Postural imbalance without visual input is associated with specific neuropsychological deficits in older adults - results from the LIFE-adult study.

Introduction: Modifiable risk factors play an important role in preventing dementia and reducing its progression. Regular physical activity already in midlife, which relies on intact multisensory balance control, can help to decrease the risk of dementia. However, our understanding of the relationship between postural balance and cognitive functions remains limited.

Effects of individually calibrated white and pink noise vestibular stimulation on standing balance of young healthy adults.

Imperceptible noisy galvanic vestibular stimulation (nGVS) improves standing balance due to the presence of stochastic resonance (SR). There is, however, a lack of consensus regarding the optimal levels and type of noise used to elicit SR like dynamics. We aimed to confirm the presence of SR behavior in the vestibular system of young healthy adults by examining postural responses to increasing amplitudes of white and pink noise stimulation scaled to individual cutaneous perceptual threshold.

Comparison of robustness, resilience and intrinsic capacity including prediction of long-term adverse health outcomes: The KORA-Age study.

Background: Frailty, resilience and intrinsic capacity (IC) are concepts to evaluate older person`s health status, but no comparison of their associations with adverse health outcomes exists. We therefore aimed to assess which concept is most useful for determining long-term health of older adults.

Methods: Analyses were based on the KORA (Cooperative Health Research in the Region of Augsburg)-Age study (n = 940, 65-93 years).

Comprehensive assessment and progression of health status during neurorehabilitation in survivors of critical illness: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Critical illness survivors frequently suffer from long-term impairments, often described as post-intensive care syndrome (PICS). PICS encompasses physical, cognitive, and mental impairments. Additionally, the term intensive care unit (ICU)-acquired weakness (ICUAW) was coined for muscle weakness after critical illness.

Neuronal and oligodendroglial, but not astroglial, tau translates to in vivo tau PET signals in individuals with primary tauopathies.

Tau PET has attracted increasing interest as an imaging biomarker for 4-repeat (4R)-tauopathy progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). However, the translation of in vitro 4R-tau binding to in vivo tau PET signals is still unclear. Therefore, we performed a translational study using a broad spectrum of advanced methodologies to investigate the sources of [F]PI-2620 tau PET signals in individuals with 4R-tauopathies, including a pilot PET autopsy study in patients.

Six clinical phenotypes with prognostic implications were identified by unsupervised machine learning in children and adolescents with SARS-CoV-2 infection: results from a German nationwide registry.

Objective: Phenotypes are important for patient classification, disease prognostication, and treatment customization. We aimed to identify distinct clinical phenotypes of children and adolescents hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2 infection, and to evaluate their prognostic differences.

Methods: The German Society of Pediatric Infectious Diseases (DGPI) registry is a nationwide, prospective registry for children and adolescents hospitalized with a SARS-CoV-2 infection in Germany.

Stimulation of the withdrawal reflex in gait training after stroke: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: After a stroke many people experience hemiparesis, resulting in walking difficulties which affects independence, mobility, and participation in activities of daily living. Activating the nociceptive withdrawal reflex (NWR) during gait training aims to support the initiation and facilitation of the swing phase of the paretic leg. The aim of this review is to investigate the orthotic and therapeutic effects of a NWR stimulation intervention to improve gait in patients after a stroke.

Mobile Spatiotemporal Gait Segmentation Using an Ear-Worn Motion Sensor and Deep Learning.

Mobile health technologies enable continuous, quantitative assessment of mobility and gait in real-world environments, facilitating early diagnoses of gait disorders, disease progression monitoring, and prediction of adverse events like falls. Traditionally, mobile gait assessment predominantly relied on body-fixed sensors positioned at the feet or lower trunk. Here, we investigate the potential of an algorithm utilizing an ear-worn motion sensor for spatiotemporal segmentation of gait patterns.

Impact of proprioceptive cervical dizziness in chronic neck pain syndromes on gait and stance during active head-turn challenges.

An earlier observational study described selected patients with acute neck pain syndrome, who experienced short bursts of cervical vertigo elicited by rapid head movements. The current study on a larger cohort of 20 patients with chronic or frequently recurring neck pain syndrome and age-matched controls focused on two major questions: (1) Can head movements in subjects with exacerbations of neck pain and restrictions of neck mobility also elicit bursts of vertigo? (2) What is the impact on postural balance measured by analysis of body sway and locomotion? A detailed questionnaire was applied, posture and gait were evaluated by use of instrumented posturography-and gait analysis with and without slow or rapid horizontal head rotations in the yaw plane with and without sight/visual input. All patients reported some or frequent episodes of dizziness in the range of seconds only elicited by rapid, not by slow head movements.

Imaging endolymphatic space of the inner ear in vestibular migraine.

Background: Vestibular migraine (VM), the most frequent episodic vertigo, is difficult to distinguish from Ménière's disease (MD) because reliable biomarkers are missing. The classical proof of MD was an endolymphatic hydrops (EH). However, a few intravenous gadolinium-enhanced MRI studies of the inner ear (MRI) also revealed an EH in VM.

Combining cerebrospinal fluid and PI-2620 tau-PET for biomarker-based stratification of Alzheimer's disease and 4R-tauopathies.

Introduction: Recent advances in biomarker research have improved the diagnosis and monitoring of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but in vivo biomarker-based workflows to assess 4R-tauopathy (4RT) patients are currently missing. We suggest a novel biomarker-based algorithm to characterize AD and 4RTs.

Methods: We cross-sectionally assessed combinations of cerebrospinal fluid measures (CSF p-tau and t-tau) and F-PI-2620 tau-positron emission tomography (PET) in patients with AD (n = 64), clinically suspected 4RTs (progressive supranuclear palsy or corticobasal syndrome, n = 82) and healthy controls (n = 19).

Unreliable association between self-reported sense of direction and peripheral vestibular function.

Background: Uni- or bilateral peripheralvestibular impairment causes objective spatial orientation deficits, which can be measured using pen-and-paper-tests or sensorimotor tasks (navigation or pointing). For patients' subjective orientation abilities, questionnaires are commonly used (e.g.

Regional desynchronization of microglial activity is associated with cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Microglial activation is one hallmark of Alzheimer disease (AD) neuropathology but the impact of the regional interplay of microglia cells in the brain is poorly understood. We hypothesized that microglial activation is regionally synchronized in the healthy brain but experiences regional desynchronization with ongoing neurodegenerative disease. We addressed the existence of a microglia connectome and investigated microglial desynchronization as an AD biomarker.

A Framework for Measuring Neighborhood Walkability for Older Adults-A Delphi Consensus Study.

While mobility in older age is of crucial importance for health and well-being, it is worth noting that currently, there is no German language framework for measuring walkability for older adults that also considers the functional status of a person. Therefore, we combined the results of an expert workshop, a literature review, and a Delphi consensus survey. Through this, we identified and rated indicators relevant for walkability for older adults, additionally focusing on their functional status.

Accelerometer-derived movement features as predictive biomarkers for muscle atrophy in neurocritical care: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Physical inactivity and subsequent muscle atrophy are highly prevalent in neurocritical care and are recognized as key mechanisms underlying intensive care unit acquired weakness (ICUAW). The lack of quantifiable biomarkers for inactivity complicates the assessment of its relative importance compared to other conditions under the syndromic diagnosis of ICUAW. We hypothesize that active movement, as opposed to passive movement without active patient participation, can serve as a valid proxy for activity and may help predict muscle atrophy.

The dissociation between pathological caloric testing and a normal video head impulse test helps differentiate between Menière's disease, vestibular migraine, and other vestibular disorders: a confirmatory study in a large cohort of 2,101 patients.

Vestibular migraine (VM) and Menière's disease (MD) are characterized by episodes of vertigo of similar duration. It is well known that differentiation between both diseases is not always possible based only on the patient history, physical examination, and audiological testing. In addition, the quantification of the vestibular function can also be helpful since, among patients with MD, there is often a dissociation between a normal/pseudo-normal video head impulse test (vHIT) and reduced caloric testing.

Bilateral vestibulopathy - Loss of vestibular function and experience of emotions.

Objective: The vestibular system is closely connected to emotion-processing neuronal circuits. Patients with bilateral vestibulopathy (BVP), a chronic loss of vestibular function, show remarkably lower rates of psychiatric comorbidities and vertigo-related anxiety (VRA) than those with episodic vertigo/dizziness (v/d). This study aimed to evaluate whether patients with BVP differ from those with episodic v/d in terms of VRA, general anxiety, and cognitions about body and health.

Choosing a maternity hospital: a matter of travel distance or quality of care?

Background: The choice of a hospital should be based on individual need and accessibility. For maternity hospitals, this includes known or expected risk factors, the geographic accessibility and level of care provided by the hospital. This study aims to identify factors influencing hospital choice with the aim to analyze if and how many deliveries are conducted in a risk-appropriate and accessible setting in Bavaria, Germany.

Human senses and sensors from Aristotle to the present.

This historical review on the semantic evolution of human senses and sensors revealed that Aristotle's list of the five senses sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell is still in use among non-scientific lay persons. It is no surprise that his classification in the work "De Anima" (On the Soul) from 350 BC confuses the sensor "touch" with the now more comprehensively defined somatosensory system and that senses are missing such as the later discovered vestibular system and the musculotendinous proprioception of the position of parts of the body in space. However, it is surprising that in the three most influential ancient cultures, Egypt, Greece, and China-which shaped the history of civilization-the concept prevailed that the heart rather than the brain processes perception, cognition, and emotions.

Stringent monitoring can decrease mortality of immune checkpoint inhibitor induced cardiotoxicity.

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-induced myocarditis is a rare immune-related adverse event (irAE) with a fatality rate of 40%-46%. However, irMyocarditis can be asymptomatic. Thus, improved monitoring, detection and therapy are needed.

Sensory Stimulation and Robot-Assisted Arm Training After Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background And Purpose: Functional recovery after stroke is often limited, despite various treatment methods such as robot-assisted therapy. Repetitive sensory stimulation (RSS) might be a promising add-on therapy that is thought to directly drive plasticity processes. First positive effects on sensorimotor function have been shown.

Precision Balance Assessment in Parkinson's Disease: Utilizing Vision-Based 3D Pose Tracking for Pull Test Analysis.

Postural instability is a common complication in advanced Parkinson's disease (PD) associated with recurrent falls and fall-related injuries. The test of retropulsion, consisting of a rapid balance perturbation by a pull in the backward direction, is regarded as the gold standard for evaluating postural instability in PD and is a key component of the neurological examination and clinical rating in PD (e.g.

No evidence for effects of low-intensity vestibular noise stimulation on mild-to-moderate gait impairments in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Background: Gait impairment is a key feature in later stages of Parkinson's disease (PD), which often responds poorly to pharmacological therapies. Neuromodulatory treatment by low-intensity noisy galvanic vestibular stimulation (nGVS) has indicated positive effects on postural instability in PD, which may possibly be conveyed to improvement of dynamic gait dysfunction.

Objective: To investigate the effects of individually tuned nGVS on normal and cognitively challenged walking in PD patients with mild-to-moderate gait dysfunction.