1,721,014 research outputs found
The Neural Bases of Drawing. A Meta-analysis and a Systematic Literature Review of Neurofunctional Studies in Healthy Individuals
No full textDrawing is a multi-component process requiring a wide range of cognitive abilities. Several studies on patients with focal brain lesions and functional neuroimaging studies on healthy individuals demonstrated that drawing is associated with a wide brain network. However, the neural structures specifically related to drawing remain to be better comprehended. We conducted a systematic review complemented by a meta-analytic approach to identify the core neural underpinnings related to drawing in healthy individuals. In analysing the selected studies, we took into account the type of the control task employed (i.e. motor or non-motor) and the type of drawn stimulus (i.e. geometric, figurative, or nonsense). The results showed that a fronto-parietal network, particularly on the left side of the brain, was involved in drawing when compared with other motor activities. Drawing figurative images additionally activated the inferior frontal gyrus and the inferior temporal cortex, brain areas involved in selection of semantic features of objects and in visual semantic processing. Moreover, copying more than drawing from memory was associated with the activation of extrastriate cortex (BA 18, 19). The activation likelihood estimation coordinate-based meta-analysis revealed a core neural network specifically associated with drawing which included the premotor area (BA 6) and the inferior parietal lobe (BA 40) bilaterally, and the left precuneus (BA 7). These results showed that a fronto-parietal network is specifically involved in drawing and suggested that a crucial role is played by the (left) inferior parietal lobe, consistent with classical literature on constructional apraxia
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
The emotional disorders associated with multiple sclerosis
No full textMultiple sclerosis (MS) is associated with a high prevalence of emotional and mood disorders. Emotional disorders may worsen during illness progression and affect the quality of life of patients and their families. MS is often associated with depression, with an increased risk of suicide, poor adherence to treatment, decreased functional status, and quality of life. The diagnosis and treatment of emotional and mood disorders in these patients is often challenging since several symptoms of these disorders overlap with those of MS. Other prevalent emotional disorders in MS include bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, emotional blunting (apathy), and pseudobulbar affect. Early recognition and treatment of these comorbidities could contribute to the reduction of disability and even to decreased mortality. The aim of this chapter is to provide an up-to-date review of mood and emotional disorders that are often associated with MS, focusing on their epidemiology, clinical features, pathogenesis, assessment, and treatment. The interplay between the psychosocial impact of the chronic disability and the demyelinating structural lesions of the brain in precipitating emotional and mood disorders is discussed, as well as its implications for diagnosis and treatment
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
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe 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
High openness and high extroversion are linked with better time-based prospective memory in multiple sclerosis
No full textBackground: Prospective memory (PM) deficits are often reported in multiple sclerosis (MS), but their relationship with neuropsychological characteristics and personality traits remains to be explored. Objective: To systematically investigate both time-based and event-based PM abilities in a sample of MS without clinically relevant disability or global cognitive decline and to explore cognitive, neuropsychiatric characteristics and personality traits associated with PM deficits. Methods: Thirty-three patients with MS and 33 healthy individuals were enrolled in the study. All participants underwent a standardized measure of PM to evaluate both time-based and event-based PM. Moreover, patients with MS completed the Brief Repeatable Battery to assess cognitive functioning, the Beck Depression Inventory-II and the Dimensional Apathy Scale to assess neuropsychiatric characteristics, and the NEO Personality Inventory-3 to assess personality traits. Results: Individuals with MS demonstrated impaired time-based PM compared to healthy individuals. The regression analysis showed that poor performance in time-based PM was significantly related to lower extroversion and openness traits, whereas poor performance in event-based PM was significantly related to lower visuospatial memory abilities. Conclusions: Low levels of openness and extroversion traits are associated with a greater risk of developing time-based PM deficit. Therefore, personality assessment and behavioural interventions should be encouraged in MS clinical practice
Assessing apathy in multiple sclerosis: Validation of the dimensional apathy scale and comparison with apathy evaluation scale
No full textBackground: Apathy is a predictor of cognitive decline in the course of multiple sclerosis (MS). Early identification of apathetic patients is relevant in clinical settings. Objective: To assess applicability and psychometric properties of the self-rated version of the Dimensional Apathy Scale (DAS) in a large cohort of patients with MS and to compare its diagnosing accuracy with that of the Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES). Methods: One hundred and twenty-four patients underwent clinical interview based on diagnostic criteria for apathy, DAS, AES, and assessment of depression, global cognitive functioning, and non-verbal intelligence. Results: According to diagnostic criteria, apathy occurred in 33.4% of the patients. The DAS showed high consistency, and good convergent, discriminant and criterion validity. Factor analysis indicated a three-factor structure: executive, behavioural and emotional apathy. Unlike AES, no significant association between DAS score and severity of neurological disability (expressed by EDSS total score) was found, suggesting that the DAS might be less related to levels of disability. Receiver operating characteristics analyses, with clinical diagnostic criteria for apathy as the gold standard, revealed that a DAS score of 28/29 and an AES score of 35/36 were optimal cut-off values for identifying clinically relevant apathy. The two scales had similar diagnostic accuracy in the present sample. Conclusions: The DAS is a valid and reliable multidimensional tool to assess apathy in MS, with diagnostic accuracy similar to that of the AES. However, the DAS score appears to be less strongly related to neurological disability
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