Unilateral and bilateral theta burst stimulation for treatment-resistant depression: Follow up on a naturalistic observation study.

Objectives: Theta burst stimulation (TBS) is a novel and faster modality of transcranial magnetic stimulation, which is showing promise as a treatment-resistant depression (TRD) treatment. Though TBS can be applied unilaterally or bilaterally, few studies have compared the effectiveness of both approaches in a naturalistic clinical sample. In this retrospective chart review, we aimed to: (1) replicate previous bilateral sequential TBS effectiveness in a larger cohort of patients at a single centre, (2) present treatment outcome data between unilateral and bilateral TBS approaches, (3) investigate baseline factors associated with our observed outcomes, and (4) examine the sustainability of response, with follow-up data up to 6 months from patients.

The influence of personality in persons with MS.

Background: Comprehending the influence of personality traits on functional outcomes in persons with Multiple Sclerosis (pwMS) can aid in tailoring interventions and support strategies. We explored how demographic variables and personality traits predicted current vocation, information processing speed, anxiety and depression symptoms, and disability level in pwMS.

Methods: We used a retrospective chart review on pwMS treated at the London (ON) MS Clinic, that assessed demographic data and personality traits.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for apathy in patients with neurodegenerative conditions, cognitive impairment, stroke, and traumatic brain injury: a systematic review.

Background: We aimed to determine the effects and tolerability of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on apathy in patients with neurodegenerative conditions, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), stroke, and traumatic brain injury (TBI) via systematic review.

Methods: We conducted a systematic search in major electronic health databases, including PubMed, Scopus, and PsycINFO, covering the period from inception to June 2023. Comparative clinical trials and cohort studies, and studies with before-after designs were considered for inclusion.

Disentangling Reversal-learning Impairments in Frontotemporal Dementia and Alzheimer Disease.

Background: Individuals with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) often present with poor decision-making, which can affect both their financial and social situations. Delineation of the specific cognitive impairments giving rise to impaired decision-making in individuals with FTD may inform treatment strategies, as different neurotransmitter systems have been associated with distinct patterns of altered decision-making.

Objective: To use a reversal-learning paradigm to identify the specific cognitive components of reversal learning that are most impaired in individuals with FTD and those with Alzheimer disease (AD) in order to inform future approaches to treatment for symptoms related to poor decision-making and behavioral inflexibility.

Bilateral sequential theta burst stimulation in depressed veterans with service related posttraumatic stress disorder: a feasibility study.

Background: Depression comorbid with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be disabling and treatment resistant. Preliminary evidence suggests that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), may have a role in helping these patients. There are only few published studies using different rTMS paradigms including bilateral intermittent theta burst (iTBS) and low frequency rTMS.

Does cognitive training improve attention/working memory in persons with MS? A pilot study using the Cogmed Working Memory Training program.

Background: Cognitive deficits, especially in attention, are common in persons with MS (PwMS) and are associated with clinically meaningful outcomes, such as work disability and lower quality of life (QOL). In this study, we aimed to determine whether Cogmed Working Memory Training (CWMT) improves attention/working memory in PwMS displaying impairment in these domains.

Methods: This single blind, randomized controlled, pilot study compared the effects of CWMT, a five-week evidenced-based computer-assisted training program that is supported by weekly meetings with a coach, to standard medical care (treatment as usual).

Predictors of vocational status among persons with multiple sclerosis.

Background: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a common cause of neurological disability in young to middle-aged adults, resulting in physical, psychosocial, and cognitive impairments. Manifestation of these symptoms during crucial work-life years can greatly influence the ability of persons with (PwMS) to retain employment. It is unknown what factors are most important in leading to work disability, and if/how these different factors interact with each other and result in work disability.

Financial capacity in frontotemporal dementia and related presentations.

Background: Changes in financial judgement and skills can herald a neurodegenerative dementia and are a common reason for referral for cognitive neurologic assessment. However, patients with neurodegenerative diseases affecting the frontal or temporal lobes may perform well on standard cognitive tests, complicating clinical determinations about their diagnosis and financial capacity.

Methods: Forty-five patients with possible or probable FTD or Alzheimer's disease and 22 healthy controls completed two financial assessment batteries, the FACT and the FCAI.

Depressive Symptoms Are Associated With More Negative Functional Outcomes Than Anxiety Symptoms in Persons With Multiple Sclerosis.

Depression and anxiety are common among persons with multiple sclerosis (MS), and both negatively affect functional status. However, studies rarely account for overlap in depressive and anxiety symptoms on functional outcomes among people with MS. The authors aimed to examine the differential impact of depression and anxiety, measured by the Anxiety and Depression subscales of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-A and HADS-D), on functional outcomes among people with MS.

Prevalence of Cognitive Impairment in Newly Diagnosed Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis.

Background: Cognitive impairment is common in multiple sclerosis (MS) and can manifest early in the disease process, sometimes as early as the first demyelinating event. However, the frequency of cognitive impairment in a newly diagnosed MS population has not been evaluated comprehensively in a clinical population. We sought to examine the prevalence of cognitive impairment in relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) within a year of diagnosis in a clinic where cognitive testing at diagnosis is part of routine practice.

Dialectical Behavior Group Therapy is Feasible and Reduces Emotional Dysfunction in Multiple Sclerosis.

We examined whether dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) was feasible and effective in multiple sclerosis (MS). A convenience sample of 20 patients with anxiety or depression symptoms received either DBT (n = 10) or standard medical care (n = 10). The DBT protocol was found to be feasible in the MS population studied (e.

Comparing depression screening tools in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Objective: Depression is more common among persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) than the general population. Depression in MS is associated with reduced quality of life, transition to unemployment, and cognitive impairment. Two proposed screening measures for depression in MS populations are the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Beck Depression Inventory-Fast Screen (BDI-FS).

The mediating role of processing speed in the relationship between depressive symptoms and cognitive function in multiple sclerosis.

Introduction: Although disorders of mood and cognition are frequently observed in multiple sclerosis, their relationship remains unclear. We aimed to investigate whether this mood-cognition relationship is mediated by inefficient processing speed, a deficit typically associated with mood symptomatology in the psychiatric literature and a common deficit observed in multiple sclerosis patients.

Method: In this study, comprehensive cognitive data and self-reported mood data were retrospectively analyzed from 349 patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis.

Depressive Symptoms Negatively Impact Montreal Cognitive Assessment Performance: A Memory Clinic Experience.

Objective: The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a general cognitive screening tool that has shown sensitivity in detecting mild levels of cognitive impairment in various clinical populations. Although mood dysfunction is common in referrals to memory clinics, the influence of mood on the MoCA has to date been largely unexplored.

Method: In this study, we examined the impact of mood dysfunction on the MoCA using a memory clinic sample of individuals with depressive symptoms who did not meet criteria for a neurodegenerative disease.

Are Age-Related Differences Uniform Across Different Inhibitory Functions?

Objectives: In the current experiment, we examined the relative age-sensitivity of 3 inhibitory functions: access, deletion, and restraint by taking into consideration their underlying control processes: proactive and reactive control.

Methods: The 3 inhibitory functions were measured using a sequential flanker task. Young (age: 18-35, n = 24) and older adults (age: 60-75, n = 25) first memorized a series of 8 animal words in a fixed order.

Oxytocin for frontotemporal dementia: a randomized dose-finding study of safety and tolerability.

Objective: To determine the safety and tolerability of 3 doses of intranasal oxytocin (Syntocinon; Novartis, Bern, Switzerland) administered to patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

Methods: We conducted a randomized, parallel-group, double-blind, placebo-controlled study using a dose-escalation design to test 3 clinically feasible doses of intranasal oxytocin (24, 48, or 72 IU) administered twice daily for 1 week to 23 patients with behavioral variant FTD or semantic dementia (clinicaltrials.gov registration number NCT01386333).

Longitudinal associations of need for cognition, cognitive activity, and depressive symptomatology with cognitive function in recent retirees.

Objectives: This study investigated how interindividual differences in cognitive function are related to interindividual differences in the motivational trait of need for cognition, cognitive activity levels, and depressive symptomatology in a sample of young-old adults.

Method: The ample comprised 333 recent retirees from the Concordia Longitudinal Retirement Project (mean age = 59.06 years at entry into study), assessed at 4 annual time points.

The role of age and inhibitory efficiency in working memory processing and storage components.

In this study, we examined the extent to which inhibitory efficiency accounted for age-related decline in the processing and storage components of working memory. Older and younger adults performed a sequential task, which served as an index of deletion-type inhibition (the ability to suppress no-longer-relevant information). The reading span task was used to measure working memory components by examining processing accuracy, processing time, and end-word recall of sentences presented.

Sequential performance in young and older adults: evidence of chunking and inhibition.

Two experiments were conducted to examine possible sources of age-related decline in sequential performance: age differences in sequence representation, retrieval of sequence elements, and efficiency of inhibitory processes. Healthy young and older participants learned a sequence of eight animal drawings in fixed order, then monitored for these targets within trials of mis-ordered stimuli, responding only when targets were shown in the correct order. Responses were slower for odd numbered targets, suggesting that participants spontaneously organized the sequence in two-element chunks.

What is semantic dementia?: a cohort study of diagnostic features and clinical boundaries.

Objectives: To describe a large, clinically defined cohort of patients with semantic dementia (SD) that highlights important, sometimes overlooked features and to compare it with similar entities.

Design: Cohort study.

Setting: A cognitive neurology clinic.

Diagnosis and treatment of dementia: 2. Diagnosis.

Background: Dementia can now be accurately diagnosed through clinical evaluation, cognitive screening, basic laboratory evaluation and structural imaging. A large number of ancillary techniques are also available to aid in diagnosis, but their role in the armamentarium of family physicians remains controversial. In this article, we provide physicians with practical guidance on the diagnosis of dementia based on recommendations from the Third Canadian Consensus Conference on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Dementia, held in March 2006.

Neuropsychological testing and assessment for dementia.

This evidence-based review examines the utility of brief cognitive tests and neuropsychological testing (NPT) in the detection and diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. All patients presenting with cognitive complaints are recommended to have a brief screening test administered to document the presence and severity of memory/cognitive deficits. There is fair evidence to support the use of a range of new screening tests that can detect MCI and mild dementia with higher sensitivity (>or=80%) than the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE).

The diagnosis and course of frontotemporal dementia.

The course of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is examined in a prospective, incipient clinical cohort. Three hundred nineteen patients were followed yearly for an average of 3.6 years.