Cognitive Interventions for Neurodegenerative Disease.

Purpose Of Review: To critically review recent research in the development of non-pharmacological interventions to improve cognitive functioning in individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) or Parkinson's disease (PD).

Recent Findings: Cognitive interventions can be grouped into three categories: cognitive stimulation (CS), cognitive training (CT), and cognitive rehabilitation (CR). CS confers temporary, nonspecific benefits and might slightly reduce dementia risk for neurologically healthy individuals.

Post-traumatic epilepsy associations with mental health outcomes in the first two years after moderate to severe TBI: A TBI Model Systems analysis.

Purpose: Research suggests that there are reciprocal relationships between mental health (MH) disorders and epilepsy risk. However, MH relationships to post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE) have not been explored. Thus, the objective of this study was to assess associations between PTE and frequency of depression and/or anxiety in a cohort of individuals with moderate-to-severe TBI who received acute inpatient rehabilitation.

Characteristics of Firearm Brain Injury Survivors in the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems (TBIMS) National Database: A Comparison of Assault and Self-Inflicted Injury Survivors.

Objective: To characterize and compare subgroups of survivors with assault-related versus self-inflicted traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) via firearms at the time of inpatient rehabilitation and at 1-, 2-, and 5-year follow-up.

Design: Secondary analysis of data from the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems National Database (TBIMS NDB), a multicenter, longitudinal cohort study.

Setting: Retrospective analyses of a subset of individuals enrolled in the TBIMS NDB.

Incidence and risk factors of posttraumatic seizures following traumatic brain injury: A Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems Study.

Objective: Determine incidence of posttraumatic seizure (PTS) following traumatic brain injury (TBI) among individuals with moderate-to-severe TBI requiring rehabilitation and surviving at least 5 years.

Methods: Using the prospective TBI Model Systems National Database, we calculated PTS incidence during acute hospitalization, and at years 1, 2, and 5 postinjury in a continuously followed cohort enrolled from 1989 to 2000 (n = 795). Incidence rates were stratified by risk factors, and adjusted relative risk (RR) was calculated.

Prognostic models for predicting posttraumatic seizures during acute hospitalization, and at 1 and 2 years following traumatic brain injury.

Objective: Posttraumatic seizures (PTS) are well-recognized acute and chronic complications of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Risk factors have been identified, but considerable variability in who develops PTS remains. Existing PTS prognostic models are not widely adopted for clinical use and do not reflect current trends in injury, diagnosis, or care.

Can Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia also treat fatigue, pain, and mood symptoms in individuals with traumatic brain injury? - A multiple case report.

Background: Individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) often develop sleep disorders post-injury. The most common one is insomnia, which can exacerbate other post-injury symptoms, including fatigue, impaired cognition, depression, anxiety, and pain. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) is a manualized treatment that effectively treats insomnia with secondary effects on cognition, mood, and pain in various populations.

Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Correlates of Anxiety at 1 Year After Moderate to Severe Traumatic Brain Injury.

Objective: To determine at 1 year after moderate to severe traumatic brain injury the (1) rate of clinically significant anxiety; (2) rates of specific symptoms of anxiety; (3) risk factors for anxiety; and (4) associations of anxiety with other 1-year outcomes, including participation and quality of life.

Design: Prospective longitudinal observational study.

Setting: Inpatient rehabilitation centers, with data capture at injury and 1-year follow-up.

The relationship between self-reported sleep disturbance and polysomnography in individuals with traumatic brain injury.

Primary Objective: To characterize sleep architecture and self-reported sleep quality, fatigue and daytime sleepiness in individuals with TBI. Possible relationships between sleep architecture and self-reported sleep quality, fatigue and daytime sleepiness were examined.

Methods: Forty-four community-dwelling adults with TBI completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue (MAF) and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS).

Behavioral and neuroanatomical abnormalities in pleiotrophin knockout mice.

Pleiotrophin (PTN) is an extracellular matrix-associated protein with neurotrophic and neuroprotective effects that is involved in a variety of neurodevelopmental processes. Data regarding the cognitive-behavioral and neuroanatomical phenotype of pleiotrophin knockout (KO) mice is limited. The purpose of this study was to more fully characterize this phenotype, with emphasis on the domains of learning and memory, cognitive-behavioral flexibility, exploratory behavior and anxiety, social behavior, and the neuronal and vascular microstructure of the lateral entorhinal cortex (EC).

Variability of respiration and sleep during polysomnography in individuals with TBI.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is commonly found in individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and may exacerbate TBI-related symptoms. Nocturnal polysomnography (NPSG) is considered the gold standard for detecting the presence of sleep apnea. However, there is a limitation with its use known as the "first-night effect" (aberrant polysomnography findings on the first night in a sleep lab).

Predictors of follow-up completeness in longitudinal research on traumatic brain injury: findings from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research traumatic brain injury model systems program.

Objective: To identify baseline participant variables in the domains of demographics, medical/psychosocial history, injury characteristics, and postinjury functional status associated with longitudinal follow-up completeness in persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI) using the TBI Model Systems (TBIMS) National Database (NDB).

Design: Exhaustive chi-square automatic interaction detection was used to identify factors that classified participants according to level of follow-up completeness.

Setting: Retrospective analysis of a multi-center longitudinal database.

Dexamethasone treatment and ICAM-1 deficiency impair VEGF-induced angiogenesis in adult brain.

Background: Infusion of exogenous vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) into adult brain at doses above 60 ng/day induces dramatic angiogenesis accompanied by vascular leak and inflammation. Blood vessels formed by this treatment are dilated and tortuous, exhibiting a pathological morphology. Pathological VEGF-induced angiogenesis is preceded by vascular leak and inflammation, which have been proposed to mediate subsequent angiogenesis.