Taylor, John-Paul; Firbank, Michael; Barnett, Nicola; Pearce, Sarah; Livingstone, Anthea; Mosimann, Urs; Eyre, Janet; McKeith, Ian G; O’Brien, John T (2011). Visual hallucinations in dementia with Lewy bodies: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study. British journal of psychiatry, 199(6), pp. 492-500. London: Royal College of Psychiatrists 10.1192/bjp.bp.110.090373
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BJP-2011-Taylor-492-500.pdf - Published Version Available under License Publisher holds Copyright. This paper accords with the Wellcome Trust Open Access policy and is governed by the licence available at http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/pdf/Wellcome%20Trust%20licence.pdf Download (373kB) | Preview |
BACKGROUND:
The aetiology of visual hallucinations is poorly understood in dementia with Lewy bodies. Pathological alterations in visual cortical excitability may be one contributory mechanism.
AIMS:
To determine visual cortical excitability in people with dementia with Lewy bodies compared with aged-matched controls and also the relationship between visual cortical excitability and visual hallucinations in dementia with Lewy bodies.
METHOD:
Visual cortical excitability was determined by using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) applied to the occiput to elicit phosphenes (transient subjective visual responses) in 21 patients with dementia with Lewy bodies and 19 age-matched controls.
RESULTS:
Phosphene parameters were similar between both groups. However, in the patients with dementia with Lewy bodies, TMS measures of visual cortical excitability correlated strongly with the severity of visual hallucinations (P = 0.005). Six patients with dementia with Lewy bodies experienced visual hallucination-like phosphenes (for example, seeing people or figures on stimulation) compared with none of the controls (P = 0.02).
CONCLUSIONS:
Increased visual cortical excitability in dementia with Lewy bodies does not appear to explain visual hallucinations but it may be a marker for their severity.
Item Type: |
Journal Article (Original Article) |
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Division/Institute: |
04 Faculty of Medicine > University Psychiatric Services > University Hospital of Geriatric Psychiatry and Psychotherapy |
UniBE Contributor: |
Mosimann, Urs Peter |
ISSN: |
0007-1250 |
Publisher: |
Royal College of Psychiatrists |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Factscience Import |
Date Deposited: |
04 Oct 2013 14:18 |
Last Modified: |
05 Dec 2022 14:05 |
Publisher DOI: |
10.1192/bjp.bp.110.090373 |
PubMed ID: |
22016436 |
Web of Science ID: |
000298440500013 |
BORIS DOI: |
10.7892/boris.5745 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/5745 (FactScience: 210556) |
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