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Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) Jan 2024Post-thyroidectomy syndrome (PTS), characterized by voice issues after thyroidectomy without recurrent laryngeal nerve injury, was investigated in this study. The Voice...
Post-thyroidectomy syndrome (PTS), characterized by voice issues after thyroidectomy without recurrent laryngeal nerve injury, was investigated in this study. The Voice Fatigue Index (VFI) and cepstral analysis were employed for subjective and objective voice evaluation. Retrospective analysis involved 96 patients (37 males, 59 females) who underwent thyroidectomy without nerve injury from April 2018 to June 2022. Assessments pre- and post-thyroidectomy included the Voice Handicap Index (VHI) and VFI, along with auditory perceptual, acoustic (including cepstral), aerodynamic, and glottal vibration analyses. In females, although the GRBAS scale showed no significant change, both VHI and VFI increased post-thyroidectomy. Significant correlations were observed between the VHI and VFI in females. Acoustic analysis indicated a decrease in the cepstral peak prominence (CPP) of vowels (/a/) and sentences in females, with significant correlations between changes in the CPP/a/ and VHI/VFI. The maximum fundamental frequency (Fmax) exhibited a significant decrease, correlating with the VHI and VFI changes. The VFI demonstrated effectiveness in subjective PTS voice evaluation, comparable to the VHI. The present study highlights the potential of cepstral analysis as an index reflecting subjective voice discomfort, suggesting its promise for a comprehensive PTS voice evaluation.
PubMed: 38201420
DOI: 10.3390/diagnostics14010111 -
Journal of the History of the... 2024In 1908-1909, Norwegian artist Edvard Munch (1863-1944), best remembered for (1893), spent eight months under Daniel Jacobson's care in a private nerve clinic in...
In 1908-1909, Norwegian artist Edvard Munch (1863-1944), best remembered for (1893), spent eight months under Daniel Jacobson's care in a private nerve clinic in Copenhagen. Munch was suffering from alcohol abuse, and his signs and symptoms included auditory hallucinations, persecutory delusions, paresthesias, paralyses, violent mood swings, depression, loss of control, fatigue, and the loss of his basic ability to take care of himself. He was treated with rest, a fortifying diet, massages, baths, fresh air, limited exercise, and nonconvulsive electrotherapy. After he had settled in, Jacobson allowed Munch to draw, paint, and engage in photography. Munch responded with a portrait of Jacobson and a small but intriguing sketch of himself at one of his electrotherapy sessions. In this article, we examine the circumstances that brought Munch to Jacobson's clinic and his therapies, with particular attention to electrotherapies. In so doing, we hope to provide a more complete picture of Munch's crisis in 1908, his nerve doctor, the rationales for medical electricity and other treatments he endured, and Scandinavian psychiatry at this moment in time.
Topics: History, 20th Century; Humans; History, 19th Century; Electric Stimulation Therapy; Famous Persons; Denmark; Male; Alcoholism; Norway
PubMed: 38198672
DOI: 10.1080/0964704X.2023.2295201 -
Journal of Pathology Informatics Dec 2024Laboratory testing can provide information useful to promote patient health literacy and ultimately patient well-being. The human state of mind involves not only... (Review)
Review
Laboratory testing can provide information useful to promote patient health literacy and ultimately patient well-being. The human state of mind involves not only cognition but also emotion and motivation factors when receiving, processing, and acting upon information. The cognitive load for patients acquiring and processing new information is high. Modes of distribution can affect both attention to and receipt of information. Implicit unconscious biases can affect whom and what patients believe. Positive wording and framing of information with salience for patients can evoke positive emotions. Providing patients with the gist, or essential meaning, of information can positively influence decision-making. What laboratorians provide as information helps to combat mis- and disinformation. Laboratorians can actively participate in measures to improve the patient experience in health care by developing and contributing to high-quality information to enable timely, meaningful communication and interpretation of test results.
PubMed: 38075016
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpi.2023.100349 -
Scientific Reports Dec 2023Optimizing the training regimen depending on neuromuscular fatigue is crucial for the well-being of professionals intensively practicing motor skills, such as athletes...
Optimizing the training regimen depending on neuromuscular fatigue is crucial for the well-being of professionals intensively practicing motor skills, such as athletes and musicians, as persistent fatigue can hinder learning and cause neuromuscular injuries. However, accurate assessment of fatigue is challenging because of the dissociation between subjective perception and its impact on motor and cognitive performance. To address this issue, we investigated the interplay between fatigue and learning development in 28 pianists during three hours of auditory-motor training, dividing them into two groups subjected to different resting conditions. Changes in behavior and muscle activity during training were measured to identify potential indicators capable of detecting fatigue before subjective awareness. Our results indicate that motor learning and fatigue development are independent of resting frequency and timing. Learning indices, such as reduction in force and timing errors throughout training, did not differ between the groups. No discernible distinctions emerged in fatigue-related behavioral and physiological indicators between the groups. Regression analysis revealed that several fatigue-related indicators, such as tapping speed variability and electromyogram amplitude per unit force, could explain the learning of timing and force control. Our findings suggest the absence of a universal resting schedule for optimizing auditory-motor learning.
Topics: Humans; Learning; Motor Skills; Electromyography; Music; Regression Analysis
PubMed: 38062126
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-49226-7 -
Indian Journal of Occupational and... 2023The present study aimed to explore auditory deficits in full-time call center workers. A total of sixty participants participated, which was divided into two groups,...
The present study aimed to explore auditory deficits in full-time call center workers. A total of sixty participants participated, which was divided into two groups, viz. experimental group and control group. The complete audiological test battery was performed. On comparing the groups, significant differences were obtained for both ears while analyzing the TEOAEs, PTA1, and PTA2 (high-frequency audiometry). From the results, it can be delineated that BPO employees are at risk for sensorineural hearing loss following continuous noise exposure. We conclude that this type of hearing loss may be considered an iceberg, and to overcome all the issues related to noise exposure, all BPO employees should undergo periodic audiological, psychological, and health screening.
PubMed: 38047166
DOI: 10.4103/ijoem.ijoem_149_22 -
Archives of Environmental &... 2023A participatory-based intervention was performed in Sweden, aimed at improving the sound environment in one preschool ( = 20) and one obstetric ward ( = 50),...
Occupational noise exposure, noise annoyance, hearing-related symptoms, and emotional exhaustion - a participatory-based intervention study in preschool and obstetrics care.
A participatory-based intervention was performed in Sweden, aimed at improving the sound environment in one preschool ( = 20) and one obstetric ward ( = 50), with two controls each ( = 28, = 66). Measured sound levels, and surveys of noise annoyance, hearing-related symptoms and emotional exhaustion were collected before, and three and nine months after the interventions, comparing intervention and control groups over time. The results of this first implementation in a limited number of workplaces showed significantly worsening of hyperacusis, sound-induced auditory fatigue, emotional exhaustion and increased sound levels in the preschool, and worsening of noise annoyance in both intervention groups. Increased risk awareness, limited implementation support and lack of psychosocial interventions may explain the worsening in outcomes, as might the worse baseline in the intervention groups. The complexity of the demands in human-service workplaces calls for further intervention studies.
Topics: Child, Preschool; Humans; Noise, Occupational; Emotional Exhaustion; Hearing; Sound; Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced; Occupational Exposure
PubMed: 38018749
DOI: 10.1080/19338244.2023.2283010 -
BioRxiv : the Preprint Server For... Nov 2023We often exert greater cognitive resources (i.e., listening effort) to understand speech under challenging acoustic conditions. This mechanism can be overwhelmed in...
UNLABELLED
We often exert greater cognitive resources (i.e., listening effort) to understand speech under challenging acoustic conditions. This mechanism can be overwhelmed in those with hearing loss, resulting in cognitive fatigue in adults, and potentially impeding language acquisition in children. However, the neural mechanisms that support listening effort are uncertain. Evidence from human studies suggest that the cingulate cortex is engaged under difficult listening conditions, and may exert top-down modulation of the auditory cortex (AC). Here, we asked whether the gerbil cingulate cortex (Cg) sends anatomical projections to the AC that facilitate perceptual performance. To model challenging listening conditions, we used a sound discrimination task in which stimulus parameters were presented in either 'Easy' or 'Hard' blocks (i.e., long or short stimulus duration, respectively). Gerbils achieved statistically identical psychometric performance in Easy and Hard blocks. Anatomical tracing experiments revealed a strong, descending projection from layer 2/3 of the Cg1 subregion of the cingulate cortex to superficial and deep layers of primary and dorsal AC. To determine whether Cg improves task performance under challenging conditions, we bilaterally infused muscimol to inactivate Cg1, and found that psychometric thresholds were degraded for only Hard blocks. To test whether the Cg-to-AC projection facilitates task performance, we chemogenetically inactivated these inputs and found that performance was only degraded during Hard blocks. Taken together, the results reveal a descending cortical pathway that facilitates perceptual performance during challenging listening conditions.
SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT
Sensory perception often occurs under challenging conditions, such a noisy background or dim environment, yet stimulus sensitivity can remain unaffected. One hypothesis is that cognitive resources are recruited to the task, thereby facilitating perceptual performance. Here, we identify a top-down cortical circuit, from cingulate to auditory cortex in the gerbils, that supports auditory perceptual performance under challenging listening conditions. This pathway is a plausible circuit that supports effortful listening, and may be degraded by hearing loss.
PubMed: 38014324
DOI: 10.1101/2023.11.10.566668 -
Brain Sciences Nov 2023Movement sonification has been recently introduced into the field of neuromotor rehabilitation alongside Neurologic Music Therapy and music-based interventions. This...
BACKGROUND
Movement sonification has been recently introduced into the field of neuromotor rehabilitation alongside Neurologic Music Therapy and music-based interventions. This study introduces the use of musical auditory cues encompassing the melodic-harmonic aspect of music.
METHODS
Nineteen patients with Parkinson's disease were randomly assigned to the experimental ( = 10) and control ( = 9) groups and underwent thrice-weekly sessions of the same gait training program, with or without sonification. Functional and motor parameters, as well as fatigue, quality of life, and the impact of intervention on patients' well-being, were assessed at baseline (PRE), the end of treatment (POST), and at follow-up (FU). Between-group differences were assessed for each outcome measure using linear mixed-effects models. The outcome measure was entered as the dependent variable, group and time as fixed effects, and time by group as the interaction effect.
RESULTS
Mini BESTest and Dynamic Gait Index scores significantly improved in the experimental group ( = 0.01 and = 0.03, respectively) from PRE to FU, demonstrating a significant impact of the sonification treatment on balance. No other significant differences were observed in the outcome measures.
CONCLUSIONS
Larger sample sizes are needed to confirm the effectiveness of sonification approaches in Parkinson's disease, as well as in other neurological disorders.
PubMed: 38002546
DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13111586 -
Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) Jan 2024Prolonged exposure to others' suffering can lead to empathy fatigue, especially when individuals struggle to effectively regulate their empathic capacity. Shifting...
Prolonged exposure to others' suffering can lead to empathy fatigue, especially when individuals struggle to effectively regulate their empathic capacity. Shifting active attention away from emotional components toward cognitive components of others' suffering is an effective strategy for mitigating empathy fatigue. This research investigated how top-down attentional manipulation modulates empathy fatigue in both auditory (Study 1) and visual (Study 2) modalities. Participants completed two tasks in both studies: (i) the attention to cognitive empathy task (A-C task) and (ii) the attention to emotional empathy task (A-E task). Each task included three blocks (Time Block 1, Time Block 2, and Time Block 3) designed to induce empathy fatigue. Study 1 revealed that the A-C task reduced empathy fatigue and N1 amplitudes than the A-E task in Time Block 3, indicating that attention to cognitive empathy might decrease auditory empathy fatigue. Study 2 indicates that the A-C task caused a longer N2 latency than the A-E task, signifying a decelerated emotional empathic response when attention was on cognitive empathy in the visual modality. Overall, prioritizing cognitive empathy seems to conserve mental resources and reduce empathy fatigue. This research documented the relationship between top-down attention and empathy fatigue and the possible neural mechanism.
Topics: Humans; Empathy; Emotions
PubMed: 37991273
DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad441 -
Human Factors Nov 2023To explore the scope of available research and to identify research gaps on in-vehicle interventions for drowsiness that utilize driver monitoring systems (DMS).
OBJECTIVE
To explore the scope of available research and to identify research gaps on in-vehicle interventions for drowsiness that utilize driver monitoring systems (DMS).
BACKGROUND
DMS are gaining popularity as a countermeasure against drowsiness. However, how these systems can be best utilized to guide driver attention is unclear.
METHODS
A scoping review was conducted in adherence to PRISMA guidelines. Five electronic databases (ACM Digital Library, Scopus, IEEE Xplore, TRID, and SAE Mobilus) were systematically searched in April 2022. Original studies examining in-vehicle drowsiness interventions that use DMS in a driving context (e.g., driving simulator and driver interviews) passed the screening. Data on study details, state detection methods, and interventions were extracted.
RESULTS
Twenty studies qualified for inclusion. Majority of interventions involved warnings ( = 16) with an auditory component ( = 14). Feedback displays ( = 4) and automation takeover ( = 4) were also investigated. Multistage interventions ( = 12) first cautioned the driver, then urged them to take an action, or initiated an automation takeover. Overall, interventions had a positive impact on sleepiness levels, driving performance, and user evaluations. Whether interventions effective for one type of sleepiness (e.g., passive vs. active fatigue) will perform well for another type is unclear.
CONCLUSION
Literature mainly focused on developing sensors and improving the accuracy of DMS, but not on the driver interactions with these technologies. More intervention studies are needed in general and for investigating their long-term effects.
APPLICATION
We list gaps and limitations in the DMS literature to guide researchers and practitioners in designing and evaluating effective safety systems for drowsy driving.
PubMed: 37982386
DOI: 10.1177/00187208231208523