[A growing body of evidence suggests that sleep plays an essential role in the consolidation of different memory systems, but less is known about the beneficial effect of sleep on relational memory processes and the recognition of emotional facial expressions, however, it is a fundamental cognitive skill in human everyday life. Thus, the study aims to investigate the effect of timing of learning and the role of sleep in relational memory processes. 84 young adults (average age: 22.36 (SD: 3.22), 21 male/63 female) participated in our study, divided into two groups: evening group and morning group indicating the time of learning. We used the face-name task to measure relational memory and facial expression recognition. There were two sessions for both groups: the immediate testing phase and the delayed retesting phase, separated by 24 hours. 84 young adults (average age: 22.36 (SD: 3.22), 21 male/63 female) participated in our study, divided into two groups: evening group and morning group indicating the time of learning. We used the face-name task to measure relational memory and facial expression recognition. There were two sessions for both groups: the immediate testing phase and the delayed retesting phase, separated by 24 hours. Our results suggest that the timing of learning and sleep plays an important role in the stabilizing process of memory representation to resist against forgetting.]

[A case of a 61-year-old male patient suffered chronic renal failure and dialysed for 23 years with destructive cervical spondylarthropathy is presented. The patient presented with sudden onset of cervical pain radiating into his shoulders without neurological deficits. CT and MRI of the cervical and thoracic spine revealed severe destructive changes and compressive fractures of C6 and C7 vertebrae which caused the narrowing of the nerve root canals at these levels. A 360-degree fixation was performed to treat the unstable fracture and the patient’s pain (C6 and C7 corpectomy, autolog bone graft replacement of the two vertebral bodies, anterior plate fixation and posterior instrumentation with screws and rods). Postoperatively the patient had no significant pain, no neurological deficit and he was able to manage independent life himself. During the immediate follow-up CT of the neck showed the satisfactory position of the bone graft and the metal implantations. The 6 months follow-up CT revealed the anterior migration of the two screws from the Th1 vertebral body and 2 mm ventral elevation of the caudal end of the plate from the anterior surface of the Th1 vertebral body. The 1-year follow-up could not be performed because the patient died due to cardio-pulmonary insufficiency. This is the second Hungarian report of a chronic dialysis related severe spondylarthropathy which may cause pathologic fractures of the vertebral bodies. The typical radiological and histological findings are discussed. This disease affect patients’ quality of life and the conservative treatment alone seems to be ineffective in most cases. Based on the literature and personal experiences, the authors suggest 360-degree fixation of the spine to provide sufficient stability for the vertebrae of ”bad bone quality”, and early mobilisation of the patient can be achieved.]

One of the major philosophical aspirations in contemporary consciousness research is to find a framework of explanation that could successfully address the problem of mind-body relations. Descartes is often regarded as the father of dualism in modern philosophy of mind. Phenomenology and embodiment may dissolve the problem of dualism in the waters of the experiential features of the life-world and the subject. Recent findings in psychoneuroimmunology have shown that somato-psychic mechanisms exist through which bodily stimuli are translated into neuropsychological events resulting in alterations in certain behavioral patterns. These may as well include changes in the qualitative features of the lived body (Leib) resulting in an overall change in the subjective experience. The application of modern embodiment theories in life sciences has the potential to create a novel, fruitful and heuristic approach, which may help us unveil features of the “mind-body phenomenon” that have been hidden so far. In this paper, I will try to briefly outline a possible analytical framework on the grounds of classic - Husserlian and Merleau-Pontian - phenomenology and biomedical sciences.

To investigate the quality of sleep and the presence of Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) in the Turkish population with β-thalassemia major (TM). The second aim was to assess the risk factors of RLS in TM adults. The study sample comprised of 121 patients at least 18 years old with TM. The patients’ socio-demographic information, body mass indexes (BMI), current medications, laboratory data were recorded. The patients were asked if they had a history of chronic kidney disease, diabetes mellitus (DM), and polyneuropathy. Restless legs syndrome was diagnosed according to the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group criteria. The sleep quality of the patients was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scale. The Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) was used to assess excessive daytime sleepiness in the patients. The median age of the patients was 25 years (range 18-52). The mean BMI was 21.49±2.5 (R 14-26.5) for all patients. The prevalence of RLS was 5% in TM adult patients. The TM patients with RLS had no major complications of TM. The median PSQI global score of all patients was 3. Twenty-two (18.1%) patients had poor sleep quality. The reason for poor sleep quality was RLS symptoms in four patients (18%). There was no significant association between PSQI total score and blood parameters of the patients. Twelve (9.9%) patients had ESS scores greater than 10, which indicates excessive daytime sleepiness. The prevalence of RLS in TM patients was similar to that of the general Turkish adult population. These results indicate that RLS may occur in patients with TM, although they had a high level of serum ferritin.

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF-1; also known as Von Recklinghausen’s disease) is a common autosomal dominant disease that occurs in the general population at the rate of 1 in 3000. Many NF-1 patients present with spinal malformations. A 54-year-old female patient was admitted to the Outpatient Clinic of Dermatology with gradually increasing swelling and spots on the body that had been present for a long period of time. Cervical vertebral scalloping, pedicle deficiencies and dural ectasia (DE) were also detected. She was diagnosed with NF-1. NF-1 is routinely seen in dermatology practice. Coexistence of NF-1 with vertebral scalloping, pedicle deficiencies and DE rarely occurs. Our case is the second reported instance in the literature of NF-1 with a spinal anomaly in the cervical region, and the first reported instance of the coexistence of NF-1 with cervical vertebral scalloping, pedicle deficiencies and DE.