Evaluation of neurotherapy for a patient with chronic impaired self-awareness and secondary ADHD after severe TBI and long term coma using event-related potentials

We examined the effectiveness of neurotherapy for chronic, impaired self-awareness and secondary ADHD (SADHD) diagnosed in the patient after severe TBI. We hypothesized a good response to relative beta training. Patient A.A., age 30, after severe TBI and long-term coma, suffered from chronic, impaired self-awareness and SADHD, manifesting two years post trauma. Only slight progress was made after behavioral training. The patient took part in a neurotherapy program consisting of 40 sessions of relative beta training. We used standardized neuropsychological testing, as well as ERPs before and after the completion of neurotherapy. At baseline, A.A. showed an excess of relative mu-rhythm, possibly associated with ADHD (alpha subtype); decreased beta generated centrally, indicating hyperactivation of the central medial cortical area and possibly associated with anxiety; and a decreased visual-related component, an indicator of TBI. There was no significant improvement of the P300 NOGO component after the conclusion of the neurotherapy program. However, as hypothesized, she showed improvements in cognitive parameters, especially attention, memory and executive function, including remission of the impaired self-awareness and SADHD. The patient finished her studies and has now started working. A neurofeedback program using relative beta-theta training produced slight physiological changes in our TBI patient, but major cognitive and behavioral changes, including reduced impaired self-awareness and SADHD. ERPs can be used to assess SADHD and functional brain changes induced by neurotherapy, but has limited application for interpreting the brain mechanism of chronic, impaired self-awareness after severe TBI and long term coma

Application of ERPs neuromarkers for assessment and treatment of a patient with chronic crossed aphasia after severe TBI and long-term coma – Case Report

Objective The study aimed to evaluate the application of ERPs neuromarkers for the assessment and treatment of a patient with chronic crossed aphasia after severe TBI and a long-term coma. Case report. An ambidextrous female patient, aged 29, suffered from posttraumatic chronic crossed aphasia, severe TBI and a prolonged coma after a car accident. The patient took part in two differentiated rehabilitation programmes of neurotherapy included 20 sessions of relative beta training and 20 sessions of rTMS; both programmes were combined with behavioural training. The patient was tested 3 times: before the experiment, after completion of programme A, and after completion of programme B. Results In the 1st recording, the neuromarker of aphasia was found – an excess of the P2 wave over the left temporal area. There was a cognitive control deficit – an excess of omission errors and an increase of RT variability – all indexes of sporadic ADHD. In the 2nd recording, slight improvements in cognitive control, and language functions were found. In the 3rd recording, after the rTMS sessions most of her cognitive dysfunctions had been resolved, including language functions. It should be stressed that the activation (especially the increase in the ERP potential of the right side over the frontal lobe) was found. The neuromarker of aphasia did not change, only the location had slightly moved frontally. Conclusions The application of ERP neuromarkers assists in the diagnosis, treatment, and academic success of an ambidextrous patient with chronic posttraumatic aphasia and sporadic ADHD. ERPs can be used to assess the functional brain changes induced by neurotherapeutical programme

The loss of metaphor after brain lesion

Cdrominfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Evaluation of differences in health-related quality of life during the treatment of post-burn scars in pre-school and school children

[b]objective[/b]. The aim of the research was an assessment of the differences in the self-evaluation of health-related quality of life during the treatment of post-burn scars on the upper limbs of pre-school and school children. [b]materials and method[/b]. a group of 120 children were examined – 66 boys and 54 girls, divided into a pre-school group of 60 children (average age 4.3 ± 1.7) and a primary school group of 60 children (average age 10.4 ± 1.2). The structured interview and an adopted Visual Analog Anxiety Scale and Visual Analog Unpleasant Events Tolerance Scale were used to evaluate the level of plaster tolerance, and anxiety caused by the removal of dressings during treatment. [b]results[/b]. In the first test, In both groups, a low tolerance was noted to the pressure plaster, with the pre-school aged children obtaining worse results (x=18.9 ± SD 10.16) than those of school age (x=33.65± SD 13,21), regardless of gender. Pre-school children were afraid (x=47.5 ± SD 24.26), while school-aged children were not afraid of having the plaster removed (x=20.5 ± SD 9.46). The differences between the groups were statistically significant. In the fourth and final test on pre-school aged children, the tolerance of plasters had improved (x=23.24 ± SD 15.43) obtaining a value somewhat lower than for school-aged children (32.4 ± SD 6.45), as well as a noted fall in the anxiety level (30.83 ± SD 23.38) with an average value insignificantly higher than that recorded for the children of school age (15.83 ± SD 6.19). [b]conclusions[/b]. The tests confirmed the appearance of differences in the self-evaluation of health-related life quality in pre-school and school-aged children

CREATIVE POTENTIAL OF MICROGENETIC THEORY

This paper is devoted to illustrating how process neuropsychology and neurolinguistics, based on microgenetic theory androoted in process thought, can help to explain the often baffling symptomatology of brain damage. Our purpose is to present an overview of this difficult and complex subject matter for readers, with particular emphasis on its creative potential. The essence of microgenetic theory in neuropsychology is an account of the phases in brain process through which successive mind/brain states arise and perish over the duration of the psychological present, measured in milliseconds. According to the theory, mental states are rhythmically generated out of a “core” in the anatomically deepest and phylogenetically oldest parts of the central nervous system, over phases to the outermost and youngest regions of the brain, the neocortex. The clinical applications are only one aspect of the creative potential of microgenetic theory. Indeed, the elegance of the theory consists in the way in which it can be extended into a number of different fields of endeavor, providing a kind of “unified field theory” for the explanation of often rather diverse phenomena. This provides an opportunity for neuropsychology and neurolinguistics to resume the interdisciplinary discourse they were founded to conduct

An evaluation of life satisfaction and health – Quality of life of senior citizens

Introduction Modern medicine is still searching for the antecedents which will lead to [i]successful aging[/i]. The article discusses the self-perception of life satisfaction and health of senior citizens. The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between self-evaluation of life satisfaction and health by senior citizens in comparison to different age groups. Material and Methods The study included 463 persons – 230 men and 233 women. The age of the participants was in the range 16 – 83 years. All participants were asked to fill the Life Satisfaction Questionnaire (Fragebogen zur Lebenszufriedenheit – FLZ). The FLZ questionnaire assesses the global life satisfaction of a person and health domain separately. Results The results show age-related differences in the evaluation of life satisfaction. Accordingly, there is a significant change in health evaluations in different age groups, but there are no significant gender differences in health self-report data. The senior citizens’ assessment of general health, although the lowest among all the age-subgroups, showed significant difference only in relation to the people below 45 years of age. The significant differences in satisfaction from mental health occurred only for the elderly and participants aged 25–34 and 35–44. Conclusions Life satisfaction is associated with subjective health evaluations. There are two domains (mental health and performance) that are positively evaluated by more than two-thirds of senior citizens. The observed differences challenge stereotypes and prejudices relating to negative aging process. Senior citizens can improve their control beliefs and develop self-regulation and coping skills