New frontiers in neuropsychology. The Padua Rehabilitation Tool: a new software for rehabilitation using touch-screen technology

Recently, the advancement and the development of new technologies is shaping and establishing new frontiers in neuropsychological rehabilitation. In particular, the use of touchscreen technology, together with the use of mobile devices, is giving new opportunities for the development of innovative programs of rehabilitation tailored to the specific needs of patients The overview of software for rehabilitation today is wide, but the poor availability of such software for Italian population and specifically designed for people with cognitive impairments, some years ago, led me to the development of the first mobile devices’ software for cognitive rehabilitation. The aim of this dissertation is to describe the development process and the efficacy evaluation of this software, the Padua Rehabilitation Tool (PRT). Initially will be described and analyzed the base for every cognitive intervention: the plasticity of brain. In Section1 I will report a study for understanding the relationship between performance in computerized exercises and the performance in standardized tests. None before investigated the relationship between this two different measures of outcome. The perceived relationship is not necessarily automatically provided, thus, it is important to examine how exercises and standardized tests are related: if improvement in therapy exercises mirrors improvement in standardized test. In Section 2, I will describe the development of the PRT and the use of this software in population with different etiologies. Originally, the PRT was designed for people with dementia and thus the most important study of efficacy was conducted on this population. Lastly, given the flexibility and the variety of exercises and cognitive domains engaged by the PRT it was possible to deliver a cognitive rehabilitation to people with acquired brain injury. I will describe the effects of a cognitive rehabilitation with PRT in several single cases including patients after stroke, with a history of traumatic brain injury and an early post-coma rehabilitation

Spaghetti Enriched with Inulin: Effect of Polymerization Degree on Quality Traits and α-Amylase Inhibition

Inulin is considered a dietary fiber and represents a noteworthy ingredient for food biofortification due to its health effects and its neutral taste. The aim of the work was the evaluation of the quality of pasta produced using whole-meal flours of two ancient Sicilian landraces (Senatore Cappelli-CAP and Timilia—TIM) fortified with two types of inulin (long-chain topinambur inulin IT and low-chain chicory inulin IC), at two different levels of substitution (2 and 4%) to evaluate its possible effect on α-amylase inhibition. The color indices L* and a* were mainly influenced by cultivars, while IT improved the sensory attributes, mainly the elasticity sensation, and influenced less the other sensory attributes: adhesiveness, color, odor, taste, and Over Quality Score for both landraces. The cooking quality was linked mainly to the landrace used, due to the very different gluten matrix of CAP and TIM. IC and IT showed promising α-Amy inhibitory activity with comparable IC50 values of 0.45 ± 0.04 and 0.50 ± 0.06 mg/mL. The enrichment of spaghetti with inulin with an inhibitory effect on α-amylase determined the hypoglycemic properties of pasta, thus lowering the corresponding IC50 value

A Retrospective Comparative Study in Patients With Cocaine Use Disorder Comorbid With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Undergoing an rTMS Protocol Treatment

Background: Adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with high comorbidity with other psychiatric diseases, including cocaine use disorder (CocUD). Given the common fronto-striatal dysfunction, ADHD patients often use cocaine as self-medication for ameliorating symptoms by increasing striatal dopamine release. Yet, comorbidity with ADHD is related to poor treatment outcomes. CocUD has been treated with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), but no studies investigated the outcomes in patients comorbid with ADHD. Methods: Twenty-two ADHD/CocUD and 208 CocUD-only participants received a high-frequency (15 Hz) rTMS treatment stimulating the left-DLPFC. We investigated whether both groups of patients shared similar demographic and clinical characteristics at baseline. Then, we monitored the effect of treatment testing for potential differences between groups. Results: At baseline demographic, toxicology and clinical features were not different between the two groups except for global severity index (GSI from SCL-90): patients of ADHD/CocUD group reported higher general symptomatology compared to the CocUD-only group. Concerning the effect of treatment, both groups significantly improved over time regarding cocaine use, craving, and other negative affect symptoms. No differences were observed between groups. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study comparing the demographic characterization and rTMS clinical improvements of patients with a dual diagnosis of ADHD and CocUD against CocUD-only patients. Cocaine use and common self-reported withdrawal/abstinence symptoms appear to benefit from rTMS treatment with no differences between groups. Future studies are needed to further investigate these preliminary results

Neuropsychological testing through a Nintendo Wii console

Abstract In recent years, videogames have demonstrated their positive effects in the psychological treatments and cognitive training of the old population. In this paper we present a pilot study in which a group of elderly people in an old people's home was requested to play a set of cognitive tasks administered through a popular videogames console, the Nintendo Wii. The results obtained by comparing the Wii cognitive games with traditional paper and pencil tests are described and discussed to orient further improvements

Cognitive training with Nintendo Wii® for the elderly: An evaluation

Two groups of elderly people were monitored during a period of three months: one group followed an experimental training program with games developed for the Nintendo Wii console, while the other group performed a regular training program offered by the elderly care center. Classic neuropsychological tests were administered before and after this period to both groups. The results show better cognitive performances of the experimental group in several tests

Neuropsychological testing through a nintendo wii

In recent years, videogames have demonstrated their positive effects in the psychological treatments and cognitive training of the old population. In this paper we present a pilot study in which a group of elderly people in an old people's home was requested to play a set of cognitive tasks administered through a popular videogames console, the Nintendo Wii®. The results obtained by comparing the Wii® cognitive games with traditional paper and pencil tests are described and discussed to orient further improvements

Age-related changes in time discrimination: The involvement of inhibition, working memory and speed of processing

Background: Researchers have devoted much effort in trying to understand how and why our subjective experience of time changes across the adult life-span. The cognitive apparatus that supports timing is integrally entwined with those supporting other cognitive processes including working memory, inhibition and speed of processing. Methods: One-hundred-eighty adults ranged from 19 to 87 years old participated in the study. A time discrimination task, with two standard intervals (short standard = 500 ms; long standard = 1500 ms) was used. Moreover, N-back and Stroop tasks were used to assess working memory, inhibition and speed of processing. Results: Data were analysed with a multilevel mixed model approach. Accounting for between-subject variability, we compared models in order to assess the better fit using chi-square likelihood-ratio test, Akaike information criterion and the Bayesian information criterion. Results showed a significant interaction between age, standard interval, comparison interval and speed of processing. Conclusion: Our study confirmed that younger participants were generally more accurate across conditions than older ones; we also showed that performance depended indeed on intervals, but also on speed of processing abilities across age

Time Perception in Cocaine-Dependent Patients

The involvement of the dopamine system in modulating time perception has been widely reported. Clinical conditions (e.g., Parkinson's disease, addictions) that alter dopaminergic signaling have been shown to affect motor timing and perceived duration. The present study aimed at investigating whether the effects of chronic stimulant use on temporal processing are time-interval dependent. All participants performed two different time bisection tasks (480/1920 ms and 1200/2640 ms) in which we analysed the proportion of long responses for each stimulus duration as well as an index of perceived duration and one of sensitivity. Regarding the proportion of long responses, we found no differences between groups in either time bisection task but patients had more variable results than controls did in both tasks. This study provides new insight into temporal processing in stimulant-dependent patients. Regardless of the time interval tested, the results showed comparable temporal ability in patients and controls, but higher temporal variability in patients. This finding is consistent with impairment of frontally-mediated cognitive functions involved in time perception rather than impairment in time processing per se

Cognitive training with Nintendo Wii\uae for the elderly: An evaluation

Two groups of elderly people were monitored during a period of three months: one group followed an experimental training program with games developed for the Nintendo Wii console, while the other group performed a regular training program offered by the elderly care center. Classic neuropsychological tests were administered before and after this period to both groups. The results show better cognitive performances of the experimental group in several tests