1,720,973 research outputs found
Suggestions for the decision making in subjective cognitive complaints
Full text linkIn recent years, the increasing life expectancy has underscored the importance of cognitive health alongside physical well-being, particularly because healthy adults may report subjective cognitive complaints (SCC), often related to memory. These complaints may or may not align with objective cognitive impairments, fueling ongoing debates about whether SCC could serve as an early indicator of dementia. While some studies suggest SCC as a potential precursor to dementia, others propose that these complaints may merely co-occur with cognitive decline. Despite the lack of consensus, addressing SCC remains crucial for early intervention, especially as emerging treatments for dementia show promise when applied at early stages. Risk factors associated with dementia, such as age, education, family history, and comorbid conditions like depression and diabetes, have been incorporated into predictive models. However, clinical practice continues to rely heavily on neuropsychological assessments to bridge subjective complaints with objective cognitive performance and may often require additional investigations, such as neuroimaging. Factors such as cognitive reserve, depression, stress, sleep disturbances, and personality traits also play significant roles in the interpretation of SCC. Some of these conditions may potentially mask underlying cognitive decline. A comprehensive clinical evaluation, integrating neuropsychological testing with a thorough anamnesis, can help distinguish between cognitive disorders and other contributing factors. Here, we propose a flowchart to guide clinicians in the management of SCC, integrating key factors to enhance diagnostic accuracy and inform treatment decisions. Despite the challenges involved, a careful and holistic approach remains essential for effective patient care
Impaired reading not due to visual field loss in a patient with a right-hemipsheric lesion
No full textWe describe a right-handed patient (M.B.), who developed left hemianopsia and a severe reading impairment after right occipital-parietal hemorrhage. The pattern of his reading deficit was very similar to that of pure alexia (alexia-without-agraphia): extremely slow reading times with frequent grapheme substitutions and omissions. A test of letter reading while controlling for saccadic eye movements and hemifield of presentation ruled out hemianoptic alexia. Although there have already been reports of reading impairments in right handers following right- hemispheric lesions, ours is, to the best of our knowledge, the first where visual field loss can be definitely excluded as the main cause. Based on a standard neuropsychological assessment and on additional behavioral tests, we argue that M.B.'s difficulties are unlikely to be due to right-hemisphere dominance for language. After considering several candidate explanations, we suggest that M.B.'s symptoms may be related to an impairment in attentional processes related to reading. © 2013 © 2013 Taylor & Francis
The Italian version of the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Trust (BIRT) personality questionnaires: five new measures of personality change after acquired brain injury
No full textThe aim of this study was to describe the
translation and adaptation of the BIRT personality questionnaires
for the Italian population. This included the
replication of validity testing and the collection of normative
data. Following translation and adaptation according to
cross-cultural guidelines, the questionnaires were administered
as a pre-test to a sample of 20 healthy subjects and
then to 10 patients. The questionnaires were then administered
to 120 healthy subjects equally distributed by sex,
education, and age, to collect normative data from an Italian
population. The questionnaires were easily administered to
both healthy subjects and patients. Statistical analysis on
normative data was conducted to find the mean value for
each questionnaire. This study lays the foundations for using
a new instrument to assess behavioral changes after
acquired brain injury on the Italian population
Long-term cognitive sequelae in a case of Wernicke’s encephalopathy after allogeneic stem cell transplantation
No full textWe describe the case of a non-alcoholic patient with chronic myeloid leukemia who developed iatrogenic Wernicke’s encephalopathy (WE) following stem cell transplantation. Four years after the WE acute event, the patient’s cognitive profile was mainly characterized by moderate memory impairment, and functional and daily-living difficulties. Our report sustains the hypothesis that a iatrogenic form of WE may produce long-term cognitive sequelae even when thiamine therapy is administered in the acute phase until the resolution of the neurological signs
Development of a generic version of the multiple errands test for severe acquired brain injuries
No full textBackground Impairment of executive functions is a frequent and disabling consequence of brain injury. In 1991, Shallice and Burgess elaborated the Multiple Errand Test (MET) to assess everyday troubles associated with this impairment. Objective Our first aim was to create a generic version of MET (MET-G) readily adaptable to different settings and for retesting. The second aim was to validate the revised version to detect executive impairment in individuals with severe ABI. Methods An inter-professional team of experts in neurorehabilitation created a revised version of MET. Twenty-one patients with sABI (severe Acquired Brain Injury) and a control group of 20 neurologically healthy subjects, took part in the testing of MET-G. Results MET-G clearly distinguished people with sABI from healthy controls based on Total error score, task completion, and rule breaking. The test showed good inter-rater reliability and internal consistency. Conclusions The new, generic version of MET was able to differentiate adults with sABI from controls and proved to be a good tool for evaluating executive functions in these patients in daily-life contexts. Indications on how to adapt the test to different contexts and different scoring modalities are provided
Some evidence on Gerstmann’s syndrome: A case study on a variant of the clinical disorder
No full textWe describe the case of a bilingual patient with persistent symptoms largely, although not fully, consistent with
those that are usually reported in Gerstmann’s syndrome. Twenty months after a spontaneous primary intracranial
hemorrhage, the patient was evaluated with a series of neuropsychological tasks and underwent an MRI
investigation based on Diffusion Tensor Imaging probabilistic tractography. The patient suffered from dysgraphia
(difficulty in the access to the graphemic representation of letter forms), autotopoagnosia (difficulties in locating
body parts on verbal command), right–left confusion (difficulties in localizing right and left side of symmetrical
body parts), and number processing/calculation impairments (predominant difficulties on transcoding tasks).
Probabilistic tractography revealed a relatively spared superior longitudinal fasciculus and severe damage to the
subcortical white matter connecting the angular gyrus with other parietal regions, such as the intraparietal sulcus
and the supramarginal gyrus. Within the framework of the contemporary cognitive accounts of Gerstmann’s
syndrome, the case supports the assumption of an anatomical intraparietal disconnection more than a functional
Grundst ̈orung (core impairment)
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe 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
Variations on the Author
Full text link“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
Full text linkWe 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
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