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Epileptic Disorders : International... Jul 2023Musicogenic epilepsy (ME), a peculiar form of reflex epilepsy, represents a neurological rarity and yet another demonstration of the extraordinary power of music on the...
Musicogenic epilepsy (ME), a peculiar form of reflex epilepsy, represents a neurological rarity and yet another demonstration of the extraordinary power of music on the human brain. Despite the heterogeneity of the reported musical triggers, the patients' emotional response to music is thought to play a crucial role in provoking seizures. Accordingly, the mesial temporal structures (especially of the non-dominant hemisphere) appear most involved in seizure generation, although a more complex fronto-temporal epileptogenic network was documented in some cases. Autoimmune encephalitis has been recently included among the many possible etiologies of ME thanks to few reports of music-induced seizures in patients with anti-glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 antibodies. Here we describe the case of a 25-year-old man, with long-term music education, who suffered from drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy following seronegative limbic encephalitis related to non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Along with spontaneous events, the patient also developed musicogenic seizures later in the disease course. After detecting five music-induced episodes via 24-h ambulatory EEG, we performed a prolonged video-EEG monitoring during which the patient presented a right temporal seizure (characterized by déjà-vu, piloerection and gustatory hallucinations) while listening to a hard-rock song (never heard before) through headphones. This observation allowed us to confirm the provoking effect of music on our patient's seizures, despite the lack of any emotional drive, which suggests that a "cognitive" trigger was more likely in this case. Our report further highlights that autoimmune encephalitis should be investigated as a novel potential cause of musicogenic epilepsy, regardless of autoantibody status.
PubMed: 37430419
DOI: 10.1002/epd2.20111 -
IEEE Transactions on Haptics 2024In this project, we create artificial piloerection using contactless electrostatics to induce tactile sensations in a contactless way. Firstly, we design various...
In this project, we create artificial piloerection using contactless electrostatics to induce tactile sensations in a contactless way. Firstly, we design various high-voltage generators and evaluate them in terms of their static charge, safety and frequency response with different electrodes as well as grounding strategies. Secondly, a psychophysics user study revealed which parts of the upper body are more sensitive to electrostatic piloerection and what adjectives are associated with them. Finally, we combine an electrostatic generator to produce artificial piloerection on the nape with a head-mounted display, this device provides an augmented virtual experience related to fear. We hope that work encourages designers to explore contactless piloerection for enhancing experiences such as music, short movies, video games, or exhibitions.
Topics: Humans; Touch Perception; Static Electricity; Equipment Design; Adult; Male; Female; Young Adult; Touch; Psychophysics; User-Computer Interface
PubMed: 37097797
DOI: 10.1109/TOH.2023.3269885 -
CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics Sep 2023Ictal piloerection (IP) is an uncommon symptom in focal epilepsy and is associated with autoimmune encephalitis (AE). However, the networks involved in AE-associated IP...
OBJECTIVES
Ictal piloerection (IP) is an uncommon symptom in focal epilepsy and is associated with autoimmune encephalitis (AE). However, the networks involved in AE-associated IP are still unclear. To have a better understanding of IP underlying mechanisms, the current study investigated whole-brain metabolic networks for the analysis of AE-associated IP.
METHODS
Patients with AE and IP diagnosed at our Institute between 2018 and 2022 were selected. We then investigated the brain regions associated with AE-associated IP using positron emission tomography (PET). Anatomometabolic changes (interictal F fluorodeoxyglucose PET) in AE patients with IP were compared with those of AE patients of similar age without IP (p-voxel <0.001, uncorrected).
RESULTS
Sixteen patients showed significant IP. The overall IP prevalence was 4.09% of patients with AE and 12.9% of patients with limbic encephalitis. The most common autoantibodies were against LGI1 (68.8%) followed by GAD65 (6.3%), NMDA (6.3%), GABAb (6.3%), CASPR2 (6.3%), and antibodies recognizing both GAD65 and mGLUR5 (6.3%). Most patients responded well to immunotherapy. Analysis of the imaging results at the voxel level showed that patients with IP had hypermetabolic changes in the right inferior temporal gyrus, suggesting involvement of this brain region in IP.
CONCLUSIONS
Our findings indicate that IP as an uncommon AE-associated manifestations should be recognized. We observed that the metabolic pattern of IP was conspicuous in the right inferior temporal gyrus.
Topics: Humans; Seizures; Encephalitis; Autoantibodies; Autoimmune Diseases of the Nervous System
PubMed: 36971194
DOI: 10.1111/cns.14192