Background: Repetitive mild traumatic brain injury (rmTBI) often occurs in individuals engaged in contact sports, particularly boxing. This study aimed to elucidate the effects of rmTBI on phase-locking value (PLV)-based graph theory and functional network architecture in individuals with boxing-related injuries in five frequency bands by employing resting-state electroencephalography (EEG). Methods: Twenty-fore professional boxers and 25 matched healthy controls were recruited to perform a resting-state task, and their noninvasive scalp EEG data were collected simultaneously. Based on the construction of PLV matrices for boxers and controls, phase synchronization and graph-theoretic characteristics were identified in each frequency band. The significance of the calculated functional brain networks between the two populations was analyzed using a network-based statistical (NBS) approach. Results: Compared to controls, boxers exhibited an increasing trend in PLV synchronization and notable differences in the distribution of functional centers, especially in the gamma frequency band. Additionally, attenuated nodal network parameters and decreased small-world measures were observed in the theta, beta, and gamma bands, suggesting that the functional network efficiency and small-world characteristics were significantly weakened in boxers. NBS analysis revealed that boxers exhibited a significant increase in network connectivity strength compared to controls in the theta, beta, and gamma frequency bands. The functional connectivity of the significance subnetworks exhibited an asymmetric distribution between the bilateral hemispheres, indicating that the optimized organization of information integration and segregation for the resting-state networks was imbalanced and disarranged for boxers. Conclusions: This is the first study to investigate the underlying deficits in PLV-based graph-theoretic characteristics and NBS-based functional networks in patients with rmTBI from the perspective of whole-brain resting-state EEG. Joint analyses of distinctive graph-theoretic representations and asymmetrically hyperconnected subnetworks in specific frequency bands may serve as an effective method to assess the underlying deficiencies in resting-state network processing in patients with sports-related rmTBI.

The cognitive impairment of pituitary adenomas (PAs) has received increasing attention. Hyperprolactinemia and tumor mass effect are the potential causes. The aim of this study was to identify possible cognitive impairment and to further explore the correlation between these indices and prolactin (PRL) levels, based on the control of tumor size. Twenty-seven patients with prolactinomas (patient group) and twenty-six matched health control group (HC group) were enrolled in this study. All participants performed the flanker task while we continuously recorded electroencephalography data. On the behavioral performance level, patients showed a significantly slower reaction time (RT) in both flanker types. Concerning the event-related potentials level, patients elicited reduced P2 and enhanced N2 amplitudes compared with the HC group, suggesting an impairment of attentional processing (P2) and conflict monitoring (N2). Moreover, the patient group also induced lower P3 amplitudes relative to the HC group in both types, indicating that there were deficits in attentional resource allocation ability. We also found a significant correlation between the P3 amplitudes and incongruent condition RTs, as well as the subsequent PRL levels in the patient group. In conclusion, this is an innovative study that reveals the impaired cognition abilities in prolactinomas, and also proposes the possible cognitive toxicity of oversecreted PRL levels, which provides evidence for further research on the cognitive decline in PAs.

Objective: In December 2019, a novel coronavirus infectious disease, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), began to appear in China. Wuhan, Hubei Province, is the origin and core location of the epidemic. Neurosurgeons were faced with the challenge of balancing treatment of patients with life-threatening conditions and preventing the cross-transmission of the virus. Methods: A series of infection prevention and control strategies was adopted for the peri-operative period of emergency surgeries in our department. These strategies include protective measures for the emergency department (ED) and measures for the peri-operative period of emergency surgery. The propensity score matching (PSM) was used to match COVID-19–related patients with patients before the epidemic. Length of wait time in the ED and duration of operation were compared. Results: From January 23, 2020 to March 18, 2020, we performed emergency surgery for 19 patients who were either COVID-19–related or COVID-19–suspected. None of the medical staff involved in the surgeries developed viral infection, and no peri-operative virus transmission occurred in our hospital. After the PSM, 32 patients were included in the epidemic group and the pre-epidemic group (16 patients in each group). The duration of wait time in the ED of the former group was longer than that of the latter group (z = −3.000; p = 0.003). During the epidemic, the duration of a craniotomy was longer than before the epidemic (z = −2.253; p = 0.024), and there was no difference in the duration of interventional surgery (z = −0.314; p = 0.753). Conclusion: We believe that our experience can provide a useful reference for other surgeons facing the same challenges and as a lesson for similar infectious diseases that may occur in the future.