One of the hazards of advancing age is the temptation to repeat old stories, but the worst that can happen is to forget.

“Happy moments come and go, our friends die, everything is in the end destroyed, but this could be endured if only a purer and sharper reflection were kept. If there is anything that we save and hoard up it is our memories. All the substance of our life is in them.” (Brennan, 1975).

Neurological complications of brucellosis have seldom been reported. Typical cases of meningoencephalitis, myelitis, and peripheral nerve involvement due to brucellosis, which have been collected over the past ten years, are described. Only four cases of extradural brucellar abcesses have been published previously. We now add four new observations. A CSF electrophoresis was done in the cases of meningoencephalitis and meningomyelitis and showed a marked increased of gamma globulin. This has never been reported previously.

Using theANOPS-101 minicomputer, an automatic analysis of muscle action potentials (MAP) was performed on a total of 53 extensor digitorum brevis (EDB) and abductor pollicis brevis (APB) muscles in patients with other evidence of denervation. The results were compared with observations made on 27 control subjects and they were also matched against estimates of functioning motor units made by the incremental stimulating technique of McComas et al (1971). Although the incidence of abnormal MAP parameters was relatively low in both muscles, it was possible to improve the diagnostic yield by combining the results for individual muscles. The relative merits and disadvantages of motor unit counting and automatic MAP analysis are discussed.

Valproic acid is a new antiepileptic drug recently introduced in the United States for the treatment of absence seizures. In this study on patients with absence and other seizure types, the majority of patients achieved optimal control within four weeks of therapy. No patient responded to valproic acid who did not show an initial clinical response by four weeks of active therapy. Optimal response was generally achieved when plasma levels were greater than 55 μg/ml. Excellent clinical response was observed in the treatment of absence and myoclonic seizures. Twenty-two patients continued in a long term study have maintained the same degree of seizure control as observed at the time of optimal control.

The aim of this study was to compare the b- and d- waves of the ERG, evoked respectively by ON and OFF stimuli. The experiements were carried out on frogs. The d-wave is facilitated by light adaptation and relatively high stimulus intensity. The depth profiles of b- and dwaves are different. Aspartic acid abolished only the b-wave whereas nembutal affected the d-wave. These results suggested that b- and d-waves were produced by separate neuronal mechanisms, even though both appeared as positive deflection in the corneal ERG and were sensitive to K+ ion.

We have studied the brain regional distribution of methyl mercury following intravenous administration of CH3203HgCl in rat. Early peak levels were obtained in cerebellum, medulla oblongata and midbrain. The efficacy of removal of 203Hg by different chelators is also region dependent. The most efficient chelator for brain mercury proved to be mesodimercaptosuccinic acid.

Stereotyped behavior was inclined in rats with ouabain administered intraventricularly in doses of 2, 3 and 4 μg in 50 μl saline. Haloperiodol reduced the stereotyped behaviour. Monoamine turnover studies showed a reduction in concentration of norepinephrine in hippocampus and midbrain, an increase in norepinephrine turnover in the medulla oblongata and a reduction in dopamine turnover in the striatum. The interpretation of these finds is discussed. It is suggested that this model could be significant clinically as it demonstrates that impairment of Na+-K+-ATP'ase may result in behavioral abnormalities characterised by stereotypy.

Ouabain, an inhibitor of Na+-K+-ATP'ase, has been administered intraventricularly to rats to study the effect of impairment of membrane transport mechanisms on the genesis of seizures. Running and leaping seizures occur rapidly after injection oj ouabain in a low volume (10μl) when the maximal uptake of ouabain (39.8%) is in the hippocampus. Generalized clonic-lonic seizures are induced by higher volume injections (50μl) associated with wider distribution of ouabain, including the cerebellum and brainstem.

Ouabain was injected into cerebral cortex, caudate nucleus, dorsal hippocampus, fastigeal nucleus, ventrolateral mesencephalic reticular formation and cerebellar cortex. The cerebellar injections produced both running and leaping and generalized clonic-lonic seizures. It is suggested that this results from decreased inhibitory effect of vermal and paravermal Purkinje cells on intra-cerebellar nuclei, which alters cerebellar influence on the reticular formation and the limbic system.

Diphenylhydantoin, phenobarbitone, phenacemide, carbamezepine and clonazepam but not ethosuximide are effective against generalized clonic-lonic seizures, suggesting that this is a model for “grand mat” but not “petit mal” seizure mechanisms. It is furthermore suggested that running and leaping are subcortical, probably limbic, seizures that are most relevant as a model for temporal lobe seizures.

Studies were made of visually and nonrvisitally guided movements by patients with Parkinson's disease. The subjects moved a light, horizontal handle using rotation primarily about the elbow. During visually guided trials both handle and target positions were displayed to the subject; during non-visually guided trials only the handle position was displayed. During non-visually guided trials all patients showed a tendency for an overall flexion drift, although there was no change in average movement amplitude. The overall error in position by the end of the non-visually guided trials was greatly in excess of the reported values for passive displacement thresholds in normal subjects. It is suggested that the data indicate an increased dependence on visual information for control of motor activity in Parkinson's patients.

The morphological, chemical, and physiological changes in the brain accompanying old age are reviewed. The deterioration of the striatal and hypothalamic dopaminergic systems were implicated in the onset of age related Parkinsonian-like slowing of performance and altered affect. Cholinergic hippocampal and neocortical systems were chemically and physiologically abnormal in the aged. The implications for slowed cognitive processing and persistance of the memory trace are presented.

Herpes simplex virus in the trigeminal ganglia of humans was studied in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of A merica, and in Kyoto, Japan. The prevalence of recurrent herpes labialis and of clinically latent herpes simplex virus within trigeminal ganglia was determined in inhabitants of the two cities. In addition, a comparison was made of the prevalence of mononuclear cell infiltration in the trigeminal ganglia of Americans and Japanese. Recurrent herpes labialis was found to be significantly less common in the Japanese city than in the American city. Herpes simplex virus was rescued less commonly from the trigeminal ganglia of cadavers in Japan than in America. The difference was significant. The frequency of mononuclear cell infiltration in the trigeminal ganglia of Americans and Japanese is not significantly different. These observations, as well as previously reported serological studies, suggest that despite the ubiquitous nature of herpes simplex virus in A merica and Japan, the Japanese have less clinically overt desease caused by this virus.

Pseudotumor cerebri is a clinical syndrome in which signs and, sometimes, symptoms of raised intracranial pressure are present hut in which mental and neurological function are unaffected. Therefore, the diagnosis is reached after mass and other structural causes of raised pressure have been excluded.

Many causes of pseudotumour have been suggested, not all of them well documented. Pathogenesis, however, includes cerebral edema, increased cerebral blood volume, and decreased cerebro spinal fluid (CSF) absorption.

Except for the risk of vision in a minority of cases, the prognosis is excellent.

The phosphorylation of spectrin, hand 3 protein, and the phospholipids of erythrocyte membranes (ghosts) was examined in 10 patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and in healthy age- and sex-matched controls. The rales of phosphorylation of spectrin and band 3 protein were significantly higher in ghosts prepared from patient blood than from control blood at both 30° C and 37° C. However, the mean increases in the rate of phosphorylation of both spectrin and band 3 protein in response to a temperature change from 30° C to 37° C were identical in gliosis from patient and controls. Phosphorylation of phospholipid and its temperature response did not differ between patients and controls. These results complement previous observations of differences in erythrocytes from patients with DMD. The similarity of the changes in phosphorylation of both spectrin and band 3 protein indicates a common cause, possibly their lipid environment.

Tissue response to platinum electrodes was assessed after an eight-day implantation period. The regions of study included the cortical areas at the opercular gyri and at the sulcus parielo-occipitalis externus, as well as the sub-cortical white matter in these areas.

Perivascular and intraparenchymal hemorrhagic lesions as well as edematous changes characterized both by extensive intra and extracellular swelling were noted. Numerous phagocytic elements and degenerative structures were present at the electrode I parenchymal interface.

Tissue alterations were asymmetrical as observed both around and at the lip of the implanted electrode. The parenchymal alterations extended from 0.2mm to 3.5mm distance from the electrode path/ parenchymal interface.

Greater tissue involvement was found in the subcortical white matter as compared to the adjacent cortical gray matter.

A case of a primary intracranial embryonal carcinoma, the first with ultrastructural study, is reported. The tumor was associated with precocious puberty in a 6½-year-old female. Characteristic embryoid bodies were present. At the ultrastructural level three cell types were noted: undifferentiated, differentiated, and intermediate types. The undifferentiated showed scanty cytoplasmic organelles and numerous free polysomes, while the differentiated cells contained well-developed mitochondria, Golgi apparatus, rough endoplasmic reticulum, and some contained secretory granules. The intermediate cells possessed dilated and irregularly-shaped mitochondria but still retained large numbers of free polysomes. The authors suggest that intracranial germ cell tumors be named in conformity with germ cell tumors in other sites, and that terms such as “ectopic pinealoma” and “atypical teratoma of the pineal” be used no longer.