The Wisconsin card sorting test and the Weigl test are two neuropsychological tools widely used in clinical practice to assess frontal lobe functions. In this study we present norms useful for ...Italian subjects aged from 15 to 85 years, with 5-17 years of education. Concerning the Wisconsin card sorting test, a new measure of global efficiency (global score) is proposed as well as norms for some well known qualitative aspects of the performance, i.e. perseverative responses, failure to maintain the set and non-perseverative errors. In setting normative values, we followed a statistical methodology (equivalent scores) employed in Italy for other neuropsychological tests, in order to favour the possibility of comparison among these tests. A correlation study between the global score of the Wisconsin card sorting test and the score on the Weigl test was carried out and it emerges that some cognitive aspects are not overlapping in these two measures.
Aphasic patients occasionally manifest a dissociated naming ability between objects and actions: this phenomenon has been interpreted as evidence of a separate organization for nouns and verbs in the ...mental lexicon. Nevertheless Bird et al. Bird, H., Howard, D., Franklin, S. (2000). Why is a verb like an inanimate object? Grammatical category and semantic category deficits.
Brain
and
Language,
72, 246–309, suggested that the damage underlying noun–verb dissociation affects the corresponding
semantic concepts and not the
lexical representation of words; moreover, they claimed that many dissociations reported in literature are caused merely by a strong imageability effect. In fact, most authors used a picture-naming task to assess patients’ naming ability, and due to the fact that this test involves the use of pictures to represent actions and objects, nouns were frequently more imageable than verbs Luzzatti, C., & Chierchia, G. (2002). On the nature of selective deficit involving nouns and verbs.
Rivista
di
Linguistica,
14, 43–71. In order to overcome this drawback, we devised a new task – nouns and verbs retrieval in a sentence context (NVR-SC) – in which nouns and verbs have the same imageability rate. Patients’ performance on this task is compared with that obtained by the same patients on a standard picture-naming task. Of the 16 aphasic patients with a selective verb deficit, as revealed by the picture-naming task, two continued to show dissociation in the NVR-SC task, while 14 did not. The data indicate that at least some patients have an imageability-independent lexical deficit for verbs. The functional locus/i of the damage is also considered, with particular reference to the
lemma/
lexeme dichotomy suggested by Levelt et al. Levelt, W. J. M., Roelofs, A., & Meyer, A. S. (1999). A theory of lexical access in speech production.
Behavioral
and
Brain
Sciences,
22, 1–75.
Safe resumption of driving after a severe acquired brain injury (sABI) is a strongly felt need because driving is related to recovery of independence and social-occupational re-integration. The aim ...of this prospective observational cohort study was to determine whether epilepsy secondary to sABI is a significant factor for being declared fit to drive by the relevant government authorities in Italy. In the period 2006-2015 we recruited 187 patients with sABI, 30 of whom (16.4%) developed secondary epilepsy. The interval between the acute event and the first seizure varied widely (6-96 months), confirming the need for prolonged follow-up. With regard to the aetiology, traumatic brain injury (TBI) was associated with the highest risk of epilepsy: 66.7% of the 30 patients with epilepsy had TBI, as opposed to cerebrovascular disease or anoxic brain damage (33.3%). The percentage of patients who resumed driving was about the same in the epilepsy (80%) and non-epilepsy (81%) groups.
We report results of a writing task given to 53 mildly to moderately aphasic Italian subjects. The task was designed to test the writing performance along the subword-level routine for the spelling ...of regular words and non-words, and along the lexical routine for the spelling of irregular words. The aim of the study was to identify the incidence of different dysgraphic subtypes in Italian, a language that is considered to have shallow orthography. Its spelling, however, is not completely free of ambiguity. A five-part writing task was used: (i) words with regular one-sound-to-one-grapheme conversion; (ii) words with regular syllabic conversion; (iii) words with ambiguous transcription; (iv) loan-words; and (v) non-words. For regular words, the effects of word length and word frequency, and of the variables determining the complexity of the acoustic-to-phonological conversion (continuant versus plosive phones; consonant-vowel sequence versus doubled consonants or consonant clusters) were also considered. Patients' performances were classified according to the presence of a dissociation between (i) regular words and non-words, (ii) regular words and words with unpredictable spellings, and (iii) one-to-one and syllabic conversions. The 53 aphasic patients span the whole spectrum of dysgraphic taxonomy. Thirty-nine patients, in particular, manifested a dissociated pattern of performance. Eighteen patients showed a prevalent surface dysgraphic pattern and seven a phonological one, while 11 patients showed a mixed pattern (i.e. a better performance for regular words than for ambiguous words or regular non-words). Three patients showed a specific deficit for regular syllabic conversion rules only. A high rate of 'mixed dysgraphia' suggests either a mutual interaction of the two impaired routines when regular words are written, or two separate functional lesions: one at the level of the auditory-to-phonological conversion procedure, the other at the level of the orthographic output lexicon.
Three groups of patients (right brain-damaged patients with or without left neglect, and left brain-damaged patients) and a group of healthy subjects, matched for age and educational level to the ...three groups of patients, were asked to report which of the two frontal surfaces of Necker cubes oriented in four different ways looked, at first sight, nearer to the viewer. The extent to which, and the way in which, disambiguation of the apparent perspective of Necker cubes occurred was found to vary across the four orientations and to be different in left-neglect patients compared with subjects of the other three groups. With normal subjects, the disambiguating factor is suggested to be a disposition to perceive the upper surface, which is nearly orthogonal to the frontal plane, as external to the cube. This would result from a navigation of the observer's spatial attention towards its target along a particular path that is altered in patients suffering from left neglect. It is suggested that comparison of the paths followed by the attentional vectors of normal subjects and left-neglect patients is potentially fruitful for a better understanding of the brain's normal mechanisms of spatial attention and of unresolved issues concerning the perception of the Necker cube.
Management of Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) poses numerous challenges, especially for young children and their families. Parental care positively influencesthe outcomesofchildren with T1D, while there are ...often criticisms in school environment. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced children and parents to spend many hours at home and diabetes care has returned mainly in the hands of parents.
To evaluate the effectiveness of exclusive return to parental care in pre-school and school children with T1D treated with Tandem Basal IQ system during the COVID-19 pandemic.
22 children (M:F = 14:8) with T1D have been evaluated. We compared insulin and CGM data (TIR, TBR and TAR) of two periods: PRE-COV and IN-COV, in which children have transitioned from normal school attendance to the exclusive care of their parents.
During the IN-COV period a significantly (p < 0.001) higher median value of TIR (66,41%) was observed as compared to PRE-COV period (61,45%). Patients also showed a statistically significant difference (p < 0.002) between the IN-COV period and the PRE-COV period as concerning the TAR metric: respectively 29,86 ± 10,6% vs 34,73 ± 12,8%. The difference between the bolus insulin doses was statistically significant (PRE-COV 5,3 IU/day, IN-COV 7,9 IU/day – p < 0.05).
Our observational real-life study confirms the positive effect of parental care in T1D very young children and demonstrates that during the COVID-19 pandemic it was possible to obtain a good glycometabolic compensation despite the significant change in lifestyle.
The aim of this paper is to discuss the issue of dissociations found in unilateral spatial neglect according to the modality of space exploration and the nature of the task. For this purpose we ...present a reanalysis of the data from a recent paper of Gentilini et al. (1989) comparing visual and blindfolded exploration of a computer keyboard and discuss the performance of a left-brain-damaged patient with right visuospatial neglect and left-sided neglect dyslexia. We conclude that unilateral spatial neglect cannot be interpreted as a disruption of a single attentional mechanism, but rather it reflects impaired attentional mechanisms at several levels of cognitive processing.
Purpose
Multiple factors influence intrauterine growth and lead to low birth sizes. The impact of genetic alterations on both pre- and post-natal growth is still largely unknown. The aim of this ...study was to investigate the prevalence of CNVs in an Italian cohort of SGA children with persistent short stature and complex clinical phenotype. rhGH treatment efficacy was evaluated according to the different genotypes.
Subjects and methods
Twenty-four SGA children (10F/14M) with persistent short stature associated with dysmorphic features and/or developmental delay underwent CNV evaluation.
Results
CNVs were present in 14/24 (58%) SGA children. Six patients had a microdeletion involving the following regions: 3q24q25.1, 8p21.2p12, 15q26, 19q13.11, 20q11.21q12, 22q11.2. In three females, the same microdeletion involving 17p13.3 region was identified. In two different patients, two microduplications involving 10q21.3 and Xp11.3 region were observed. A further female patient showed both an 11q12.1 and an Xq27.1 microduplication, inherited from her mother and from her father, respectively. In a boy, the presence of a 12p13.33 microdeletion and a 19q13.43 microduplication was found. GH treatment efficacy, expressed by height gain and height velocity in the first 12 months of therapy, was similar in subjects with and without CNVs.
Conclusions
These results show that pathogenic CNVs are common in SGA children with short stature associated with additional clinical features. Interestingly, the involvement of 17p13.3 region occurs with a relative high frequency, suggesting that genes located in this region could play a key role in pre- and post-natal growth. rhGH therapy has similar efficacy in the short term whether CNVs are present or not.
Summary
Background
Children born small for gestational age (SGA) are at increased risk of metabolic dysfunction. Dysregulation of specific microRNAs (miRNAs) contributes to aberrant gene expression ...patterns underlying metabolic dysfunction.
Objective
We aimed to determine and compare circulating miRNA (c‐miRNA) profile of SGA and appropriate for gestational age (AGA) children with obesity and with normal weight, in order to identify biomarkers for early detection of increased risk of developing metabolic dysfunction in SGA and AGA children with obesity.
Methods
Small non‐coding RNAs from serum of 15 SGA children with obesity (OB‐SGA), 10 SGA children with normal weight (NW‐SGA), 17 AGA children with obesity (OB‐AGA) and 12 AGA children with normal weight (NW‐AGA) (mean age 11.2 ± 2.6) have been extracted and sequenced in order to detect and quantify miRNA expression profiles.
Results
RNA‐seq analyses showed 28 miRNAs dysregulated in OB‐SGA vs. NW‐SGA and 19 miRNAs dysregulated in OB‐AGA vs. NW‐AGA. Among these, miR‐92a‐3p, miR‐122‐5p, miR‐423‐5p, miR‐484, miR‐486‐3p and miR‐532‐5p were up regulated, and miR‐181b‐5p was down regulated in both OB‐SGA and OB‐AGA compared with normal weight counterparts. Pathway analysis and miRNA target prediction suggested that these miRNAs were particularly involved in insulin signalling, glucose transport, insulin resistance, cholesterol and lipid metabolism.
Conclusion
We identified a specific profile of c‐miRNAs in SGA and AGA children with obesity compared with SGA and AGA children with normal weight. These c‐miRNAs could represent specific biomarkers for early detection of increased risk of developing metabolic dysfunction in SGA and AGA children with obesity.
Aim
To investigate whether GE is affected in children/adolescents with obesity and abnormalities of the metabolic syndrome (MetS).
Methods
Cross-sectional study of oral GE (oGE), insulin sensitivity ...and secretion (calculated on 5 time-points oral glucose tolerance test) and metabolic abnormalities in 1012 patients with overweight/obesity (aged 6.0–17.9 years old). A MetS risk score was calculated on the basis of distribution of fasting glucose, triglycerides, HDL-cholesterol, total cholesterol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) was suspected based on thresholds of alanine aminotransferases.
Results
Four-hundred and eighty patients (47.73%) had low-MetS risk score, 488 medium (48.22% with 1–2 risk factors) and 41 (4.05% with ≥ 3 factors) high risk. oGE was significantly lower in subjects with obesity 3.81 (1.46) mg/dl/min
− 1
than in those with overweight 4.98 (1.66) mg/dl/min
− 1
;
p
value < 0.001. oGE was negatively correlated with BMI (
ρ
= − 0.79;
p
< 0.001) and BMI
z
score (
ρ
= − 0.56;
p
< 0.001) and decreased significantly among MetS risk classes (
p
= 0.001). The median difference of oGE from low to medium risk was estimated to be as − 4.9%, from medium to high as − 13.38% and from low to high as − 17.62%. oGE was not statistically different between NAFLD+ and NAFLD− cases.
Conclusions
In children and adolescents with obesity oGE decreases. Noteworthy, it decreases as the Met score increases. Therefore, reduced oGE may contribute to the higher risk of these individuals to develop type 2 diabetes.
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