Rates and Predictors of Performance Validity Test Failure in Adults Treated for Post-COVID-19 Condition: a Brief Report.

>objective: Cognitive dysfunction is a common symptom of post-COVID-19 condition (PCC). Few studies have examined rates and predictors of cognitive performance validity test (PVT) failure in patients seeking treatment for PCC.

>methods: We report the rates of PVT failure in 323 patients who received care in a long-COVID-19 clinic for any post-COVID-19 health concern and underwent routine telephone cognitive testing that included two embedded PVTs.

Methylphenidate for the Treatment of Post-COVID Cognitive Dysfunction (Brain Fog).

A substantial number of patients develop cognitive dysfunction after contracting severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), significantly contributing to long-coronavirus disease (COVID) morbidity. Despite the urgent and overwhelming clinical need, there are currently no proven interventions to treat post-COVID cognitive dysfunction (PCCD). Psychostimulants like methylphenidate may enhance both noradrenergic and dopaminergic pathways in mesolimbic and pre-frontal areas, thus improving memory and cognition.

International study of the Complex Stress Reaction Syndrome: Implications for transdiagnostic clinical practice.

Background: The debate regarding diagnostic classification systems in psychiatry (categorial dimensional systems) has essential implications for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of stress reactions. We previously found a unique pattern of stress reaction in a study executed during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic using large representative samples in two countries, and termed it the Complex Stress Reaction Syndrome (CSRS).

Aim: To investigate CSRS, Type A (psychiatric symptoms, spanning anxiety, depression, stress symptoms, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)), with or without long-coronavirus disease (COVID) residuals (CSRS, Type B, neuropsychiatric symptoms spanning cognitive deficits and fatigue, excluding systemic symptoms).

Phase I dose-escalation study of procaspase-activating compound-1 in combination with temozolomide in patients with recurrent high-grade astrocytomas.

Background: Procaspase-3 (PC-3) is overexpressed in various tumor types, including gliomas. Targeted PC-3 activation combined with chemotherapy is a novel strategy for treating patients with high-grade gliomas, with promising preclinical activity. This study aimed to define safety and tolerability of procaspase-activating compound-1 (PAC-1) in combination with temozolomide (TMZ) for patients with recurrent high-grade astrocytomas.

Characterizing Symptoms and Identifying Biomarkers of Long COVID in People With and Without HIV: Protocol for a Remotely Conducted Prospective Observational Cohort Study.

Background: Living with HIV is a risk factor for severe acute COVID-19, but it is unknown whether it is a risk factor for long COVID.

Objective: This study aims to characterize symptoms, sequelae, and cognition formally and prospectively 12 months following SARS-CoV-2 infection in people living with HIV compared with people without HIV. People with no history of SARS-CoV-2 infection, both with and without HIV, are enrolled as controls.

Crossword Puzzles for Brain Training in Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Given the increasing prevalence and public health impact of dementia, it is imperative that we identify prevention strategies. One approach, broadly termed brain training, can be defined as guided drill-and-practice mental exercises targeting cognitive domains. We have evidence suggesting that brain training may prevent dementia in cognitively intact adults, including the well-validated protective effect of education early in life and the results of the ACTIVE (Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly) trial, which showed not only a long-term cognitive benefit of training in processing speed, but also a possible decrease in dementia incidence and transfer of cognitive benefits to performance in everyday functioning (as measured by performance on instrumental activities of daily living).

PASC in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients With Self-reported SARS-CoV-2 Infection.

Background: Postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) is an increasingly recognized phenomenon and manifested by long-lasting cognitive, mental, and physical symptoms beyond the acute infection period. We aimed to estimate the frequency of PASC symptoms in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients and compared their frequency between those with SARS-CoV-2 infection requiring hospitalization and those who did not require hospitalization.

Methods: A survey consisting of 7 standardized questionnaires was administered to 111 SOT recipients with history of SARS-CoV-2 infection diagnosed >4 wk before survey administration.

Depressive Symptoms at Kidney Transplant Evaluation and Access to the Kidney Transplant Waitlist.

Introduction: Depressive symptoms, even without a clinical diagnosis of depression, are common in kidney failure patients and may be a barrier to completing the complex process of kidney transplant (KT) evaluation. We assessed depressive symptom burden and association between depressive symptoms and access to KT waitlist by age.

Methods: In a prospective cohort of 3728 KT patients (aged 18-88 years), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale was used to measure depressive symptoms at evaluation.

Cognitive Dysfunction, Psychiatric Distress, and Functional Decline After COVID-19.

Background: There is a limited understanding of the cognitive and psychiatric sequelae of COVID-19 during the post-acute phase, particularly among racially and ethnically diverse patients.

Objective: We sought to prospectively characterize cognition, mental health symptoms, and functioning approximately four months after an initial diagnosis of COVID-19 in a racially and ethnically diverse group of patients.

Methods: Approximately four months after COVID-19 diagnosis, patients in the Johns Hopkins Post-Acute COVID-19 Team Pulmonary Clinic underwent a clinical telephone-based assessment of cognition, depression, anxiety, trauma, and function.

Microstructural white matter abnormalities in Lesch-Nyhan disease.

Lesch-Nyhan disease is a rare, sex-linked, genetic neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by hyperuricemia, dystonia, cognitive impairment and recurrent self-injury. We previously found reduced brain white matter volume in patients with Lesch-Nyhan disease compared with healthy adults using voxel-based morphometry. Here, we address the structural integrity of white matter via diffusion tensor imaging.

Interventions for multidimensional aspects of breast cancer-related fatigue: a meta-analytic review.

Purpose: This meta-analysis sought to determine whether exercise, psychological, or alternative forms of interventions differentially improve cognitive, physical, and general dimensions of cancer-related fatigue (CRF) in women with a history of breast cancer.

Methods: Databases (PubMed, PsychINFO, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library) were systematically reviewed from inception through March 2019, with data extracted from randomized controlled trials of fatigue interventions using multidimensional CRF outcome measures. Two authors independently assessed methodological quality using the Cochrane Collaboration's risk of bias tool.

A Prospective Cohort Study of Neural Progenitor Cell-Sparing Radiation Therapy Plus Temozolomide for Newly Diagnosed Patients With Glioblastoma.

Background: In treating glioblastoma, irradiation of the neural progenitor cell (NPC) niches is controversial. Lower hippocampal doses may limit neurocognitive toxicity, but higher doses to the subventricular zones (SVZ) may improve survival.

Objective: To prospectively evaluate the impact of limiting radiation dose to the NPC niches on tumor progression, survival, and cognition in patients with glioblastoma.

A prospective evaluation of whole brain volume loss and neurocognitive decline following hippocampal-sparing prophylactic cranial irradiation for limited-stage small-cell lung cancer.

Introduction: This study evaluated an association between whole brain volume loss and neurocognitive decline following prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) for limited-stage small-cell lung cancer (SCLC).

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of a prospective clinical trial that accrued patients at a single institution from 2013 to 2016. Patients with limited-stage SCLC treated with standard chemo-radiation received PCI 25 Gy/10 fractions, with mean hippocampal dose limited to < 8 Gy.

A prospective evaluation of hippocampal radiation dose volume effects and memory deficits following cranial irradiation.

Background And Purpose: To prospectively evaluate hippocampal radiation dose volume effects and memory decline following cranial irradiation.

Material And Methods: Effects of hippocampal radiation over a wide range of doses were investigated by combining data from three prospective studies. In one, adults with small cell lung cancer received hippocampal-avoidance prophylactic cranial irradiation.

Cognitive Changes Related to Cancer Therapy.

A growing population of cancer survivors is at risk for acute and long-term consequences resulting from cancer and its treatment. Cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) typically manifests as modest deficits in attention, processing speed, executive functioning, and memory, which may persist for decades after treatment. Although some risk factors for CRCI are largely immutable (eg, genetics and demographic factors), there are many other contributors to CRCI that when appropriately addressed can result in improved cognitive functioning and quality of life.

Balanced bifrontal transcranial direct current stimulation enhances working memory in adults with high-functioning autism: a sham-controlled crossover study.

Background: Working memory (WM) often is impaired in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Such impairment may underlie core deficits in cognition and social functioning. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been shown to enhance WM in both healthy adults and clinical populations, but its efficacy in ASD is unknown.