Encephalitis that primarily involves limbic system structures such as the hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus has been described in early papers, most commonly characterized by a subacute progressive impairment of short-term memory, psychiatric features and seizures. While these findings might be caused by viral infections or systemic autoimmune disorders, many patients with limbic encephalitis have an immune-mediated etiology (paraneoplastic or not) characterized with serum or CSF antineuronal antibodies. This case reports about non-paraneoplastic autoantibody-negative limbic encephalitis in which there are no detection of antigens and no evidence of tumors.
Antibodies ; Encephalitis ; Hippocampus ; Humans ; Limbic Encephalitis* ; Limbic System ; Memory* ; Memory, Short-Term ; Parahippocampal Gyrus ; Seizures

To investigate the functions of the amygdala in limbic system, changes in heart rate and body temperature resulting from electrical destructions of amygdala centralis and piriform cortex were observed in a total of 40 rats varying in weight from 180 to 250g with the use of stereotaxic apparatus(Reyniers and Sons). The results were as follows; 1) Bilateral destructions of amygdala centralis revealed a tendency to increased heart rate and decreased rectal temperature. 2) Bilateral destructions of piriform cortex revealed no changes in heart rate and rectal temperature. Therefore, it is assumed that cardiovascular and temperature responses are not significantly resulted from the electrical destructions of amygdala centralis and piriform cortex.
Amygdala ; Animals ; Body Temperature ; Heart Rate ; Limbic System ; Rats

According to the Jastreboff's neurophysiological model of tinnitus, if negative associations are attached to the tinnitus signal, tinnitus is perceived to be a threat or a danger and it activates the autonomic nervous and limbic systems. Consequently patient's awareness of tinnitus is heightened and so patient perceives it to be louder and more persistent. Jastreboff and Hazell started tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT) based on the neurophysiological model of tinnitus. The purpose of TRT is blocking tinnitus from activating the sympathetic nervous and limbic systems (habituation of reaction) and from reaching the cerebral cortex (habituation of perception). TRT is composed of two components directive counseling that tries to reclassify tinnitus into the meaningless stimuli and sound therapy that decreases the relative strength of the tinnitus signal. Physicians try to put patient's tinnitus into the territory of meaningless stimuli through retraining the brain (habituation of reaction). Because the brain habituates all unimportant stimuli, if habituation of reaction is fully achieved, habituation of perception will follow automatically. In most clinical results, clinical success rates of TRT approach or exceed 80% improvement. Early improvement can be achieved during the first few months, followed by additional progressive improvement. It should be recommended that the patient continue treatment at least 18 months.
Brain ; Cerebral Cortex ; Directive Counseling ; Humans ; Limbic System ; Tinnitus*

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effects of (-)-3-PPP(0.5, 2, and 10mg/kg, s.c.) and haloperidol(0.1, 0.5, and 2mg/kg, s.c.) on the extracellular dopamine concentrations, and the effect of pretreatment with (-)-3-PPP(2mg/kg) on the haloperidol(2mg/kg)-induced extracellular dopamine concentrations in the nucleus accumbens(NAS) of free moving rats. METHODS: Dopamine levels in dialysate were determined with high pressure liquid chromatography(HPLC) with electrochemical detection(ECD). RESULTS: (1) (-)-3-PPP had dual actions depending on the doses : at 2mg/kg, it decreased and at 10mg/kg, increased extracellular dopamine concentrations ; (2) haloperidol at all doses increased dopamine levels with higher dose having a greater icrease ; and (3) pretreatment of (-)-3-PPP reduced the increase in dopamine levels elicited by acute treatment with haloperidol. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that pretreatment of (-)-3-PPP in low dose could accelerate the onset of therapeutic effect of haloperidol by diminishing the haloperidol-induced dopamine release in the limbic system.
Animals ; Dopamine* ; Haloperidol ; Limbic System ; Nucleus Accumbens* ; Rats*

Autoimmune encephalitis is a group of disorders that predominantly affects the limbic system, with or without an associated neoplasm. Recently GABAB receptor antibody has been identified in a subset of encephalitides. We report a case of anti-GABAB receptor antibody encephalitis in a 64-year-old woman, who presented with transient, recurrent abnormal behavior and complex partial seizures. She had a history of breast cancer, which was in complete remission and her workup, including blood, imaging and routine cerebrospinal fluid studies was unremarkable. Indirect immunofluorescence assays with patient's serum revealed the presence of autoantibodies against GABAB receptor. She showed significant improvement after initiating immunotherapy. This case illustrates the importance of autoantibody testing in the diagnosis of encephalitis.
Autoantibodies ; Brain Diseases ; Breast Neoplasms ; Encephalitis ; Female ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect ; Hashimoto Disease ; Humans ; Immunotherapy ; Limbic Encephalitis ; Limbic System ; Seizures

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate abnormal findings of social brain network in Korean children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared with typically developing children (TDC). METHODS: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed to examine brain activations during the processing of emotional faces (happy, fearful, and neutral) in 17 children with ASD, 24 TDC. RESULTS: When emotional face stimuli were given to children with ASD, various areas of the social brain relevant to social cognition showed reduced activation. Specifically, ASD children exhibited less activation in the right amygdala (AMY), right superior temporal sulcus (STS) and right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) than TDC group when fearful faces were shown. Activation of left insular cortex and right IFG in response to happy faces was less in the ASD group. Similar findings were also found in left superior insular gyrus and right insula in case of neutral stimulation. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that children with ASD have different processing of social and emotional experience at the neural level. In other words, the deficit of social cognition in ASD could be explained by the deterioration of the capacity for visual analysis of emotional faces, the subsequent inner imitation through mirror neuron system (MNS), and the ability to transmit it to the limbic system and to process the transmitted emotion.
Amygdala ; Brain* ; Autism Spectrum Disorder* ; Child* ; Cognition ; Humans ; Limbic System ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Mirror Neurons

OBJECTIVE: The gyrus rectus (GR) is known as a non-functional gyrus; hence, its resection is agreed to be a safe procedure frequently practiced to achieve a better surgical view during specific surgeries. This study aimed at comparing the cognitive outcomes following GR resection in patients who underwent surgery for ruptured anterior communicating artery (ACoA) aneurysms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From 2012 to 2015, 39 patients underwent surgical clipping for ruptured ACoA aneurysms. Mini-mental state examinations (MMSE) were performed in 2 different periods. The statistical relationship between GR resection and MMSE results was evaluated, and further analysis of MMSE subgroup was performed. RESULTS: Twenty-five out of the 39 patients (64.19%) underwent GR resection. Mean initial and final MMSE scores in the GR resection group were 16.3 ± 9.8 and 20.8 ± 7.3, respectively. In the non-resection group, the mean initial and final MMSE scores were 17.1 ± 8.6 and 21.9 ± 4.5, respectively. Neither group's scores showed a significant change. Subgroup analysis of initial MMSE showed a significant difference in memory recall and language (p = 0.02) but not in the final MMSE scores. CONCLUSION: There was no significant relationship between the GR resection and cognitive outcomes in terms of total MMSE scores after surgery for ruptured ACoA aneurysm. However, subgroup analysis revealed a temporary negative effect of GR resection in the categories of language and memory recall. This study suggests that GR resection should be executed superficially, owing to its close anatomical relationship with the limbic system.
Aneurysm ; Arteries ; Cognition Disorders* ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm* ; Limbic System ; Memory ; Prefrontal Cortex* ; Surgical Instruments

The seeds of addiction are typically sown years prior to the onset of addictive substance use or engagement in addictive behaviors, due to the priming of the reward pathway (RewP) by alterations in the mechanism of stress-signaling from the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) and related pathways. Excessive stress from a single-event and/or cumulative life experiences during childhood, such as those documented in the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study, is translated into neurobiological toxicity that alters the set-point of the HPA axis and limbic system homeostasis [suggested new term: regulation pathway (RegP)]. The resultant alteration of the RegP not only increases the risk for psychiatric and physical illness, but also that for early onset and chronic addictions by dysregulating the RewP. This paper reviews the interface of these symbiotic pathways that result in the phenotypic pathology of emotional dysregulation, cognitive impairment, and compulsive behaviors, as well as morbidity and shorter life expectancy when dysregulated by chronic stress.
Behavior, Addictive ; Cognition Disorders ; Compulsive Behavior ; Homeostasis ; Life Change Events ; Life Expectancy ; Limbic System ; Pathology ; Reward

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The association between the low emotional regulation and the brain structural change of major depressive disorder (MDD) has been proposed, but the voxel-based morphometry (VBM) studies on female MDD are rare. The purpose of the present study was to show the regional volume changes of gray matter (GM) in female patients with MDD by optimized VBM. METHODS: To control subjects homogeneity, twenty female MDD patients and age, sex matched 21 normal controls were included for the VBM analysis. To identify the change of regional gray matter volume (GMV), the optimized VBM was performed with T1 MRIs. The amounts of gray/white matter and intracranial cavity volumes (ICV) were measured. The analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and partial correlation analyses covariate with age and ICV were applied for VBM. RESULTS: The age and ICV distributions were similar between the two groups. In the ANCOVA, the total GMV of MDD was smaller than that of normal controls. In the VBM, regional GMV was relatively decreased in the limbic system (amygdalae, ambient gyri, hippocampi heads, subiculum, posterior parahippocampal gyri, pulvinar nuclei, dorsal posterior cingulate gyri, and left pregenual cingulate gyrus). The lingual gyri, short insular gyri, right fusiform gyrus, and right inferior frontal gyrus were also showed decreased regional GMV. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that the female MDD is mainly associated with the structural deficits of the limbic system and limbic system related cortices, which were known to the center of emotions.
Brain ; Depressive Disorder, Major* ; Female ; Head ; Hippocampus ; Humans ; Limbic System ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Pulvinar

Based on the limitation of biomedical model of tinnitus, more attention has been paid to personalities or psychological aspects. Depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, and sleep disturbance were comorbid illnesses of tinnitus and research showed that neurobiological mechanisms such as dysfunction of limbic system or HPA axis were common in tinnitus and affective disorders and that comorbid psychiatric disorders enhanced the negative outcome of tinnitus. Recently, more attention is being paid to the relation of tinnitus with personality and the role of stress. Although the causal relation of personality and tinnitus is unclear, stress in itself showed that it can be a trigger in the development of tinnitus, and stress of tinnitus can cause adverse effects. Since the effect of fear-related cognition such as catastrophic thought about tinnitus was revealed more recently, its therapeutic implication should be explored. This review will describe the product of previous research and discuss future direction about psychological factors related to tinnitus.
Anxiety Disorders ; Cognition ; Depressive Disorder ; Limbic System ; Mood Disorders ; Psychology* ; Tinnitus*