44 research outputs found

    Frontiers in psychodynamic neuroscience

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    he term psychodynamics was introduced in 1874 by Ernst von Brücke, the renowned German physiologist and Freud’s research supervisor at the University of Vienna. Together with Helmholtz and others, Brücke proposed that all living organisms are energy systems, regulated by the same thermodynamic laws. Since Freud was a student of Brücke and a deep admirer of Helmholtz, he adopted this view, thus laying the foundations for his metapsychology. The discovery of the Default Network and the birth of Neuropsychoanalysis, twenty years ago, facilitated a deep return to this classical conception of the brain as an energy system, and therefore a return to Freud's early ambition to establish psychology as natural science. Our current investigations of neural networks and applications of the Free Energy Principle are equally ‘psychodynamic’ in Brücke’s original sense of the term. Some branches of contemporary neuroscience still eschew subjective data and therefore exclude the brain’s most remarkable property – its selfhood – from the field, and many neuroscientists remain skeptical about psychoanalytic methods, theories, and concepts. Likewise, some psychoanalysts continue to reject any consideration of the structure and functions of the brain from their conceptualization of the mind in health and disease. Both cases seem to perpetuate a Cartesian attitude in which the mind is linked to the brain in some equivocal relationship and an attitude that detaches the brain from the body -- rather than considering it an integral part of the complex and dynamic living organism as a whole. Evidence from psychodynamic neuroscience suggests that Freudian constructs can now be realized neurobiologically. For example, Freud’s notion of primary and secondary processes is consistent with the hierarchical organization of self-organized cortical and subcortical systems, and his description of the ego is consistent with the functions of the Default Network and its reciprocal exchanges with subordinate brain systems. Moreover, thanks to new methods of measuring brain entropy, we can now operationalize the primary and secondary processes and therefore test predictions arising from these Freudian constructs. All of this makes it possible to deepen the dialogue between neuroscience and psychoanalysis, in ways and to a degree that was unimaginable in Freud's time, and even compared to twenty years ago. Many psychoanalytical hypotheses are now well integrated with contemporary neuroscience. Other Freudian and post-Freudian hypotheses about the structure and function of the mind seem ripe for the detailed and sophisticated development that modern psychodynamic neuroscience can offer. This Research Topic aims to provide comprehensive coverage of the latest advances in psychodynamic neuroscience and neuropsychoanalysis. Potential authors are invited to submit papers (original research, case reports, review articles, commentaries) that deploy, review, compare or develop the methods and theories of psychodynamic neuroscience and neuropsychoanalysis. Potential authors include researchers, psychoanalysts, and neuroscientists

    Multimedia Forensics

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    This book is open access. Media forensics has never been more relevant to societal life. Not only media content represents an ever-increasing share of the data traveling on the net and the preferred communications means for most users, it has also become integral part of most innovative applications in the digital information ecosystem that serves various sectors of society, from the entertainment, to journalism, to politics. Undoubtedly, the advances in deep learning and computational imaging contributed significantly to this outcome. The underlying technologies that drive this trend, however, also pose a profound challenge in establishing trust in what we see, hear, and read, and make media content the preferred target of malicious attacks. In this new threat landscape powered by innovative imaging technologies and sophisticated tools, based on autoencoders and generative adversarial networks, this book fills an important gap. It presents a comprehensive review of state-of-the-art forensics capabilities that relate to media attribution, integrity and authenticity verification, and counter forensics. Its content is developed to provide practitioners, researchers, photo and video enthusiasts, and students a holistic view of the field

    Low-Cost Sensors and Biological Signals

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    Many sensors are currently available at prices lower than USD 100 and cover a wide range of biological signals: motion, muscle activity, heart rate, etc. Such low-cost sensors have metrological features allowing them to be used in everyday life and clinical applications, where gold-standard material is both too expensive and time-consuming to be used. The selected papers present current applications of low-cost sensors in domains such as physiotherapy, rehabilitation, and affective technologies. The results cover various aspects of low-cost sensor technology from hardware design to software optimization

    Modern Developments in Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) – Applications and Perspectives in Clinical Neuroscience

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    Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is being increasingly used in neuroscience and clinics. Modern advances include but are not limited to the combination of TMS with precise neuronavigation as well as the integration of TMS into a multimodal environment, e.g., by guiding the TMS application using complementary techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), or magnetoencephalography (MEG). Furthermore, the impact of stimulation can be identified and characterized by such multimodal approaches, helping to shed light on the basic neurophysiology and TMS effects in the human brain. Against this background, the aim of this Special Issue was to explore advancements in the field of TMS considering both investigations in healthy subjects as well as patients

    Assessment of Socio-Economic Sustainability and Resilience after COVID-19

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    The pandemic period has caused severe socio-economic damage, but it is accompanied by environmental deterioration that can also affect economic opportunities and social equity. In the face of this double risk, future generations are ready to be resilient and make their contribution not only on the consumption side, but also through their inclusion in all companies by bringing green and circular principles with them. Policy makers can also favor this choice

    Clinical Pathways in Stroke Rehabilitation

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    This open access book focuses on practical clinical problems that are frequently encountered in stroke rehabilitation. Consequences of diseases, e.g. impairments and activity limitations, are addressed in rehabilitation with the overall goal to reduce disability and promote participation. Based on the available best external evidence, clinical pathways are described for stroke rehabilitation bridging the gap between clinical evidence and clinical decision-making. The clinical pathways answer the questions which rehabilitation treatment options are beneficial to overcome specific impairment constellations and activity limitations and are well acceptable to stroke survivors, as well as when and in which settings to provide rehabilitation over the course of recovery post stroke. Each chapter starts with a description of the clinical problem encountered. This is followed by a systematic, but concise review of the evidence (RCTs, systematic reviews and meta-analyses) that is relevant for clinical decision-making, and comments on assessment, therapy (training, technology, medication), and the use of technical aids as appropriate. Based on these summaries, clinical algorithms / pathways are provided and the main clinical-decision situations are portrayed. The book is invaluable for all neurorehabilitation team members, clinicians, nurses, and therapists in neurology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and related fields. It is a World Federation for NeuroRehabilitation (WFNR) educational initiative, bridging the gap between the rapidly expanding clinical research in stroke rehabilitation and clinical practice across societies and continents. It can be used for both clinical decision-making for individuals and as well as clinical background knowledge for stroke rehabilitation service development initiatives. ; Provides evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for stroke rehabilitation Discusses clinical problems and evidence, comments on assessment, therapy and technical aids Written by experienced experts with a background in clinical practic

    Neuromechanical Biomarkers for Robotic Neurorehabilitation

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    : One of the current challenges for translational rehabilitation research is to develop the strategies to deliver accurate evaluation, prediction, patient selection, and decision-making in the clinical practice. In this regard, the robot-assisted interventions have gained popularity as they can provide the objective and quantifiable assessment of the motor performance by taking the kinematics parameters into the account. Neurophysiological parameters have also been proposed for this purpose due to the novel advances in the non-invasive signal processing techniques. In addition, other parameters linked to the motor learning and brain plasticity occurring during the rehabilitation have been explored, looking for a more holistic rehabilitation approach. However, the majority of the research done in this area is still exploratory. These parameters have shown the capability to become the "biomarkers" that are defined as the quantifiable indicators of the physiological/pathological processes and the responses to the therapeutical interventions. In this view, they could be finally used for enhancing the robot-assisted treatments. While the research on the biomarkers has been growing in the last years, there is a current need for a better comprehension and quantification of the neuromechanical processes involved in the rehabilitation. In particular, there is a lack of operationalization of the potential neuromechanical biomarkers into the clinical algorithms. In this scenario, a new framework called the "Rehabilomics" has been proposed to account for the rehabilitation research that exploits the biomarkers in its design. This study provides an overview of the state-of-the-art of the biomarkers related to the robotic neurorehabilitation, focusing on the translational studies, and underlying the need to create the comprehensive approaches that have the potential to take the research on the biomarkers into the clinical practice. We then summarize some promising biomarkers that are being under investigation in the current literature and provide some examples of their current and/or potential applications in the neurorehabilitation. Finally, we outline the main challenges and future directions in the field, briefly discussing their potential evolution and prospective

    Central nervous system physiology

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    This is the second chapter of the series on the use of clinical neurophysiology for the study of movement disorders. It focusses on methods that can be used to probe neural circuits in brain and spinal cord. These include use of spinal and supraspinal reflexes to probe the integrity of transmission in specific pathways; transcranial methods of brain stimulation such as transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation, which activate or modulate (respectively) the activity of populations of central neurones; EEG methods, both in conjunction with brain stimulation or with behavioural measures that record the activity of populations of central neurones; and pure behavioural measures that allow us to build conceptual models of motor control. The methods are discussed mainly in relation to work on healthy individuals. Later chapters will focus specifically on changes caused by pathology

    Applications of EMG in Clinical and Sports Medicine

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    This second of two volumes on EMG (Electromyography) covers a wide range of clinical applications, as a complement to the methods discussed in volume 1. Topics range from gait and vibration analysis, through posture and falls prevention, to biofeedback in the treatment of neurologic swallowing impairment. The volume includes sections on back care, sports and performance medicine, gynecology/urology and orofacial function. Authors describe the procedures for their experimental studies with detailed and clear illustrations and references to the literature. The limitations of SEMG measures and methods for careful analysis are discussed. This broad compilation of articles discussing the use of EMG in both clinical and research applications demonstrates the utility of the method as a tool in a wide variety of disciplines and clinical fields
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