1,721,023 research outputs found
Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) after stroke: Positive relationship between lower extremity and balance recovery
No full textBackground: Stroke survivors have poor long-term quality of life (QoL), especially in the dimensions of mobility and daily activities. Objectives: We aimed to investigate how clinical variables influence QoL during subacute stroke rehabilitation. Methods: We assessed the evolution of the health-related QoL (HRQoL), the balance skills, the sensory–motor functions, and the ability in the activity of daily living in 25 hospitalized patients (60.6 ± 11.14 years old; 32% female) during a period of 2 months of stroke rehabilitation. We used the Stroke-Specific Quality of Life scale (SSQoL) to assess the HRQoL; the Berg Balance Scale to assess gait and balance functions; the Fugl-Meyer Assessment scale for sensory–motor functions of upper (UE) and lower limb (LE); and the Barthel Index for activity of daily living. All data have been investigated with the repeated-measures analysis of variance before and after normalization. Multiple Regression Analysis (MRA) has been performed on the normalized data and between the normalized data and the demographic characteristics (Gender; Age; Lesion side). Results: A significant improvement was found in all the assessed scales during the time of observation. MRA shows a positive regression between HRQoL and the motor recovery of LE and between HRQoL and the balance skills in 60 days from the stroke (MR = 0.88; respectively: p = 0.004 and p = 0.02). Conclusions: Our result shows that LE motor recovery impacts the QoL more than motor recovery of UE after 60 days of neurorehabilitation. This finding is strengthened by a positive regression between balance skills and QoL
Brain Networks Modulation in Young and Old Subjects during Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Applied on Prefrontal and Parietal Cortex
No full textEvidence indicates that the transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has the potential to transiently modulate cognitive function, including age-related changes in brain performance. Only a small number of studies have explored the interaction between the stimulation sites on the scalp, task performance, and brain network connectivity within the frame of physiological aging. We aimed to evaluate the spread of brain activation in both young and older adults in response to anodal tDCS applied to two different scalp stimulation sites: Prefrontal cortex (PFC) and posterior parietal cortex (PPC). EEG data were recorded during tDCS stimulation and evaluated using the Small World (SW) index as a graph theory metric. Before and after tDCS, participants performed a behavioral task; a performance accuracy index was computed and correlated with the SW index. Results showed that the SW index increased during tDCS of the PPC compared to the PFC at higher EEG frequencies only in young participants. tDCS at the PPC site did not exert significant effects on the performance, while tDCS at the PFC site appeared to influence task reaction times in the same direction in both young and older participants. In conclusion, studies using tDCS to modulate functional connectivity and influence behavior can help identify suitable protocols for the aging brain
tDCS effects on brain network properties during physiological aging
No full textBrain neural networks undergo relevant changes during physiological aging, which affect cognitive and behavioral functions. Currently, non-invasive brain stimulation techniques, such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), are proposed as tools able to modulate cognitive functions in brain aging, acting on networks properties and connectivity. Segregation and integration measures are used and evaluated by means of local clustering (segregation) and path length (integration). Moreover, to assess the balancing between them, the Small World (SW) parameter is employed, evaluating functional coupling in normal brain aging and in pathological conditions including neurodegeneration. The aim of this study was to systematically investigate the tDCS-induced effects on brain network proprieties in physiological aging. In order to reach this aim, cortical activity was acquired from healthy young and elderly subjects by means of EEG recorded before, during, and after anodal, cathodal, and sham tDCS sessions. Specifically, the aim to exploring tDCS polarity-dependent changes in the age-dependent network dynamics was based on a network graph theory application on two groups divided in young and elderly subjects. Eighteen healthy young (9 females; mean age = 24.7, SD = 3.2) and fifteen elderly subjects (9 females; mean = 70.1, SD = 5.1) were enrolled. Each participant received anodal, cathodal, or sham tDCS over the left prefrontal cortex (PFC) in three separate experimental sessions performed 1 week apart. SW was computed to evaluate brain network organization. The present study demonstrates that tDCS delivered in PFC can change brain network dynamics, and tDCS-EEG coregistration data can be analyzed using graph theory to understand the induced effects of different tDCS polarities in physiological and pathological brain aging
Variazioni topografiche dell’EEG del sonno in pazienti depressi sottoposti a trattamento con rTMS.
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