Exploring specific alterations at the explicit and perceptual levels in sense of ownership, agency, and body schema in Functional Motor Disorder: A pilot comparative study with Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Functional Motor Disorders (FMD) consists in symptoms of altered motor function not attributable to typical neurological and medical conditions. This study aimed to explore explicit and perceptual measures of Sense of Ownership, Agency, and Body Schema in FMD patients, and assess whether these alterations are specific to FMD or shared with other functional disturbances. Twelve FMD patients, ten with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS, a functional gastrointestinal disorder) and fifteen healthy controls (HC) underwent: (i) the Mirror Box Illusion (MBI), requiring participants to perform tapping movements with their dominant hand concealed from sight, while visual feedback was provided by an alien hand under visuo-motor congruency or incongruency conditions; (ii) a Forearm Bisection Task before and after exposure to the MBI, and the Embodiment Questionnaire after the MBI, as perceptual and explicit indices of the embodiment illusion, respectively.

Attachment State of Mind and complex traumatization in patients with Functional Motor Disorder (Motor Conversion Disorder).

Introduction: Functional Motor Disorder (FMD) is characterized by motor neurological symptoms that cannot be explained by typical neurological diseases or other medical conditions. The role of psychological factors in the development, severity, and persistence of FMD remains unclear. We investigated the Attachment State of Mind (SoM) in FMD patients using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and retrospectively examined the quality of their traumatic experiences, if any.

Hypertensive disorders during pregnancy as a major cause of preterm birth and adverse perinatal outcomes: findings from a Brazilian National Survey.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of hypertensive disorders during pregnancy among Brazilian women with preterm births and to compare the epidemiological characteristics and perinatal outcomes among preterm births of women with and without hypertension.

Methods: This was a secondary cross-sectional analysis of the Brazilian Multicenter Study on Preterm Birth. During the study period, all women with preterm births were included and further split into two groups according to the occurrence of any hypertensive disorder during pregnancy.

The experience of pregnant women and their families who were infected with covid-19 before vaccination: A qualitative approach within a multicenter study in Brazil.

Background: Pregnant and postpartum women infected by COVID-19 are at increased risk of adverse outcomes, including negative effects on their mental health. Brazilian maternal mortality rate due to COVID-19 is 2.5 times higher than overall mortality rates.

Forearm bisection task suggests an alteration in body schema in patients with functional movement disorders (motor conversion disorders).

Objectives: To explore potential alterations of the Body Schema, the implicit sensorimotor representation of one's own body, in patients with Functional Movement Disorders (FMD, Motor Conversion Disorders), characterized by neurological symptoms of altered voluntary motor function that cannot be explained by typical medical conditions. This investigation is prompted by the potential dissociation from their reportedly intact sense of ownership.

Methods: 10 FMD patients and 11 healthy controls (HC) underwent the Forearm Bisection Task, aimed at assessing perceived body metrics, which consists in asking the subject, blindfolded, to repeatedly point at the perceived middle point of their dominant forearm with the index finger of their contralateral hand, and a psychometric assessment for anxiety, depression, alexithymia, and tendency to dissociation.