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28 results

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  • Validation and Normative Data of the Spanish Version of the Face Name Associative Memory Exam (S-FNAME)

  • Vanessa Alviarez-Schulze, Gabriele Cattaneo, Catherine Pachón-García, Javier Solana-Sánchez, Josep M. Tormos-Muñoz, Montserrat Alegret, Alvaro Pascual-Leone, David Bartrés-Faz, the Barcelona Brain Health Initiative group
  • Journal:
    Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society / Volume 28 / Issue 1 / January 2022
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    22 March 2021, pp. 74-84
    • Article
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      • Open access
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  • Objective:

    The relevance of the episodic memory in the prediction of brain aging is well known. The Face Name Associative Memory Exam (FNAME) is a valued associative memory measure related to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) biomarkers, such as amyloid-β deposition preclinical AD individuals. Previous validation of the Spanish version of the FNAME test (S-FNAME) provided normative data and psychometric characteristics. The study was limited to subjects attending a memory clinic and included a reduced sample with gender inequality distribution. The purpose of this study was to assess S-FNAME psychometric properties and provide normative data in a larger independent sample of cognitively healthy individuals.

    Method:

    S-FNAME was administered to 511 cognitively healthy volunteers (242 women, aged 41–65 years) participating in the Barcelona Brain Health Initiative cohort study.

    Results:

    Factor analysis supported construct validity revealing two underlying components: face-name and face-occupation and explaining 95.34% of the total variance, with satisfactory goodness of fit. Correlations between S-FNAME and Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test were statistically significant and confirmed its convergent validity. We also found weak correlations with non-memory tests supporting divergent validity. Women showed better scores, and S-FNAME was positively correlated with education and negatively with age. Finally, we generated normative data.

    Conclusions:

    The S-FNAME test exhibits good psychometric properties, consistent with previous findings, resulting in a valid and reliable tool to assess episodic memory in cognitively healthy middle-aged adults. It is a promising test for the early detection of subtle memory dysfunction associated with abnormal brain aging.

  • The paradoxical effect of COVID-19 outbreak on loneliness

  • David Bartrés-Faz, Dídac Macià, Gabriele Cattaneo, Roger Borràs, Clara Tarrero, Javier Solana, José M. Tormos, Alvaro Pascual-Leone
  • Journal:
    BJPsych Open / Volume 7 / Issue 1 / January 2021
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    11 January 2021, e30
    • Article
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      • Open access
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  • As in previous periods of quarantine, lockdown confinement measures dictated to control SARS-CoV-2 would be expected to negatively affect mental health. We investigated the immediate effects (over a 10 day period) of a strict nationwide stay-at-home order imposed in Spain, one of the countries most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Focusing our analysis on the feelings of loneliness, we obtained our measures within a social context characterised by strong and continuous public and governmental support for increasing social bonds and cooperation in order to face the common public threat. Leveraging data from the Barcelona Brain Health Initiative, a prospective population-based study cohort, the short UCLA Loneliness Scale was administered to 1604 participants 2 years and 1 year before the stay-at-home lockdown and repeated, on average, 10 days after the official confinement order issued by the Spanish government. Ratings of loneliness remained stable during the 2 years before lockdown; however, they decreased significantly during the early stages of home confinement. This effect was particularly significant for the item ‘feeling excluded from others’ and was also observed among individuals who were confined alone. Overall, the results suggest that gestures and manifestations of appreciation by people for the labour and efforts of certain individuals, along with official campaigns designed to promote feelings of inclusion and belonging, may have beneficial effects on feelings of loneliness, a negative emotional state strongly regarded as a risk factor for impaired mental and general health status. Further assessments during the later stages of home confinement are now warranted.

  • 160 Optimizing TMS Treatment for Depression - The 19 Minute Dash™ Protocol

  • Miriam Mina, David G. Brock, Alvaro Pascual-Leone, Mark A. Demitrak
  • Journal:
    CNS Spectrums / Volume 23 / Issue 1 / February 2018
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    15 June 2018, pp. 97-98
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  • Title

    Optimizing TMS treatment for Depression - The 19 Minute Dash™ protocol

    Objective

    NeuroStar transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is an effective treatment for patients with major depressive disorder. Due to the treatment session duration, a reduced treatment time would promote patients’ comfort and convenience. Also, shorter treatment sessions of retained efficacy and safety would increase access to treatment. This reduction could be accomplished by decreasing the time between TMS pulse sequences, the intertrain interval (ITI).

    Methods

    Meta-analysis of TMS delivered using varying treatment parameters, particularly the ratio of train duration (“on-time”) to ITI (“off-time”). PubMed and SCOPUS databases were searched through March 30, 2015 using the terms: “transcranial magnetic stimulation”, “TMS”, “rTMS”, “inter-train interval”, “inter-stimulus interval”, and “cortical spread”. Three hundred and one articles were identified comprising a total of 3359 patients. Clinical outcomes were reported as the proportion of patients achieving response defined as 50% reduction in baseline score on the primary outcome measure in each study. Treatment risk was assessed by the frequency of adverse events reported, and specifically considering the incidence of seizures.

    Results

    This analysis confirms prior reports that the variables which impact treatment efficacy are the number of treatmentsessions, the number of pulses per session and the percent motor threshold. Varying the train duration/ITI (on-time/off-time) ratio over a broad range from 2.0 to 14 did not impact efficacy or safety.

    Conclusions

    Shortening the ITI to 11 seconds does not impact the safety and antidepressant effectiveness of the NeuroStar TMS and would result in shortening of each treatment session from approximately 37.5 to 19 minutes.

    Funding Acknowledgements

    Neuronetics, Inc.

  • The black-pygmy mussel Limnoperna securis in Galician Rias (north-eastern Atlantic): new records and first evidence of larval stages predation by copepods

  • Ángel Guerra, Santiago Pascual, Manuel E. Garci, Álvaro Roura, Gonzalo Mucientes, Ángel F. González
  • Journal:
    Marine Biodiversity Records / Volume 6 / 2013
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    13 February 2013, e15
    Print publication:
    2013

  • The presence of the non-indigenous species, the black-pygmy mussel Limnoperna securis, was surveyed for the first time in the Rias of Pontevedra and Arousa, areas adjacent to the first location (Ria of Vigo) of this potential invader in Atlantic waters. Molecular identification of the mussels was conducted by polymerase chain reaction amplification and sequencing of nuclear and mitochondrial genes. This paper describes for the first time the species in the Ria of Pontevedra, confirming that this invader was absent in an intense shellfish farming area of the Ria of Arousa (Galicia, north-western Spain). Field sampling revealed that relatively high concentrations of this mytilid bivalve have colonized some localities of the inner part of the Ria of Pontevedra located in brackish waters. A comparison between population densities, size and substrate preference of L. securis in the Rias of Pontevedra and Vigo was conducted. Dispersion capacity of L. securis is discussed based on molecular detection of larval stages in the stomach contents of the copepod Centropages typicus coupled with physical oceanography of the southern Galician Rias. The invasive role of L. securis is also discussed in the context of the bissus secretion and attachment strength, ecological tolerance of the species, and the recent finding of settlements of this species on numerous colonies of the economically important blue mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis.

The Paradoxical Brain
  • Edited by Narinder Kapur
  • With Alvaro Pascual-Leone, Vilayanur Ramachandran, Jonathan Cole, Sergio Della Sala, Tom Manly, Andrew Mayes
  • Foreword by Oliver Sacks
  • Published online:
    05 December 2011
    Print publication:
    21 July 2011
  • The Paradoxical Brain focuses on a range of phenomena in clinical and cognitive neuroscience that are counterintuitive and go against the grain of established thinking. The book covers a wide range of topics by leading researchers, including:Superior performance after brain lesions or sensory lossReturn to normal function after a second brain lesion in neurological conditionsParadoxical phenomena associated with human developmentExamples where having one disease appears to prevent the occurrence of another diseaseSituations where drugs with adverse effects on brain functioning may have beneficial effects in certain situationsA better understanding of these interactions will lead to a better understanding of brain function and to the introduction of new therapeutic strategies. The book will be of interest to those working at the interface of brain and behaviour, including neuropsychologists, neurologists, psychiatrists and neuroscientists.

  • 2 - Paradoxical effects of sensory loss

  • Edited by Narinder Kapur, University College London
  • With Alvaro Pascual-Leone, Vilayanur Ramachandran, University of California, San Diego, Jonathan Cole, Sergio Della Sala, University of Edinburgh, Tom Manly, Andrew Mayes, University of Manchester
  • Foreword by Oliver Sacks
  • Book:
    The Paradoxical Brain
    Published online:
    05 December 2011
    Print publication:
    21 July 2011, pp 14-39

  • Summary

    Summary

    We perceive the world by means of an elaborate set of distinct, modality-specific receptor systems. It is hardly conceivable that losing or lacking a sensory modality would not, in some fashion, alter the capacities of processing, understanding or interacting with the world. Therefore, if lack or loss of a sensory modality leads to a compensatory enhancement of other senses, ultimately resulting in minimal functional loss or even functional gains, these would represent instances of paradoxical functional facilitation. In fact, enhancement of functioning in people with chronic or recent sensory loss has been one of the more widely studied and reliable forms of paradoxical functional facilitation. Individuals with visual loss have been found to show enhanced auditory function, tactile function and even verbal memory performance. Analogously, long-term auditory loss has been associated with enhanced cognitive performance, evident on tactile and visual tasks. Functional brain imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation studies have pointed to a major reorganization of cerebral function in blind or deaf individuals, and these plastic changes are associated with functional adaptations and gains.

    Introduction

    In his novel Blindness, Jose Saramago (1998) uses blindness as a metaphor for both personal misfortune and social catastrophe. A man suddenly loses his vision. Within a few days, people who had contact with him also go blind, and blindness spreads like an epidemic. In the context of practically universal blindness, society breaks down, nothing functions, food and resources become scarce, and lives are threatened. Ultimately, only one character in the novel miraculously avoids blindness.

  • 1 - The paradoxical nature of nature

  • Edited by Narinder Kapur, University College London
  • With Alvaro Pascual-Leone, Vilayanur Ramachandran, University of California, San Diego, Jonathan Cole, Sergio Della Sala, University of Edinburgh, Tom Manly, Andrew Mayes, University of Manchester
  • Foreword by Oliver Sacks
  • Book:
    The Paradoxical Brain
    Published online:
    05 December 2011
    Print publication:
    21 July 2011, pp 1-13

  • Summary

    Summary

    Paradoxes abound in nature and in the realm of the human condition. Paradoxes have been evident in fields of science – from plant biology to human biology to physics – and in areas of human endeavour, ranging through political, literary and social activities. Paradoxes often represent instances where current knowledge may be deficient, and thus predictions based on such knowledge may be inconsistent with actual events or findings. At the level of scientific methodology, paradoxical phenomena offer powerful opportunities to test models and conceptual frameworks, and to enable true ‘paradigm shifts’ in certain areas of scientific inquiry. Insights from paradoxical phenomena in clinical sciences not only help us to understand mechanisms of function and dysfunction, they also provide clues as to therapeutic strategies, which may alleviate impairment and disability resulting from disease and injury. In addition, they may contribute towards a more positive, humanistic view of diverse states of the human condition.

    Introduction

    The word paradox is derived from the Greek: the prefix para means contrary or opposed, and doxos means opinion. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (2002) includes amongst its definitions of paradox ‘a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition which, when investigated or explained, may prove to be well-founded or true’. In his philosophical treatise on paradoxes, Sainsbury (2009) has highlighted the paradoxical nature of paradoxes themselves: ‘Paradoxes are fun.

  • 13 - Paradoxical functional facilitation with noninvasive brain stimulation

  • Edited by Narinder Kapur, University College London
  • With Alvaro Pascual-Leone, Vilayanur Ramachandran, University of California, San Diego, Jonathan Cole, Sergio Della Sala, University of Edinburgh, Tom Manly, Andrew Mayes, University of Manchester
  • Foreword by Oliver Sacks
  • Book:
    The Paradoxical Brain
    Published online:
    05 December 2011
    Print publication:
    21 July 2011, pp 234-260

  • Summary

    Summary

    Noninvasive brain stimulation with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) or transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is valuable in research and has potential therapeutic applications in cognitive neuroscience, neurophysiology, psychiatry, neurology and neurorehabilitation. TMS and tDCS allow diagnostic and interventional neurophysiology applications, targeted neuropharmacology delivery and systematic exploration of local cortical plasticity and brain network dynamics. Repetitive TMS or tDCS can modulate cortical excitability of the directly targeted brain region beyond the duration of the brain stimulation train by the induction of phenomena similar to long-term potentiation (LTP) or long-term depression (LTD), which may increase or decrease cortical excitability respectively. The effects of TMS or tDCS do not remain limited to the targeted brain region, and thus disruption of brain activity by TMS or tDCS can result in behavioural facilitation via distant cortical or subcortical structures. In addition, state-dependent effects of noninvasive brain stimulation condition the impact of TMS and tDCS and may result in paradoxical behavioural effects of the stimulation. Greater understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms involved in such intances may allow us to systematically use TMS or tDCS to leverage paradoxical functional facilitation for therapeutic applications.

    Introduction

    In the past decades, neuroimaging techniques such as computerized tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electro-encephalography (EEG) have shaped the ways in which we model behaviour. Anatomical neuroimaging techniques produce ever more detailed descriptions of the extent of lesions produced by brain injury.

  • 24 - The paradoxical brain – so what?

  • Edited by Narinder Kapur, University College London
  • With Alvaro Pascual-Leone, Vilayanur Ramachandran, University of California, San Diego, Jonathan Cole, Sergio Della Sala, University of Edinburgh, Tom Manly, Andrew Mayes, University of Manchester
  • Foreword by Oliver Sacks
  • Book:
    The Paradoxical Brain
    Published online:
    05 December 2011
    Print publication:
    21 July 2011, pp 418-434

  • Summary

    Summary

    Paradoxical findings relating to the human brain have implications for our understanding of the workings of the normal brain, and for how normal functioning may be enhanced. Paradoxical findings may also have implications for how we can prevent and detect brain disease, and how we may best repair and rehabilitate the damaged brain. The brain may best be modelled as a nonlinear device, which relies on dynamic synchrony and balance between neural systems. Damage to the brain may upset this dynamic state, and repair may often entail interventions that restore a degree of synchrony and balance. In this final chapter, we propose 10 principles of brain function that can help accommodate paradoxical phenomena, and we also speculate on paradoxical therapeutic interventions that may be beneficial to human brain functioning.

    Introduction

    If we can be forgiven a degree of owner's pride, the human brain is quite extraordinary. A three-pound mass of jelly-like material is the only entity in the universe (that we know of) which can form and test theories about that universe. It can also speculate about structures much smaller or larger than it can possibly see. It might be thought that, when it comes to studying itself, the brain would have a number of inherent advantages, being on home turf, as it were. It is certainly true that we are very familiar with what the brain can achieve.

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