BACKGROUND:The purpose of the present study was to assess the influence of vascular factors on the degree of intensity and rate of progression of cognitive disorders in the course of Alzheimer Disease (AD). MATERIAL AND METHODS:The research group con...

Background The rehabilitation of patients with chronic prosopagnosia that occurs following a stroke is a challenge for modern medicine. Dysfunction to the facial processing areas is permanent and standard rehabilitation brings only limited improvement. Therefore, therapists suggest reinforcing the compensatory strategies used by such patients such as voice, figure, and gait recognition to help with the identification of a particular person, which promotes their social functioning. New neurotechnologies, especially QEEG/ERPs, displays of functional brain impairment in prosopagnosia, may be helpful in developing an appropriate neurotherapy protocol and create the conditions for other forms of rehabilitation in such patients. The purpose of our study was twofold: 1) to evaluate QEEG/ ERPs shows of post-stroke functional impairment associated with prosopagnosia, 2) to construct a neurofeedback protocol based on these indices to sup- port the neuropsychological rehabilitation of the case study described herein. We present the case of a 23-year-old right-handed student of the Graphics Faculty of the Academy of Fine Arts, with chronic associative prosopagnosia after infection with SARS-CoV-2 followed by Covid-19 and a right hemisphere stroke. He was re- ferred in April 2021 for diagnosis and therapy at the Reintegration and Training Cen- ter of the Polish Neuropsychological Society (PTNeur). Six months earlier, in October 2020, the patient had been admitted to the Infectious Disease Hospital. COVID-19 was diagnosed based on coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) reverse transcrip- tion PCR (RT-PCR) on a nasopharyngeal swab. The neurological examination re- vealed muscle weakness on the left side of the body, slow and aprosodic speech, preserved comprehension, and acute left homonymous hemianopsia, as well as prosopagnosia and mirror symptom. The patient was sedated and mechanically ventilated for six days. The CT-scan showed foci in the posterior part of the superior temporal lobe and hyperintense changes in the blood supply area of the right middle cerebral artery. After 30 days of hospitalization, the patient was discharged from this hospital and referred to an outpatient rehabilitation center for five months. Ther- apy improved his general condition but did not remove the chronic prosopagnosia: a personal tragedy for the patient which prevented him from continuing his studies. He was diagnosed at the PTNeur Reintegration and Training Center within the next few weeks: (1). ophthalmologic examinations revealed no pathology; (2) neuropsy- chological testing confirmed the presence of chronic apperceptive prosopagnosia; (3) examination of event-related potentials (ERPs) revealed a large delay of the N170 wave, particularly on the right side, indicating a slowing of the rate of nerve impulses in early face processing and a cause of prosopagnosia. The patient was referred for rehabilitation: he participated in 20 sessions of individually tailored anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) twice a week for ten weeks, and in parallel, for indi- vidualized Prosopagnosia Symbolic Art Therapy provided once a week for ten weeks. By the end of therapy, the patient was not only recognizing but also painting portraits of faces. He returned to college, finished and defended a master’s thesis in Artistic Drawing, in which facial presentation played an important role. Quantitative EEG (QEEG) and event-related potentials (ERPs) neuromarkers helped to understand the mechanism of prosopagnosia and to choose an individualized protocol, thus the appropriate application of tDCS in our patient, which accelerated the recovery of the ability to perform complex tasks and created the conditions for Symbolic Art Therapy. Modern medicine can successfully use such a management protocol in individuals with chronic prosopagnosia.

Anesthesia nurses working with COVID-19 patients experience exceptional emotional and physical strain due to the nature of their work in a high-risk environment. This has negative consequences for their physical and mental health and often leads to the development of occupational burnout syndrome. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a new neuromarker-based form of combined EEG / TDCS training in reducing occupational burnout syndrome in a nurse anesthetist working with patients with COVID-19.The patient, an unmarried 30-year-old anaesthetic nurse who had been working in the profession for six years, was referred to the Reintegration and Training Center of the Polish Neuropsychological Society in late 2022. A clinical interview and analysis of her medical records established that for the past two years (from early April 2020 to mid-April 2022), during which she had worked at a closed Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 and contracting COVID-19, had been extremely taxing and anxiety-producing. With each successive wave of the pandemic, when the ICU was in a critical situation full of all kinds of stressors, including numerous cardiac arrests and the deaths of those she was caring for, she became increasingly mentally and physically exhausted. In addition, she experienced two losses of consciousness, but EEG and CT scans showed no changes. Her medical condition, especially her attention deficit disorder, working memory and confusion, caused her to lose her ability to work. She went on a disability pension due to full-blown occupational burnout syndrome (ICD-10 code 273.0) with a variety of psychosomatic symptoms. Several episodes of epileptic seizures were observed during her 40-minute qEEG recording with eyes open and closed and her performance of the PsyTask. The independent component analysis (ICA) extracted, among other things, a delta that corresponded to a 3Hz seizure and was generated in the prefrontal-temporal region of the right cerebral hemisphere. Functional neuromarkers of anxiety and depression were also detected in both the raw EEG recordings and data obtained from qEEG/ERPs analysis compared to the norm from the Human Brain Index (HBI). The new, neuromarker-based, form of combined EEG/tDCS training carried out the basisof these neuromarkers, conducted in 32 treatment sessions, proved effective in reducing individual disorders, including seizure activity.The examined anaesthetic nurse recovered from anxiety and depression, as well as occupational burnout syndrome and other psychosomatic disorders after 32 sessions of the new, combined neurofeedback EEG/tDCS training, and she returned to work at the ICU. Specific patterns of qEEG and ERPs serve as neuromarkers for constructing the protocol and for monitoring the results of intervention. HBI methodology can be successfully used in neurodiagnosis and neurotherapy offered to patients with occupational burnout syndrome.

Wprowadzenie. Reakcje na niepłynność mówienia dziecka występujące u matki i ojca są prawdopodobnie zróżnicowane. Ponadto pojawia się pytanie: Jakie czynniki je kształtują? Cel. Celem badania było porównanie reakcji matek i ojców na niepłynność mówienia dziecka, ocena inteligencji emocjonalnej rodziców jąkających się dzieci oraz ustalenie związku między inteligencją emocjonalną rodziców a ich reakcjami na niepłynność mówienia dziecka. Materiał i metoda. W badaniu wzięło udział trzydzieści matek i trzydziestu ojców jąkających się dzieci w wieku 3-6 lat (w tym dwudziestu dwóch chłopców i ośmiu dziewczynek). Wyniki. Reakcje matek i ojców na niepłynność mowy dziecka są podobne, natomiast nasilenie reakcji emocjonalnych wobec synów było istotnie statystycznie wyższe (p < 0,05) u matek niż u ojców. Zarówno ogólny poziom inteligencji emocjonalnej, jak i poziomy dla poszczególnych skal były istotnie statystycznie wyższe u matek. Stwierdzono pozytywny związek o średniej sile pomiędzy zdolnością do empatii a skalą poznawczą oraz pomiędzy zdolnością do kontrolowania własnych emocji a skalą behawioralną matek. U ojców zaobserwowano pozytywny związek o średniej sile między zdolnością do empatii a skalą emocjonalną. Wnioski. Poziom inteligencji emocjonalnej wydaje się być czynnikiem kształtującym reakcje rodziców na niepłynność mówienia u dzieci.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI), particularly damage to the frontal lobes, often produces a specific configuration of behavioral and personality changes known as frontal syndrome. Recent data, however, indicate that patients, depending on whether the damage has occurred in the left or right hemisphere of the brain, manifest one of two profiles of this syndrome in which negative or positive behavioral disturbances predominate. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the differences in frontal syndrome profiles present in patients 20 years after injury to the frontal lobes of the right and left hemispheres.The study included a total of 360 patients with brain injury confirmed by neuroimaging studies, rehabilitated at the Reintegration and Training Center of the Polish Neuropsychological Society. The subjects were matched by age and gender into 2 experimental groups: Group A, included 180 patients (including 90 men and 90 women) with post-traumatic frontal lobe damage in the left hemisphere of the brain, and Group B, which included 180 patients (including 90 men and 90 women) with post-traumatic frontal lobe damage in the right hemisphere of the brain. The study employed documentation analysis, clinical interview and the Frontal Syndrome Behavior Questionnaire (FBInv). In accordance with the guidelines of this questionnaire, assessments were made based on an interview with the patient's caregiver in the absence of the patient. The study was conducted twice: two years (baseline) and about 20 years (follow up) after the brain injury.It was found that thepatients with left frontal lobe damage were characterised by significantly higher levels of so-called negative behavioural disorders overall and in the dimensions of apathy, passivity, indifference, concreteness, disorganisation, logopenia, apraxia of speech and perseveration, as well as significantly lower levels of loss of insight. While the patients with right frontal lobe damage were characterised by significantly higher levels of so-called positive conduct disorder overall and in the dimensions of hypersensitivity and irritability, excessive cheerfulness, unreasonable behaviour, inappropriateness and an absence of polite behaviour, aggressiveness, hyper-orality, hyper-sexuality, compulsivity, urinary and faecal incontinence and alien handedness. In addition, it should be noted that most of the recorded effects were found to be strong (η2> 0.14). The results indicated that 20 years after the brain injury, in terms of positive behavioural disorders overall, the group of patients with right frontal lobe damage showed a stronger decrease in disorders (η2= 0.64) over time when compared to patients with left frontal lobe damage (η2= 0.14).We found that in the patients 20 years after post-traumatic damage to the frontal lobes is still manifesting frontal syndrome, however its profile is dependent on whether the damage occurred in the left frontal lobe or the right frontal lobe. The Frontal Syndrome Behavior Questionnaire can be used in the differential diagnosis of frontal syndrome after damage to the frontal lobes of the right and left hemispheres of the brain.

Aim of the study: Purpose: The objective of this research was to determine the level of motivation for stutter treatment and its dependence on age, gender, and the conception of stuttering.Subject or material and methods: Methods: In our study, the Conception of Stuttering Scale (CSS) and the Motivation for Stutter Therapy Scale (MSTS) were used. Participants: The research involved 297 participants, 81 women and 216 men, all aged from 18 to 54 years. All participants had started to stutter before the age of 7, they all had stutter symptoms (confirmed by an experienced speech therapist), thought themselves to be stutterers, and had undergone at least one therapy.Results: Overall, the respondents were likely to consider stuttering a speech impediment, logoneurosis, communication disorder, or an illness. They mostly supported the idea of comprehensively diagnosing stuttering and they did not have a uniform conception of stutter therapy. They were most likely to opt for therapies based on speech practice or psychotherapy. Their motivation for speech therapy was mostly moderate. Motivation for stutter therapy was markedly higher in women than in men.. A significant positive correlation was revealed between speech practice and non-acceptance of stuttering.Discussion: Stuttering persons have differing conceptions of the etiology, basis, diagnosis, and treatment of stuttering. Motivation for stutter therapy in adults is moderate and is not associated with their concept of stuttering.Conclusions: Stuttering persons have differing conceptions of the etiology, basis, diagnosis, and treatment of stuttering. Motivation for stutter therapy in adults is moderate and is not associated with their concept of stuttering.