A bespoke water T-maze apparatus and protocol: an optimized, reliable, and repeatable method for screening learning, memory, and executive functioning in laboratory mice.

The Morris Water Maze (MWM) is the most commonly used assay for evaluating learning and memory in laboratory mice. Despite its widespread use, contemporary reviews have highlighted substantial methodological variation in experimental protocols and that the associated testing procedures are acutely (each trial) and chronically (testing across days) stressful; stress impairs attention, memory consolidation and the retrieval of learned information. Moreover, the interpretation of behavior within the MWM is often difficult because of wall hugging, non-spatial swim strategies, floating, and jumping off the escape platform.

[Ethical challenges of telepsychiatry].

Telepsychiatry is shifting the focus of psychiatry and psychotherapy from personal interaction and relationship building to communication with technological mediators in the form of telecommunication, virtual reality (VR), social robots or artificial intelligence (AI). This article discusses the opportunities and risks of new technologies in psychiatric treatment, taking into account the principles of medical ethics. Telepsychiatric treatments can promote self-determination in the home environment as opposed to institutionalisation but carry the risk of uncontrolled data sharing.

A Longitudinal Model for a Dynamic Risk Score to Predict Delayed Cerebral Ischemia after Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.

Background: Accurate longitudinal risk prediction for DCI (delayed cerebral ischemia) occurrence after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is essential for clinicians to administer appropriate and timely diagnostics, thereby improving treatment planning and outcome. This study aimed to develop an improved longitudinal DCI prediction model and evaluate its performance in predicting DCI between day 4 and 14 after aneurysm rupture.

Methods: Two DCI classification models were trained: (1) a static model based on routinely collected demographics and SAH grading scores and (2) a dynamic model based on results from laboratory and blood gas analysis anchored at the time of DCI.

A Pilot Study: Treatment of High Alcohol Consumption in a Novel Minipig Model of Alcohol Use Disorder.

Three medications are FDA approved in the US for treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), and a few others are used off-label. Patient compliance and efficacy in the broader population are major hurdles for current AUD medications. As a consequence, there is an urgent need for improved pharmacotherapeutics to complement behavioral approaches.

Survey-based qualitative exploration of user perspectives on the philips visual patient avatar in clinical situation management.

Philips Visual Patient Avatar is an innovative approach to patient monitoring. Computer-based simulation studies have shown that it can improve diagnostic accuracy and confidence while reducing perceived workload. Following its integration into clinical practice, we conducted a single-centre qualitative study at the University Hospital Zurich to explore the views of anaesthesia, post-anaesthesia and intensive care providers on their experience with the technology.

AI-enhanced analysis of naturalistic social interactions characterizes interaffective impairments in schizophrenia.

Social deficits in schizophrenia have been attributed to an impaired attunement to mutual interaction, or "interaffectivity". While impairments in emotion recognition and facial expressivity in schizophrenia have been consistently reported, findings on mimicry and social synchrony are inconsistent, and previous studies have often lacked ecological validity. To investigate interaffective behavior in dyadic interactions in a real-world-like setting, 20 individuals with schizophrenia and 20 without mental disorder played a cooperative board game with a previously unacquainted healthy control participant.

Low frequency oscillations reflect neurovascular coupling and disappear after cerebral death.

Spectrum power analysis in the low frequency oscillations (LFO) region of functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a promising method to deliver information about brain activation and therefore might be used for prognostication in patients with disorders of consciousness in the neurocritical care unit alongside with established methods. In this study, we measure the cortical hemodynamic response measured by fNIRS in the LFO region following auditory and somatosensory stimulation in healthy subjects. The significant hemodynamic reaction in the contralateral hemisphere correlation with the physiologic electric response suggests neurovascular coupling.

Predicting outcome after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage by exploitation of signal complexity: a prospective two-center cohort study.

Background: Signal complexity (i.e. entropy) describes the level of order within a system.

OxyHbMeter-a novel bedside medical device for monitoring cell-free hemoglobin in the cerebrospinal fluid-proof of principle.

Delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) occurs in up to one third of patients suffering from aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). Untreated, it leads to secondary cerebral infarctions and is frequently associated with death or severe disability. After aneurysm rupture, erythrocytes in the subarachnoid space lyse and liberate free hemoglobin (Hb), a key driver for the development of DCI.

Intraparenchymal near-infrared spectroscopy for detection of delayed cerebral ischemia in poor-grade aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Objective: Detection of delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) is challenging in comatose patients with poor-grade aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). Brain tissue oxygen pressure (PbtO2) monitoring may allow early detection of its occurrence. Recently, a probe for combined measurement of intracranial pressure (ICP) and intraparenchymal near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has become available.

The horizontal ladder test (HLT) protocol: a novel, optimized, and reliable means of assessing motor coordination in .

Pigs can be an important model for preclinical biological research, including neurological diseases such as Alcohol Use Disorder. Such research often involves longitudinal assessment of changes in motor coordination as the disease or disorder progresses. Current motor coordination tests in pigs are derived from behavioral assessments in rodents and lack critical aspects of face and construct validity.

A supervised, externally validated machine learning model for artifact and drainage detection in high-resolution intracranial pressure monitoring data.

Objective: In neurocritical care, data from multiple biosensors are continuously measured, but only sporadically acknowledged by the attending physicians. In contrast, machine learning (ML) tools can analyze large amounts of data continuously, taking advantage of underlying information. However, the performance of such ML-based solutions is limited by different factors, for example, by patient motion, manipulation, or, as in the case of external ventricular drains (EVDs), the drainage of CSF to control intracranial pressure (ICP).

The Horizontal Ladder Test (HLT) protocol: A novel, optimized, and reliable means of assessing motor coordination in .

Pigs can be an important model for preclinical biological research, including neurological diseases such as Alcohol Use Disorder. Such research often involves longitudinal assessment of changes in motor coordination as the disease or disorder progresses. Current motor coordination tests in pigs are derived from behavioral assessments in rodents and lack critical aspects of face and construct validity.

Minocycline and Diacetyl Minocycline Eye Drops Reduce Ocular Neovascularization in Mice.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of minocycline and a novel, modified minocycline analogue that lacks antimicrobial action, diacetyl minocycline (DAM), on choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in mice of both sexes.

Methods: CNV was induced via laser injury in female and male C57BL/6J mice. Minocycline, DAM, or saline was administered via topical eye drops twice a day for 2 weeks starting the day after laser injury.

Thrombocyte transfusion and rebleeding rate in patients using antiplatelet agents before aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Objective: The reason for a rebleed after an initial hemorrhage in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) is considered multifactorial. Antiplatelet use is one of the factors that has been related to early rebleed and worse outcome after aSAH. Thrombocyte transfusion overcomes the inhibitory effects of antiplatelet agents by increasing the number of functional thrombocytes, but its impact on the rebleed rate and clinical outcome remains unknown.

Evaluation of machine learning algorithms for noninvasive intracranial pressure estimation using near infrared spectroscopy as a covariate.

Background: Intracranial pressure (ICP) is a vital parameter that is continuously monitored in patients with severe brain injury and imminent intracranial hypertension.

Objective: To estimate intracranial pressure without intracranial probes based on transcutaneous near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS).

Methods: We developed machine learning based approaches for noninvasive intracranial pressure (ICP) estimation using signals from transcutaneous near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) as well as other cardiovascular and artificial ventilation parameters.

Solving the explainable AI conundrum by bridging clinicians' needs and developers' goals.

Explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) has emerged as a promising solution for addressing the implementation challenges of AI/ML in healthcare. However, little is known about how developers and clinicians interpret XAI and what conflicting goals and requirements they may have. This paper presents the findings of a longitudinal multi-method study involving 112 developers and clinicians co-designing an XAI solution for a clinical decision support system.

Single-antiplatelet regimen in ruptured cerebral blood blister and dissecting aneurysms treated with flow-diverter stent reconstruction.

Background: Flow diversion treatment of ruptured cerebral aneurysms remains challenging due to the need for double-antiplatelet therapy. We report our experience with flow-diverter stent (FDS) reconstruction with single-antiplatelet therapy of ruptured cerebral blood blister and dissecting aneurysms.

Methods: In this case series we performed a retrospective analysis of all patients with ruptured cerebral aneurysms who were treated with a phosphoryl-bonded FDS between 2019 and 2022 in a single center.

Functional NIRS to detect covert consciousness in neurocritical patients.

Objective: This pilot study assesses the feasibility to detect covert consciousness in clinically unresponsive patients by means of functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) in a real intensive care unit setting. We aimed to verify if the hemodynamic response to familiar music measured with fNIRS varies according to the level consciousness of the patients.

Methods: 22 neurocritical patients and 6 healthy controls were included.

Spontaneous empyema and brain abscess in an intensive care population: clinical presentation, microbiology, and factors associated with outcome.

Background: Data on critically ill patients with spontaneous empyema or brain abscess are limited. The aim was to evaluate clinical presentations, factors, and microbiological findings associated with the outcome in patients treated in a Neurocritical Care Unit.

Methods: In this retrospective study, we analyzed 45 out of 101 screened patients with spontaneous epidural or subdural empyema and/or brain abscess treated at a tertiary care center between January 2012 and December 2019.

Blood Pressure Variability Indices for Outcome Prediction After Thrombectomy in Stroke by Using High-Resolution Data.

Background: Blood pressure variability (BPV) is associated with outcome after endovascular thrombectomy in acute large vessel occlusion stroke. We aimed to provide the optimal sampling frequency and BPV index for outcome prediction by using high-resolution blood pressure (BP) data.

Methods: Patient characteristics, 3-month outcome, and BP values measured intraarterially at 1 Hz for up to 24 h were extracted from 34 patients treated at a tertiary care center neurocritical care unit.

ICU Cockpit: a platform for collecting multimodal waveform data, AI-based computational disease modeling and real-time decision support in the intensive care unit.

ICU Cockpit: a secure, fast, and scalable platform for collecting multimodal waveform data, online and historical data visualization, and online validation of algorithms in the intensive care unit. We present a network of software services that continuously stream waveforms from ICU beds to databases and a web-based user interface. Machine learning algorithms process the data streams and send outputs to the user interface.

Ghrelin Regulates Expression of the Transcription Factor Pax6 in Hypoxic Brain Progenitor Cells and Neurons.

The nature of brain impairment after hypoxia is complex and recovery harnesses different mechanisms, including neuroprotection and neurogenesis. Experimental evidence suggests that hypoxia may trigger neurogenesis postnatally by influencing the expression of a variety of transcription factors. However, the existing data are controversial.

Dear Doctor Letters regarding citalopram and escitalopram: guidelines vs real-world data.

Dear Doctor Letters (DDLs, Direct Healthcare Professional Communications) from 2011 provided guidance regarding QTc-prolonging effects with risk of torsade de pointes during treatment with citalopram and escitalopram. This study examines the DDLs' effects on prescription behavior. Data from 8842 inpatients treated with citalopram or escitalopram with a primary diagnosis of major depressive disorder (MDD) were derived from a European pharmacovigilance study (Arzneimittelsicherheit in der Psychiatrie, AMSP) from 2001 to 2017.