-
The Journals of Gerontology. Series B,... Aug 2023Motor imagery has been used to investigate the cognitive mechanism of motor control. Although behavioral and electrophysiological changes in motor imagery in people with...
OBJECTIVES
Motor imagery has been used to investigate the cognitive mechanism of motor control. Although behavioral and electrophysiological changes in motor imagery in people with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) have been reported, deficits in different types of imagery remain unclear. To explore this question, we used electroencephalography (EEG) to study neural correlates of visual imagery (VI) and kinesthetic imagery (KI) and their relationship to cognitive function in people with aMCI.
METHODS
A hand laterality judgment task was used to induce implicit motor imagery in 29 people with aMCI and 40 healthy controls during EEG recording. Mass univariate and multivariate EEG analysis was applied to explore group differences in a data-driven manner.
RESULTS
Modulation of stimuli orientation to event-related potential (ERP) amplitudes differed significantly between groups at 2 clusters located in the posterior-parietal and frontal areas. Multivariate decoding revealed sufficient representation of VI-related orientation features in both groups. Relative to healthy controls, the aMCI group lacked accurate representation of KI-related biomechanical features, suggesting deficits in automatic activation of KI strategy. Electrophysiological correlates were associated with episodic memory, visuospatial function, and executive function. Higher decoding accuracy of biomechanical features predicted better executive function via longer response time in the imagery task in the aMCI group.
DISCUSSION
These findings reveal electrophysiological correlates related to motor imagery deficits in aMCI, including local ERP amplitudes and large-scale activity patterns. Alterations in EEG activity are related to cognitive function in multiple domains, including episodic memory, suggesting the potential of these EEG indices as biomarkers of cognitive impairment.
Topics: Humans; Electroencephalography; Cognitive Dysfunction; Cognition; Executive Function; Evoked Potentials; Neuropsychological Tests
PubMed: 37216647
DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbad076 -
European Journal of Cardiovascular... Jun 2024Brain fog and fatigue are common issues after acute coronary syndrome. However, little is known about the nature and impact of these experiences in spontaneous coronary...
AIMS
Brain fog and fatigue are common issues after acute coronary syndrome. However, little is known about the nature and impact of these experiences in spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) survivors. The aims of this study were to understand the experiences of brain fog and the coping strategies used after SCAD.
METHODS AND RESULTS
Participants were recruited from the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute Genetics Study database and were considered eligible if their event occurred within 12-months. Seven semi-structured online focus groups were conducted between December to January 2021-2022, with this study reporting findings related to brain fog and fatigue. Interviews were transcribed and thematically analysed using an iterative approach. Participants (N=30) were a mean age of 52.2 ((9.5) and mostly female (n=27, 90%). The overarching theme of brain fog after SCAD included four main themes: how brain fog is experienced, perceived causes, impacts, and how people cope. Experiences included memory lapses, difficulty concentrating and impaired judgement, and perceived causes included medication, fatigue and tiredness, and menopause and hormonal changes. Impacts of brain fog included rumination, changes in self-perception, disruption to hobbies/pastimes, and limitations at work. Coping mechanisms included setting reminders and expectations, being one's own advocate, lifestyle and self-determined medication adjustments, and support from peers.
CONCLUSION
Brain fog is experienced by SCAD survivors and the impacts are varied and numerous, including capacity to work. SCAD survivors reported difficulty understanding causes and found their own path to coping. Recommendations for clinicians are provided.
PubMed: 38916979
DOI: 10.1093/eurjcn/zvae097 -
PloS One 2023Cancer is a global major public health problem since it is a leading cause of death, accounting for nearly 10 million deaths in 2020 worldwide and the most recent...
Cancer is a global major public health problem since it is a leading cause of death, accounting for nearly 10 million deaths in 2020 worldwide and the most recent epidemiological data suggested that its global impact is growing significantly. In this context, cancer survivors have to live for a long time often in a condition of disability due to the long-term consequences, both physical and psychological. These difficulties can seriously impair their working ability, limiting the employability. In this context, the occupational physician plays a key role in the implementation and enforcement of measures to support the workers affected by cancer, to address issues such as the information on health promotion, the analysis of work capacity and the management of disability at work and also promoting a timely and effective return to work and preserving their employability. Therefore, the aim of this study was to gather useful information to support the occupational physicians in the management of workers affected by cancer, through a survey on 157 Italian occupational physicians. Based on the interviewees' opinions, the most useful occupational safety and health professionals in terms of job retention and preservation of workers affected by cancer are the employers and the occupational physicians themselves, whose role is crucial in identifying and applying the most effective reasonable accommodations that should be provided to the workers affected by cancer. The provision of these accommodations take place on the occasion of mandatory health surveillance medical examination to which the worker affected by cancer is subjected when he returns to work. Results on training and information needs showed that the management of the workers affected by cancer is essentially centered on an appropriate fitness for work judgment and on the correct performance of health surveillance. However, an effective and successful management model should be based on a multidisciplinary and integrated approach that, from the earliest stages of the disease, involves the occupational physicians and employers.
Topics: Male; Humans; Workplace; Occupational Health; Neoplasms; Health Personnel; Physicians
PubMed: 37498964
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288739 -
Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical... Aug 2023Novelty detection is critical to the effective employment of memory-guided behavior. While recent work has found impaired novelty detection in subclinical paranoia,...
Novelty detection is critical to the effective employment of memory-guided behavior. While recent work has found impaired novelty detection in subclinical paranoia, other studies show different patterns. Here, we tested the hypothesis that those higher in paranoia receive less benefit from novelty in their immediate environment when making subsequent mnemonic judgments. Using a continuous recognition task (comprising Old, New, and Similar items) in a sample drawn from an online marketplace ( = 450), we found that Similar trial performance was generally enhanced by preceding judgments of "New" versus "Old"-replicating prior work. However, paranoia was associated with a of this novelty-based enhancement-a novel finding. Those experiencing paranoia may thus less readily use novelty to adjudicate between the competing mnemonic processes of encoding and retrieval. We interpret this finding in light of the role of novelty detection in maintaining adaptive predictive models, suggesting that this deficit may reduce coherence between one's active predictive model and one's environment, thereby contributing to perceptions of the world as unduly uncertain and threatening. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
Topics: Humans; Judgment; Paranoid Disorders; Memory; Recognition, Psychology
PubMed: 37307314
DOI: 10.1037/abn0000829 -
Early Human Development Jun 2024The study aims to compare neurological soft signs and executive functions between Toxocara-seropositive and seronegative groups in children with...
BACKGROUND
The study aims to compare neurological soft signs and executive functions between Toxocara-seropositive and seronegative groups in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
METHODS
The study included 60 boys with ADHD, aged 7-12. After blood samples were taken, the Stroop Color Word Test and Judgment of Line Orientation test (JLOT) were implemented to measure executive functions. Neurological soft signs were evaluated with Physical and Neurological Examination for Subtle Signs (PANESS).
RESULTS
Serological tests were positive for Toxocara antibodies in 20 cases. There was no significant difference between Toxocara seropositive and seronegative regarding age, socioeconomic status, developmental stages, and ADHD severity. However, Toxocara-seropositive children had higher Stroop time and Stroop interference scores and lower JLOT scores than Toxocara-seronegative children. Furthermore, Toxocara-seropositive children exhibited more neurological soft signs, such as gait and station abnormalities, dysrhythmia, and a longer total time in timed movements compared to Toxocara-seronegative children.
CONCLUSION
Our study indicates a link between Toxocara-seropositivity and impaired neurological soft signs and executive functions in ADHD. Further research is needed to understand ADHD mechanisms, develop practical treatments considering immunological factors, and thoroughly evaluate how Toxocara seropositivity affects executive functions and motor skills in children with ADHD.
Topics: Humans; Child; Male; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity; Toxocara; Motor Skills; Executive Function; Animals; Toxocariasis; Attention
PubMed: 38663140
DOI: 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2024.106017 -
Epilepsia Nov 2023Although interoceptive abnormality in patients with functional seizure (FSs) has been demonstrated using explicit tasks, implicit measurements of interoception such as...
OBJECTIVE
Although interoceptive abnormality in patients with functional seizure (FSs) has been demonstrated using explicit tasks, implicit measurements of interoception such as the effect of interoception on perceptual brain processes have not been investigated. It has been shown that perception is normally modulated by interoceptive signals related to the different phases (systole vs diastole) of the cardiac cycle (cardiac modulation effect). Given our previous findings using explicit measures of interoception, we hypothesized that cardiac modulation would be impaired in FSs.
METHODS
Thirty-two patients with FSs and 30 age- and sex-matched non-clinical individuals conducted a face intensity judgment task, in which their intensity rating when fearful or neutral faces was presented was compared between systolic and diastolic phases. They also conducted the heartbeat discrimination task as a measure of their capacity to integrate both interoceptive and exteroceptive information.
RESULTS
Patients with FSs had impaired cardiac modulation of the perception of neutral faces (corrected p = .044). Individual differences in the heartbeat discrimination task predicted the degree to which cardiac modulation occurred across the whole group (p = .028). This cardiac modulation effect was significantly associated with seizure severity (p = .021). Regardless of cardiac phase, patients rated fearful facial expressions as less intense compared to control participants (p = .006).
SIGNIFICANCE
These findings highlight impaired implicit cardiac modulation effects in patients with FSs. This reflects interoceptive dysfunction in patients with FSs, and an inability of the brain to integrate interoceptive signaling with perceptual processing. This may have implications for our understanding of the pathophysiology in FSs and inform novel diagnostic approaches.
Topics: Humans; Judgment; Brain; Seizures; Heart; Interoception; Heart Rate
PubMed: 37611952
DOI: 10.1111/epi.17761 -
Frontiers in Neurology 2023This study compares the balance control and cognitive responses of subjects with bilateral vestibulopathy (BVP) to those of astronauts immediately after they return from...
INTRODUCTION
This study compares the balance control and cognitive responses of subjects with bilateral vestibulopathy (BVP) to those of astronauts immediately after they return from long-duration spaceflight on board the International Space Station.
METHODS
Twenty-eight astronauts and thirty subjects with BVP performed five tests using the same procedures: sit-to-stand, walk-and-turn, tandem walk, duration judgment, and reaction time.
RESULTS
Compared to the astronauts' preflight responses, the BVP subjects' responses were impaired in all five tests. However, the BVP subjects' performance during the walk-and-turn and the tandem walk tests were comparable to the astronauts' performance on the day they returned from space. Moreover, the BVP subjects' time perception and reaction time were comparable to those of the astronauts during spaceflight. The BVP subjects performed the sit-to-stand test at a level that fell between the astronauts' performance on the day of landing and 1 day later.
DISCUSSION
These results indicate that the alterations in dynamic balance control, time perception, and reaction time that astronauts experience after spaceflight are likely driven by central vestibular adaptations. Vestibular and somatosensory training in orbit and vestibular rehabilitation after spaceflight could be effective countermeasures for mitigating these post-flight performance decrements.
PubMed: 37965165
DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1284029 -
Journal of Pediatric Urology Dec 2023There is an ongoing controversy regarding management of ureteropelvic junction obstruction in infants, with a shift towards a non-operative approach. However, precise... (Observational Study)
Observational Study
Determination of tissue tracer transit of Technetium-99m-mercaptoacetyltriglycine diuretic renography in infants with suspected ureteropelvic junction obstruction - A multicenter prospective observational study.
INTRODUCTION
There is an ongoing controversy regarding management of ureteropelvic junction obstruction in infants, with a shift towards a non-operative approach. However, precise predictors of outcome are lacking. Recent studies postulated a high prognostic value of Technetium-99m-mercaptoacetyltriglycine tissue tracer transit with regard to the development of an impaired differential renal function and its potential improvement following pyeloplasty.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the prognostic value of Technetium-99m-mercaptoacetyltriglycine tissue tracer transit for the occurrence of changes in differential renal function in infants with suspected unilateral ureteropelvic junction obstruction in a prospective observational multicenter study.
STUDY DESIGN
Infants below 3 months of age with a unilateral isolated hydronephrosis ≥ grade 3 received ultrasound and Technetium-99m-mercaptoacetyltriglycine diuretic renography at two different time points (timepoint 1 and timepoint 2). Data were analyzed at local centers and at the study center and were collected in an internet-based database system. Tissue tracer transit was determined for each diuretic renography, inter-observer variation for tissue tracer transit and standard parameters for judgement of differential renal function development were assessed.
RESULTS
Thirty-seven patients were analyzed. Median age was 11 weeks (7-15) at timepoint 1 and 26 weeks (19-33) at timepoint 2. A delayed tissue tracer transit at timepoint 1 was not associated with deterioration of differential renal function at timepoint 2 in both, locally (10/37 cases) and centrally (4/37) analyzed cases. However, sensitivity and specificity were poor. The intraclass correlation coefficient comparing local and central findings of tissue tracer transit and renal drainage demonstrated poor or fair agreement. Analysis of standard parameters for differential renal function development revealed a prognostic value only for the dichotomized anteroposterior renal pelvic diameter (APD, p = 0.03, 95%-CI 1.2-22.2).
DISCUSSION
Regarding the primary endpoint of our study, we could not confirm the hypothesis that delayed tissue tracer transit reliably predicts a subsequent decline in differential renal function in the cohort of patients studied. Whether the low age of the patients, technical problems in the correct assessment of tissue tracer transit by the investigator in early infancy, the study design, or the parameter itself played a role is debated.
CONCLUSION
In the presented setting tissue tracer transit was not useful as a predictive parameter for deterioration of differential renal function in infants with suspected unilateral ureteropelvic junction obstruction. Sensitivity and specificity of tissue tracer transit were not sufficient for risk stratification. Improved utility of tissue tracer transit as a marker might be achieved using a different study setting.
Topics: Humans; Infant; Diuretics; Hydronephrosis; Kidney; Kidney Pelvis; Radioisotope Renography; Technetium Tc 99m Mertiatide; Ureteral Obstruction; Prospective Studies
PubMed: 37718234
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpurol.2023.08.029 -
PsyCh Journal Aug 2023The anterior insula (AI) has the central role in coordinating attention and integrating information from multiple sensory modalities. AI dysfunction may contribute to...
The anterior insula (AI) has the central role in coordinating attention and integrating information from multiple sensory modalities. AI dysfunction may contribute to both sensory and social impairments in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Little is known regarding the brain mechanisms that guide multisensory integration, and how such neural activity might be affected by autistic-like symptoms in the general population. In this study, 72 healthy young adults performed an audiovisual speech synchrony judgment (SJ) task during fMRI scanning. We aimed to investigate the SJ-related brain activations and connectivity, with a focus on the AI. Compared with synchronous speech, asynchrony perception triggered stronger activations in the bilateral AI, and other frontal-cingulate-parietal regions. In contrast, synchronous perception resulted in greater involvement of the primary auditory and visual areas, indicating multisensory validation and fusion. Moreover, the AI demonstrated a stronger connection with the anterior cingulate gyrus (ACC) in the audiovisual asynchronous (vs. synchronous) condition. To facilitate asynchrony detection, the AI may integrate auditory and visual speech stimuli, and generate a control signal to the ACC that further supports conflict-resolving and response selection. Correlation analysis, however, suggested that audiovisual synchrony perception and its related AI activation and connectivity did not significantly vary with different levels of autistic traits. These findings provide novel evidence for the neural mechanisms underlying multisensory temporal processing in healthy people. Future research should examine whether such findings would be extended to ASD patients.
Topics: Young Adult; Humans; Auditory Perception; Autistic Disorder; Visual Perception; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Speech; Acoustic Stimulation; Photic Stimulation
PubMed: 36517928
DOI: 10.1002/pchj.624 -
Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) Jul 2023Chronic kidney disease (CKD) refers to impairment of the kidneys that may worsen over time. Early detection of CKD is crucial for saving millions of lives. As a result,...
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) refers to impairment of the kidneys that may worsen over time. Early detection of CKD is crucial for saving millions of lives. As a result, several studies are currently focused on developing computer-aided systems to detect CKD in its early stages. Manual screening is time-consuming and subject to personal judgment. Therefore, methods based on machine learning (ML) and automatic feature selection are used to support graders. The goal of feature selection is to identify the most relevant and informative subset of features in a given dataset. This approach helps mitigate the curse of dimensionality, reduce dimensionality, and enhance model performance. The use of natural-inspired optimization algorithms has been widely adopted to develop appropriate representations of complex problems by conducting a blackbox optimization process without explicitly formulating mathematical formulations. Recently, snake optimization algorithms have been developed to identify optimal or near-optimal solutions to difficult problems by mimicking the behavior of snakes during hunting. The objective of this paper is to develop a novel snake-optimized framework named CKD-SO for CKD data analysis. To select and classify the most suitable medical data, five machine learning algorithms are deployed, along with the snake optimization (SO) algorithm, to create an extremely accurate prediction of kidney and liver disease. The end result is a model that can detect CKD with 99.7% accuracy. These results contribute to our understanding of the medical data preparation pipeline. Furthermore, implementing this method will enable health systems to achieve effective CKD prevention by providing early interventions that reduce the high burden of CKD-related diseases and mortality.
PubMed: 37568865
DOI: 10.3390/diagnostics13152501