Brain Sciences

BackgroundMS significantly impacts motor and cognitive function, yet therapies to effectively address these impairments remain limited. This study explores acute intermittent hypoxia (AIH) as a novel intervention for enhancing neuroplasticity and functional improvement in individuals with MS. ObjectiveTo examine the efficacy of a single AIH session in improving spinal motor output and cognitive performance in MS. MethodsA randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled and crossover study was done in ...

MS is characterized by chronic and immune-mediated inflammatory lesions of the brain white matter, disseminated in time and space. As the technology improved over the next three decades, MRI quickly grew to become the single most important paraclinical diagnostic and monitoring tool available. A lesion will be defined as having a high T2/FLAIR signal [≥] 3 millimeters in diameter. The purpose of this study, witch includes 95 patients, was to investigate the benefit of a computer assisted dete...

Background and ObjectivesApproximately 50% of post-cardiac arrest survivors remain comatose after 72h, a substantial proportion of which will have a poor neurological outcome, predominantly due to irreversible hypoxic-ischemic brain injury. Recent findings in healthy subjects and patients suggested that autonomic nervous system activity measured by brain-heart interactions could be reliable markers of consciousness and cognitive processing. Thus, we hypothesized that brain-heart interactions are...

ObjectivePatients with acute lung or heart failure can experience hypoxic ischemic brain injury resulting in neurovascular unit (NVU) dysfunction. The NVU couples brain activity and perfusion. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is used for refractory lung and/or heart failure and often necessitates sedation, obfuscating neurological assessments. We hypothesized that combining cerebral electrographic activity and perfusion monitoring can detect brain injury in adults undergoing ECMO. Met...

BackgroundSeverity of neuronal damage in comatose patients following anoxic brain injury is assessed through a multimodal evaluation. However, predicting the return to full consciousness of hospitalized post-anoxic comatose patients remains challenging. MethodsWe present here a method to predict the return to consciousness and good neurological outcome based on the analysis of responses to auditory periodic stimulations to auditory evoked potentials. We extracted several EEG features from the t...

BackgroundTranscranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) aims to induce cortical plasticity by modulating the activity of brain structures. The broad stimulation pattern, which is one of the main limitations of tDCS, can be overcome with the recently developed technique called High-Definition tDCS (HD-TDCS). ObjectiveInvestigation of the effect of HD-tDCS on tinnitus in a large patient cohort. MethodsThis prospective study included 117 patients with chronic, subjective, non-pulsatile tinnitus ...

BackgroundRespiratory heart rate variability (RespHRV), the physiological variation in heart rate in phase with breathing, is mainly generated by central brainstem mechanisms. Its characteristics and determinants in brain-injured patients in the neuro-intensive care unit (neuro-ICU) are poorly understood. ObjectiveTo characterize RespHRV amplitude and phase in brain-injured patients compared to healthy participants, and to explore clinical variables influencing RespHRV in the neuro-ICU. Method...

BackgroundMultiple sclerosis (MS) is among the leading causes of disability in Young Adults worldwide. Current estimates of MS burden in Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) are necessary for planning effective interventions .To estimate Prevalence, incidence, mortality, years lived with disability (YLDs), years of life lost (YLLs) and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) in EMR by country age, and sex from 1990 to 2016. MethodsWe estimated regional and country-specific prevalence, incidence, m...

IntroductionIntracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring is commonly used in neuro-intensive care, but its utility may be limited by a suboptimal use. The brain pressure-volume relationship, a potential predictor of neurological health, is now approached using time-domain methods, which can be challenging to implement. Frequency-domain methods may offer an alternative, but their relationship with time-domain metrics remains unclear. This study compares time- and frequency-domain methods for assessing ...

BackgroundDirectional deep-brain stimulation (DBS) requires knowledge of lead orientation to maximize benefit and minimize side effects. While CT-based software is widely used, its accuracy may decrease with the use of oblique leads. Rotational fluoroscopy using the Iron Sight method offers an alternative; however, its reliability in clinical practice has not been fully established. ObjectiveTo assess the reliability of the Iron Sight method for postoperative lead orientation and compare it wit...

BackgroundMethamphetamine use disorder (MUD) is known to have profound effects on brain structure and cognitive functions. Understanding the extent of these neurobiological changes during the early abstinence period is crucial for developing targeted rehabilitation strategies. ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate structural brain alterations, and cognitive functions, in early abstinent methamphetamine users compared with healthy controls. MethodsA total of 27 participants were included, co...

Depression represents a significant and prevalent challenge among individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) substantially impacting their quality of life (QoL). This study explores the mediating role of psychological resilience in the relationship between depression and QoL in a sample of patients with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). This online cross-sectional study involves 179 Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS) patients. The PwMS completed three questionnaires: the Chicago Multiscale Dep...

In recent times, we have unequivocally witnessed a push towards digitising the healthcare system. Topics such as remote patient monitoring (RPM), digital health, and their use to monitor neurological disease progression have gained momentum and popularity. Notwithstanding the considerable advances that have been made in adopting such technologies and using them in the context of mental health or even a few neurodegenerative disease monitoring, they have not been widely used in the context of rem...

ObjectiveTo develop a harmonized multicenter clinical and electroencephalography (EEG) database for acute hypoxic-ischemic brain injury research involving patients with cardiac arrest. DesignMulticenter cohort, partly prospective and partly retrospective. SettingSeven academic or teaching hospitals from the U.S. and Europe. PatientsIndividuals aged 16 or older who were comatose after return of spontaneous circulation following a cardiac arrest who had continuous EEG monitoring were included. ...

BackgroundDaytime sleepiness is a common symptom of multiple sclerosis (MS) that may jeopardize safe driving. The aim of this study was to compare daytime sleepiness, recorded in real-time through eyelid tracking, in a simulated drive between individuals with MS (iwMS) and healthy controls. MethodsFifteen iwMS (age = median (Q1 - Q3), 55 (50 - 55); EDSS = 2.5 (2 - 3.5); 12 (80%) female) were matched for age, sex, education, and cognitive status with 15 controls. All participants completed self-...

The objective of this study was to use network analysis to identify subtypes of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis subjects based on their cumulative signs and symptoms. We reviewed the electronic medical records of 120 subjects with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis and recorded signs and symptoms. Signs and symptoms were mapped to a neuroontology and then collapsed into 16 superclasses by subsumption and normalized. Bipartite (subject-feature) and unipartite (subject-subject) network ...

BackgroundNeurological disability associated with multiple sclerosis and immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory therapy which is administered for it may increases the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and its morbidity/mortality. ObjectiveIn this study, we evaluated the infection rate and the severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) MethodsOne thousand and three hundred and sixty one MS patients from Fars province, south of Iran, were interviewed by phone from April ...

Depressive and anxiety symptoms occur more frequently in chronic encephalomyelitis. Inflammatory diseases are highly associated with psychiatric comorbidities, which has been well established in Multiple Sclerosis. However, no biomarkers have been found with the capacity to discern between MS and depression. Thirty-six individuals with a diagnosis of MS according to the revised McDonald criteria, were recruited from an outpatient Neurology and Psychiatry from the medical unit of high specialty i...

IntroductionMultiple Sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating neurodegenerative disease in which demyelination due to auto-inflammation is considered to be the underlying pathogenesis, though the exact etiology is not known. Most of the management strategies involve medications that are anti-inflammatory or immune-suppressive, which do have associated side effects. In this study we have evaluated in MS patients, the clinical effects of a novel beta-glucan which has a track record of anti-inflammatory, i...

BackgroundDiabetes (DM), a common comorbidity, results in poorer cognition in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). Metformin may be a treatment option given cognitive benefits. Metformin represses monoacylglycerol lipase (Mgll), accompanied by improvements in cognition in animals. AimsTo determine 1) whether metformin represses Mgll in humans, 2) if Mgll correlates with cognition/emotion recognition, and 3) if cognition differs between groups. MethodsA convenience sample of seventeen PwMS an...