The goal of the current study was to study the contribution of source memory, more specifically, a source memory task, on the memory performance measured with a novel virtual reality (VR)-based neuropsychological assessment test, i.e., the Suite Test.

The sample included 676 subjects (49.7% female), aged from 12 to 85 years. The Suite test comprises a 360-degree VR environment designed as a furniture shop. Participants must group specific sets of furniture items (ordered by different families of customers) by clicking on the furniture to be packed, following instructions from a voice-over. All participants were administered the full version of the test, which comprises, among others, an immediate recall task, a source memory task, a short-term delayed recall task, a long-term delayed recall task, and a recognition trial.

Performance on the VR source memory task was associated with recall across age groups, with a stronger contribution in older adults, often enhancing long-term recall. In contrast, younger individuals relied more on immediate and short-term delayed recall, with weaker relationships between source memory and the other types, suggesting that it plays a more secondary role in younger participants.

The Suite Test VR-based test effectively explores source memory contributions across the lifespan. By immersing participants in a dynamic VR environment, it reveals how source memory relates to other memory types, showing age-related differences and offering valuable insights about cognitive changes, as well as about future research implications in the area of memory assessment.

Research ethics consultation services (RECS) provide important ethical guidance to various entities, including investigators and Institutional Review Boards. Established in the late 1980s and influenced by funding requirements from the National Center for Advancing Translational Science, RECS have evolved to address ethical challenges in research. This study aimed to identify key barriers and facilitators affecting the success of RECS, particularly in light of changes in funding and institutional support.

From a comprehensive list of 55 Clinical and Translational Science Award programs, 20 RECS were purposively sampled for in-depth interviews. Interviews focused on primary functions, accomplishments, barriers, and facilitators of the service. We performed an abductive analysis on transcribed data.

Twenty-two research ethics consultants from 20 institutions participated. Respondents emphasized their services’ goal of facilitating ethical research, though many faced barriers such as underutilization and lack of awareness among researchers. Facilitators included institutional support and funding. Support often was contingent on institutional leadership facilitating the service into the university’s research enterprise. Participants reported accomplishments, including successful consultations and contributions to institutional policies.

Our findings indicate that RECS play a crucial role in supporting ethical research practices, though their effectiveness is often contingent on institutional relationships and funding. Key recommendations include tracking consults, defining consultation outcomes, and fostering the development of new consultants to sustain the field of research ethics.

Episodic memory naturally declines with age. The method of loci is an encoding strategy that has been shown to enhance episodic memory. However, it relies heavily on associative memory, as it consists in associating each item of a to-be-learnt list with a location along a familiar route, and associative memory is thought to be the source of the episodic age-related decline. However, when associative memory is supported by semantic knowledge, older adults can compensate for this decline. This study aims to explore the use of the method of loci, that we adapted to leverage pre-existing knowledge in semantic memory, to improve episodic memory in aging.

Word recall performance of young (18–30 years old) and older (60–75 years old) participants was tested after encoding word lists using the method of loci under two conditions: congruent or incongruent with pre-existing knowledge, compared to a control condition.

The results showed significant memory performance improvement in both groups when the method of loci was used with congruent associations. In contrast, in older adults, performance in the incongruent condition did not improve compared with that observed during encoding without a specific strategy, highlighting the importance of semantic links for associative memory. Furthermore, using the method of loci with congruent associations, older adults displayed recall performance equivalent to young adults, while it was not the case with incongruent associations.

The method of loci applied in conditions of semantic congruence thus appears to be a promising compensatory strategy for older adults.

Respiratory diseases are increasing global health burden with persistently high morbidity and mortality. Extracellular vesicles (EVs), which are virtually released by all cell types and carry a variety of molecules like miRNAs, have emerged as crucial mediators of intercellular communication. They play a key role in maintaining lung homeostasis and are involved in the pathogenesis of various respiratory conditions. Furthermore, mesenchymal stromal cell-derived EVs (MSC-EVs) have shown significant therapeutic potential due to their anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and reparative properties.

This narrative review critically assesses the current body of literature on the roles of EVs in respiratory diseases. We examine evidence from pre-clinical and clinical studies that investigate EVs as biomarkers and therapeutics for conditions including asthma, bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis (CF), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), lung cancer, and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

EVs reflect the physiological or pathological state of their parental cells, making them promising multimodal biomarkers for the early diagnosis and monitoring of disease progression. Additionally, MSC-EVs function as effective, cell-free therapeutic agents. In a variety of disease models, they demonstrate efficacy by modulating immune responses, enhancing alveolar fluid clearance, and restoring epithelial and endothelial barrier integrity, leading to improved survival and outcomes.

EVs hold a dual and transformative potential in respiratory medicine. They may serve as valuable diagnostic and prognostic tools, and their application as cell-free therapeutics represents a novel and promising strategy for treating a wide spectrum of debilitating respiratory diseases.

Approximately 24% of stroke survivors develop post-stroke depression (PSD), which is associated with poor psychological recovery, identity disruption, and reduced self-esteem. Psychological interventions often fail to address these broader challenges. The Wisdom Enhancement Timeline technique, which facilitates autobiographical reflection, has shown promise for depression in older adults. It has not yet been studied in a post-stroke population.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the Wisdom Enhancement Timeline technique in stroke. It was hypothesised that wisdom would improve first, followed by identity/self-esteem and mood.

A multiple-baseline single-case experimental design (SCED) was used across three stroke survivors. Daily visual analogue scale (VAS) ratings measured mood, identity, self-esteem, and wisdom during the trial. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) measured depressive symptoms at pre- and post-intervention. Visual analysis, Tau-U, generalised least squares regression (adjusting for autocorrelation), and piecewise regression evaluated intervention effects.

Improvements were observed across all participants and outcomes. Tau-U analysis indicated small-to-large effect sizes across outcomes (effect size range: 0.30–0.92). Breakpoints confirmed wisdom improved first, followed by identity/self-esteem and mood last. Regression confirmed significant level shifts across all outcomes. All participants showed clinically meaningful reductions in PHQ-9 scores, operationalised as a shift from pre-intervention scores above 10 to post-intervention scores below 10.

Wisdom-based interventions could be beneficial in a stroke population, promoting improvements in mood, identity coherence, self-esteem and wisdom. The Wisdom Enhancement Timeline technique shows promise for PSD treatment, although further research is needed to validate these effects.