STIMA: a short screening test for ideo-motor apraxia, selective for action meaning and bodily district

We propose STIMA, a short test for ideo-motor apraxia, allowing us to quantify the apraxic deficit according to action meaning and affected body segment. STIMA is based on a neurocognitive model holding that there are two processes involved in action imitation (i.e., a semantic route for recognizing and imitating known gestures, and a direct route for reproducing new gestures). The test allows to identify which imitative process has been selectively impaired by brain damage (direct vs. semantic route) and possible deficits depending on the body segment involved (hand/limb vs. hand/fingers). N = 111 healthy participants were administered with an imitation task in two separated blocks of known and new gestures. In each block, half of the gestures were performed mainly with the proximal part of the upper limb and the remaining half with the distal one. It resulted in 18 known gestures (nine proximal and nine distal) and 18 new gestures (nine proximal and nine distal) for a total of 36. Each gesture was presented up to a maximum of two times. Detailed criteria are used to assign the final imitation score. Cut offs, equivalent scores and main percentile scores were computed for each subscale. Participants imitated better known than new gestures, and proximal better than distal gestures. Age influenced performance on all subscales, while education only affected one subscale. STIMA is easy and quick to administer, and compared to previous tests, it offers important information for planning adequate rehabilitation programs based on the functional locus of the deficit

Investigation on the Loss of Taste and Smell and Consequent Psychological Effects: A Cross-Sectional Study on Healthcare Workers Who Contracted the COVID-19 Infection

The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between psychological distress and taste and sense of smell dysfunctions on healthcare workers (HCW) who contracted the COVID-19 infection in the midst of the disease outbreak. Reports of sudden loss of taste and smell which persist even after recovery from COVID-19 infection are increasingly recognized as critical symptoms for COVID-19 infections. Therefore, we conducted a cross-sectional study on COVID-19 HCW (N = 104) who adhered to respond to a phone semistructured interview addressing the virus symptoms and associated psychological distress. Data were collected from June to September 2020. Findings confirm the association between experienced taste/olfactory loss and emotional distress and suggest that dysfunctions of taste and smell correlate positively with anxiety and depression. Furthermore, their psychological impact tends to persist even after the recovery from the disease, suggesting the need for appropriate psychological interventions to prevent people from developing more serious or long-lasting psychological disorders and, as far as HCW, to reduce the risk of work-related distress

Chi sono io quando le mie facoltà mentali si alterano? Le possibilità di recupero tra plasticità e modificabilità cognitiva

il cervello è dinamico, modificabile, plastico sia da un punto di vista strutturale che funzionale e dispone di un numero di neuroni superiori a quello di cui necessita che gli consente, fino ad un certo grado, di reagire al danno o alla perdita di cellule nervose. Questa resilienza del cervello rappresenta quindi un’opportunità da sfruttare al meglio, mediante la progettazione e realizzazione di interventi mirati, che “guidino” i naturali processi neuroplastici verso una ri-organizzazione efficace, in grado cioè di compensare l’attività dei circuiti neurali danneggiati. La sfida oggi è capire come nel processo di recupero dell’individuo, interagiscano tra loro la malattia (improvvisa o progressiva) e fattori individuali e ambientali.Alberta Lunardelli, psicologa, psicoterapeuta, Ricercatrice MEMORI-net,Dirigente Psicologo, ambito Neuropsicologia Clinica S.C. di Medicina Riabilitativa, Azienda Sanitaria Universitaria Integrata di Trieste (ex Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria “Ospedali Riuniti”). Dal 2015 collabora al progetto Memori-net, Programma Interreg Italia-Slovenia MEntal and Motor Rehabilitation of Ictus- Network. Dal 2007 al 2011 è’ stata neuropsicologa e psicologa in ambito Forense presso il tribunale di Udine per le Valutazioni neuropsicologiche di disturbi cognitivi e comportamentali a seguito di lesioni cerebrali in pazienti adulti

Praxic and executive components in tool use learning: the role of imitation

Objectives: The current study intended to investigate whether social learning processes other than imitation can be traced in human adults, particularly in brain-injured patients who have lost their ability to imitate. This was undertaken by exploring the extent to which the observation of how to solve a tool-use task primed the performance of left (LBD) and right (RBD) brain-damaged patients, as well as of healthy adults. Methods: Participants were assigned to a no model condition (N), in which they were left alone to solve the problems, and a demonstration condition (D), in which they could either observe a Correct (C) or an Incorrect + Correct Demonstration (I+C) in which they witness a failed attempt followed by the correct solution of the task. Results: Consistent with predictions, LBD overall performance was significantly worse than that of control subjects, while RBD did not differ from controls. However, there was only a trend in LBD to perform worse than RBD and controls after both type of demonstrations, and alternative non-imitative processes were rarely adopted by both patient groups. Yet, looking at single cases, all LBD scoring below controls in C engaged in (goal) emulation, and all had ideomotor apraxia, those in I+C showed mimicry, and were affected by frontal dysfunction. Conclusions: The left hemisphere is indeed critical for motor control and selective neuropsychological deficits can compromise action imitation and selection of goal-directed movements, independently from each other. Our findings also suggest that when the ability to imitate actions is lost or lowered emulation may come available.Ph.D., Clinical Psychology -- Drexel University, 200

The effect of goals and vision on movements:A case study of optic ataxia and limb apraxia

Normally we can perform a variety of goal-directed movements effortlessly. However, damage to the parietal cortex may dramatically reduce this ability, giving rise to optic ataxia and limb apraxia. Patients with optic ataxia show clear misreaches towards targets when presented in the peripheral visual field, whereas limb apraxia refers to the inability to use common tools or to imitate simple gestures. In the present paper we describe the case of a left-brain damaged patient, who presented both symptoms. We systematically investigated both spatial and temporal parameters of his movements, when asked to reach and grasp common objects to move (Experiment 1) or to use them (Experiment 2), presented either in the central or peripheral visual field. Different movement parameters changed in relation to the goal of the task (grasp to move vs. grasp to use), reflecting a normal modulation of the movement to accomplish tasks with different goals. On the other hand, grip aperture appeared to be more affected from both task goal and viewing condition, with a specific decrement observed when CF was asked to use objects presented peripherally. On the contrary, a neat effect of the viewing condition was observed in the spatial distribution of the end-points of the movements, and of the horizontal end point in particular, which were shifted towards the fixation point when reaching towards peripheral targets. We hypothesized that optic ataxia and limb apraxia have a differential effect on the patient's performance. The specific presence of optic ataxia would have an effect on the movement trajectory, but both symptoms might interact and influence the grasping component of the movement. As a 'cognitive side of motor control impairment', the presence of limb apraxia may have increased the task demands in grasping to use the objects thus exacerbating optic ataxia. © 2015 Elsevier Inc

\uabSo che cos'\ue8 ma non so come usarlo!\ubb: Un caso di aprassia ideativa

Despite a mass of research on the cognitive basis for tool use, the term Ideational Apraxia is still controversial, and it is used to refer to a number of different types of deficits and describe very different behaviours. We report the case of a right-handed woman (FL) who exhibited selective tool use disturbance in the context of a cognitive profile otherwise preserved. FL shows a striking dissociation between her failure to manipulate objects and her perfect knowledge about their functions and properties. Such dissociation would indicate the existence of two separate systems, one involved in object identification and one in object manipulation: normally, the two systems operate together, however they can be selectively compromised by cerebral lesions. In FL, the automatic selection of action schemas necessary for correct object use appears to be lost, while her ability to identify and recognize their mechanical and functional properties is spared

Cognitive deficit in post-acute COVID-19: an opportunity for EEG evaluation?

Background and purpose: Among the most common post-COVID symptoms, many patients experienced subjective cognitive deficit, commonly named "brain fog," that might be present also in those individuals without severe acute COVID-19 respiratory involvement. Some studies have investigated some of the mechanisms that might be associated with the brain fog with objective techniques including transcranial magnetic stimulation and neuroimaging. Methods: The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of electroencephalographic (EEG) alterations in people with post-COVID self-reported cognitive deficit. Results: Out of the 90 patients attending the post-COVID neurology ambulatory service, twenty patients presenting brain fog at least 4 weeks after acute non-severe COVID-19 infection, and without previous history of epilepsy, were investigated with 19-channel EEG, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). EEG was found altered in 65% of the sample, among which 69% presented a slowing activity and 31% were characterized by epileptic discharges principally in the frontal areas. None of the patients showed DWI MRI lesions. Conclusions: These findings highlight the usefulness of EEG analysis to objectively describe possible neurophysiological abnormalities in post-COVID patients presenting subjective cognitive deficit