Reduced SMA-M1 connectivity in older than younger adults measured using dual-site TMS.

With advancing age comes a decline in voluntary movement control. Growing evidence suggests that an age-related decline in effective connectivity between the supplementary motor area and primary motor cortex (SMA-M1) might play a role in an age-related decline of bilateral motor control. Dual-site transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can be used to measure SMA-M1 effective connectivity.

Development of a behaviour change workplace-based intervention to improve nurses' eating and physical activity.

Background: There is a critical need for an intervention to improve nurses' eating and physical activity behaviours. As nurses spend a substantial proportion of their waking hours at work, concerted efforts to deliver such interventions in the workplace is growing. This study formed part of a multiphase programme of research that aimed to systematically develop an evidence-based and theory-informed workplace intervention to promote changes in eating and physical activity among nurses.

A survey of general practitioner's opinion on the proposal to introduce 'treat and referral' into the Irish emergency medical service.

Background: The introduction of treat and referral by ambulance practitioners is under active consideration in Ireland. The Irish ambulance services have traditionally transported all patients following an emergency (112/999) call to an emergency department. The introduction of treat and referral will present a significant care pathway change.

Morphometric in vivo evidence of thalamic atrophy correlated with cognitive and motor dysfunction in Huntington's disease: The IMAGE-HD study.

In Huntington's disease (HD), neurodegeneration causes progressive atrophy to the striatum, cortical areas, and white matter tracts - components of corticostriatal circuitry. Such processes may affect the thalamus, a key circuit node. We investigated whether differences in dorsal thalamic morphology were detectable in HD, and whether thalamic atrophy was associated with neurocognitive, neuropsychiatric and motor dysfunction.

Stakeholder opinion on the proposal to introduce 'treat and referral' into the Irish emergency medical service.

Background: The Irish ambulance services have traditionally transported all patients following an emergency (112/999) call, regardless of acuity, to an emergency department (ED). A proposal to introduce Treat and Referral, an established care pathway in some jurisdictions, is under active consideration in Ireland. This will present a significant change.

Multidisciplinary rehabilitation reduces hypothalamic grey matter volume loss in individuals with preclinical Huntington's disease: A nine-month pilot study.

Background: Hypothalamic pathology is a well-documented feature of Huntington's disease (HD) and is believed to contribute to circadian rhythm and habitual sleep disturbances. Currently, no therapies exist to combat hypothalamic changes, nor circadian rhythm and habitual sleep disturbances in HD.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of multidisciplinary rehabilitation on hypothalamic volume, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), circadian rhythm and habitual sleep in individuals with preclinical HD.

Reviewing the preclinical curriculum in a Problem Based Learning driven medical program: challenges and strategies.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. In order for medical curricula to remain progressive and contemporary, continuous review is critical to ensure that the learners are directed to achieve the intended goals and become workforce ready.

Supporting nurses to adopt healthy eating behaviours.

Nurses have a central role in health education and promotion, particularly with regard to supporting individuals to optimise their nutritional intake and engage in healthy eating behaviours. However, high rates of obesity, unhealthy eating behaviours and low levels of physical activity have been found among nurses. Nursing is a challenging profession, and a high workload, a lack of resources and shift work may affect nurses' ability to adopt healthy lifestyles.

Regional structural hypo- and hyperconnectivity of frontal-striatal and frontal-thalamic pathways in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia.

Behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) has been predominantly considered as a frontotemporal cortical disease, with limited direct investigation of frontal-subcortical connections. We aim to characterize the grey and white matter components of frontal-thalamic and frontal-striatal circuits in bvFTD. Twenty-four patients with bvFTD and 24 healthy controls underwent morphological and diffusion imaging.

Morphometric analysis of thalamic volume in progressive supranuclear palsy: In vivo evidence of regionally specific bilateral thalamic atrophy.

We investigated whether differences were detectable in the volume and shape of the dorsal thalamus on magnetic resonance imaging in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Manual segmentation of the left and right thalami on magnetic resonance imaging scans occurred in 22 patients with clinically diagnosed PSP and 23 healthy controls; thalamic volumes (left, right, total) were calculated. Between group differences were explored by multivariate analysis of co-variance, using age and intracranial volume as covariates.

Understanding perceived determinants of nurses' eating and physical activity behaviour: a theory-informed qualitative interview study.

Background: Unhealthy eating and physical activity behaviours are common among nurses but little is known about determinants of eating and physical activity behaviour in this population. The present study used a theoretical framework which summarises the many possible determinants of different health behaviours (the Theoretical Domains Framework; TDF) to systematically explore the most salient determinants of unhealthy eating and physical activity behaviour in hospital-based nurses.

Methods: Semi-structured qualitative interviews based on the TDF were conducted with nurses ( = 16) to explore factors that behavioural theories suggest may influence nurses' eating and physical activity behaviour.

Extended "Timed Up and Go" assessment as a clinical indicator of cognitive state in Parkinson's disease.

Objective: To evaluate a modified extended Timed Up and Go (extended-TUG) assessment against a panel of validated clinical assessments, as an indicator of Parkinson's disease (PD) severity and cognitive impairment.

Methods: Eighty-seven participants with idiopathic PD were sequentially recruited from a Movement Disorders Clinic. An extended-TUG assessment was employed which required participants to stand from a seated position, walk in a straight line for 7m, turn 180° and then return to the start, in a seated position.

Neuroimaging in psychiatry: an update on neuroimaging in the clinical setting.

Objective: We offered guidance on the role of structural and functional neuroimaging modalities for the general psychiatrist and for trainees in the clinical setting.

Methods: We outlined the utility of neuroimaging modalities in the clinical setting, specifically with a view to understanding the pathophysiology of manifestations of disease.

Results: Both structural and functional neuroimaging modalities have a clear role in diagnostic evaluation in the spectrum of neurodegenerative disorders.

No additive effect of cannabis on cognition in schizophrenia.

Background: We aimed to examine the association between lifetime cannabis use and estimates of both premorbid and current cognitive function in psychotic disorders in an Australian cohort.

Methods: In an Australian multicenter cohort, 1237 participants with an established ICD-10 diagnosis of psychotic disorder were categorised according to history of lifetime cannabis use (non-users, n=354; cannabis users, n=221; cannabis dependency, n=662). Groups were analyzed according to available indices of cognitive ability: the National Adult Reading Test - Revised (NART-R) for ability prior to illness onset; and the Digit Symbol Coding Test (DSCT) for current ability.

The thalamus as a putative biomarker in neurodegenerative disorders.

Objective: This review provides a brief account of the clinically relevant functional neuroanatomy of the thalamus, before considering the utility of various modalities utilized to image the thalamus and technical challenges therein, and going on to provide an overview of studies utilizing structural imaging techniques to map thalamic morphology in the spectrum of neurodegenerative disorders.

Methods: A systematic search was conducted for peer-reviewed studies involving structural neuroimaging modalities investigating the morphology (shape and/or size) of the thalamus in the spectrum of neurodegenerative disorders.

Results: While the precise role of the thalamus in the healthy brain remains unclear, there is a large body of knowledge accumulating which defines more precisely its functional connectivity within the connectome, and a burgeoning literature implicating its involvement in neurodegenerative disorders.

Validation of a protocol for manual segmentation of the thalamus on magnetic resonance imaging scans.

We present a validated protocol for manual segmentation of the thalamus on T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans using brain image analysis software. The MRI scans of five normal control subjects were randomly selected from a larger cohort recruited from Lund University Hospital and Landskrona Hospital, Sweden. MRIs were performed using a 3.

Getting started in research: designing and preparing to conduct a research study.

Objective: To discuss common pitfalls and useful tips in designing a quantitative research study, the importance and process of ethical approval, and consideration of funding.

Conclusions: Through careful planning, based on formulation of a research question, early career researchers can design and conduct quantitative research projects within the framework of the Scholarly Project or in their own independent projects.

Getting started in research: systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Objectives: Systematic reviews are one of the major building blocks of evidence-based medicine. This overview is an introduction to conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Conclusions: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) represent the most robust form of design in the hierarchy of research evidence.

Getting started in research: research questions, supervisors and literature reviews.

Objectives: Research can seem daunting, especially for trainees and early career researchers. This paper focuses on how to formulate and begin a research project such as the RANZCP Scholarly Project.

Methods: We outline an approach to framing a research question, developing theses and hypotheses, choosing a supervisor and conducting a literature review.