Connecting Neurobiological Features with Interregional Dysconnectivity in Social-Cognitive Impairments of Schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia (SZ) is a devastating psychiatric disorder affecting about 1% of the world's population. Social-cognitive impairments in SZ prevent positive social interactions and lead to progressive social withdrawal. The neurobiological underpinnings of social-cognitive symptoms remain poorly understood, which hinders the development of novel treatments.

Molecular Signature of Neuroinflammation Induced in Cytokine-Stimulated Human Cortical Spheroids.

Crucial in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases is the process of neuroinflammation that is often linked to the pro-inflammatory cytokines Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) and Interleukin-1beta (IL-1β). Human cortical spheroids (hCSs) constitute a valuable tool to study the molecular mechanisms underlying neurological diseases in a complex three-dimensional context. We recently designed a protocol to generate hCSs comprising all major brain cell types.

Hand-Use-at-Home Questionnaire: validity and reliability in children with neonatal brachial plexus palsy or unilateral cerebral palsy.

Objective: To investigate construct validity and test-retest reliability of the parent-rated Hand-Use-at-Home questionnaire (HUH) in children with neonatal brachial plexus palsy or unilateral cerebral palsy.

Design And Subjects: For this cross-sectional study, children with neonatal brachial plexus palsy or unilateral cerebral palsy, aged 3-10 years, were eligible.

Main Measures: The HUH, Pediatric Outcome Data Collection Instrument Upper Extremity Scale (neonatal brachial plexus palsy only), and Children's Hand-Use Experience Questionnaire (unilateral cerebral palsy only) were completed.

Development and psychometric properties of the Hand-Use-at-Home questionnaire to assess amount of affected hand-use in children with unilateral paresis.

Aim: To describe the development of the parent-rated Hand-Use-at-Home questionnaire (HUH) assessing the amount of spontaneous use of the affected hand in children with unilateral paresis, and to test its internal structure, unidimensionality, and validity.

Method: Parents of children with unilateral cerebral palsy (CP) and professionals participated in the development of the HUH. To examine internal validity, data of 322 children (158 males, 164 females; mean age 6y 7mo, standard deviation [SD] 2y 1mo) with unilateral CP (n=131) or neonatal brachial plexus palsy (NBPP) (n=191) were collected.

Botulinum toxin-A injections vs radiotherapy for drooling in ALS.

Objectives: Botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) injections in the salivary glands and radiotherapy (RT) on these glands are commonly used to alleviate severe drooling in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This study compares BoNT type A with RT based on patient-rated evaluations.

Materials & Methods: A prospective randomized controlled pilot study to compare RT (n = 10; on the parotid and the posterior part of the submandibular glands) with BoNT-A treatment (n = 10; in the parotid glands only, because of the risk of increasing oropharyngeal weakness) in patients with ALS.

Intensive upper limb intervention with self-management training is feasible and promising for older children and adolescents with unilateral cerebral palsy.

This study explored the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of a short (one week) intensive intervention combining Constraint Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT) and bimanual training (BiT) to improve upper limb capacity and bimanual performance guided by individual goal setting in children and adolescents with unilateral cerebral palsy aged 8-18 years. Self-management training was added to the intervention to maximize the effect of training and to empower the participants in self-monitoring the effective use of their affected hand. Functional goals (Canadian Occupational Performance Measure), unimanual capacity (Box and Block Test), bimanual performance (ABILHAND-Kids, Children's Hand-use Experience Questionnaire (CHEQ)) and amount of use (Video Observation Aarts and Aarts - determine developmental disregard (VOAA-DDD-R)) were measured at baseline, one week and four months post intervention.