = -0.36; p = 0.045), but not in AD patients (r = -0.21; p = 0.42). When only the 22 PCA patients with MMSE equal or greater than 20 were considered, their Q-ACP score (17.2 ± 5.3) remained significantly greater than those of AD patients and normal controls (p = 0.0001). Controls had difficulties for only 12 of the 32 questions, and AD patients for 20 questions, whereas each of the 32 questions could be abnormal in the PCA group. The less often reported difficulties by PCA patients were for more easily reading small than big letters (14.7 %) whereas the most frequently impaired questions were for spatial and apractic agraphia (88.2 % for each question). Of the 12 domains of Q-ACP, all were impaired in PCA patients, 11 in AD patients and seven in controls.Q-ACP is a useful tool for assessing visual and praxis everyday difficulties of patients with PCA. These difficulties are rarely observed in normal aged controls or patients with mild AD.

To analyse the interaction between visual restrictions and somatosensory disturbances on unipedal control equilibrium with or without classical dance training.The support (computerized force platform) was disturbed during roll and pitch sways in association with restriction of the left and right visual hemifields (selective nasal and temporal hemiretina goggles). The effect of training by comparing spontaneous dynamic equilibrium (spectral analysis of body sways) between 14 healthy female right-sided untrained and expert dancers was assessed. The foot of the supporting leg was placed on the unstable platform center in the same way for all the participants.In pitch sways, analysis of variance showed that, regardless of the supporting leg used, dancers oscillated significantly less than untrained participants (p0.01). Furthermore, all participants were significantly less stable in pitch sways if the left visual field was occluded (p0.001). However, in roll sways, equilibrium was disturbed by covering the eyes only in dancers (p0.001).When classical dancers' feet were in an unusual position during the experimental task (a somatosensory constraint for them but not for untrained participants), dancers shifted their spatial reference frame from somesthetic to visual cues. The elimination of this visual reference may have created imbalance, indicating that right hemispheric visual dominance is particularly useful for postural control in complex equilibrium conditions.

This exploratory study was carried out during a postlicense training program for senior drivers. The aim was to study driving-ability assessments made by 37 older drivers and by instructors, according to age (

Senegal initiated a program to improve the nutritional status of school-age children with the use of spirulina. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of spirulina on academic performance of school children in the municipality of Dakar, Senegal. The evaluation was conducted as a prospective study, comparing school performance of schoolchildren from public elementary schools located in three National Education Departments of Dakar (before supplements, during and after). The study population consisted of students from six schools randomly selected among the 100 who were in the program. We included all children with agreement of their parent or guardian, and those who rejected the spirulina were not included. Supplemental feeding with spirulina was given to young children during two months (from mid-April to mid June 2005). Over these 60 days, the students took a daily dose of 2 grams of spirulina mixed with 10g of honey to make the taste acceptable. The data on age, gender and monitoring of school performance (i.e. the average compositions of the second and third quarters) were collected. Mean differences in grades between second quarter and third quarter (after two months of supplementation) were analyzed and compared by the paired student test. The sample size was a total of 549 schoolchildren: 273 (49.72%) were girls, and 276 (50.28%) boys. The mean age was 91 months [90.29-91.71]. The average of 2rd quarter marks before supplementation was 5.17 out of 10 IC = [4.99-5.35] and the same for the 3rd quarter after two months of supplementation was 5.78 out of 10 IC = [5.59-5.97]. The mean difference between pupils' marks at the 3rd and the 2nd trimester was 0.59 (p-- 0.0001). After two months of supplemental feeding, the academic performance of the children was improved.

INTRODUCTION Velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS) is a neurogenetic disorder caused by a microdeletion on chromosome 22q11. Among other cognitive impairments and learning difficulties affected individuals show difficulties in estimating time intervals (Debbané et al. 2005). Interestingly neuroimaging studies have found an increased volume of the basal ganglia of people with VCFS (Eliez et al. 2002; Kates et al. 2004; Campbell et al. 2006). Given that the caudate nucleus represents a central component of the cerebral network underlying temporal perception skills the present report proposes to examine potential relationships between cerebral alteration to the caudate nucleus and time estimation in individuals with VCFS. METHODS A group of 30 patients with VCFS and 38 age matched healthy individuals participated in time perception and time reproduction tasks. In the time perception task individuals listened to two sequential stimuli and had to choose the longer of both stimuli by pressing a button. In the time reproduction task subjects listened to a succession of sounds and once this succession had stopped they had to reproduce the same rhythm with their dominant index. Cerebral MRI images were also obtained for each participant. A manual tracing procedure was performed to measure the basal ganglia volume. RESULTS Participants with VCFS demonstrated significantly poorer performances during the time perception and time reproduction tasks in comparison to the control participants. Further increased volume of the caudate nucleus was found in individuals with VCFS. Correlational analyses revealed a significant relationship between the caudate nucleus's volume and the performances obtained in the time perception task for control participants. This correlation was not found for individuals with VCFS. CONCLUSION The present results suggest that cerebral alterations to the caudate nucleus in VCFS may alter the temporal perception function it sustains.

Increased difficulty with inhibition responses has been reported in aging. We used a French adaptation of the Victoria Stroop Test to assess the evolution of inhibitory processes in 107 healthy participants aged from 50 year old to 95 year old. A mild influence of age was shown on the efficiency of the inhibitory processes, and an important heterogeneity of performances for participants over the age of 81. Decline of the inhibitory processes was observed mainly when the task required a strong inhibitory process, and when an analysis of the speed to perform each task and the produced errors was conjointly performed.

Multiple sclerosis is responsible for a functional handicap essentially associated with the onset and the deterioration of a motor deficit, which is nearly constant after a certain number of years of progression and has an effect upon the patient's walking capacity. In this article, we study this motor deficit in the first phase of the disease, its progression, and its role as a prognostic factor.

Cognitive impairment is common in multiple sclerosis (MS), occurring at all stages of the disease, even at the earliest, and can be a major source of disability, social impairment, and impoverished quality of life. Cognitive dysfunction is mainly focused on working memory, conceptual reasoning, verbal fluency, speed of information processing, attention and executive function. Measures of information-processing speed appear to be the most robust and sensitive markers of cognitive impairment in MS patients. Cognitive testing in MS patients is complex and cognitive screening tests are time- and cost-saving test instruments. A comprehensive and sensitive cognitive test procedure should be administered to detect cognitive dysfunction, and recent studies demonstrate that single, predominantly speed-related cognitive tests may be superior to extensive and time-consuming test batteries in screening cognitive decline. Additional clinical factors, including disease course, fatigue, and affective disturbance, can impact the degree of MS-related cognitive impairment. Despite weak correlation with disease duration and physical disability status, the degree of cognitive impairment in MS has been related to the extent of topographically specific neuronal tissue damage and loss. Numerous studies have applied conventional and quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to correlate the profile and degree of cognitive impairment with various MRI-detectable abnormalities. The burden of MRI-visible lesions does not fully account for the degree of MS-related cognitive impairment. Nonconventional MRI findings suggest the extent of subtle tissue damage in normal-appearing white and grey matter to correlate best with the severity of cognitive impairment in MS patients. Structural MRI approaches have recently been extended by functional MRI studies scrutinizing the brain's ability for adaptive functional reorganization in the presence of widespread tissue damage. Cognitive impairment in MS seems to be not simply the result of tissue destruction, but also a balance between tissue destruction, tissue repair, and adaptive functional reorganization. These findings highlight the need to screen for cognitive deficits in MS patients to conduct potential cognitive rehabilitation intervention.

In Huntington's disease (HD), perturbed locomotion occurs early in the course of the disease and presents numerous clinical features. The gait disorders in HD might best be defined as a timing disorder; however, hypokinesia (i.e. a decrease in stride length) also plays an important role in disturbed locomotion as HD progresses. Gait impairments are particularly important because they lead to an increased risk of falls. Falls risk factors and consequences depend on the stage of the disease. A satisfactory therapeutic strategy for gait impairments is a serious challenge: the use of a metronome during gait in HD patients does not effectively improve their gait. Attention deficits in HD may be a major determinant of this failure. The effect of antichoreic medications on gait is still controversial because of the absence of specific evaluation of these medications on gait disturbances.

During the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast every day from dawn to sunset. Several studies have shown that Ramadan fasting affects biochemical parameters, sleep/wake cycle, behaviour and food habits. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of Ramadan fasting (RF) and physical exercise on cognitive functions, blood glucose.Eleven healthy male volunteers aged 20.45+/-1.65 years were assessed before RF (B.RF), during the 1st week (wk), 3rd wk and 1 wk B.RF, in blood sugar, work memory (WM), visual perception (VP), before exercise (B. Ex) and after exercise (A. Ex) exercise of 1000 m.Compared to control days (B.RF), there were no significant changes in body mass index. Physical performance declined significantly during 1st wk (p0.001), 3th wk (p0.013) and before (p0.046) of RF. At the level of the glycemia, the results show a significant effect of Ramadan by increasing gradually during Ramadan but nevertheless, the values remain lower of 100mg/dl. No significant change was observed between B. Ex and A. Ex value in WM during RF. However, the WM A. Ex value increase significantly during and after RF (respectively 1st wk (p0.013), 3rd wk (p0.005) and before (p0.003). The VP was significantly affected by fasting effect (F=16.84, p0.001) and exercise effect (F=14.01, p0.0001), and was progressively increased 15.56% in the 1st wk, 25.69%, the 3rd wk during RF, and 27.07% A.RF, but no significant change was found in errors performances of VP during and after RF.These results showed that the intermittent fasting imply differently effects on cognitive functions and physiological.

the study was to describe the performance-enhancing behavior with licit or illicit substances in working environment, by distinguishing them from dependence behavior.in 2007, 663 workers without dependence at nicotine and alcohol was questioned by anonymous self-questionnaire during the periodic consultation of occupational medicine. Data collected concerned the consumption of substances for job in the last month, socio-professional characteristics, and the levels of stress and job satisfaction.at job, 39.2% of workers had a performance-enhancing behavior, including 24.9% with drugs, 10.3% with tobacco, 7.5% with alcohol, and 2.1% with cannabis. This behavior were more frequent for women and less than 30 years and were related to job constraints.taking drug, licit and illicit substances for the performance-enhancing behavior at work are frequent and cause consumption varied and repeated. One of the risks which could be a passage to the addictive behavior.

First-rank symptoms of schizophrenia have been related to an impaired sense of agency (the sense of causing and controlling an action). The sense of agency is considered as one of the two components of self-recognition, the other component being the sense of body (awareness of one's body). The present study aimed at evaluating whether first-rank symptoms can be considered as a general impairment in self-recognition that will also concern the sense of body. A group of schizophrenic patients with first-rank symptoms, a group of schizophrenic patients without first-rank symptoms and a group of normal subjects were compared in a self-recognition task where they first had to execute hand movements simultaneously with the experimenter and subsequently to indicate the position either of their own or the experimenter's hand. The visualized locations of the hands could rotate by 0 degrees , 90 degrees , -90 degrees or 180 degrees from their real locations. This rotation allowed us to induce a distorted sense of body since there was a visual discontinuity between the patient's hand and the rest of his/her body. If patients present a perturbed sense of body we would expect a greater impairment in discriminating between their own hand and the experimenter's hand as the rotation values increased. This preliminary study shows that patients with first-rank symptoms are more impaired than normal subjects in distinguishing between their own hands and the experimenter's hands when the visualization of the locations of their hands were rotated respective to their real locations. However, both group of patients performed equally, thus showing that sense of body impairment is not specific to first-rank symptoms. These symptoms, compared to other symptoms of schizophrenia do not reflect general self-recognition impairment but rather a specific impairment of the sense of agency.

This experiment examined whether newborn stepping, a primitive form of bipedal locomotion, could be modulated by optical flow. Forty-eight 3-day-old infants were exposed to optical flows that were projected onto a horizontal surface above which the infants were suspended. Significantly more air steps were elicited by exposure to a terrestrial optical flow specifying forward translation than by a rotating optical flow or a static optical pattern. Thus, a rudimentary coupling between optical flow and stepping is present at birth, suggesting a precocious capacity in the newborn to perceive and utilize visual information specifying self-motion. The findings may help the early diagnosis of infants with visual or visual-motor deficits and the development of visually based interventions for disabled infants.

International audience; INTRODUCTION: Pure progressive amnesia, a form of progressive focal cortical atrophy is thought to represent the early stages of a rare form of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This syndrome is characterized by the insidious and slowly progressive breakdown of memory, in the absence of a significant impairment in other cognitive domains or in the realm of behavior. The aims of the present study were to contribute to the characterization of this poorly documented type of amnesia, to compare it with other forms of amnestic syndromes resulting from lesions to the medial temporal lobes and to discuss its potential pathophysiological basis. PATIENTS AND METHOD: We carried out three single case studies in patients presenting with pure progressive amnesia. They all underwent a neuropsychological evaluation that included an extensive assessment of spatial and recognition memory, along with brain magnetic resonance imaging and a cerebral blood flow study. RESULTS: All three patients had a severe deficit in the storage of context-free information, along with a severe visual recognition memory impairment, as previously reported in a case study on a patient with pure progressive amnesia (Cognitive Neuropsychology 23 (2006) 1230-1247). Yet, spatial memory remained well preserved, and patients maintained totally independent in everyday life. In addition, a significant atrophy of the medial temporal structures was found. DISCUSSION: This specific pattern of impairment differs from other types of amnestic syndromes after medial temporal damage and raises the question of lesional topography, as well as possible compensatory phenomena. We suggest that pure progressive amnesia results from selective damage to the ventral subhippocampal route into the hippocampal formation leading to impaired context-free memory. Spatial memory may remain intact because the dorsal parahippocampal route into the hippocampus remains functional. Pure progressive amnesia may contribute to a better understanding of the neural systems involved in declarative memory and provide a better understanding into the nature of the memory impairment that characterizes the initial stages of AD.

The Motor Function Measure (MFM) is widely used to assess severity and progression of neuromuscular diseases. Validity was established in a group of patients aged 6-60 years with suspected or confirmed diagnosis of neuromuscular diseases, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy being the most frequent diagnosis in the population tested.Our aim was to check the validity of the MFM in a hospital department specialized in neuromuscular diseases in the follow-up of adult out-patients presenting a myopathy, such population being very different from the MFM validation group in terms of age and sub-groups of myopathy.One hundred patients were randomly selected in the Reference Center for Neuromuscular Diseases of Nice (France) between 2005 and 2007. Were collected: the MFM score, manual muscular testing (MMT) of lower and upper limb, face and spine, Brooke and Vignos scores. MFM and its three dimensions D1 (standing position and transfers), D2 (axial and proximal limb motor function) and D3 (distal motor function) were compared to the other scores with the Spearman Correlation Coefficient and the Principal Component Analysis.Patients were aged 18-78 years. The most frequent diagnoses were Steinert's Muscular Dystrophy (DM1) and Facio-ScapuloHumeral Dystrophy (FSHD) (30% and 29%). MFM was significantly correlated to all other scores except for Face MMT. However, Face MMT was correlated to D1 and D2 in DM1 patients and to D2 in FSHD patients.Our results confirm the validity of the MFM in adult patients with muscular diseases. However, the MFM global score and its three dimensions D1, D2 and D3 are variously correlated with the facial and axial muscle testing. Therefore, we recommend using separately the three dimensions D1, D2, D3 (rather than the global score) and, if more accuracy is required, the facial and axial muscle testing.