Social behavior following traumatic brain injury and its association with emotion recognition, understanding of intentions, and cognitive flexibility

Although the adverse consequences of changes in social behavior following traumatic brain injury (TBI) are well documented, relatively little is known about possible underlying neuropsychological deficits. Following a model originally developed for social behavior deficits in schizophrenia, we investigated whether impairments in emotion recognition, understanding of other people's intentions ("theory of mind"), and cognitive flexibility soon after first TBI or 1 year later were associated with self and proxy ratings of behavior following TBI. Each of the three functions was assessed with two separate tests, and ratings of behavior were collected on three questionnaires. Patients with TBI (n = 33) were impaired in emotion recognition, "theory of mind," and cognitive flexibility compared with matched orthopedic controls (n = 34). Proxy ratings showed increases in behavioral problems 1 year following injury in the TBI group but not in the control group. However, test performance was not associated with questionnaire data. Severity of the impairments in emotion recognition, understanding intention, and flexibility were unrelated to the severity of behavioral problems following TBI. These findings failed to confirm the used model for social behavior deficits and may cast doubt on the alleged link between deficits in emotion recognition or theory of mind and social functioning

STOWA-systeem voor de ecologische beoordeling van brakke, binnendijkse wateren

UItleg over een nieuw ecologisch beoordelingssysteem voor brakke binnenwateren, aansluitend bij de al bestaande STOWA-beoordelingssystemen voor andere watertypen. Op grond van het ecologisch functioneren en een geformuleerd ecologisch streefbeeld worden beïnvloedingsfactoren, karakteristieken en maatstaven onderscheiden, waarmee voor verschillende hoofdtypen en subtypen brakke binnenwateren een ecologisch profiel kan worden opgesteld. Zowel het zoutgehalte als de dynamiek blijken belangrijke differentiërende factoren tussen brakwatersystemen; morfologie en voedselrijkdom spelen een ondergeschikte ro

Effect of sampling effort and sampling frequency on the composition of the planktonic crustacean assemblage: a case study of the river Danube

Although numerous studies have focused on the seasonal dynamics of riverine zooplankton, little is known about its short-term variation. In order to examine the effects of sampling frequency and sampling effort, microcrustacean samples were collected at daily intervals between 13 June and 21 July of 2007 in a parapotamal side arm of the river Danube, Hungary. Samples were also taken at biweekly intervals from November 2006 to May 2008. After presenting the community dynamics, the effect of sampling effort was evaluated with two different methods; the minimal sample size was also estimated. We introduced a single index (potential dynamic information loss; to determine the potential loss of information when sampling frequency is reduced. The formula was calculated for the total abundance, densities of the dominant taxa, adult/larva ratios of copepods and for two different diversity measures. Results suggest that abundances may experience notable fluctuations even within 1 week, as do diversities and adult/larva ratios

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) root colonization dynamics of Molinia caerulea (L.) Moench. in grasslands and post-industrial sites

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Elsevier in Ecological Engineering on 05/08/2016, available online: https://doi-org.ezproxy.wlv.ac.uk/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2016.06.029 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.The aims of this studies were: (i) to examine the influence of heavy metal content (Zn, Cd, Pb, Fe, Cu) and other physico-chemical soil parameters on the level of root colonization of Molinia caerulea and (ii) to relate root colonisation parameters and soil variables to Molinia caerulea abundance in two contrasting habitats (grasslands and heavy metal contaminated sites). The sites differ significantly in terms of bio-available heavy metal contents, particularly Zn (34 times more than grasslands), soil texture, CaCO3, organic matter (LOI%), Mg and nitrate content. Principal Component Analysis showed the strong negative correlations between frequency of mycorrhization (F), arbuscular abundance (A%) and intensity of root cortex colonisation (M%) and concentration of bio-available Zn and Cd. Moreover, no positive correlation between root colonization of Molinia and its abundance was found. The frequency of mycorrhization of root fragments (F%) was only slightly different between these two habitats, whereas the intensity of root cortex colonisation (M%) and relative arbuscular abundance (A%) were significantly lower (3 and 4 times respectively) on the post-industrial sites. The bioavailable Zn content in the substratum of post-industrial sites was strongly negatively correlated with species richness, Shannon diversity index and Evenness. In contrast, these relationships were not statistically significant in grasslands. Based on obtained results we could draw a model of possible relationships between root colonization of Molinia, HM content and Molinia abundance on grasslands and post-industrial sites. Bioavailable Zn content in the soil is a one of main factors influencing the Molinia community diversity. In the grasslands, lower amounts of bioavailable Zn, resulted in higher species richness (R) and species diversity (H) which in turn lead to higher root colonization. On the other hand, on the post-industrial sites, the elevated bioavailable Zn content strongly decreases the plant species richness (R) and species diversity (H) and this caused the decline in root colonization parameters. The low species richness on Zn-polluted sites allowed Molinia to reach higher abundance since the competition with other species is reduced

Neurofeedback Using Real-Time Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Enhances Motor Imagery Related Cortical Activation

Accumulating evidence indicates that motor imagery and motor execution share common neural networks. Accordingly, mental practices in the form of motor imagery have been implemented in rehabilitation regimes of stroke patients with favorable results. Because direct monitoring of motor imagery is difficult, feedback of cortical activities related to motor imagery (neurofeedback) could help to enhance efficacy of mental practice with motor imagery. To determine the feasibility and efficacy of a real-time neurofeedback system mediated by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), two separate experiments were performed. Experiment 1 was used in five subjects to evaluate whether real-time cortical oxygenated hemoglobin signal feedback during a motor execution task correlated with reference hemoglobin signals computed off-line. Results demonstrated that the NIRS-mediated neurofeedback system reliably detected oxygenated hemoglobin signal changes in real-time. In Experiment 2, 21 subjects performed motor imagery of finger movements with feedback from relevant cortical signals and irrelevant sham signals. Real neurofeedback induced significantly greater activation of the contralateral premotor cortex and greater self-assessment scores for kinesthetic motor imagery compared with sham feedback. These findings suggested the feasibility and potential effectiveness of a NIRS-mediated real-time neurofeedback system on performance of kinesthetic motor imagery. However, these results warrant further clinical trials to determine whether this system could enhance the effects of mental practice in stroke patients

Valid and reliable instruments for arm-hand assessment at ICF activity level in persons with hemiplegia: a systematic review

Contains fulltext : 110141.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: Loss of arm-hand performance due to a hemiparesis as a result of stroke or cerebral palsy (CP), leads to large problems in daily life of these patients. Assessment of arm-hand performance is important in both clinical practice and research. To gain more insight in e.g. effectiveness of common therapies for different patient populations with similar clinical characteristics, consensus regarding the choice and use of outcome measures is paramount. To guide this choice, an overview of available instruments is necessary. The aim of this systematic review is to identify, evaluate and categorize instruments, reported to be valid and reliable, assessing arm-hand performance at the ICF activity level in patients with stroke or cerebral palsy. METHODS: A systematic literature search was performed to identify articles containing instruments assessing arm-hand skilled performance in patients with stroke or cerebral palsy. Instruments were identified and divided into the categories capacity, perceived performance and actual performance. A second search was performed to obtain information on their content and psychometrics. RESULTS: Regarding capacity, perceived performance and actual performance, 18, 9 and 3 instruments were included respectively. Only 3 of all included instruments were used and tested in both patient populations. The content of the instruments differed widely regarding the ICF levels measured, assessment of the amount of use versus the quality of use, the inclusion of unimanual and/or bimanual tasks and the inclusion of basic and/or extended tasks. CONCLUSIONS: Although many instruments assess capacity and perceived performance, a dearth exists of instruments assessing actual performance. In addition, instruments appropriate for more than one patient population are sparse. For actual performance, new instruments have to be developed, with specific focus on the usability in different patient populations and the assessment of quality of use as well as amount of use. Also, consensus about the choice and use of instruments within and across populations is needed

Dissociation between Semantic Representations for Motion and Action Verbs: Evidence from Patients with Left Hemisphere Lesions

This multiple single case study contrasted left hemisphere stroke patients (N = 6) to healthy age-matched control participants (N = 15) on their understanding of action (e.g., holding, clenching) and motion verbs (e.g., crumbling, flowing). The tasks required participants to correctly identify the matching verb or associated picture. Dissociations on action and motion verb content depending on lesion site were expected. As predicted for verbs containing an action and/or motion content, modified t-tests confirmed selective deficits in processing motion verbs in patients with lesions involving posterior parietal and lateral occipitotemporal cortex. In contrast, deficits in verbs describing motionless actions were found in patients with more anterior lesions sparing posterior parietal and lateral occipitotemporal cortex. These findings support the hypotheses that semantic representations for action and motion are behaviorally and neuro-anatomically dissociable. The findings clarify the differential and critical role of perceptual and motor regions in processing modality-specific semantic knowledge as opposed to a supportive but not necessary role. We contextualize these results within theories from both cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience that make claims over the role of sensory and motor information in semantic representation