1,354,141 research outputs found
Vestibular rehabilitation in older adults with and without mild cognitive impairment: Effects of virtual reality using a head-mounted display
No full textPurpose: Due to the gap in the knowledge in the field of vestibular rehabilitation the purpose of this randomized study is to highlight the outcomes of head-mounted display (HMD)implementation in older adults and patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), suffering from unilateral vestibular hypofunction (UVH). Materials and methods: Vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR)gain, postural sway examination and dizziness-related and quality of life scores were collected in 12 UVH elderly and 12 UVH subjects suffering from MCI only undergoing vestibular rehabilitation and in 11 UVH elderly and 12 UVH subjects suffering from MCI undergoing a home-based HMD + vestibular rehabilitation protocol. Results: Although the within-subjects analysis found in all groups a significant (p < 0.05)improvement in posturography parameters and dizziness-related and quality of life scores and no changes in VOR gain, implementation of HMD demonstrated a significant (p < 0.05)increase in post-treatment between-group comparisons in the same tests and VOR gain with respect to those older adults and participants with MCI only undergoing vestibular rehabilitation. Positive correlations were discovered between Mini-Mental Score Exam values and pre-/post-treatment differences in (i)power spectra values in the low-frequency interval (r = 0.72)and in (ii)Dynamic Gait Index scores (r = 0.76). Conclusions: This study demonstrates that the implementation of a home-based virtual reality protocol may be a safe option in order to ameliorate VOR, postural control and the quality of life also in the vestibular impaired patients in whom the presence of cognitive decline could hinder the achievement of the goal of rehabilitation
Degree of functional impairment associated with vestibular hypofunction among older adults with cognitive decline
No full textObjective:Considering the altered multisensory signal compensation during senescence, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the integration rearrangements in unilateral vestibular hypofunction (UVH) during age-related cognitive decline.Study Design:Cross-sectional study.Setting:Longitudinal cohort study unit and of University tertiary referral center.Patients:Older UVH individuals 55 years with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or Alzheimer Disease (AD) and matched UVH control group with age-appropriate cognitive function.Intervention:Vestibulo-ocular reflex, postural sway examination (respectively performed by means of video head impulse test and static posturography), and dizziness-related and quality of life scores were collected in all three groups of UVH patients cognitively evaluated by means of Mini Mental State Examination and Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale (ADAS-cog).Main Outcome Measures:Vestibulo-ocular reflex gain, length, surface, and spectral values of body oscillation were measured. Dizziness Handicap Inventory, Activities-specific Balance Confidence scale, and Dynamic Gait Index scores were collected.Results:A significant (p<0.05) increase in surface and length values during both eyes closed and eyes open conditions was found when comparing scores for AD to both MCI and control group patients, respectively. These patients demonstrated significantly (p<0.05) lower spectral values of body oscillation on posturography platform in both eyes closed and eyes open condition within the low-frequency interval than MCI and AD patients.Conclusion:This is the first study reporting an association between cognitive decline and posturography parameters with possible preventive clinical implications in evaluating the risk for falls in high-risk patients, such as older adults with common neuro-otological disorders
supplementary_Material – Supplemental material for Long-term effects of vestibular rehabilitation and head-mounted gaming task procedure in unilateral vestibular hypofunction: a 12-month follow-up of a randomized controlled trial
No full textSupplemental material, supplementary_Material for Long-term effects of vestibular rehabilitation and head-mounted gaming task procedure in unilateral vestibular hypofunction: a 12-month follow-up of a randomized controlled trial by Andrea Viziano, Alessandro Micarelli, Ivan Augimeri, Domenico Micarelli and Marco Alessandrini in Clinical Rehabilitation</p
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Neuroticism modulates brain visuo-vestibular and anxiety systems during a virtual rollercoaster task
No full textDifferent lines of research suggest that anxiety-related personality traits may influence the visual and vestibular control of balance, although the brain mechanisms underlying this effect remain unclear. To our knowledge, this is the first functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study that investigates how individual differences in neuroticism and introversion, two key personality traits linked to anxiety, modulate brain regional responses and functional connectivity patterns during a fMRI task simulating self-motion. Twenty-four healthy individuals with variable levels of neuroticism and introversion underwent fMRI while performing a virtual reality rollercoaster task that included two main types of trials: (1) trials simulating downward or upward self-motion (vertical motion), and (2) trials simulating self-motion in horizontal planes (horizontal motion). Regional brain activity and functional connectivity patterns when comparing vertical versus horizontal motion trials were correlated with personality traits of the Five Factor Model (i.e., neuroticism, extraversion-introversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness). When comparing vertical to horizontal motion trials, we found a positive correlation between neuroticism scores and regional activity in the left parieto-insular vestibular cortex (PIVC). For the same contrast, increased functional connectivity between the left PIVC and right amygdala was also detected as a function of higher neuroticism scores. Together, these findings provide new evidence that individual differences in personality traits linked to anxiety are significantly associated with changes in the activity and functional connectivity patterns within visuo-vestibular and anxiety-related systems during simulated vertical self-motion. Hum Brain Mapp, 2016. © 2016 2016 The Authors Human Brain Mapping Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc
Track density imaging in progressive supranuclear palsy: A pilot study
No full textProgressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by white matter (WM) changes in different supra- and infratentorial brain structures. We used track density imaging (TDI) to characterize WM microstructural alterations in patients with PSP-Richardson's Syndrome (PSP-RS). Moreover, we investigated the diagnostic utility of TDI in distinguishing patients with PSP-RS from those with Parkinson's disease and healthy controls (HC). Twenty PSP-RS patients, 21 PD patients, and 23 HC underwent a 3 T MRI diffusion-weighted (DW) imaging. Then, we combined constrained spherical deconvolution and WM probabilistic tractography to reconstruct track density maps by calculating the number of WM streamlines traversing each voxel. Voxel-wise analysis was performed to assess group differences in track density maps. A support vector machine (SVM) approach was also used to evaluate the performance of TDI for discriminating between groups. Relative to PD patients, decreases in track density in PSP-RS patients were found in brainstem, cerebellum, thalamus, corpus callosum, and corticospinal tract. Similar findings were obtained between PSP-RS patients and HC. No differences in TDI were observed between PD and HC. SVM approach based on whole-brain analysis differentiated PD patients from PSP-RS with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.82. The AUC reached a value of 0.98 considering only the voxels belonging to the superior cerebellar peduncle. This study shows that TDI may represent a useful approach for characterizing WM alterations in PSP-RS patients. Moreover, track density decrease in PSP could be considered a new feature for the differentiation of patients with PSP-RS from those with PD
Variations on the Author
No full text“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
No full textWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Children and the public realm: antecedents and consequences of independent mobility in a group of 11–13-year-old Italian children
No full textAccess to several play environments, as well as exploration of public spaces and socialization with peers, is crucial for children’s development. Western children are often deprived of these opportunities and independent mobility is constantly decreasing. In the present study, we aimed to test an integrative model of the antecedents and consequences of independent mobility and to preliminarily explore the relationship between parenting styles and independent mobility in a group of 589 Italian children. We expected and found that being female and being younger predicted less independent mobility. In turn, we found that lower independent mobility predicted greater feelings of loneliness through the mediation of a weaker sense of community, a lower sense of safety and less frequent social activities with friends. Moreover, we found that independent mobility changed according to different configurations of parenting styles
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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