Event-related potentials (ERPs) show promise to be objective indicators of cognitive functioning. The aim of the study was to examine if ERPs recorded during an oddball task would predict cognitive ...functioning and information processing speed in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients and controls at the individual level. Seventy-eight participants (35 MS patients, 43 healthy age-matched controls) completed visual and auditory 2- and 3-stimulus oddball tasks with 128-channel EEG, and a neuropsychological battery, at baseline (month 0) and at Months 13 and 26. ERPs from 0 to 700 ms and across the whole scalp were transformed into 1728 individual spatio-temporal datapoints per participant. A machine learning method that included penalized linear regression used the entire spatio-temporal ERP to predict composite scores of both cognitive functioning and processing speed at baseline (month 0), and months 13 and 26. The results showed ERPs during the visual oddball tasks could predict cognitive functioning and information processing speed at baseline and a year later in a sample of MS patients and healthy controls. In contrast, ERPs during auditory tasks were not predictive of cognitive performance. These objective neurophysiological indicators of cognitive functioning and processing speed, and machine learning methods that can interrogate high-dimensional data, show promise in outcome prediction.
Zusammenfassung
In diesem Abschnitt der Leitlinien 2021 des Europäischen Reanimationsrates werden wichtige Informationen zur Epidemiologie und zum Ergebnis eines Kreislaufstillstands innerhalb und ...außerhalb eines Krankenhauses vorgestellt. Wichtige Beiträge aus dem Europäischen Register für Kreislaufstillstände (EuReCa) werden hervorgehoben. Es werden Empfehlungen vorgelegt, die es den Gesundheitssystemen ermöglichen, Register als Plattform zur Qualitätsverbesserung zu entwickeln und diese für die Planung des Gesundheitssystems und die Maßnahmen zur Behandlung von Patienten nach einem Kreislaufstillstand zu nutzen.
Conduction along the optic nerve is often slowed in multiple sclerosis (MS). This is typically assessed by measuring the latency of the P100 component of the Visual Evoked Potential (VEP) using ...electroencephalography. The Visual Evoked Spread Spectrum Analysis (VESPA) method, which involves modulating the contrast of a continuous visual stimulus over time, can produce a visually evoked response analogous to the P100 but with a higher signal-to-noise ratio and potentially higher sensitivity to individual differences in comparison to the VEP. The main objective of the study was to conduct a preliminary investigation into the utility of the VESPA method for probing and monitoring visual dysfunction in multiple sclerosis. The latencies and amplitudes of the P100-like VESPA component were compared between healthy controls and multiple sclerosis patients, and multiple sclerosis subgroups. The P100-like VESPA component activations were examined at baseline and over a 3-year period. The study included 43 multiple sclerosis patients (23 relapsing-remitting MS, 20 secondary-progressive MS) and 42 healthy controls who completed the VESPA at baseline. The follow-up sessions were conducted 12 months after baseline with 24 MS patients (15 relapsing-remitting MS, 9 secondary-progressive MS) and 23 controls, and again at 24 months post-baseline with 19 MS patients (13 relapsing-remitting MS, 6 secondary-progressive MS) and 14 controls. The results showed P100-like VESPA latencies to be delayed in multiple sclerosis compared to healthy controls over the 24-month period. Secondary-progressive MS patients had most pronounced delay in P100-like VESPA latency relative to relapsing-remitting MS and controls. There were no longitudinal P100-like VESPA response differences. These findings suggest that the VESPA method is a reproducible electrophysiological method that may have potential utility in the assessment of visual dysfunction in multiple sclerosis.
In this section of the European Resuscitation Council Guidelines 2021, key information on the epidemiology and outcome of in- and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest are presented. Key contributions from ...the European Registry of Cardiac Arrest (EuReCa) collaboration are highlighted. Recommendations are presented to enable health systems to develop registries as a platform for quality improvement and to provide support for health system planning and responses to cardiac arrest.
Cognitive impairment (CI), often examined with neuropsychological tests such as the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT), affects approximately 65% of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. The P3b ...event-related potential (ERP), evoked when an infrequent target stimulus is presented, indexes cognitive function and is typically compared across subjects' scalp electroencephalography (EEG) data. However, the clustering of independent components (ICs) is superior to scalp-based EEG methods because it can accommodate the spatiotemporal overlap inherent in scalp EEG data. Event-related spectral perturbations (ERSPs; event-related mean power spectral changes) and inter-trial coherence (ITCs; event-related consistency of spectral phase) reveal a more comprehensive overview of EEG activity. Ninety-five subjects (56 MS patients, 39 controls) completed visual and auditory two-stimulus P3b event-related potential tasks and the PASAT. MS patients were also divided into CI and non-CI groups (n = 18 in each) based on PASAT scores. Data were recorded from 128-scalp EEG channels and 4 IC clusters in the visual, and 5 IC clusters in the auditory, modality were identified. In general, MS patients had significantly reduced ERSP theta power versus controls, and a similar pattern was observed for CI vs. non-CI MS patients. The ITC measures were also significantly different in the theta band for some clusters. The finding that MS patients had reduced P3b task-related theta power in both modalities is a reflection of compromised connectivity, likely due to demyelination, that may have disrupted early processes essential to P3b generation, such as orientating and signal detection. However, for posterior sources, MS patients had a greater decrease in alpha power, normally associated with enhanced cognitive function, which may reflect a compensatory mechanism in response to the compromised early cognitive processing.
Mobile phone technology has become an integral part of peoples' lives. It has changed how we interact with each other and how we access information. This article describes how mobile phone use, in ...particular text messaging, has been used to communicate with and support students with mental health problems attending a university within Ireland to manage their academic and social lives. This study was descriptive, non-experimental, and predominantly qualitative in nature. It employed a mixed-method approach, by way of: (1) Collecting text messaging data, relating to 40 students, from four therapists across three years, and (2) auditing the service files to gather demographic data and some intervention-related information that was cross-analyzed with the qualitative text messaging data. Thematic analysis of the data using QSR N6 produced five over-arching themes: practicalities around appointments; condition/illness management; thanks, but I'm fine; progress-both academic and personal; and non-therapeutic interaction. This study showed that text messaging with a student population using a mental health support service was valuable. It offered a means of maintaining ongoing contact between the service users and the staff and acted not only as a means for receiving and giving information but as a means of maintaining the on-going therapeutic relationship.
To the Editor:
In the study by Weisfeldt et al. (Jan. 27 issue),
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the lower incidence of “shockable arrhythmias” (ventricular fibrillation or pulseless ventricular tachycardia) in persons having ...cardiac arrest at home may relate to delays in contacting emergency medical services (EMS), thereby increasing the likelihood that a shockable rhythm will degenerate to asystole. The authors found that far fewer cases of cardiac arrest were witnessed at home than in public (36% vs. 55%), an observation that could partly explain the markedly lower incidence of ventricular fibrillation or pulseless ventricular tachycardia in the group in which an automated external defibrillator . . .
Resilience for children is positive adaptation and a capacity to thrive despite challenging circumstances. Children demonstrating resilience are seen to have strong cognitive skills and have ...developed positive peer relationships. The 'Supporting Resilience' project is exploring the conditions and characteristics of resilience of young children and their families who live in rural, regional and metropolitan communities that are economically and socially disadvantaged. The aim of this paper was to report on pretend play and social competence within the early years' cohort of the 'Supporting Resilience' project. Twenty-six children aged 4-6 years who were identified as resilient by their preschool teacher were involved in the study. Results obtained from the Child Initiated Pretend Play Assessment and the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale when the children were at pre-school found significant relationships between object substitution and social interaction (r = .414, p < .05). Children who could elaborate play with unstructured objects were less likely to be socially disconnected (r = -.49, p < .05). There was no significant difference between geographical locations for play ability. Significant difference for social competence was found between geographical locations. By situating play as individual development within a socio-cultural environment the relationship between children's pretend play ability and social peer play interactions are considered within early childhood development and resilience literature.
Obesity has dramatically increased in Irish adolescents and young adults and is related to changes in physical activity and diet. With this, McQuaid et al measured insulin resistance, insulin ...secretion, and a range of cardiovascular risk markers in an obese group of young Irish subjects with type 2 diabetes and compared them with a matched group of obese non-diabetic subjects and a representative group of older subjects with type 2 diabetes. Accounts detailing the results of the study are discussed.
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