Neuropsychological tests at the Italian Centers for Cognitive Disorders and Dementias: results from a survey on 450 specialized services.

Background: The Italian Fund for Alzheimer's and other dementias approved in 2020 enabled the conducting of a survey in the Italian Centers for Cognitive Disorders and Dementias (CCDDs) to analyse the organization, the administrative features and the professionals' characteristics.

Aims: To investigate the current use of neuropsychological (NP) tests in Italian CCDDs and the association between the use of a basic set of tests for neuropsychological assessment (NPA) and organizational/structural characteristics of CCDDs.

Methods: A survey was conducted with an online questionnaire in all CCDDs between July 2022 and February 2023.

The Italian guideline on diagnosis and treatment of dementia and mild cognitive impairment.

Introduction: Approximately 2 million people in Italy are currently living with dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 4 million are involved as family members or caregivers. Considering the significant impact of dementia, the Italian Ministry of Health entrusted the Italian National Institute of Health (Istituto Superiore di Sanità) with the development of a guideline within the Italian National Guideline System (Sistema Nazionale Linee Guida, SNLG) on the diagnosis and treatment of dementia and MCI. The main objective was to provide evidence-based recommendations aimed at reducing the variability and ensuring the appropriateness of clinical practices throughout the whole care process from identification and diagnosis to the end of life for people with dementia (PwD) or MCI and their families/caregivers.

The efficacy of cognitive stimulation, cognitive training, and cognitive rehabilitation for people living with dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Cognition-oriented treatments (COTs) are a group of non-pharmacological treatments aimed at maintaining or improving cognitive functioning. Specific recommendations on the use of these interventions in people living with dementia (PLwD) are included in the Italian Guideline on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment, developed by the Italian National Institute of Health. This systematic review and meta-analysis, based on the GRADE methodology, is part of the guideline.

Development of a prediction model of conversion to Alzheimer's disease in people with mild cognitive impairment: the statistical analysis plan of the INTERCEPTOR project.

Background: In recent years, significant efforts have been directed towards the research and development of disease-modifying therapies for dementia. These drugs focus on prodromal (mild cognitive impairment, MCI) and/or early stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Literature evidence indicates that a considerable proportion of individuals with MCI do not progress to dementia.

A Systematic Review on Drugs Acting as Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Agonists in the Treatment of Dementia.

Acetylcholine signaling is attenuated in early Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other dementias. A significant reduction in the expression of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in the brain of AD patients has also been reported in several molecular biological and in situ labeling studies. The modulation of the functional deficit of the cholinergic system as a pharmacological target could therefore have a clinical benefit, which is not to be neglected.

Role of Functional Neuroimaging with 123I-MIBG and 123I-FP-CIT in De Novo Parkinson's Disease: A Multicenter Study.

Background: Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, with incidence and prevalence rates of 8-18 per 100,000 people per year and 0.3-1%, respectively. As parkinsonian symptoms do not appear until approximately 50-60% of the nigral DA-releasing neurons have been lost, the impact of routine structural imaging findings is minimal at early stages, making Parkinson's disease an ideal condition for the application of functional imaging techniques.

Fatigue in fluctuating Parkinson's disease patients: possible impact of safinamide.

Fatigue is a common non-motor symptom in Parkinson's disease (PD). Among other pathophysiological mechanisms, neuroinflammation, a pathological PD hallmark associated with changes in glutamatergic transmission in basal ganglia, has been proposed as a crucial factor closely related to fatigue. To test the hypothesis that safinamide could represent an effective treatment of fatigue in PD patients, given its dual mechanism of action (it selectively and reversibly inhibits MAOB and modulates glutamate release), we administered the validated versions of fatigue severity scale (FSS) and Parkinson fatigue scale-16 (PFS-16) to 39 fluctuating PD patients with fatigue before and after a 24-week treatment period with safinamide as add-on therapy.

Serotonergic central tone in Parkinson's disease with fatigue: Evidence from the loudness dependence of auditory evoked potentials (LDAEP).

Central fatigue in Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common and disabling symptom that further worsens the patients' quality of life. A deficit in the serotonergic system may be implicated in the occurrence of fatigue in patients with PD as well as in those with other chronic conditions characterized by fatigue. The loudness dependence of auditory evoked potentials (LDAEP) is a neurophysiological tool that has proved to be effective in measuring the serotonergic central function in vivo.

DNA methylation of the 5'-UTR DAT 1 gene in Parkinson's disease patients.

Objectives: The involvement of epigenetics mechanisms in the transcriptional regulation of key genes has been investigated in the initiation and progression of neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson's disease (PD). Among others, we, here, focused the attention on the dopamine transporter (DAT) gene playing a critical role in maintaining the integrity of dopaminergic neurons.

Materials And Methods: We performed bisulfite pyrosequencing to examine DNA methylation levels of six CpG sites in the 5'-UTR of DAT1 gene in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) obtained from 101 sporadic PD patients and 59 healthy controls.

Diffusion MRI Findings in Encephalopathy Induced by Immunosuppressive Therapy after Liver Transplantation.

Neurological complications are common after liver transplantation, as they affect up to one-third of the transplanted patients and are associated with significant morbidity. The introduction of calcineurin inhibitors, cyclosporine A and tacrolimus, in immunosuppressive regimens significantly improved the outcome of solid-organ transplantation even though immunosuppression-associated neurotoxicity remains a significant complication, particularly occurring in about 25% of cases after liver transplantation. The immunosuppressant cyclosporine A and tacrolimus have been associated with the occurrence of major neurological complications, diffuse encephalopathy being the most common.

Neuroimaging in Vascular Cognitive Impairment and Dementia: A Systematic Review.

Cerebrovascular diseases are well established causes of cognitive impairment. Different etiologic entities, such as vascular dementia (VaD), vascular cognitive impairment, subcortical (ischemic) VaD, and vascular cognitive disorder, are included in the umbrella definition of vascular cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID). Because of the variability of VCID clinical presentation, there is no agreement on criteria defining the neuropathological threshold of this disorder.

On the Role of Adenosine A2A Receptor Gene Transcriptional Regulation in Parkinson's Disease.

Adenosine A2A receptors (A2ARs) have attracted considerable attention as an important molecular target for the design of Parkinson's disease (PD) therapeutic compounds. Here, we studied the transcriptional regulation of the A2AR gene in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) obtained from PD patients and in the striatum of the well-validated, 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced PD mouse model. We report an increase in A2AR mRNA expression and protein levels in both human cells and mice striata, and in the latter we could also observe a consistent reduction in DNA methylation at gene promoter and an increase in histone H3 acetylation at lysine 9.

Central fatigue and attentional processing in Parkinson's disease: An event-related potentials study.

Objective: To verify whether central fatigue in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) is associated with the presence of a more severe selective cognitive impairment.

Methods: Twenty-four PD patients without fatigue-PDnF, 11 with fatigue-PDF and 32 healthy volunteers underwent a P300 novelty task that elicits both the P3a and the P3b components.

Results: P3b latency was significantly longer in both PDF and PDnF than in controls.

Selective attentional deficit in essential tremor: Evidence from the attention network test.

Introduction: The traditional view of essential tremor (ET) as a monosymptomatic and benign disorder has been reconsidered after patients with ET have been shown to experience cognitive deficits that are also related to attention. The Attention Network Test (ANT) is a rapid, widely used test to measure the efficiency of three attentional networks, i.e.

Idiopathic pes cavus in adults is not associated with neurophysiological impairment in the lower limbs.

The nerve conduction characteristics of adults with idiopathic pes cavus/hammer toes have not been studied extensively. Among 2048 out-patients (59.5 ± 13.

The Role of the Right Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in Phasic Alertness: Evidence from a Contingent Negative Variation and Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Study.

Phasic alertness represents the ability to increase response readiness to a target following an external warning stimulus. Specific networks in the frontal and parietal regions appear to be involved in the alert state. In this study, we examined the role of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) during the attentional processing of a stimulus using a cued double-choice reaction time task.

Phasic alertness in a cued double-choice reaction time task: a Contingent Negative Variation (CNV) study.

A phasic change in alertness is produced every time that a warning stimulus precedes a target, and it enhances and maintains the response readiness to an impending stimulus. In the present study, we investigated the Contingent Negative Variation (CNV) phenomenon, as index of phasic alertness, during a S1-S2 paradigm in which the imperative stimulus was represented by a double-choice reaction time task, designed to increase the executive requests at S2. Subjects performed the task at three consecutive time points in order to explore the CNV activity over time.

Age-related psychophysiological vulnerability to phenylalanine in phenylketonuria.

Background: Phenylketonuria (PKU) is caused by the inherited defect of the phenylalanine hydroxylase enzyme, which converts phenylalanine (Phe) into tyrosine (Tyr). Neonatal screening programs and early treatment have radically changed the natural history of PKU. Nevertheless, an increased risk of neurocognitive and psychiatric problems in adulthood remains a challenging aspect of the disease.

Attentional processing in bulbar- and spinal-onset amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: insights from event-related potentials.

Our objective was to evaluate attentional processing with respect to the clinical-onset subtype in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) using event-related potentials (ERPs). Thirty-three non-demented ALS patients (22 spinal onset, 11 bulbar onset) and 32 age- and gender-matched controls underwent a psychophysiological evaluation. Mismatch Negativity (MMN), P300 components and Contingent Negative Variation (CNV) were obtained.

Unusual posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome in a case of influenza A/H1N1 infection.

Central nervous system involvement is an uncommon though potentially a severe complication during influenza infection; the pathogenic mechanisms of the neurological syndromes described in humans are largely unknown. We describe a case of a 51-year-old man who presented with fever and behavioral changes but no focal neurological deficits. The next day, the condition rapidly evolved into a severe neurological syndrome with recurrent focal motor seizures with secondary generalization.

An electrophysiological approach to tinnitus interpretation.

Introduction: Serotonin seems to play a central role in tinnitus. The intensity dependence of auditory evoked potential (IDAP) is considered an index of central serotonergic activity in the auditory cortex. The higher the steepness of the N1/P2 component amplitude-stimulus function slope (N1/P2 ASF slope as calculated by IDAP), the lower the central serotonergic activity.