Altered Functional Connectivity Dynamics Serving Cognitive Flexibility in Regular Cannabis Users.

Despite its widespread use and popularity, cannabis is known to impact higher order cognitive processes such as attention and executive function. However, far less is known about the impact of chronic cannabis use on cognitive flexibility, a component of executive function, and this is especially true for the underlying functional connectivity dynamics. To address this, we enrolled 25 chronic cannabis users and 30 demographically matched non-users who completed an interview probing current and past substance use, a urinalysis to confirm self-reported substance use and a task-switch cognitive paradigm during magnetoencephalography (MEG).

Healthy aging is associated with altered visual gamma band onset and offset responses.

Gamma oscillations have been shown to be critical for basic sensory processing, as well as visual attention and several other higher-order cognitive functions. Aberrant gamma oscillations have also been shown in neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. Despite the possible clinical implications of altered gamma activity and emerging stimulation-based interventions targeting gamma, research into age-related changes in gamma oscillatory activity in healthy adults remains sparse.

Thermalization and criticality on an analogue-digital quantum simulator.

Understanding how interacting particles approach thermal equilibrium is a major challenge of quantum simulators. Unlocking the full potential of such systems towards this goal requires flexible initial state preparation, precise time evolution and extensive probes for final state characterization. Here we present a quantum simulator comprising 69 superconducting qubits that supports both universal quantum gates and high-fidelity analogue evolution, with performance beyond the reach of classical simulation in cross-entropy benchmarking experiments.

A Comparison of Measures for Identifying Possible Dementia in Veterans Affairs Nursing Home Residents.

Objectives: Identifying people with possible dementia in health care systems is important to study outcomes and target improvements in care. This study sought to compare the performance of diagnostic codes and Minimum Data Set (MDS)-based measures for identifying dementia and cognitive impairment in older veteran nursing home residents.

Design: Retrospective, cross-sectional analysis.

Enhancing Clinical Confidence: Effects of Medical Screening and Differential Diagnosis Training for Low Back Pain.

Purpose: Direct access to physical therapy (PT) requires PTs to act as primary care providers, making differential diagnosis a critical component of patient assessment. We investigated how participation in postgraduate training in differential diagnosis and medical screening influences PTs' confidence, self-efficacy, attitudes and beliefs about treating patients with low back pain (LBP).

Patients And Methods: This prospective, two-arm study involved 49 PTs in an intervention group and 70 in a control group.