Speech therapy reorganizes the brains of patients with persistent developmental stuttering, according to a study published in the August 14 Neurology. Researchers examined resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) and cortical thickness before and after therapy in 15 patients with stuttering who received the intervention, 13 patients with stuttering who did not receive the intervention, and 13 fluent controls. Before the therapeutic intervention, both groups of patients who stuttered had significant reductions in RSFC in the left pars opercularis as well as RSFC increases in the cerebellum. After the intervention, patients who stuttered showed decreases in stuttering and displayed RSFC levels in the cerebellum that matched those of fluent controls, though there was no change in the RSFC levels or cortical thickness of the left pars opercularis. This research suggests that the left pars opercularis and the cerebellum may play a role in stuttering, the study authors said.
Daily caffeine use provides only borderline improvement in excessive sleepiness in patients with Parkinson’s disease, but it does show benefits for motor function, researchers reported in the August 14 Neurology. In this six-week, randomized controlled clinical trial, 31 patients received placebo and 61 patients received 100 mg of caffeine supplements twice a day for three weeks, followed by 200 mg of caffeine supplements twice a day for three weeks. Analysis showed that caffeine led to a nonsignificant reduction in Epworth Sleepiness Scale score on the primary intention-to-treat analysis and a significant reduction in the Epworth Sleepiness Scale score on per-protocol analysis. In addition, use of caffeine reduced the total Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale score as well as the objective motor component. “These potential benefits suggest that a larger, long-term trial of caffeine is warranted,” the researchers concluded.
Black survivors of intracerebral hemorrhage are more likely than whites to have high blood pressure a year after stroke, which puts them at higher risk of another stroke, researchers reported in the August 16 online Stroke. The study included 162 patients (mean age, 59) with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage—77% of patients were black and 53% were male. At presentation, the mean arterial blood pressure in blacks was 9.6 mm Hg higher than in whites, even after adjusting for confounders. Furthermore, blacks were more likely than whites to have stage I/II hypertension one year following stroke, though there was no difference between blacks and whites at 30 days. Fewer than 20% of the overall patient group had normal blood pressure at 30 days or one year, leading researchers to conclude that “long-term blood pressure control is inadequate in patients after intracerebral hemorrhage, particularly in blacks.”
—Lauren LeBano