Mortality of chronic disorders of consciousness in adults and adolescents - a retrospective community based study from Salzburg, Austria.

Introduction: Epidemiological data on disorders of consciousness (DoC) is rare and very heterogeneous due to difficulties in case ascertainment and differences in health care pathways between countries. This study reports data on mortality and survival time for DoC patients in Salzburg, Austria.

Methods: All patients with DoC were registered in the health care region of Salzburg North, Austria between 2007 and 2022 and their death data retrieved from the Statistik Austria.

The attitudes, knowledge and confidence of healthcare professionals about cannabis-based products.

Background: Use of cannabis-based products is becoming more frequent, and it is important that healthcare professionals are informed and confident about them when making evidence-based decisions about their use. This study aimed to gain an international perspective on the attitudes, knowledge, and confidence of healthcare professionals about cannabis-based products.

Methods: An online questionnaire regarding these products was completed by 1580 healthcare professionals (neurologists, psychiatrists, general practitioners, pharmacists and nurses) from 16 countries across Asia, Europe, Oceania, South America, and the Middle East.

Reduced TMS-evoked EEG oscillatory activity in cortical motor regions in patients with post-COVID fatigue.

Objective: Persistent fatigue is a major symptom of the so-called 'long-COVID syndrome', but the pathophysiological processes that cause it remain unclear. We hypothesized that fatigue after COVID-19 would be associated with altered cortical activity in premotor and motor regions.

Methods: We used transcranial magnetic stimulation combined with EEG (TMS-EEG) to explore the neural oscillatory activity of the left primary motor area (l-M1) and supplementary motor area (SMA) in a group of sixteen post-COVID patients complaining of lingering fatigue as compared to a sample of age-matched healthy controls.

[Dynamics of cognitive functions using the rehabilitation program of cognitive training].

Objective: To study the efficiency of the neuropsychological rehabilitation of patients with mild cognitive impairments.

Material And Methods: The study included 103 elderly people, aged 59 to 88 years, including 90 women and 13 men with subjective complaints of memory loss (ICD-10: F06.70; F06.

Outpatient management of prolonged seizures and seizure clusters to prevent progression to a higher-level emergency: Consensus recommendations of an expert working group.

Objective: The management of prolonged seizures (PS) and seizure clusters (SC) is impeded by the lack of international, evidence-based guidance. We aimed to develop expert recommendations regarding consensus definitions of PS, SC, and treatment goals to prevent progression to higher-level emergencies such as status epilepticus (SE).

Methods: An expert working group, comprising 12 epileptologists, neurologists, and pharmacologists from Europe and North America, used a modified Delphi consensus methodology to develop and anonymously vote on statements.

Is intraoperative mapping of music performance mandatory to preserve skills in professional musicians? Awake surgery for lower-grade glioma conducted from a meta-networking perspective.

Objective: In surgery for lower-grade glioma (LGG) in professional musicians, for whom preserving music ability is essential, a critical question has emerged, namely, is it mandatory to include music performance during awake mapping, as proposed in several reports? In fact, music ability is subserved by a mosaic of interactive cognitive and emotional processes that rest on several networks. Therefore, from a meta-network perspective, the authors investigated whether an integrated multimodal monitoring of these cognitive and emotional functions during stimulation mapping could be efficient in maintaining musical skill. Indeed, it could be difficult for a patient to play a musical instrument in the surgical setting in addition to performing other tasks, such as movement and language.

Radial nerve motor palsy after COVID vaccination: A case report.

Vaccinations are one of the most effective ways in primary prevention of infectious diseases. Due to the SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, an extensive public discussion considering possible side effects has been started. In this report, we present a patient with a radial nerve motor palsy after a vaccination with tozinameran (Comirnaty®).

Sustained effort network for treatment of status epilepticus/European academy of neurology registry on adult refractory status epilepticus (SENSE-II/AROUSE).

Background: Status Epilepticus (SE) is a common neurological emergency associated with a high rate of functional decline and mortality. Large randomized trials have addressed the early phases of treatment for convulsive SE. However, evidence regarding third-line anesthetic treatment and the treatment of nonconvulsive status epilepticus (NCSE) is scarce.

Network topology in brain tumor patients with and without structural epilepsy: a prospective MEG study.

Background: It was proposed that network topology is altered in brain tumor patients. However, there is no consensus on the pattern of these changes and evidence on potential drivers is lacking.

Objectives: We aimed to characterize neurooncological patients' network topology by analyzing glial brain tumors (GBTs) and brain metastases (BMs) with respect to the presence of structural epilepsy.

Locked-in syndrome revisited.

The locked-in syndrome (LiS) is characterized by quadriplegia with preserved vertical eye and eyelid movements and retained cognitive abilities. Subcategorization, aetiologies and the anatomical foundation of LiS are discussed. The damage of different structures in the pons, mesencephalon and thalamus are attributed to symptoms of classical, complete and incomplete LiS and the locked-in plus syndrome, which is characterized by additional impairments of consciousness, making the clinical distinction to other chronic disorders of consciousness at times difficult.

Telemedicine for Individuals with epilepsy: Recommendations from the International League Against Epilepsy Telemedicine Task Force.

Worldwide, People with Epilepsy (PWE) are confronted with several barriers to face-to-face consultations. These obstacles hamper appropriate clinical follow-up and also increase the treatment gap for Epilepsy. Telemedicine holds the potential to enhance management as follow-up visits for PWE are focused on more on clinical history and counselling rather than physical examination.

Dimethyl Itaconate Reduces Cognitive Impairment and Neuroinflammation in APPswe/PS1ΔE9 Transgenic Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia characterized by abnormal accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques, neuroinflammation, and neuronal loss. Dimethyl itaconate (DI), a membrane-permeable derivative of itaconate, has been recently reported to limit inflammation. However, the effect of DI in the APPswe/PS1ΔE9 (APP/PS1) transgenic mouse model of AD remains unclear.

BDNF Val66Met gene polymorphism modulates brain activity following rTMS-induced memory impairment.

The BDNF Val66Met gene polymorphism is a relevant factor explaining inter-individual differences to TMS responses in studies of the motor system. However, whether this variant also contributes to TMS-induced memory effects, as well as their underlying brain mechanisms, remains unexplored. In this investigation, we applied rTMS during encoding of a visual memory task either over the left frontal cortex (LFC; experimental condition) or the cranial vertex (control condition).

Multifocal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Modulates Resting-State Functional Connectivity in Older Adults Depending on the Induced Current Density.

Combining non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) with resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) is a promising approach to characterize and potentially optimize the brain networks subtending cognition that changes as a function of age. However, whether multifocal NIBS approaches are able to modulate rs-fMRI brain dynamics in aged populations, and if these NIBS-induced changes are consistent with the simulated electric current distribution on the brain remains largely unknown. In the present investigation, thirty-one cognitively healthy older adults underwent two different multifocal real transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) conditions (C1 and C2) and a sham condition in a crossover design during a rs-fMRI acquisition.

Evaluation of the predictive validity of the Hessisch Oldendorf Risk of Falling Scale (HOSS).

Objective: This study aims to further validate the Hessisch Oldendorf Risk of Falling Scale (HOSS) for neurological rehabilitation patients.

Design: The overall scale performance and fall rate was calculated in a retrospective data analysis.

Setting: The study was performed in a subacute care facility during inpatient neurological rehabilitation.

The paradoxical effect of COVID-19 outbreak on loneliness.

As in previous periods of quarantine, lockdown confinement measures dictated to control SARS-CoV-2 would be expected to negatively affect mental health. We investigated the immediate effects (over a 10 day period) of a strict nationwide stay-at-home order imposed in Spain, one of the countries most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Focusing our analysis on the feelings of loneliness, we obtained our measures within a social context characterised by strong and continuous public and governmental support for increasing social bonds and cooperation in order to face the common public threat.

Postural instability years after stroke.

Background: Following a stroke, balance disturbances often persist despite full recovery of the paretic side.

Aims: The aims were to determine how long postural instability could be detected after stroke and the differences in post-stroke patients under and above 65 years of age.

Methods: Static and dynamic posturography (passing weights from hand to hand around the body) measurements were performed on 29 patients with stroke after 3 ± 2.

Predicting wrist kinematics from motor unit discharge timings for the control of active prostheses.

Background: Current myoelectric control algorithms for active prostheses map time- and frequency-domain features of the interference EMG signal into prosthesis commands. With this approach, only a fraction of the available information content of the EMG is used and the resulting control fails to satisfy the majority of users. In this study, we predict joint angles of the three degrees of freedom of the wrist from motor unit discharge timings identified by decomposition of high-density surface EMG.

Evidence-based position paper on Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine professional practice for Adults with Acquired Brain Injury. The European PRM position (UEMS PRM Section).

Background: Acquired brain injury (ABI) is damage to the brain that occurs after birth caused either by a traumatic or by a nontraumatic injury. The rehabilitation process following ABI should be performed by a multi-professional team, working in an interdisciplinary way, with the aim of organizing a comprehensive and holistic approach to persons with every severity of ABI. This Evidence Based Position Paper represents the official position of the European Union through the UEMS Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM) Section and designates the professional role of PRM physicians for people with ABI.

Long term follow-up study of non-invasive brain stimulation (NBS) (rTMS and tDCS) in Parkinson's disease (PD). Strong age-dependency in the effect of NBS.

Background: Transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) may influence the progression of PD compared with levodopa. The long term mind modification effect of repeated rTMS and tDCS is not known, nor are the predictors for the effect of NBS.

Objective/hypothesis: We hypothesized that the regularly repeated rTMS would decrease the development of PD.

Pointing to One's Moving Hand: Putative Internal Models Do Not Contribute to Proprioceptive Acuity.

We can easily and without sight bring our fingertip to our nose, or swat a mosquito on our arm. These actions rely on proprioception, also known as kinesthesia, which classically has been attributed to processing of sensory inflow by the CNS. However, internal model theories of sensorimotor neuroscience propose that proprioceptive localization also involves a contribution from estimates of limb kinematics derived from motor commands.

Follow up study: The influence of rTMS with high and low frequency stimulation on motor and executive function in Parkinson's disease.

Background: rTMS may influence on both cognitive and motor function in PD but the daily routine and the predictors of responders to rTMS are not known.

Objective/hypothesis: We hypothesized that the frequency and intensity of stimulation somehow relate to each other. Our goal was to select the optimal frequency with low intensity for PD.