Background/Objectives: Gender differences influence the clinical manifestations, progression, and treatment response in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome, suggesting the existence of distinct gender-related phenotypes potentially driven by anatomical, physiological, and hormonal factors. However, the impact of gender on OSA-related cognitive profiles remains unknown. This study aimed to investigate the neuropsychological and polysomnographic (PSG) differences between OSA females and males in order to detect the impact of gender on clinical manifestation and PSG features. Methods: Data were collected from 28 OSA patients (14 females and 14 males matched for age, education, and disease severity). All patients performed a complete neuropsychological evaluation, Epworth sleepiness scale, and whole-night PSG. To evaluate the relationship between specific sleep profiles and cognitive performance, PSG parameters were correlated to scores obtained on neuropsychological tests. Results: Both male and female groups performed within the normal range across all administered neuropsychological tests, according to Italian normative values. Compared with OSA males, female patients showed significantly lower values on the Rey–Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF) Recall Test. By contrast, no significant statistical clinical difference emerged between the two OSA groups in terms of clinical manifestation and sleep parameters. Conclusions: This study improves the knowledge on gender-related cognitive impairment in OSA patients. Our preliminary findings demonstrate that the ROCF Recall Test may be altered in OSA females, but not in males. Further longitudinal studies are needed to investigate whether OSA female patients will develop a frank dementia over time.

Background: REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is a rare REM-parasomnia, now considered a non-motor symptom of Essential Tremor (ET). Distinct structural alterations in the thalamus, as a key region modulating REM sleep, have been reported in patients with idiopathic and Parkinson’s disease-related forms. In this work, we investigated thalamic regions in ET patients with and without RBD, using a graph theoretical analysis. Methods: MRI data were acquired from 96 participants (41 ET, 10 ET with polysomnographic-confirmed RBD, ET-RBD, 45 controls). T1-weighted scans were obtained, and grey matter volumes were estimated across 28 thalamic regions of the AAL3 template (Cat12 toolbox). An adjacency matrix for each group was calculated using Pearson correlation. Group-specific matrices were extracted and nodal measures such as centrality measures and clustering coefficient were calculated. Differences between ET groups were computed using a set of 10000 random networks. Results: Interestingly, among analyzed thalamic regions, ET-RBD patients showed increased local strength and weighted clustering coefficient in Geniculate Body and increased Betweenness centrality in Right Pulvinar Inferior Nucleus (p = 0.05 FDR-corrected). Moreover, ET-RBD patients showed an increased strength and weighted clustering coefficient in Left Lateral Geniculate Body and Right Medial Geniculate Body, compared to controls (p = 0.05 FDR-corrected). Discussion: Our study demonstrates, for the first time, that the presence of RBD in ET is associated with an altered structural connectivity in thalamic regions. Our findings support the pathophysiologic role of the thalamus in the complex circuit causing RBD, in this particular ET phenotype. Highlights ET-RBD phenotype is associated with thalamic volume loss and altered structural connectivity, particularly in the medial and lateral geniculate and pulvinar nuclei. Our findings support the pathophysiologic role of the thalamus in the complex RBD pathophysiology in this particular ET phenotype.

Neonates undergoing surgery for congenital heart disease (CHD) are at high risk for brain function impairment. Reliable early predictors of postoperative neurological complications are lacking. We examined a retrospective cohort of 55 surgically treated CHD neonates systematically monitored by concomitant conventional electroencephalography (cEEG) and amplitude-integrated EEG (aEEG). Neonates underwent cEEG/aEEG at three time points: T0 (preoperative, duration: 90–120 min); T1 (24–48 h after cardiac surgery, duration: ≥11 h); and T2 (7–10 days post-surgery, duration: 90–120 min). For each patient, aEEG background activity was evaluated and scored, and clinical and surgical data were retrieved to establish short-term post-surgical outcomes. Patients with normal T0 monitoring had significantly higher aEEG bandwidths in T1. A lower Aristotle basic score was associated with an improvement in aEEG at T1. Inversely, a narrower aEEG bandwidth in T1 was associated with post-surgical neurological deterioration. The aEEG bandwidth accurately predicted short-term neurological outcome; in particular, a minimal aEEG amplitude above 17.5 µV excluded poor neurological outcome with a negative predictive value of 81.48%. Our results demonstrated that aEEG bandwidth and trend dynamics may be associated with surgical complexity and neurological outcomes. aEEG background trend monitoring may provide relevant prognostic information on neurological outcomes in surgically treated CHD neonates.