Linking the inner and outer mental representations of the body to social cognition skills: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

An interesting interpretation of embodiment highlights the critical role of mental body representations (BR), including motor, somatosensory, and interoceptive formats, for social cognition. However, the nature of this relationship is still debated at the empirical level, with various studies arriving at different conclusions. Here, we present a systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to summarize data from 3466 participants in 21 studies to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between inner and outer BR and social cognition.

The multidimensional assessment of body representation and interoception in multiple sclerosis.

Background: The mental representation of the body (or body representation, BR) derives from the processing of multiple sensory and motor inputs and plays a crucial role in guiding our actions and in how we perceive our body. Fundamental inputs for BR construction come also from the interoceptive systems which refer to the whole bidirectional processes between the brain and the body. People with Multiple sclerosis (MS) show an abnormal multisensory integration which may compromise BR and interoception integrity.

The relation between cognitive functioning and activities of daily living in normal aging, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia: a meta-analysis.

Literature suggests that dementia and, more generally, cognitive impairment affect the capacity to carry out activities of daily living (ADL) in aging. However, it is important to decipher the weight of specific cognitive domains and neurodegenerative profiles mainly related to ADL difficulties. A meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the nature and strength of the association between cognitive functioning and ADL in healthy older adults, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and dementia.

The Efficacy of Cognitive Training on Neuropsychological Outcomes in Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Meta-Analysis.

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or mild neurocognitive disorder is an intermediate stage of cognitive impairment between normal cognitive aging and dementia. Given the absence of effective pharmacological treatments for MCI, increasing numbers of studies are attempting to understand how cognitive training (CT) could benefit MCI. This meta-analysis aims to update and assess the efficacy of CT on specific neuropsychological test performance (global cognitive functioning, short-term verbal memory, long-term verbal memory, generativity, working memory, and visuospatial abilities) in individuals diagnosed with MCI, as compared to MCI control groups.

Comparing face-to-face and videoconference assessment of the Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological Tests in people with multiple sclerosis.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has underlined the need to evaluate cognitive profile via videoconferencing (teleneuropsychology, TeleNP) as a suitable alternative to face-to-face assessment (F-F).

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and the reliability of Rao's Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological Tests (R-BRB) remote administration in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS).

Methods: Sixty PwMS underwent R-BRB in two conditions: F-F and TeleNP, 1 month apart.

Distinct Neuropsychological Correlates of Apathy Sub-Domains in Multiple Sclerosis.

Background: Apathy is relatively frequent and significantly associated with clinical and cognitive outcomes in Multiple Sclerosis (MS), even if previous research has produced mixed results. This varied picture could be due to most studies treating apathy as a unitary construct, despite the evidence showing that apathy is a multifaceted syndrome including three different sub-domains (i.e.

The bodily fundament of empathy: The role of action, nonaction-oriented, and interoceptive body representations.

Mental representations with bodily contents or in various bodily formats have been suggested to play a pivotal role in social cognition, including empathy. However, there is a lack of systematic studies investigating, in the same sample of participants and using an individual differences approach, whether and to what extent the sensorimotor, perceptual, and interoceptive representations of the body could fulfill an explanatory role in the empathic abilities.To address this goal, we carried out two studies in which healthy adults were given measures of interoceptive sensibility (IS), action (aBR), and nonaction-oriented body representations (NaBR), and affective, cognitive, and motor empathy.

Sensitivity of conventional cognitive tests in multiple sclerosis: Application of item response theory.

Background: Cognitive impairment (CI) is common in Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and its prevalence rate ranges between 22% and 70%. Because CI significantly impacts vocational status, caregiver burden, and quality of life, an accurate neuropsychological assessment is required. Three widely used and validated batteries for MS-associated CI are the Brief Repeatable Neuropsychological Battery (BRN-B), the Minimal Assessment of Cognitive Function (MACFIMS), and the Brief International Cognitive Assessment (BICAMS).

On the Embodiment of Social Cognition Skills: The Inner and Outer Body Processing Differently Contributes to the Affective and Cognitive Theory of Mind.

A specific interpretation of embodiment assigns a central role to the body representations (BR) in cognition. In the social cognition domain, BR could be pivotal in representing others' actions and states. However, empirical evidence on the relationship between different BR and social cognition, in terms of Theory of Mind (ToM), in the same sample of participants is missing.

Neuropsychological correlates of theory of mind in chronic migraine.

Objective: Theory of mind (ToM), the ability to understand other minds-that is, their beliefs, intentions (cognitive ToM), or emotions (affective ToM)-and its neuropsychological mechanisms in migraine have been poorly investigated. The aim of the study was to explore the deficit of cognitive and affective ToM and its possible associations with cognitive functioning in patients with chronic migraine (CM).

Method: Forty participants with CM and 40 age-, education-, and sex-matched healthy controls (HC) underwent clinical assessment, cognitive (the ToM Pictures Sequencing Task and the Advanced Test of ToM) and affective ToM (the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task and the Emotion Attribution Task) tasks, and a comprehensive neuropsychological battery.

The Cognitive Profile of Atypical Parkinsonism: A Meta-Analysis.

Atypical Parkinsonism (AP) syndromes are characterized by a wide spectrum of non-motor symptoms including prominent attentional and executive deficits. However, the cognitive profile of AP and its differences and similarities with that of Parkinson's Disease (PD) are still a matter of debate. The present meta-analysis aimed at identifying patterns of cognitive impairment in AP by comparing global cognitive functioning, memory, executive functions, visuospatial abilities, language, non-verbal reasoning, and processing speed test performances of patients with AP relative to healthy controls and patients with PD.

Cognitive and Affective Theory of Mind across Adulthood.

Background: Theory of mind (ToM) is a fundamental aspect of social cognition. Previous studies on age-related changes in mentalizing processes have provided conflicting results. This study aims to investigate the age-related changes in the cognitive and affective components of ToM throughout adulthood.

Neural correlates of embodied action language processing: a systematic review and meta-analytic study.

The neural correlates of action language processing are still debated within embodied cognition research and little is known about the flexible involvement of modality-specific pre-motor system and multimodal high-level temporo-parietal regions as a function of explicit and implicit tasks. A systematic review and the Activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analyses on functional neuroimaging studies were performed to identify neural correlates of action language processing activated during explicit and implicit tasks. The contrast ALE meta-analysis revealed activation of modality-specific premotor area and inferior frontal areas during explicit action language tasks while a greater activation of posterior temporo-occipital areas emerged for implicit tasks.

Relationship between apathy and cognitive dysfunctions in multiple sclerosis: A 4-year prospective longitudinal study.

Background: Cognitive dysfunctions are highly prevalent in multiple sclerosis (MS) and negatively impact occupational and social functioning.

Objective: In the present longitudinal study, we aimed at modeling cognitive changes and at assessing whether apathy could be a predictor of cognitive decline in MS.

Methods: We assessed 67 people with MS at two-time points (baseline, T0; 4-year follow-up, T1), by means of several clinical, behavioural, and cognitive measures.

Specialization and Injury Risk in Different Youth Sports: A Bio-Emotional Social Approach.

Aims: Sport specialization is an actual trend in youth athletes, but it can increase injury risk. The aim was to determine the eventual correlation between sports specialization and injury risk in various sports, using a biopsychosocial approach.

Methods: 169 sport-specialized athletes completed [(38 female, 131 male); overall (11.

PPARdelta activation induces metabolic and contractile maturation of human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes.

Pluripotent stem-cell-derived cardiomyocytes (PSC-CMs) provide an unprecedented opportunity to study human heart development and disease, but they are functionally and structurally immature. Here, we induce efficient human PSC-CM (hPSC-CM) maturation through metabolic-pathway modulations. Specifically, we find that peroxisome-proliferator-associated receptor (PPAR) signaling regulates glycolysis and fatty acid oxidation (FAO) in an isoform-specific manner.

The effect of autistic traits on disembedding and mental rotation in neurotypical women and men.

Recent data has revealed dissociations between social and non-social skills in both autistic and neurotypical populations. In the present study, we investigated whether specific visuospatial abilities, such as figure disembedding and mental rotation, are differently related to social and non-social autistic traits, in neurotypical women and men. University students (N = 426) completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), figure disembedding and mental rotation of two-dimensional figures tasks.

Endogenous S-nitrosocysteine proteomic inventories identify a core of proteins in heart metabolic pathways.

Protein cysteine residues are essential for protein folding, participate in enzymatic catalysis, and coordinate the binding of metal ions to proteins. Enzymatically catalyzed and redox-dependent post-translational modifications of cysteine residues are also critical for signal transduction and regulation of protein function and localization. S-nitrosylation, the addition of a nitric oxide equivalent to a cysteine residue, is a redox-dependent modification.

Psychological Distress and Work Environment Perception by Physical Therapists from Southern Italy during COVID-19 Pandemic: The C.A.L.A.B.R.I.A Study.

The psychosocial impact of the work environment during the COVID-19 pandemic on health professionals is a growing issue. The present study examined specific psychosocial work environment indicators during the COVID-19 pandemic, through a multiple regression model of a self-administered cross-sectional online survey in a cohort of physical therapists from a region of Southern Italy from March 2020 to May 2021. The questionnaire contained items on work and healthcare issues related to COVID-19.

Auditory cortex hypoperfusion: a metabolic hallmark in Beta Thalassemia.

Background: Sensorineural hearing loss in beta-thalassemia is common and it is generally associated with iron chelation therapy. However, data are scarce, especially on adult populations, and a possible involvement of the central auditory areas has not been investigated yet. We performed a multicenter cross-sectional audiological and single-center 3Tesla brain perfusion MRI study enrolling 77 transfusion-dependent/non transfusion-dependent adult patients and 56 healthy controls.