Mapping brain morphology to cognitive deficits: a study on PD-CRS scores in Parkinson's disease with mild cognitive impairment.

Background: The Parkinson's Disease-Cognitive Rating Scale (PD-CRS) is a widely used tool for detecting mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in Parkinson's Disease (PD) patients, however, the neuroanatomical underpinnings of this test's outcomes require clarification. This study aims to: (a) investigate cortical volume (CVol) and cortical thickness (CTh) disparities between PD patients exhibiting mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI) and those with preserved cognitive abilities (PD-IC); and (b) identify the structural correlates in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of overall PD-CRS performance, including its subtest scores, within a non-demented PD cohort.

Materials And Methods: This study involved 51 PD patients with Hoehn & Yahr stages I-II, categorized into two groups: PD-IC ( = 36) and PD-MCI ( = 15).

Distorted thoughts as a mediator of depressive symptoms in patients with major depressive disorder: a longitudinal study.

Background: Distorted thoughts are common in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), and can impact patients' perceptions of depression severity, and predict chronicity and treatment response. This study aimed to investigate whether distorted thoughts mediate depressive symptoms in MDD over a 6-month period.

Method: These are secondary results from a study that followed 119 patients diagnosed with moderate to severe MDD for 6 months.

Altered structural connectivity in olfactory disfunction after mild COVID-19 using probabilistic tractography.

We aimed to investigate changes in olfactory bulb volume and brain network in the white matter (WM) in patients with persistent olfactory disfunction (OD) following COVID-19. A cross-sectional study evaluated 38 participants with OD after mild COVID-19 and 24 controls, including Sniffin' Sticks identification test (SS-16), MoCA, and brain magnetic resonance imaging. Network-Based Statistics (NBS) and graph theoretical analysis were used to explore the WM.

Parkinson's Disease-Cognitive Rating Scale (PD-CRS): Normative Data and Mild Cognitive Impairment Assessment in Brazil.

Background: The Parkinson's Disease-Cognitive Rating Scale (PD-CRS) assesses posterior-cortical and frontal-subcortical cognitive functioning and distinguishes mild cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease (PD-MCI); however, it was not evaluated in Brazil.

Objectives: To investigate PD-CRS's reliability, validity, normative data, and accuracy for PD-MCI screening in Brazil.

Methods: The effects of age, education, and sex on PD-CRS scores were explored.

Inter-rater reliability of the Rasch-modified medical research council scoring criteria for manual muscle testing in neuromuscular diseases.

It was argued that researchers and clinicians are not able to make judgments between most categories of the original Medical Research Council (MRC) scale and that a modified short version would reach higher agreement levels. We aimed to assess the inter-rater reliability for both the original and the Rasch-modified MRC scoring criteria of Manual Muscle Strength tests (MMSt) in patients with neuromuscular diseases. Two MRC scoring criteria were used to score muscle strength using MMSt in 40 muscle groups of the upper and lower limbs in patients with neuromuscular disorders.

Brain microstructural changes and fatigue after COVID-19.

Background: Fatigue and cognitive complaints are the most frequent persistent symptoms in patients after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. This study aimed to assess fatigue and neuropsychological performance and investigate changes in the thickness and volume of gray matter (GM) and microstructural abnormalities in the white matter (WM) in a group of patients with mild-to-moderate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Methods: We studied 56 COVID-19 patients and 37 matched controls using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

New-Onset Movement Disorders Associated with COVID-19.

Introduction: Movement disorders are increasingly described in hospitalized and milder cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection, despite a very low prevalence compared to the total patients.

Methods: We reviewed the scientific literature published in English, spanning from the initial descriptions of COVID-19 until January 25, 2021, in the PubMed/MEDLINE database.

Results: We identified 93 new-onset movement disorders cases (44 articles) from 200 papers screened in the database or reference lists.

Is transcranial sonography useful for diagnosing Parkinson's disease in clinical practice?

Objective: Transcranial sonography (TCS) is an emerging ancillary examination for diagnosing Parkinson's disease (PD).

Objective: To evaluate TCS features in patients with PD and its mimics, and establish their accuracy in predicting the final clinical diagnosis after follow-up.

Methods: We retrospectively studied 85 patients with an initial clinical suspicion of PD, atypical parkinsonism or essential tremor, all of whom underwent TCS.

Effects of Prefrontal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation and Motivation to Quit in Tobacco Smokers: A Randomized, Sham Controlled, Double-Blind Trial.

Unlabelled: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) applied over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) has been shown to reduce cravings in tobacco addiction; however, results have been somewhat mixed. In this study, we hypothesized that motivation to quit smoking is a critical factor of tDCS effects in smokers. Therefore, we conducted a double-blind, randomized clinical trial to evaluate the effects of both tDCS and motivation to quit on cigarette consumption and the relationship between these two factors.

Mutations in the CYP51 gene reduce DMI sensitivity in Parastagonospora nodorum populations in Europe and China.

Background: Sterol demethylation inhibitors (DMIs) have been widely used to manage agronomically important fungal diseases in wheat, but reports of DMI-resistant pathogens continue to mount. Parastagonospora nodorum shows a wide range of sensitivity to DMIs, but until now no molecular mechanisms have been identified to explain these differences. The aim of this study was to correlate the DMI sensitivity of a global collection of P.

Population Genetic Structure of Rhizoctonia oryzae-sativae from Rice in Latin America and Its Adaptive Potential to Emerge as a Pathogen on Urochloa Pastures.

The fungus Rhizoctonia oryzae-sativae is an important pathogen that causes the aggregated sheath spot disease on rice. In this study, we investigated the genetic structure of rice-adapted populations of R. oryzae-sativae sampled from traditional rice-cropping areas from the Paraíba Valley, São Paulo, Brazil, and from Meta, in the Colombian Llanos, in South America.

Cross-cultural Adaptation, Reliability, and Validity of the BICAMS in Brazil.

Objective: To investigate the reliability and validity of a Brazilian-Portuguese adaptation of the Brief International Cognitive Assessment for Multiple Sclerosis (BICAMS).

Method: A Brazilian sample of 58 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and 58 healthy controls (HC) were administered the Brazilian-Portuguese BICAMS test battery, comprising the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), California Verbal Learning Test Second Edition (CVLT2), and the Brief Visuospatial Memory Test Revised (BVMTR). Mean differences between groups on BICAMS tests were assessed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), controlling for age, gender, education, anxiety, and depression.

The Urochloa Foliar Blight and Collar Rot Pathogen Rhizoctonia solani AG-1 IA Emerged in South America Via a Host Shift from Rice.

The fungus Rhizoctonia solani anastomosis group (AG)-1 IA emerged in the early 1990s as an important pathogen causing foliar blight and collar rot on pastures of the genus Urochloa (signalgrass) in South America. We tested the hypothesis that this pathogen emerged following a host shift or jump as a result of geographical overlapping of host species. The genetic structure of host and regional populations of R.

Cognitive assessment in elderly residents of long-stay institutions.

Objective: To evaluate the cognitive performance of institutionalized elderly in the city of Natal, state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.

Methods: A descriptive, longitudinal study of 85 aged individuals via an interview conducted following the application of a classification form and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), with different cutoff points according to the level of education. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Universidad Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (164/2011).

Philadelphia Brief Assessment of Cognition in healthy and clinical Brazilian sample.

The Philadelphia Brief Assessment of Cognition (PBAC) is a neuropsychological screening instrument that assesses five cognitive domains: working memory, visuospatial functioning, language, episodic memory and comportment. The aim is to verify if PBAC can properly be used in the Brazilian sample. Participated in this study: (a) 200 healthy volunteers - 100 young [21.