Because the function and mechanisms of sleep are partially clear, here we applied a meta-analysis to address the issue whether sleep function includes antioxidative properties in mice and rats. Given the expansion of the knowledge in the sleep field, it is indeed ambitious to describe all mammals, or other animals, in which sleep shows an antioxidant function. However, in this paper we reviewed the current understanding from basic studies in two species to drive the hypothesis that sleep is a dynamic-resting state with antioxidative properties. We performed a systematic review of articles cited in Medline, Scopus, and Web of Science until March 2015 using the following search terms:Sleep or sleep deprivation and oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation, glutathione, nitric oxide, catalase or superoxide dismutase. We found a total of 266 studies. After inclusion and exclusion criteria, 44 articles were included, which are presented and discussed in this study. The complex relationship between sleep duration and oxidative stress is discussed. Further studies should consider molecular and genetic approaches to determine whether disrupted sleep promotes oxidative stress.

Background: Vascular parkinsonism (VP) is defined as the presence of parkinsonian syndrome, evidence of cerebrovascular disease and an established relationship between the two disorders. However, the diagnosis of VP is problematic, particularly for the clinician confronted with moving from diagnosis to treatment. Given the different criteria used in the diagnosis of VP, the effectiveness of available therapeutic interventions for this disease are currently unknown. Methods: To assess the clinical response of all published therapeutic interventions for VP that have been reported in the literature we conducted a systematic review looking for VP subjects treated with any therapeutic intervention. To clarify the prevalence of responsiveness to levodopa among VP subjects, we conducted a meta-analysis of 17 observational studies retrieved with the search criteria of our review. Also, 4 studies were included in a second analysis to explore if nigrostriatal lesion affected the prevalence of levodopa response in VP subjects. Relevant articles were identified from MEDLINE, Scopus and Web of Science published up until June 2017. Results: 436 non-duplicate citations were identified for screening, 107 articles were assessed for eligibility, and only 23 observational studies were included in this review. No randomized clinical trials were found. 4 different therapies were found in the literature; among them, levodopa was the only one repetitively reported. The calculated event rate of levodopa response in VP subjects was of 0.304 (95%CI of 0.230 to 0.388). The overall odds ratio for good response to levodopa in VP with lesion in the nigrostriatal pathway vs. no lesion in the nigrostriatal pathway was 15.15 (95% CI: 5.2 to 44.17). Conclusion: Despite the lack of randomized controlled trials, results of this systematic review and meta-analysis show that VP subjects, as operationally defined here, have a low response rate to levodopa; nigrostriatal lesion could be used as a proxy predictor of levodopa response in VP subjects. Other therapies seem to be co-adjuvant. Randomized controlled trials with a clear definition of VP are necessary to be able to assign positive or negative predictive values to available treatments and to recommend any of the therapeutic interventions for these subjects.

Parkinson´s disease (PD) is not a single entity but rather a heterogeneous neurodegenerative disorder. The present study aims to conduct a critical systematic review of the literature to describe the main pharmacological treatment strategies to treat cognitive dysfunction and major depressive disorder in PD patients. We performed a search of articles cited in PubMed from 2004 to 2014 using the following MeSH terms (Medical subject headings) “parkinson disease”; “Delirium”, “Dementia”, “Amnestic”, “Cognitive disorders” and “parkinson disease”; “depression”; “depressive disorder major”; “drug therapy”. We found a total of 71 studies related to pharmacological treatment in cognitive dysfunction and 279 studies for pharmacological treatment in major depressive disorder. After fulfillment of all the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 13 articles remained for cognitive dysfunction and 11 for major depressive disorder, which are presented and discussed in this study. Further research into non-motor symptoms of PD may provide insights into mechanisms of neurodegeneration, and provide better quality of life by using rational drugs.

The COVID-19 pandemic has provoked generalized uncertainty around the world, with health workers experiencing anxiety, depression, burnout, insomnia, and stress. Although the effects of the pandemic on mental health may change as it evolves, the majority of reports have been web-based, cross-sectional studies. We performed a study assessing acute stress in frontline health workers during two consecutive epidemic waves. After screening for trait anxiety/depression and dissociative experiences, we evaluated changes in acute stress, considering resilience, state anxiety, burnout, depersonalization/derealization symptoms, and quality of sleep as cofactors. During the first epidemic wave (April 2020), health workers reported acute stress related to COVID-19, which was related to state anxiety. After the first epidemic wave, acute stress decreased, with no increase during the second epidemic wave (December 2020), and further decreased when vaccination started. During the follow-up (April 2020 to February 2021), the acute stress score was related to bad quality of sleep. However, acute stress, state anxiety, and burnout were all related to trait anxiety/depression, while the resilience score was invariant through time. Overall, the results emphasize the relevance of mental health screening before, during, and after an epidemic wave of infections, in order to enable coping during successive sanitary crises.

Objectives: Persistent Postural-Perceptual Dizziness (PPPD) is a frequent diagnosis in patients with chronic dizziness, ineffective postural control, visual dependence, and emotional symptoms. Methods: 53 patients with PPPD (25–84 years old) and 53 adults (29–84 years old) with no vestibular disease agreed to participate in this study. Assessments included: vestibular function tests (sinusoidal yaw rotation and vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials); accuracy and precision of Subjective Visual Vertical (SVV) estimation while static and during on-axis yaw rotation; static posturography with open/closed eyes and 30° neck extension, while standing on hard/soft surface; questionnaires on symptoms of unsteadiness, spatial anxiety, dizziness-related handicap, anxiety/depression, depersonalization/derealization, and perceived stress. After preliminary bivariate analyses, analysis of covariance was performed on the measurements of postural sway, spatial anxiety, and dizziness-related handicap (p < 0.05). Results: Higher intraindividual variability (reduced precision) on SVV estimations was evident in patients with PPPD compared to adults with no vestibular disease, which was related to the length of postural sway, to velocity displacement in the sagittal plane, as well as to spatial anxiety and common mental symptoms (including depersonalization/derealization symptoms). Covariance analysis showed contribution of these factors to the dizziness-related handicap reported by the patients. Conclusions: Unprecise graviception could be a contributing factor to the postural instability and mental symptoms reported by patients with PPPD, which in turn contribute to their dizziness-related handicap.

The right orbitofrontal cortex (rOFC) has been proposed as the region where conscious olfactory perception arises; however, evidence supporting this hypothesis has all been collected from neuroimaging and lesion studies in which only correlation and not a temporal pattern can be established. Continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) causes a reversible disruption of cortical activity and has been used successfully to disrupt orbitofrontal activity. To overcome intrinsic limitations of current experimental research, a crossover, double-blind, prospective and longitudinal study was carried out in which cTBS was applied over the rOFC to evaluate its effect on odorant stimuli detection. All subjects received real and sham cTBS. Experimental procedures were done in two different sessions with a separation of at least one week between them to avoid carryover and learning effects. A total of 15 subjects completed the experiment, and their data were included in the final analysis (10 women, 5 men, mean age 22.40 ± 3.41). Every session consisted of two different measures of the conscious olfactory perception task: A baseline measure and one 5 min after cTBS/sham. Compared to baseline, marks in the olfactory task during the sham cTBS session increased (p = 0.010), while marks during the real cTBS session decreased (p = 0.017). Our results support the hypothesis that rOFC is an important node of a complex network required for conscious olfactory perception to arise. However, the exact mechanism that explains our results is unclear and could be explained by the disruption of other cognitive functions related to the rOFC.