Reliability of the Balance Error Scoring System test is maintained during remote administration.

Aim: This study investigates if scores on the Balance Error Scoring System (BESS) are affected when administered remotely.

Materials & Methods: Participants included 26 undergraduate students, aged 19-32 (mean: 21.85 ± 2.

Investigation of the changes in oscillatory power during task switching after mild traumatic brain injury.

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) can cause persistent cognitive changes. These cognitive changes may be due to changes in neural communication. Task-switching is a cognitive control operation that may be susceptible to mTBI and is associated with oscillations in theta (4-7 Hz), alpha (8-13 Hz), and beta (14-30 Hz) ranges.

Multiple Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries Are Associated with Increased Rates of Health Symptoms and Gulf War Illness in a Cohort of 1990-1991 Gulf War Veterans.

Recent research demonstrated a relation between traumatic brain injury (TBI), health symptoms and diagnosis of Gulf War Illness (GWI) in Gulf War Veterans, but no study has examined the impact of multiple mild TBIs (mTBIs). A total of 229 male Gulf War Veterans from the Ft Devens Cohort were categorized by a number of mTBIs reported. One-way ANOVA and chi-square test of independence were used to test for differences in total reported health symptoms and diagnosis of chronic multisymptom illness (CMI) or Kansas GWI criteria, two of the most common case definitions of GWI.

Lifetime Multiple Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries Are Associated with Cognitive and Mood Symptoms in Young Healthy College Students.

Background/objectives: Repetitive mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI, also known as concussion) has been associated with a range of long-term mood and cognitive deficits, including executive dysfunction. Previous research in athletes suggests that cognitive and mood problems are associated with a history of repetitive mTBI. However, to date, no studies have examined the impact of a lifetime accumulation of repetitive mTBIs on cognition, particularly executive functioning, and mood in a sample of young adults who were not athletes.

Office-Based Assessment of At-Risk Driving in Older Adults With and Without Cognitive Impairment.

Background: A multitest approach is optimal for the identification of at-risk driving among older adults. This study examined the predictive validity of a combination of office-based screening tests for on-road driving performance in older adults with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI)/dementia.

Methods: Forty-four normal control, 20 participants with MCI, and 20 participants with dementia completed a battery of office-based assessments.

Concussion Care Practices and Utilization of Evidence-Based Guidelines in the Evaluation and Management of Concussion: A Survey of New England Emergency Departments.

Evidence-based clinical practice guidelines can facilitate proper evaluation and management of concussions in the emergency department (ED), often the initial and primary point of contact for concussion care. There is no universally adopted set of guidelines for concussion management, and extant evidence suggests that there may be variability in concussion care practices and limited application of clinical practice guidelines in the ED. This study surveyed EDs throughout New England to examine current practices of concussion care and utilization of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines in the evaluation and management of concussions.

Self-Reported Traumatic Brain Injury, Health and Rate of Chronic Multisymptom Illness in Veterans From the 1990-1991 Gulf War.

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) was not considered to be common in the 1990-1991 Gulf War (GW). Therefore, the relationship between TBI and chronic health symptoms experienced by GW veterans is unknown. Health symptoms reported by veterans deployed more recently to this region (Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom) are similar to those of GW veterans and have been primarily attributed to TBI.

Side and type of initial motor symptom influences visuospatial functioning in Parkinson's disease.

Background/objectives: Visuospatial problems are common in Parkinson's disease (PD) and likely stem from dysfunction in dopaminergic pathways and consequent disruption of cortical functioning. Characterizing the motor symptoms at disease onset provides a method of observing how dysfunction in these pathways influences visuospatial cognition. We examined two types of motor characteristics: Body side (left or right) and type of initial symptom (tremor or symptom other than tremor).

Clinical presentation of chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

Objective: The goal of this study was to examine the clinical presentation of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in neuropathologically confirmed cases.

Methods: Thirty-six adult male subjects were selected from all cases of neuropathologically confirmed CTE at the Boston University Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy brain bank. Subjects were all athletes, had no comorbid neurodegenerative or motor neuron disease, and had next-of-kin informants to provide retrospective reports of the subjects' histories and clinical presentations.

Profile of self-reported problems with executive functioning in college and professional football players.

Repetitive mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), such as that experienced by contact-sport athletes, has been associated with the development of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Executive dysfunction is believed to be among the earliest symptoms of CTE, with these symptoms presenting in the fourth or fifth decade of life. The present study used a well-validated self-report measure to study executive functioning in football players, compared to healthy adults.

Luminance affects age-related deficits in object detection: implications for computerized psychological assessments.

As psychological instruments are converted for administration on computers, differences in luminance and contrast of these displays may affect performance. Specifically, high-luminance assessments may mask age-group differences that are apparent under lower luminance conditions. We examined the effects of luminance and contrast on object detection using computerized and naturalistic assessments.

Relation of Parkinson's disease subtypes to visual activities of daily living.

Visual perceptual problems are common in Parkinson's disease (PD) and often affect activities of daily living (ADLs). PD patients with non-tremor symptoms at disease onset (i.e.

White matter hyperintensity and cognitive functioning in the racial and ethnic minority cohort of the Framingham Heart Study.

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated an association between white matter hyperintensities (WMH) and cognitive performance primarily in Caucasian samples, limiting generalizability to other ethnic and racial groups. This study investigated the association of WMH and cognition in an ethnic and racial minority cohort (Omni) of the Framingham Heart Study and compared these results to the Caucasian (Offspring) cohort.

Methods: Quantitative brain MRI and neuropsychological evaluations were performed on stroke- and dementia-free participants.