Epidemiology of intracerebral haemorrhage in Livorno district

BACKGROUND: Intracranial haemorrhage represents the most feared stroke subtype. AIM: To evaluate the burden of intracranial haemorrhage in Tuscany hospitals with special reference to Livorno district. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data of patients discharged in 2009 from Tuscan and Livorno hospitals with codes ICD-9-CM related to any type of spontaneous intracranial haemorrhage were selected and analyzed. RESULTS: 3,472 patients were discharged from Tuscan hospitals with these diagnoses. Overall mortality was 24.3%. 50% of patients were admitted in Internal Medicine wards. Incidence of intracranial haemorrhage and intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) in population of Livorno district was 64 and 45/100,000 inhabitants/year with related mortality of 36.5% and 39.4%respectively. Intra-hospital mortality of patients admitted in Livorno hospitals for intracranial haemorrhage were 36.7%. 40% of deaths occurred in the first 48 hours. 69.6% of intracranial haemorrhage were ICHs, 16.8% subaracnoideal. Intra-hospital mortality, admissions for intracranial haemorrhage in respect of total admissions and mortality for intracranial haemorrhage in respect to total mortality increased in the last decade. 23% of patients with intracranial haemorrhage and 16% of patients with ICH underwent to surgical procedures. ICHs related to antithrombotic treatment significantly increased in the last years. Mortality in patients on antithrombotic drugs was three times over compared to that in patients not undergone these drugs (43.7% vs 12.8%, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: There is an increasing trend in frequency, mortality and hospital burden of intracranial haemorrhage and ICH. Efforts aimed at reducing the burden and consequences of this devasting disease are warranted

Co-Simulations of Brain Language Processing using Neural Language Models

This paper provides an epistemological and methodological analysis of the practice of using neural language models to simulate brain language processing. Firstly, neural language models are introduced; a study case showing how neural language models are being applied in cognitive neuroscience for simulative purposes is then presented; after recalling the main epistemological features of the simulative method in artificial intelligence, it is finally examined how the simulative method is modified when using neural language models. In particular, it is argued that the epistemic opacity of neural language models requires that the brain itself be used to simulate the model and to test hypotheses about the model, in what is called here a co-simulation

Introspective self-narrative modulates the neuronal response during the emphatic process. An event-related potentials (ERPs) study

Empathy is the ability to perceive and understand others’ emotional states generating a similar mental state in the self. Previous behavioural studies have shown that self-reflection can enhance the empathic process. The present event-related potentials study aims to investigate whether self-reflection, elicited by an introspective self-narrative task, modulates the neuronal response to eye expressions and improves the accuracy of empathic process. The twenty-nine participants included in the final sample were divided into two groups: an introspection group (IG) (n=15), who received an introspective writing task, and a control group (CG) (n=14), who completed a not-introspective writing task. For both groups, the electroencephalographic and behavioural responses to images depicting eye expressions taken from the “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” Theory of Mind test were recorded pre- (T0) and post- (T1) seven days of writing. The main result showed that only the IG presented a different P300 amplitude in response to eye expressions at T1 compared to T0 on the left centre-frontal montage. No significant results on accuracy at T1 compared to T0 were found. These findings seem to suggest that the introspective writing task modulates attention and implicit evaluation of the socio-emotional stimuli. Results are discussed with reference to the hypothesis that such neuronal modulation is linked to an increase in the embodied simulation process underlying affective empathy

Does the Character-Based Dimension of Stories Impact Narrative Processing? An Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) study

This event-related potentials (ERPs) study investigated on-line processes of integration of information relating to characters in narrative comprehension. The final sample included twenty-nine participants who read short third-person stories in which the plausibility of the characters’ actions was manipulated. Stories were administered in three conditions: a character-based congruent condition including a target word that was consistent with the character’s job; a character-based incongruent condition with a target word inconsistent with the character’s job; a character-based neutral condition, narrating the action of a character presented by his/her proper name without information about his/her job. Results comparing the ERPs elicited by the experimental conditions revealed a greater negative amplitude of the N400 in the right temporal regions in response to the character-based incongruent compared to the character-based congruent narratives. This finding shows that implicit background character-based information affects the N400, with readers rapidly using this information to comprehend narratives

Narrative del disturbo da gioco d’azzardo e del disturbo da uso di sostanze. Una analisi multidimensionale per la caratterizzazione di possibili marcatori narrativi e linguistici delle dipendenze

Diversi studi hanno dimostrato che l’analisi della dimensione narrativa può rappresentare un valido strumento per far luce su alcuni aspetti psicologici critici; in questo senso, può essere utile per capire meglio il disturbo da dipendenza. Il presente articolo riporta tra l’altro alcuni tra i dati principali di una ricerca da noi condotta e pubblicata nella rivista Journal of Gambling Issues nel 2021. In tale ricerca abbiamo indagato gli aspetti psicologico-narrativi coinvolti nelle dipendenze, specificamente nel DUS e nel DGA, attraverso un’analisi quali-quantitativa multidimensionale di un’intervista semi-strutturata, che ha invitato due gruppi di soggetti dipendenti in trattamento (DGA e DUS) a raccontare le varie fasi della dipendenza. Le analisi narrative multidimensionali da noi condotte sembrano aver portato alla luce alcuni punti critici su cui focalizzare l’attenzione per la costruzione di un adeguato trattamento dei soggetti con dipendenza. Nello specifico, i risultati suggerirebbero la necessità di lavorare su aspetti dissociati del Sé al fine di: 1) favorire il processo di integrazione di motivazioni e azioni, aumentando la consapevolezza e il senso di autoefficacia, soprattutto con i giocatori d’azzardo; 2) migliorare la coerenza globale nella narrazione del desiderio al fine di diminuire la disregolazione emotiva tipica di questa fase; 3) migliorare la capacità di proiezione del Sé nel tempo. Quest’ultimo punto potrebbe essere particolarmente rilevante in una prospettiva di intervento riabilitativo, soprattutto per quanto riguarda gli strumenti di trattamento legati alla dimensione narrativa. Il rapporto circolare tra regolazione dell’impulsività, autocontrollo, integrità dell’Io, funzioni cognitive e dimensione narrativa trova nel fattore temporale uno dei principali perni comuni