Feasibility of a home-based computerized cognitive training for pediatric patients with congenital or acquired brain damage: An explorative study

Pediatric brain damage is associated with various cognitive deficits. Cognitive rehabilitation may prevent and reduce cognitive impairment. In recent years, home-based computerized cognitive training (CCT) has been introduced in clinical practice to increase treatment opportunities for patients (telerehabilitation). However, limited research has been conducted thus far on investigating the effects of remote CCT for the juvenile population in contexts other than English-speaking countries. The aim of the present study was to investigate the feasibility of a home-based CCT in a group of Italian adolescents with brain damage. A commercially available CCT (Lumosity) developed in the English language was used due to the lack of telerehabilitation programs in the Italian language that allow stimulation of multiple cognitive domains and, at the same time, remote automatic collection of data. Thus, this investigation provides information on the possibility of introducing CCT programs available in foreign languages in countries with limited investment in the telerehabilitation field

Remote Technology-Based Training Programs for Children with Acquired Brain Injury: A Systematic Review and a Meta-Analytic Exploration

Introduction. Multidisciplinary rehabilitation interventions are considered to be a need for children with acquired brain injury (ABI), in order to remediate the important sequelae and promote adjustment. Technology-based treatments represent a promising field inside the rehabilitation area, as they allow delivering interventions in ecological settings and creating amusing exercises that may favor engagement. In this work, we present an overview of remote technology-based training programs (TP) addressing cognitive and behavioral issues delivered to children with ABI and complement it with the results of a meta-analytic exploration. Evidence Acquisition. We performed the review process between January and February 2019. 32 studies were included in the review, of which 14 were further selected to be included in the meta-analysis on TP efficacy. Evidence Synthesis. Based on the review process, the majority of TP addressing cognitive issues and all TP focusing on behavioral issues were found to be effective. Two meta-analytic models examining the means of either cognitive TP outcomes or behavioral TP outcomes as input outcome yielded a nonsignificant effect size for cognitive TP and a low-moderate effect size for behavioral TP. Additional models on outcomes reflecting the greatest beneficial effects of TP yielded significant moderate effect sizes for both types of TP. Nevertheless, consistent methodological heterogeneity was observed, pointing to cautious interpretation of findings. A subgroup analysis on visuospatial skill outcomes showed a smaller yet significant effect size of cognitive TP, with low heterogeneity, providing a more reliable estimation of overall cognitive TP effects. Conclusions. Promising results on remote cognitive and behavioral TP efficacy emerged both at the review process and at the meta-analytic investigation. Nevertheless, the high heterogeneity that emerged across studies prevents us from drawing definite conclusions. Further research is needed to identify whether specific training characteristics and population subgroups are more likely to be associated with greater training efficacy

Feasibility and Acceptability of a Real-Time Telerehabilitation Intervention for Children and Young Adults with Acquired Brain Injury During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Experience Report

This study examined the feasibility and acceptability of a telerehabilitation intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic in a sample of children and young adults with Acquired Brain Injury (ABI). Thirteen patients and/or their families agreed to participate in the speech and neuropsychological telerehabilitation sessions. The treatment was synchronous, patient centered and aimed at improving specific abilities. Sessions were held twice a week over a 10-week period. Two questionnaires were completed both by parents and therapists to assess feasibility and acceptability. Neither technical issues nor clinical obstacles were found. The quality of the therapeutic relationship played a key role in the intervention. Synchronous telerehabilitation provided several advantages both for patients and therapists. Moreover, the patient centered intervention eased the burden of the caregivers at a time of high stress. The real-time telerehabilitation treatments were deemed suitable for children and young adults with ABI. Further studies are needed to support the use of telerehabilitation as an integral part of their standard care

The Use of Psychotropic Medication in Pediatric Oncology for Acute Psychological and Psychiatric Problems: Balancing Risks and Benefits

Severe acute behavioral and emotional problems represent one of the most serious treatment-related adverse effects for children and adolescents who have cancer. The critical and severe nature of these symptoms often makes necessary the use of psychotropic drugs. A working group composed of experts in multiple disciplines had the task of creating an agreement regarding a management plan for severe acute behavioral and emotional problems (SABEPs) in children and adolescents treated for cancer. To obtain global information on the use of psychotropic drugs in pediatric oncology, the working group first developed and mailed a 15-item questionnaire to many Italian pediatric oncology centers. Overall, an evident lack of knowledge and education regarding the use of psychotropic medications for the treatment of SABEPs was found. Thus, by referring to an adapted version of the Delphi method of consensus and standard methods for the elaboration of clinical questions (PICOs), the working group elaborated evidence-based recommendations for psychotropic drugs in the pediatric oncology setting. Furthermore, based on a thorough multivariate analysis of needs and difficulties, a comprehensive management flow was developed to optimize therapeutic interventions, which allows more accurate and efficient matching of the acute needs of patients while guiding treatment options

Secreting Germ Cell Tumors of the Central Nervous System: A Long-Term Follow-up Experience

Simple Summary Nongerminomatous germ cell tumors of the central nervous system are rare tumours. Differently from germinomas, they have a severe prognosis above all when presenting with high alfafetoprotein levels. We report the results of a combined chemo- and radiotherapy approach in 28 patients affected by this disease with craniospinal irradiation and a boost tailored on the response to pre-radiant chemotherapy. Metastatic patients and high-risk disease are discussed as well. The 5 years overall survival and event-free survival were both 81% while at 10 years they were 81% and 76% respectively. Our series, even if small, concerns nongerminomatous germ cell tumors only (whereas in some papers they are mixed with pure germinomas), furthermore our patients had a very long follow-up (over 11 years) with encouraging survival data for localized and metastatic disease. Improving survival while trying to contain/avoid the long-term sequelae of chemotherapy and radiotherapy are the main goals of future studies. Introduction: Due to the rarity of nongerminomatous germ cell tumors (NGGCT) with non-standard treatment as yet, we report retrospectively our 30 year experience with chemotherapy followed by craniospinal irradiation (CSI), plus a boost of whole ventricular irradiation (WVI)/tumor bed (TB), tailored to pre-radiation chemotherapy response. Methods: Between 1988 and 2016, 28 patients received four cycles of PEB (cisplatin/etoposide/bleomycin), then CSI, and two further PEB cycles. Between 1988 and1994, CSI was 25.5 Gy for patients in complete remission (CR), 30 Gy if in partial remission (PR) or metastatic, with a boost to TB up to 45-54 Gy. In the period of 1995-2010, the boost included WVI and any extra-ventricular tumor sites up to 45 Gy. After 2010, CSI was reduced to 25.5 Gy for all non-metastatic patients, and a boost was given only to TB up to 40.5/45.5 Gy, depending on patients' CR/PR status. After 2003, patients with alfafetoprotein (alpha FP) > 1000 ng/mL received intensified treatment, also including autologous stem cell transplantation. Results: Among 28 patients (23 males; median age 12 years, 6 metastatic), 25 responded to PEB, and three progressed (PD) after one to four cycles; 26 received radiotherapy obtaining 13 CR, 7 PR and 5 stable disease (SD), 1 PD; 6 (21%) died (5 for disease, 1 for pneumonia while in CR). Five-year overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were both 81%; 10 year OS and PFS 81% and 76%, respectively (median follow-up 11 years). Conclusions: Survival for children with NGGCT, independently from disease extent, was encouraging. Further studies should elucidate which patients could benefit from reduced volume and dose irradiation

The wide world of technological telerehabilitation for pediatric neurologic and neurodevelopmental disorders – a systematic review

IntroductionThe use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for assessing and treating cognitive and motor disorders is promoting home-based telerehabilitation. This approach involves ongoing monitoring within a motivating context to help patients generalize their skills. It can also reduce healthcare costs and geographic barriers by minimizing hospitalization. This systematic review focuses on investigating key aspects of telerehabilitation protocols for children with neurodevelopmental or neurological disorders, including technology used, outcomes, caregiver involvement, and dosage, to guide clinical practice and future research.MethodThis systematic review adhered to PRISMA guidelines and was registered in PROSPERO. The PICO framework was followed to define the search strategy for technology-based telerehabilitation interventions targeting the pediatric population (aged 0–18) with neurological or neurodevelopmental disorders. The search encompassed Medline/PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases. Independent reviewers were responsible for selecting relevant papers and extracting data, while data harmonization and analysis were conducted centrally.ResultsA heterogeneous and evolving situation emerged from our data. Our findings reported that most of the technologies adopted for telerehabilitation are commercial devices; however, research prototypes and clinical software were also employed with a high potential for personalization and treatment efficacy. The efficacy of these protocols on health or health-related domains was also explored by categorizing the outcome measures according to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF). Most studies targeted motor and neuropsychological functions, while only a minority of papers explored language or multi-domain protocols. Finally, although caregivers were rarely the direct target of intervention, their role was diffusely highlighted as a critical element of the home-based rehabilitation setting.DiscussionThis systematic review offers insights into the integration of technological devices into telerehabilitation programs for pediatric neurologic and neurodevelopmental disorders. It highlights factors contributing to the effectiveness of these interventions and suggests the need for further development, particularly in creating dynamic and multi-domain rehabilitation protocols. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of promoting home-based and family-centered care, which could involve caregivers more actively in the treatment, potentially leading to improved clinical outcomes for children with neurological or neurodevelopmental conditions.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO (CRD42020210663)

Dataset from: Development of implicit and explicit attentional modulation of the processing of social cues conveyed by faces and bodies in children and adolescents

<p>Emotions and sex of other people shape the way we interact in the social environment. Indeed, the influence of these dimensions on cognitive processing is recognized as a highly conditional phenomenon. While much of the research on the topic focused on adults, less evidence is available for the pediatric population. The present study aimed at examining the development of the modulation of attention control on emotion and sex processing using facial and body expressions in children and adolescents (age range 8-16 years old). In Experiment 1a, participants performed a Flanker task (probing space-based attention) in which they had to indicate either the emotion (happy/fearful) or the sex of the target stimulus while ignoring the distracting stimuli at the side. We found evidence for intrusion of the sex, but not the emotion, of the stimuli during both sex and emotion recognition tasks, thus both at an explicit (i.e., task relevant) and implicit (i.e., task irrelevant) level. A control experiment consisting of an emotional Flanker task confirmed that, in contrast with previous findings in adults, emotion did not modulate attention control in children and adolescents even when task relevant (Experiment 1b). In Experiment 2 participants performed a same-or-different judgment task (probing feature-based attention) in which they were asked to indicate whether the central stimulus matched the lateral for emotion or sex. Results showed that emotional features exerted an implicit influence during sex judgements; likewise, sex features intruded on the processing of both faces and bodies during emotion judgments. Finally, Experiment 3 was conducted to explore the development of the explicit attention modulation exerted by the sex dimension on the processing of faces and bodies. To this aim, participants performed a Flanker task in which they were asked to recognize the sex of faces and bodies. The results indicated that, while younger participants showed a task-relevant influence of sexual features when processing faces, older participants showed such influence in processing bodies. These findings point to a greater attentional modulation exerted by sex, as compared to emotion, during social processing in children and adolescents and suggest a developmental trend of the saliency of facial and bodily cues for the perception of others’ sex.</p&gt

Visual Feedback and Virtual Reality in Gait Rehabilitation of Hemiparetic Children and Teenagers after Acquired Brain Injury: A Pilot Study

Hemiparesis as a term refers to a neurological disorder that can be extremely variable, especially with regard to walking abilities. Few works have assessed the use of virtual reality and biofeedback in children and adolescents with hemiparesis. The aim of this study is to provide insights about the rehabilitation of hemiparetic children and teenagers with visual biofeedback in a virtual reality environment. Six hemiparetic subjects (mean age 13.13 years, age range (7–18), 4 males) received 20 personalized rehabilitation GRAIL (Gait Real-time Analysis Interactive Lab) sessions plus 20 sessions of traditional physiotherapy. After an initial evaluation of rehabilitation needs, training focused on gait pattern correction (GP), walking endurance (WE), or gross motor functions (GMFs). All subjects were assessed for their gait analysis by GRAIL, the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM), and the 6–Minute Walking Test (6MWT) before and after rehabilitation. All subjects reached their rehabilitation goals, save for one who showed reduced collaboration. In addition, 4 subjects reached a better GP, 3 subjects reported improvements in WE, and 2 subjects improved in GMF. This personalized training with visual biofeedback delivered in a VR setting appears to be effective in modifying motor control and improving gait pattern, in addition to resistance and functional activities, in subjects with hemiparesis

Effects of supratentorial and infratentorial tumor location on cognitive functioning of children with brain tumor

Effects of tumor location on cognitive performance of patients with brain tumor are controversial: some studies reported higher risks related to supratentorial locations, some to infratentorial locations, and still others did not find any differences. We aimed to address this issue by comparing school-aged children with supratentorial or infratentorial tumor with respect not only to cognitive outcomes but also to the associations between core cognitive domains and academic abilities

Visual perception and spatial transformation of the body in children and adolescents with brain tumor

Representations of own and others' body play a crucial role in social interaction. While extensive knowledge has been gathered on the neuropsychological deficits affecting body representation in adult brain lesion patients, little is known on how acquired damage to a developing brain may affect this process. We tested it on pediatric brain tumor survivors, comparing the abilities of 30 children and adolescents (aged 8-16 years) surviving from a supratentorial tumor (STT) or an infratentorial tumor (ITT) in two different tasks of body representation. Thirty children with typical development (TD) served as control group. In the first task, we tested configural (body inversion effect) and holistic (composite illusion effect) processing of others' bodies. In the second task, we tested the ability to perform first-person and object-based mental spatial transformations of own body and external objects, respectively. Configural processing was spared in all patients. Conversely, ITT, but not STT patients, were impaired in the holistic processing of body stimuli. STT patients performed overall worse than both controls and ITT patients at mental spatial transformations of both own body and external objects. ITT children presented selective alteration in using the first-person transformation strategies with body stimuli. Results suggest that body-representation abilities may be heavily affected in pediatric brain tumor survivors. STTs may be associated to greater difficulties in mental visuo-spatial transformation abilities, likely reflecting damage to fronto-parietal circuits. Conversely, ITTs may be associated to specific disturbances of visual body perception abilities that require motor simulation processes, reflecting direct or indirect damage to cerebellar areas