Comparative analysis of acoustic therapies for tinnitus treatment based on auditory event-related potentials

IntroductionSo far, Auditory Event-Related Potential (AERP) features have been used to characterize neural activity of patients with tinnitus. However, these EEG patterns could be used to evaluate tinnitus evolution as well. The aim of the present study is to propose a methodology based on AERPs to evaluate the effectiveness of four acoustic therapies for tinnitus treatment.MethodsThe acoustic therapies were: (1) Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT), (2) Auditory Discrimination Therapy (ADT), (3) Therapy for Enriched Acoustic Environment (TEAE), and (4) Binaural Beats Therapy (BBT). In addition, relaxing music was included as a placebo for both: tinnitus sufferers and healthy individuals. To meet this aim, 103 participants were recruited, 53% were females and 47% were males. All the participants were treated for 8 weeks with one of these five sounds, which were moreover tuned in accordance with the acoustic features of their tinnitus (if applied) and hearing loss. They were electroencephalographically monitored before and after their acoustic therapy, and wherefrom AERPs were estimated. The sound effect of acoustic therapies was evaluated by examining the area under the curve of those AERPs. Two parameters were obtained: (1) amplitude and (2) topographical distribution.ResultsThe findings of the investigation showed that after an 8-week treatment, TRT and ADT, respectively achieved significant neurophysiological changes over somatosensory and occipital regions. On one hand, TRT increased the tinnitus perception. On the other hand, ADT redirected the tinnitus attention, what in turn diminished the tinnitus perception. Tinnitus handicapped inventory outcomes verified these neurophysiological findings, revealing that 31% of patients in each group reported that TRT increased tinnitus perception, but ADT diminished it.DiscussionTinnitus has been identified as a multifactorial condition highly associated with hearing loss, age, sex, marital status, education, and even, employment. However, no conclusive evidence has been found yet. In this study, a significant (but low) correlation was found between tinnitus intensity and right ear hearing loss, left ear hearing loss, heart rate, area under the curve of AERPs, and acoustic therapy. This study raises the possibility to assign acoustic therapies by neurophysiological response of patient

Homeostatic plasticity of the nociceptive system after priming the motor cortex:a pilot study

Background and aims: Homeostatic plasticity (HP) stabilizes neuronal activity within a physiological range and may be important in pain-related neuroplasticity. HP has been demonstrated by a reversal of the cortical motor excitability after two blocks of non-invasive brain stimulation. In chronic and experimental pain, HP is impaired in the motor cortex (M1). The aim is to investigate if the nociceptive system is regulated by HP.Methods: A randomized placebo-controlled pilot study was conducted with 9 healthy individuals. HP was induced in the left M1 by applying anodal tDCS at C3 and FP2 (return electrode). A capsaicin (pain) or placebo (control) patch was applied to the right hand dorsum. To assess the nociceptive response to HP induction, 60 trials of nociceptive evoked potentials using a concentric pin electrode on the right volar forearm were recorded at 62 channels. Four-time points were measured: baseline, 30min post-patch, post-HP, and 20min post-HP. The negative-positive complex (N-P) was extracted from Cz.Results: After 30min post-patch, the mean capsaicin-induced pain remained above 5±1.75, while for placebo it remained 0±0.16. A two-way-mixed ANOVA of the N-P revealed a significant effect of time (p=0.001) and interaction (p=0.006), but not of groups (p=0.947). For placebo, N-P was increased post-HP (P=0.052) and decreased beyond baseline post 20min (P=0.011). The capsaicin group decreased at every timepoint (P&lt;0.002), except between patch and post (P=0.76).Conclusions: Based on these pilot findings, no clear indication of an HP response is observed from the nociceptive system. Possibly suggesting that the assumed HP in M1 may be an isolated act.</div

Chronic neuropathic pain: EEG data in eyes open and eyes closed with painDETECT and brief pain inventory reports

Thirty-six chronic neuropathic pain patients (8 men and 28 women) of Mexican nationality with a mean age of 44±13.98 were recruited for EEG signal recording in eyes open and eyes closed resting state condition. Each condition was recorded for 5 min, with a total recording session time of 10 min. An ID number was given to each patient after signing up for the study, with which they answered the painDETECT questionnaire as a screening process for neuropathic pain alongside their clinical history. The day of the recording, the patients answered the Brief Pain Inventory, as an evaluation questionnaire for the interference of the pain with their daily life. Twenty-two EEG channels positioned in accordance with the 10/20 international system were registered with Smarting mBrain device. EEG signals were sampled at 250 Hz with a bandwidth between 0.1 and 100 Hz. The article provides two types of data: (1) raw EEG data in resting state and (2) the report of patients for two validated pain questionnaires. The data described in this article can be used for classifier algorithms considering stratifying chronic neuropathic pain patients with EEG data alongside their pain scores. In sum, this data is of extreme relevance for the pain field, where researchers have been seeking to integrate the pain experience with objective physiological data, such as the EEG

Articulando la academia con la intervención comunitaria en salud mental: experiencia desde una terapia ocupacional social

This document systematizes the experience developed by the faculty of the Schoolof Occupational Therapy, students and mental health teams Talcahuano Health Service, in which are installed care Occupational Therapists to develop teaching duties as part of a Framework agreement between the two institutions. From a social constructionist epistemology, the foundations of Occupational Therapy Social occur at the same time, a methodology, based on an instrument for social intervention, called Situational diagnosis is described. In this case applied to the field of mental health, since the Occupational Therapy (OT) Social. The experience gives a complex insight into the challenges that arise in the exercise of Social Occupational Therapy, rescuing this ethical-political perspective and its realization, considering the various actors and interests involved in the constructionand configuration of the elements problems that subjects intervention teams and students must face. It concludes with some major accomplishments and goals achieved with this proposal, noting the possibility of finding spaces for social transformation, when the eyes of the actors adequately articulated.Este documento sistematiza la experiencia desarrollada por el equipo docente de la escuela de Terapia Ocupacional, los estudiantes y los equipos de salud mental del Servicio de Salud Talcahuano, en los cuales se han instalado Terapeutas Ocupacionales para desarrollar funciones docentes asistenciales, en el marco de un convenio Marco entre ambas instituciones. Desde una epistemología socioconstruccionista, se presentan los fundamentos de una Terapia Ocupacional Social, al mismo tiempo, se describe una metodología de trabajo, basada en un instrumento para la intervención social, denominado Diagnóstico situacional. En este caso aplicado al campo de la salud mental, desde la Terapia Ocupacional (TO) Social. La experiencia otorga una visión compleja sobre los desafíos que se presentan en el ejercicio de la Terapia Ocupacional Social, rescatando los elementos éticos-políticos de esta perspectiva y su materialización, en consideración a los diversos actores e intereses involucrados en la construcción y configuración de los problemas que los sujetos de intervención, equipos de trabajo y estudiantes deben enfrentar. Se concluye con algunos de los principales logros y metas alcanzados con esta propuesta, destacando la posibilidad de encontrar espacios de transformación social, cuando se articulan adecuadamente las miradas de los actores

WY pre-treatment induces mitochondrial morphology changes in hippocampal neurons after H₂O₂ challenge.

<p>A) representative microphotographs of hippocampal neurons showing color merge under specific experimental conditions. B) mitochondrial morphology registered after H₂O₂ challenge and with WY pre-treatment.</p

H₂O₂-induced mitochondrial size decrease is prevented by CIG pre-treatment in Hippocampal neurons.

<p>A, B, C and D, are representative microphotographs of mitochondrial population under different experimental conditions. E, F, G: image enlargement to show the variations in the mitochondrial morphology observed under different experimental conditions. H, I, J: Normalized mitochondrial size quantification (black: control; gray: H₂O₂; green: CIG+H₂O₂; blue: CIG+H₂O₂+ GW). H) * and *’ indicate statistically significant differences between H₂O₂ and Control (*: <i>F 6.542, d.f. 3, C.I. 0.07389 to 0.6266, t 3.856, p<0.001; *’: C.I. 0.08504 to 0.6519, t 3.955, p<0.001</i>); I) * and *’ indicate statistically significant differences between H₂O₂ and Control (<i>*: F 17.8, d.f. 3, C.I. −0.3665 to −0.1151, t 5.829, p<0.001; *’: C.I. −0.3805 to −0.1227, t 5.937, p<0.001</i>). J) * and *’ indicate statistically significant differences between Control and all other experimental conditions (<i>*: F 18.99, d.f. 3. H₂O₂ C.I. −0.1696 to −0.04917, t 5.527, p<0.001; H₂O₂+ CIG C.I. −0.1708 to −0.04728, t 5.371, p<0.001; *’: H₂O₂ C.I. −0.1787 to −0.05512, t 5.757, p<0.001; H₂O₂+ CIG C.I. −0.1595 to −0.03905, t 5.015, p<0.001</i>).</p