A Frontal Neuropsychological Profile in Fitness to Drive.

Traffic accidents are a global concern due to the elevated mortality rates of both drivers and pedestrians. The World Health Organization declared 2011-2020 as the Decade of Action for Road Safety, endorsing initiatives to reduce traffic-related deaths. Yet, despite these incentives, fatal accidents still occur.

Safe driving and executive functions in healthy middle-aged drivers.

The introduction of the point system driver's license in several European countries could offer a valid framework for evaluating driving skills. This is the first study to use this framework to assess the functional integrity of executive functions in middle-aged drivers with full points, partial points or no points on their driver's license (N = 270). The purpose of this study is to find differences in executive functions that could be determinants in safe driving.

Recovery of cognitive function during comprehensive rehabilitation after severe traumatic brain injury.

Objective: To explore the course and timing of functional recovery in patients who have emerged from coma after undergoing severe traumatic brain injury.

Methods: An observational study involving 19 patients with traumatic brain injury recovered from coma who underwent holistic, intensive and multidisciplinary neurorehabilitation. Daily performance in each cognitive function (long-term memory, short-term memory, orientation, calculation, attention, mental control, automation, and planning) was clinically scored and compared at admission and discharge.

Efficient learning produces spontaneous neural repetition suppression in prefrontal cortex.

Our study focuses on the physiological effects of repetition on learning and working memory using an adaptation of Luria's Memory Word-Task (LMWT). We assess the hemodynamic response in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) of 13 healthy subjects while completing LMWT. Free word recalls were acquired at the beginning, middle and end of the task.

Delta-alpha ratio correlates with level of recovery after neurorehabilitation in patients with acquired brain injury.

Objective: To explore the relationship between three QEEG global indexes and their association with functional outcome after neurorehabilitation in non-acute acquired brain injury (ABI) patients (traumatic brain injury and stroke).

Methods: Twenty-one adult ABI patients in post-acute phase were studied. Delta-alpha ratio (DAR), Power Ratio Index (PRI) and Mean Brain Symmetry Index (mBSI) were calculated from resting-state EEG taken at admission.

The hemodynamics of cognitive control: the level of concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin in the superior prefrontal cortex varies as a function of performance in a modified Stroop task.

The purpose of this study was to establish the relationship between the hemodynamic response of prefrontal cortex (PFC) and individual differences in cognitive control, as measured by a color-word interference task. Twenty-five healthy volunteers were observed through functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) while performing a modified Stroop paradigm. Mean concentration levels of oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) were correlated with behavioral performance in the conflict task.

A QEEG index of level of functional dependence for people sustaining acquired brain injury: the Seville Independence Index (SINDI).

Primary Objective: To find an easy-to-use, valid and reliable tool for evaluating the level of functional dependence of an individual with brain damage who seeks a diagnosis of his/her functional dependence in daily activities.

Methods: Eighty-one patients with acquired brain injury (ABI) in post-acute phase, 40 traumatic brain injury (TBI) and 41 cerebral vascular accident (CVA), were assessed using quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) and grouped according to the FIM + FAM scale. Discriminant analysis was performed on QEEG variables to obtain a discriminant function with the best discriminative capacity between functionality groups.

A lasting post-stimulus activation on dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is produced when processing valence and arousal in visual affective stimuli.

This paper introduces a new paradigm in the study of emotional processes through functional neuroimaging. We study whether the valence and arousal of visual stimuli influence neuroimaging of the evoked hemodynamic changes. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), we investigate evoked-cerebral blood oxygenation (CBO) changes in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) during direct exposure to different emotion-eliciting stimuli ('on' period), and during the period directly following stimulus cessation ('off' period).

Does dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) activation return to baseline when sexual stimuli cease? The role of DLPFC in visual sexual stimulation.

A fundamental question in human sexuality regards the neural substrate underlying sexually-arousing representations. Lesion and neuroimaging studies suggest that dorsolateral pre-frontal cortex (DLPFC) plays an important role in regulating the processing of visual sexual stimulation. The aim of this Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) study was to explore DLPFC structures involved in the processing of erotic and non-sexual films.

Differential time course and intensity of PFC activation for men and women in response to emotional stimuli: a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) study.

Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) we recorded prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation during positive, negative and neutral film clips, based on affective ratings according to their valence and arousal, to assess gender differences in cerebral activation in 15 male and 15 female volunteers. To record PFC activation, five movie clips were presented on a 17-in. TFT screen.

Epidemiology of traumatic brain injury and subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Incidence rates of traumatic brain injury are high in both industrialized and non-industrialized countries and have been estimated variously to be between 150-250 cases per 100,000 population per year. The estimated incidence rates for subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) are between 10 to 25 cases per 100,000 population per year. Seasonal variation in the occurrence of subarachnoid hemorrhage has been reported in studies from different countries, with significant seasonal variations and peak periods for aneurysmal SAH differing widely.