Occlusal effects on text reading: an eye-tracker study.

Introduction: Asymmetric electromyographic (EMG) activity during teeth clenching has been linked to cognitive impairment, as evaluated by the Spinnler-Tognoni matrices test, and to asymmetric pupil size (anisocoria). Anisocoria indicates an asymmetric Locus Coeruleus activity, leading to an asymmetric hemispheric excitability worsening cognitive performance. Bite splint wearing corrects EMG asymmetry, reduces anisocoria and improves cognitive performance.

The cerebellum monitors errors and entrains executive networks.

Frontal midline θ (Fmθ) activity occurs in medial prefrontal cortices (mPFC), when expected and actual outcomes conflict. Cerebellar forward models could inform the mPFC about this mismatch. To verify this hypothesis we correlated the mPFC activation during a visuomotor tracking task (VM) with performance accuracy, in control and cerebellum-lesioned participants.

Pointing in cervical dystonia patients.

Introduction: The normal hemispheric balance can be altered by the asymmetric sensorimotor signal elicited by Cervical Dystonia (CD), leading to motor and cognitive deficits.

Methods: Directional errors, peak velocities, movement and reaction times of pointing towards out-of-reach targets in the horizontal plane were analysed in 18 CD patients and in 11 aged-matched healthy controls.

Results: CD patients displayed a larger scatter of individual trials around the average pointing direction (variable error) than normal subjects, whatever the arm used, and the target pointed.

Trigeminal Stimulation and Visuospatial Performance: The Struggle between Chewing and Trigeminal Asymmetries.

Chewing improves visuospatial performance through locus coeruleus (LC) activation. The effects of bilateral and unilateral mastication were investigated in subjects showing different degrees of asymmetry in masseter electromyographic (EMG) activity during clenching and in pupil size at rest (anisocoria), which is a proxy of LC imbalance. Correlations between performance changes and asymmetry values were found in males, but not in females.

Effects of a short period of postural training on postural stability and vestibulospinal reflexes.

The effects of postural training on postural stability and vestibulospinal reflexes (VSRs) were investigated in normal subjects. A period (23 minutes) of repeated episodes (n = 10, 50 seconds) of unipedal stance elicited a progressive reduction of the area covered by centre of pressure (CoP) displacement, of average CoP displacement along the X and Y axes and of CoP velocity observed in this challenging postural task. All these changes were correlated to each other with the only exception of those in X and Y CoP displacement.

Causal Symbolic Information Transfer for the Assessment of functional Brain-Heart Interplay through EEG Microstates Occurrences: a proof-of-concept study.

Electroencephalography (EEG) microstates analysis provides a sequence of topographies representing the scalp-related electric field over time, and each microstate is synthetically represented by a symbol. Despite recent advances on functional brain-heart interplay (BHI) assessment, to our knowledge no methodology takes EEG microstates into account to relate the causal heartbeat dynamics. Moreover, standard BHI methods are tailored to a single EEG-channel analysis, neglecting the comprehensive information associated with a multichannel cluster or a whole-brain activity.

Chewing and Cognitive Improvement: The Side Matters.

Chewing improves cognitive performance, which is impaired in subjects showing an asymmetry in electromyographic (EMG) masseter activity during clenching. In these subjects, the simultaneous presence of an asymmetry in pupil size (anisocoria) at rest indicates an imbalance in Ascending Reticular Activating System (ARAS) influencing arousal and pupil size. The aim of the present study was to verify whether a trigeminal EMG asymmetry may bias the stimulating effect of chewing on cognition.

Hypnotisability and the Cerebellum: Hypotheses and Perspectives.

Hypnotisability is a multidimensional trait predicting the proneness to enter hypnosis and/or accept suggestions and is associated with several psychophysiological correlates. This scoping review reports the differences between individuals with high (highs) and low hypnotizability (lows) in the left cerebellar lobules IV-VI grey matter volume, in the excitability of the right motor cortex and in motor and non-motor functions in which the cerebellum may be involved. A reduced cerebellar inhibition may explain the greater excitability of the highs' right motor cortex.

Linear and non linear measures of pupil size as a function of hypnotizability.

Higher arousal and cortical excitability have been observed in high hypnotizable individuals (highs) with respect to low hypnotizables (lows), which may be due to differences in the activation of ascending activating systems. The present study investigated the possible hypnotizability-related difference in the cortical noradrenergic tone sustained by the activity of the Locus Coeruleus which is strongly related to pupil size. This was measured during relaxation in three groups of participants-highs (N = 15), lows (N = 15) and medium hypnotizable individuals (mediums, N = 11)-in the time and frequency domains and through the Recurrence Quantification Analysis.

The path from trigeminal asymmetry to cognitive impairment: a behavioral and molecular study.

Trigeminal input exerts acute and chronic effects on the brain, modulating cognitive functions. Here, new data from humans and animals suggest that these effects are caused by trigeminal influences on the Locus Coeruleus (LC). In humans subjects clenching with masseter asymmetric activity, occlusal correction improved cognition, alongside with reductions in pupil size and anisocoria, proxies of LC activity and asymmetry, respectively.

Trigeminal input, pupil size and cognitive performance: From oral to brain matter.

It has been observed that, in patients affected by temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) and edentulism, a left-right asymmetry in electromyographic (EMG) activity of masseter muscles during clenching and in pupil size at rest (anisocoria) is present. Both are greatly reduced by an orthotic-prosthetic correction. In parallel, the correction significantly improves cognitive performance.

Postural effects of interoceptive imagery as a function of hypnotizability.

The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of pleasant and unpleasant interoceptive imagery on postural control in participants with different hypnotizability, interoceptive sensibility and ability of imagery. Forty-one healthy individuals classified as high (highs), medium (mediums) and low hypnotizables (lows) according to the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, form A (SHSS, A) were characterized for Interoceptive Sensitivity (IS) through the Multisensory Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) and for organic mental imagery (ORG) through Betts' questionnaire. The experimental session included baseline closed eyes conditions preceding tasks of pleasant (P) and unpleasant imagery (U) and a neutral cognitive task (NT) while standing on a stabilometric platform.

Task-independent Electrophysiological Correlates of Motor Imagery Ability from Kinaesthetic and Visual Perspectives.

Motor imagery (MI) ability is highly subjective, as indicated by the individual scores of the MIQ-3 questionnaire, and poor imagers compensate for the difficulty in performing MI with larger cerebral activations, as demonstrated by MI studies involving hands/limbs. In order to identify general, task-independent MI ability correlates, 16 volunteers were stratified with MIQ-3. The scores in the kinaesthetic (K) and 1st-person visual (V) perspectives were associated with EEG patterns obtained during K-MI and V-MI of the same complex MIQ-3 movements during these MI tasks (Spearman's correlation, significance at <0.

Psychobiological evidence of the stress resilience fostering properties of a cosmetic routine.

Everyday life psychosocial stressors contribute to poor health and disease vulnerabilty. Means alternative to pharmacotherapy that are able to foster stress resilience are more and more under the magnifying glass of biomedical research. The aim of this study was to test stress resilience fostering properties of the self-administration of a cosmetic product enriched with essential oils.

Assessing Pupil-linked Changes in Locus Coeruleus-mediated Arousal Elicited by Trigeminal Stimulation.

Current scientific literature provides evidence that trigeminal sensorimotor activity associated with chewing may affect arousal, attention, and cognitive performance. These effects may be due to widespread connections of the trigeminal system to the ascending reticular activating system (ARAS), to which noradrenergic neurons of the locus coeruleus (LC) belongs. LC neurons contain projections to the whole brain, and it is known that their discharge co-varies with pupil size.

Unclassifiable Isolated Monoclonal Lymphocytosis: Comprehensive Description of a Retrospective Cohort.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification, the nosology of B-cell neoplasms integrates clinical, morphological, phenotypic, and genetic data. In this retrospective analysis, we identified 18 patients with isolated neoplastic lymphocytosis that could not be accurately classified within the WHO classification. Most of them were asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis and the evolution was relatively indolent, as only five patients required treatment after a median follow-up of 48 months.

Unbalanced Occlusion Modifies the Pattern of Brain Activity During Execution of a Finger to Thumb Motor Task.

In order to assess possible influences of occlusion on motor performance, we studied by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) the changes in the blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal induced at brain level by a finger to thumb motor task in a population of subjects characterized by an asymmetric activation of jaw muscles during clenching (malocclusion). In these subjects, appropriate occlusal correction by an oral orthotic (bite) reduced the masticatory asymmetry. The finger to thumb task was performed while the subject's dental arches were touching, in two conditions: (a) with the teeth in direct contact (Bite OFF) and (b) with the bite interposed between the arches (Bite ON).

Spectral and topological analyses of the cortical representation of the head position: Does hypnotizability matter?

Introduction: The aim of this exploratory study was to assess the EEG correlates of head positions (which have never been studied in humans) in participants with different psychophysiological characteristics, as encoded by their hypnotizability scores. This choice is motivated by earlier studies suggesting different processing of vestibular/neck proprioceptive information in subjects with high (highs) and low (lows) hypnotizability scores maintaining their head rotated toward one side (RH).

Methods: We analyzed EEG signals recorded in 20 highs and 19 lows in basal conditions (head forward) and during RH using spectral analysis, which captures changes localized to specific recording sites, and topological data analysis (TDA), which instead describes large-scale differences in processing and representing sensorimotor information.

Impact of hybrid thoracoabdominal aortic repair on visceral and spinal cord perfusion: The new and improved SPIDER-graft.

Objectives: SPIDER-graft for thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm repair avoiding thoracotomy and extracorporeal circulation was modified, enabling reimplantation of lumbar arteries to prevent spinal cord ischemia and compared with open aortic repair (control) in a pig model.

Methods: Graft implantation was performed in 7 pigs per group (75-85 kg). For SPIDER-graft (groups I and II), the infra-diaphragmatic aorta was exposed through retroperitoneal access.