Multiple sclerosis reduces sensitivity to immediate reward during decision making.

Individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) often face important health-related and financial decisions that involve trade-offs between short-term and long-term benefits, yet decision making is rarely studied in MS patients. The temporal discounting paradigm is a useful tool for investigating such time-dependent choices in humans. Here, we investigated whether patients with relapsing-remitting MS differed from healthy controls when making choices between hypothetical monetary rewards available at different points in time.

Resting state and personality component (BIS/BAS) predict the brain activity (EEG and fNIRS measure) in response to emotional cues.

Introduction: The present study explored the role of resting state and personality component (BIS/BAS measure) on prefrontal cortical responsiveness to emotional cues. Indeed, we supposed that lateralized resting activity (right vs. left) and approach (BAS) versus avoidance (BIS) attitude may explain the successive emotional processing within the prefrontal cortex (PFC) based on the stimulus valence (positive and negative emotional cues).

When is a novel psychometric measure needed? A preliminary analysis regarding the Cognitive Assessment for Stroke Patients (CASP) battery compared with MMSE and MoCA.

The need for quick tools to sketch an early but accurate cognitive profile of patients who suffered brain damage or head trauma is of primary importance. Nonetheless, in the Italian context, the most-diffused screening tools are still those originally devised to diagnose dementia. The present pilot study then aimed at investigating the potential and feasibility of a novel screening battery, the Cognitive Assessment for Stroke Patients (CASP), in a sample of Italian patients by comparing it to Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) tests.

Resting lateralized activity predicts the cortical response and appraisal of emotions: an fNIRS study.

This study explored the effect of lateralized left-right resting brain activity on prefrontal cortical responsiveness to emotional cues and on the explicit appraisal (stimulus evaluation) of emotions based on their valence. Indeed subjective responses to different emotional stimuli should be predicted by brain resting activity and should be lateralized and valence-related (positive vs negative valence). A hemodynamic measure was considered (functional near-infrared spectroscopy).

What hemodynamic (fNIRS), electrophysiological (EEG) and autonomic integrated measures can tell us about emotional processing.

Due to its fast temporal evolution and its representation and integration among complex and widespread neural networks, the emotion perception process should preferably be examined by means of multimethodological approach. Indeed the indubitable vantage of acquiring both the autonomic (arousal-related) and the central (cortical-related) activities stands in the possibility to better elucidate the reciprocal interplay of the two compartments. In the present study EEG (frequency band analysis), systemic SCR and heart rate (HR) were all recorded simultaneously with hemodynamic (NIRS, Near-Infrared Spectroscopy) measurements as potential biological markers of emotions, related to both central and peripheral systems.