Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis : From Diagnosis to Treatment

This book focuses on two aspects of neuroimaging related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis that have greatly evolved in the last decades: the development of optical tools in the biology field and advances in the field of magnetic resonance imaging. Therapeutic writing and expressive disclosure interventions have been demonstrated to facilitate the emotional processing of thoughts and feelings about the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis experience, with relevant implications for illness adjustment. Based on these premises, the authors explore the linguistic patterns in the cognitive-affective processing of illness experience in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Following this, the authors discuss recent studies that offer a new perspective on sensory networks in motor neuron diseases to understand the true extent and patophysiology of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and suggest new potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of this tragic disease. The closing study focuses on the respiratory involvement of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which is the principal cause of death. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is characterized by respiratory failure consequent to respiratory muscles dysfunction, as well as bulbar muscles which support the upper airways, developing in dyspnoea and impaired sleep.