Resumo Relatamos o caso de um homem de 87 anos com tricotilomania associada com uma demência vascular da substância branca (doença de Binswanger). Tricotilomania no nosso caso não se resolveu com mirtazapina nem com medicação anticolinesterásica. Tricotilomania parece se relacionar a uma forma de perseveração associada à demência. Podemos sugerir com este caso que a alteração que envolve a substância branca na patogênese da tricotilomania pode ser uma falha na conectividade no circuito fronto-subcortical direito.

Abstract We report an 87-year-old male case of hair pulling associated with a white-matter vascular dementia (Binswanger's disease). Trichotillomania in our case did not resolve using mirtazapine or anticholinesterasic medication. Trichotillomania seems to be related to a form of perseveration associated with dementia. The findings in this case suggest the abnormality involving white matter in the pathogenesis of trichotillomania, may constitute a defect in connectivity in the right frontal-subcortical circuit.

Resumo O localizacionismo estrito teve e ainda tem a sua importância para o desenvolvimento da Neurociência, uma vez que a análise de mudanças nos processos mentais resultantes de danos cerebrais se tornou a base para a compreensão da organização cerebral. O córtex parietal humano é uma estrutura altamente diferenciada, composta por subáreas histologicamente definidas que estão ligadas a outras áreas corticais e subcorticais. Pacientes com lesões no córtex parietal desenvolvem vários tipos de manifestações neuropsicológicas, dependendo do local específico da lesão e do hemisfério correspondente, mas estas lesões não causam perturbações modais específicas. O estabelecimento de homologias entre a região parietal em seres humanos e os primatas podem ser de grande contribuição na tentativa de desvendar as diversas funções e complexidade desta área.

Abstract This strict localizationism had and still has its importance for the development of Neurosciences, since the analysis of changes in mental processes resulting from brain damage became the basis for understanding the brain organization. The human parietal cortex is a highly differentiated structure, consisting of citoarchitectonically defined subareas that are connected to other cortical and subcortical areas. Patients with lesions in the parietal cortex develop various types of neuropsychological manifestations, depending on the specific location of the lesion and the corresponding hemisphere and these lesions in this lobe do not cause modal specific disturbances. The establishment of homologies between the parietal region in humans and primates can be of great contribution in trying to unravel the various functions and complexity of this area.

The verification of the acute effects of ethanol on the midbrain, which neurons are mainly formed in E14, will ratify if the acute effects of ethanol are associated, in terms of prevalence, to the date of birth of neurons in certain regions of the brain. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of acute exposure to ethanol on the neuronal density of the midbrain and to associate these results with acute effects of ethanol in other regions of the brain under the same conditions. The rats were treated with intraperitoneal ethanol during one day (E12) and 1h after the last ethanol injection was applied to BrdU. The animals were sacrificed; the brains were removed and sectioned. The sections were treated with DAB for the BrdU revelation, the slides were stained with safranin for one group and another group was stained with H & E. The effects of acute injection of ethanol in E12 on the midbrain were not detected in this study. Data from literature suggest that the deleterious action of acute ethanol consumption only occur if the drug is injected at times near the beginning of the migration of neurons in that particular region of the brain.

La verificación de los efectos agudos del etanol sobre el mesencéfalo, cuyas neuronas se forman principalmente en la E14, puede ratificar si los efectos agudos del etanol están asociados, en términos de prevalencia, a la fecha de nacimiento de neuronas en ciertas regiones del cerebro. El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar los efectos de la exposición aguda al etanol sobre la densidad neuronal del mesencéfalo y asociar estos resultados con los efectos agudos de etanol en otras regiones del cerebro bajo las mismas condiciones. Las ratas fueron tratadas con etanol intraperitoneal durante un día (E12) y 1h después de la última inyección de etanol fue aplicado BrdU. Los animales fueron sacrificados, los cerebros fueron removidos y seccionados. Las secciones fueron tratados con DAB para la revelación de BrdU, las secciones fueron teñidas con safranina para un grupo y otro grupo se tiñeron con H&E. Los efectos agudos de la inyección de etanol en E12 sobre el mesencéfalo no fueron detectados en este estudio. Los datos de la literatura sugieren que los efectos deletéreos del consumo agudo de etanol sólo se producen si la droga se inyecta en etapas cercanas al comienzo de la migración de las neuronas en esa región particular del cerebro.