Mind wandering is associated with worsening attentional vigilance.

The tendency for our minds to wander is a pervasive and disruptive influence on continued task performance. Models of sustained attention have implicated mind wandering, moments when attention has turned inwards toward task-unrelated thought, in characteristic patterns of worsening performance with greater time-on-task, known as the vigilance decrement. Despite their theoretical connection, associations between mind wandering and the vigilance decrement have not been investigated systematically.

Investigating the protective effects of mindfulness-based attention training on mind wandering in applied settings.

Introduction: Mind wandering, a phenomenon in which attention drifts away from the task-at-hand, is associated with deleterious effects on performance and well-being. As such, efforts to curb mind wandering are warranted. Recently, mindfulness training (MT) has been found to protect against mind wandering.

Online mindfulness training for older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic: a randomized controlled trial using a multi-method assessment approach.

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic drastically accelerated the need for studies examining the effectiveness of programs to bolster psychological well-being, particularly for at-risk groups, such as older adults (OAs). Mindfulness Training (MT) has been suggested as a well-suited program for this purpose. The present study examined the impact of a 4-week online, trainer-led MT course tailored for OAs during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

When should an athlete retire or discontinue participating in contact or collision sports following sport-related concussion? A systematic review.

Objective: To systematically review the scientific literature regarding factors to consider when providing advice or guidance to athletes about retirement from contact or collision sport following sport-related concussion (SRC), and to define contraindications to children/adolescent athletes entering or continuing with contact or collision sports after SRC.

Data Sources: Medline, Embase, SPORTSDiscus, APA PsycINFO, CINAHL and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched systematically.

Study Eligibility Criteria: Studies were included if they were (1) original research, (2) reported on SRC as the primary source of injury, (3) evaluated the history, clinical assessment and/or investigation of findings that may preclude participation in sport and (4) evaluated mood disturbance and/or neurocognitive deficits, evidence of structural brain injury or risk factors for increased risk of subsequent SRC or prolonged recovery.

Complex Hallucinations in Hospitalized Rehabilitation Patients With COVID-19.

Objectives: To explore the characteristics of hallucinations in hospitalized rehabilitation patients with COVID-19.

Design: Retrospective review using medical records of patients with COVID-19 and admitted to the acute inpatient rehabilitation unit (ARU).

Setting: A public hospital in southern California, specializing in rehabilitation medicine.

Reducing ExacTrac intrafraction imaging uncertainty for prostate stereotactic body radiotherapy using a pre-treatment CBCT.

This study evaluated the intrafractional auto-matching uncertainties of prostate-implanted fiducial markers when using the ExacTrac v6.5 (Brainlab, Feldkirchen, Germany) X-ray stereoscopic system. A customised phantom with 3 implanted gold seeds was initially positioned at the isocentre using a cone beam CT (CBCT) prior to intrafractional imaging.

Expanded Exploration of the Auditory Naming Test in Patients with Dementia.

Background: Auditory naming tests are superior to visual confrontation naming tests in revealing word-finding difficulties in many neuropathological conditions.

Objective: To delineate characteristics of auditory naming most likely to reveal anomia in patients with dementia, and possibly improve diagnostic utility, we evaluated a large sample of patients referred with memory impairment complaints.

Methods: Patients with dementia (N = 733) or other cognitive impairments and normal individuals (N = 69) were evaluated for frequency of impairment on variables of the Auditory Naming Test (ANT) of Hamberger & Seidel versus the Boston Naming Test (BNT).

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Consensus Diagnostic Criteria for Traumatic Encephalopathy Syndrome.

Objective: To develop evidence-informed, expert consensus research diagnostic criteria for traumatic encephalopathy syndrome (TES), the clinical disorder associated with neuropathologically diagnosed chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

Methods: A panel of 20 expert clinician-scientists in neurology, neuropsychology, psychiatry, neurosurgery, and physical medicine and rehabilitation, from 11 academic institutions, participated in a modified Delphi procedure to achieve consensus, initiated at the First National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Consensus Workshop to Define the Diagnostic Criteria for TES April, 2019. Before consensus, panelists reviewed evidence from all published cases of CTE with neuropathologic confirmation, and they examined the predictive validity data on clinical features in relation to CTE pathology from a large clinicopathologic study (n = 298).

Benfotiamine and Cognitive Decline in Alzheimer's Disease: Results of a Randomized Placebo-Controlled Phase IIa Clinical Trial.

Background: In preclinical models, benfotiamine efficiently ameliorates the clinical and biological pathologies that define Alzheimer's disease (AD) including impaired cognition, amyloid-β plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, diminished glucose metabolism, oxidative stress, increased advanced glycation end products (AGE), and inflammation.

Objective: To collect preliminary data on feasibility, safety, and efficacy in individuals with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) or mild dementia due to AD in a placebo-controlled trial of benfotiamine.

Methods: A twelve-month treatment with benfotiamine tested whether clinical decline would be delayed in the benfotiamine group compared to the placebo group.

Nailfold Capillary Hemorrhages: Microvascular Risk Factors for Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma.

Background: Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is associated with systemic microvascular dysfunction including hemorrhages and other abnormalities of the nailfold capillary bed. This study aimed to verify the specificity of nailfold capillary hemorrhages and other abnormalities as risk factors for POAG.

Methods: Nailfold video capillaroscopy was performed using a JH-1004 capillaroscope on the fourth and fifth digits of the nondominant hand in control ( = 277), POAG ( = 206), OHT ( = 57), and SG ( = 29) subjects.

Brain and blood biomarkers of tauopathy and neuronal injury in humans and rats with neurobehavioral syndromes following blast exposure.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a risk factor for the later development of neurodegenerative diseases that may have various underlying pathologies. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in particular is associated with repetitive mild TBI (mTBI) and is characterized pathologically by aggregation of hyperphosphorylated tau into neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs). CTE may be suspected when behavior, cognition, and/or memory deteriorate following repetitive mTBI.

Concussion management in combat sports: consensus statement from the Association of Ringside Physicians.

Various organisations and experts have published numerous statements and recommendations regarding different aspects of sports-related concussion including definition, presentation, treatment, management and return to play guidelines. To date, there have been no written consensus statements specific for combat sports regarding management of combatants who have suffered a concussion or for return to competition after a concussion. In combat sports, head contact is an objective of the sport itself.

Improving accuracy for stereotactic body radiotherapy treatments of spinal metastases.

Purpose: Use of SBRT techniques is now a relatively common recourse for spinal metastases due to good local control rates and durable pain control. However, the technique has not yet reached maturity for gantry-based systems, so work is still required in finding planning approaches that produce optimum conformity as well as delivery for the slew of treatment planning systems and treatment machines.

Methods: A set of 32 SBRT spine treatment plans based on four vertebral sites, varying in modality and number of control points, were created in Pinnacle.

The new Mobile Universal Lexicon Evaluation System (MULES): A test of rapid picture naming for concussion sized for the sidelines.

Objective: Measures of rapid automatized naming (RAN) have been used for over 50 years to capture vision-based aspects of cognition. The Mobile Universal Lexicon Evaluation System (MULES) is a test of rapid picture naming under investigation for detection of concussion and other neurological disorders. MULES was designed as a series of 54 grouped color photographs (fruits, random objects, animals) that integrates saccades, color perception and contextual object identification.

A systematic review of potential long-term effects of sport-related concussion.

Objective: Systematic review of possible long-term effects of sports-related concussion in retired athletes.

Data Sources: Ten electronic databases.

Study Selection: Original research; incidence, risk factors or causation related to long-term mental health or neurological problems; individuals who have suffered a concussion; retired athletes as the subjects and possible long-term sequelae defined as 10 years after the injury.

Mobile Universal Lexicon Evaluation System (MULES) test: A new measure of rapid picture naming for concussion.

Objective: This study introduces a rapid picture naming test, the Mobile Universal Lexicon Evaluation System (MULES), as a novel, vision-based performance measure for concussion screening. The MULES is a visual-verbal task that includes 54 original photographs of fruits, objects and animals. We piloted MULES in a cohort of volunteers to determine feasibility, ranges of picture naming responses, and the relation of MULES time scores to those of King-Devick (K-D), a rapid number naming test.

Statements of Agreement From the Targeted Evaluation and Active Management (TEAM) Approaches to Treating Concussion Meeting Held in Pittsburgh, October 15-16, 2015.

Background: Conventional management for concussion involves prescribed rest and progressive return to activity. Recent evidence challenges this notion and suggests that active approaches may be effective for some patients. Previous concussion consensus statements provide limited guidance regarding active treatment.

Vitamin B1 (thiamine) and dementia.

The earliest and perhaps best example of an interaction between nutrition and dementia is related to thiamine (vitamin B1). Throughout the last century, research showed that thiamine deficiency is associated with neurological problems, including cognitive deficits and encephalopathy. Multiple similarities exist between classical thiamine deficiency and Alzheimer's disease (AD) in that both are associated with cognitive deficits and reductions in brain glucose metabolism.

Determining brain fitness to fight: Has the time come?

Professional boxing is associated with a risk of chronic neurological injury, with up to 20-50% of former boxers exhibiting symptoms of chronic brain injury. Chronic traumatic brain injury encompasses a spectrum of disorders that are associated with long-term consequences of brain injury and remains the most difficult safety challenge in modern-day boxing. Despite these concerns, traditional guidelines used for return to sport participation after concussion are inconsistently applied in boxing.

Expert consensus document: Mind the gaps—advancing research into short-term and long-term neuropsychological outcomes of youth sports-related concussions.

Sports-related concussions and repetitive subconcussive exposure are increasingly recognized as potential dangers to paediatric populations, but much remains unknown about the short-term and long-term consequences of these events, including potential cognitive impairment and risk of later-life dementia. This Expert Consensus Document is the result of a 1-day meeting convened by Safe Kids Worldwide, the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, and the Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine. The goal is to highlight knowledge gaps and areas of critically needed research in the areas of concussion science, dementia, genetics, diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, neuroimaging, sports injury surveillance, and information sharing.

The clinical presentation of chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder attributed to repetitive mild traumatic brain injury. The diagnosis in a living individual can be challenging and can be made definitively only at autopsy. The symptoms are often nonspecific and overlap with neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy and other long-term sequelae.

Purpose Of Review: Growing public health concern exists over the incidence of chronic traumatic brain injury (TBI) in athletes participating in contact sports. Chronic TBI represents a spectrum of disorders associated with long-term consequences of single or repetitive TBI and includes chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), chronic postconcussion syndrome, and chronic neurocognitive impairment. Neurologists should be familiar with the different types of chronic TBI and their diagnostic criteria.