Feasibility and Preliminary Efficacy of American Elderberry Juice for Improving Cognition and Inflammation in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Despite data showing that nutritional interventions high in antioxidant/anti-inflammatory properties (anthocyanin-rich foods, such as blueberries/elderberries) may decrease risk of memory loss and cognitive decline, evidence for such effects in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is limited. This study examined preliminary effects of American elderberry (Sambucus nigra subsp. canadensis) juice on cognition and inflammatory markers in patients with MCI.

Development and Initial Evaluation of Web-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia in Rural Family Caregivers of People With Dementia (NiteCAPP): Mixed Methods Study.

Background: Informal caregivers of people with dementia frequently experience chronic insomnia, contributing to stress and poor health outcomes. Rural caregivers are particularly vulnerable but have limited access to cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), a recommended frontline treatment for chronic insomnia. Web-based delivery promises to improve insomnia, particularly for rural caregivers who have limited access to traditional in-person treatments.

Sleep and Dementia.

Neurocognitive and sleep problems are common, underdiagnosed, and frequently co-morbid. Sleep disruption, and fatigue, predict cognitive impairment. Cognitive impairment, in turn, can worsen sleep hygiene.

Non-optic vision: Beyond synesthesia?

Patient NS is a 28year-old female who went blind in her early twenties as a result of S-cone syndrome, a degenerative retinal disorder. A few years after losing her vision, she started experiencing visual perceptions of her hands as she moved them and objects that came into contact with her hands. Over the course of a year, these cross-modal sensations evolved to become veridical visual experiences accurately representative of her hands, objects she touched, and to some degree, objects she could infer from her immediate surroundings.

Simultanagnosia: when all you can see are trees, the forest still rules.

We investigated the nature of covertly processed visual elements in a patient with simultanagnosia, a disorder characterized by the inability to perceive multiple aspects of a visual scene all at once. Using the first letter of the color words red, green, or blue, we created a novel testing paradigm that combined Navon global-local stimuli with a single-letter Stroop task. The letters R, G, or B were arranged in the overall configuration of a large R, G, or B.

The influence of vagus nerve stimulation on memory.

Background: Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) has been shown to improve memory.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to learn at which stage of memory formation this influence occurs.

Methods: Ten subjects who had been implanted with vagus nerve stimulators for the treatment of intractable seizures performed tasks that assessed learning and retention (Hopkins Verbal Learning Test) during actual and sham VNS.

Effect of vagus nerve stimulation on creativity and cognitive flexibility.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether vagus nerve stimulation influences cognitive flexibility and creativity.

Methods: Ten subjects, in whom vagus nerve stimulators had been implanted for the treatment of intractable seizures, performed tasks that assessed cognitive flexibility (solving anagrams), creativity (Torrance Test), and memory (Hopkins Verbal Learning Test) during actual and sham vagus nerve stimulation.

Results: Vagus nerve stimulation impaired cognitive flexibility and creativity, but these results could not be explained by the induction of a general encephalopathy because VNS did not impair learning and improved retention.