Functional Neurology

Stroke has significant physical, psychological and social consequences. Recent rehabilitation approaches suggest that cognitive exercises with dual-task (sensory-motor) exercises positively influence the recovery and function of the hemiplegic hand grip. The purpose of this study was to describe a rehabilitation protocol involving the use of a new neurocognitive tool called "UOVO" for hand grip recovery after stroke. A 58-year-old right-handed male patient in the chronic stage of stroke, presenting with left-sided hemiparesis and marked motor deficits at the level of the left hand and forearm, was treated with the UOVO, a new rehabilitation instrument based on the neurocognitive rehabilitation theory of Perfetti...

The relationship between abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue thickness (aSAT), body fat percentage (BFP), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and body mass index (BMI) and outcome measures of neurological deficit and functional recovery was evaluated in obese subacute stroke patients before and after neurorehabilitation. Decreased National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (p = 0.0001) and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) (p= 0.002) scores, as well as increased Barthel Index (p= 0.0001) scores were detected after neurorehabilitation...

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of low-tech augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) aids in improving quality of life (QoL) and mood disorders, as well as the psychosocial impact of assistive devices, in 10 patients affected by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in the early stage of the disease, when speech difficulties appear. The AACtraining (AAC-T) study lasted around six months and comprised two phases of three months each: AAC-intervention (AAC-I) followed by AAC-familiarization (AAC-F)...

The objective of this study was to assess and validate the psychometric properties of the Italian culturally adapted Barthel Index (IcaBI) in a cohort of people with ischemic stroke. The validation process was conducted in an Italian cohort of 99 stroke inpatients to whom the IcaBI was administered in order to test its structural validity, and inter-and intrarater reliability. The internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) was 0.901. Factor analysis revealed a two-factor structure. The interclass correlation coefficient 3,1 (ICC) for intra-rater reliability was estimated at 0...

Motor fluctuations (MF) are important determinants of quality of life in Parkinson's disease (PD). To determine whether the Personal Kineti Graph (PKG), a wearable motion tracking device, can define MF progression, we correlated PKG fluctuator scores (FS) with clinical motor fluctuator profiles in a case-control cohort study. 54 subjects completed a 6-day PKG trial and completed a standardized motor diary. We distinguished non-fluctuators (NF), early (EF), moderate (MF) and troublesome fluctuators (TF), based on Wearing Off Questionnaire and Movement Disorders Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale scores...

Auditory dysfunction observed in patients with cognitive diseases is probably due to the alteration of some brain areas involved in sound stimulus processing. The present study aimed to investigate differences in such processing and in connectivity of the primary auditory cortex in patients affected by Alzheimer's disease (AD) and in normal subjects. We examined 131 diagnosed AD patients and a control group (CG) of 36 normal subjects. After a complete clinical investigation, focused on hearing function, all subjects underwent a brain FDG PET/CT...

Many people who have suffered a stroke will experience sensorimotor impairments that disrupt their performance of motor skills, including balance and gait. Furthermore, stroke-induced brain damage can Result in visual disorders that may significantly impact performance of normal daily activities. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the effects, on balance, of visual-spatial training as an add-on intervention to conventional neurorehabilitation in patients with subacute stroke without neglect; secondarily, it aimed to assess the effects of this training on activities of daily living...

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By the 1860s, Paolo Mantegazza was a professor of general pathology at the University of Pavia, where he had graduated in medicine in 1854. There, he founded Italy's first laboratory of experimental pathology and did his first research on pain, the subject of various communications presented to the Istituto Lombardo in Milan. In 1880, Mantegazza published Physiology of Pain, one of the several "physiologies" (of pleasure, of love, of hatred, of woman) that he wrote during his career. In this book, a testament to his scientific versatility, experimental observations supplemented his insights into hygienism and anthropology...

Motor impairments of the upper extremities affect approximately 60% of stroke patients. Rehabilitation is extremely important and can make it possible to identify which manual function is causing difficulty for the patient and hindering daily activities. The Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT) was recently highly recommended as one of several outcome measures that assess limitations of activities with a high level of psychometrics and clinical utility. The objective of this study was to translate and culturally adapt the WMFT for the Italian population (WMFT-IT) and examine its reliability and validity in Italian post-stroke adults with chronic hemiplegia or hemiparesis...

It is well established that non-motor symptoms are a core feature of Parkinson's disease (PD). A dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system seems to be present in PD, supporting the coexistence of urological and cardiovascular non-motor features. We evaluated whether bladder dysfunctions in patients with PD are linked to blood pressure dysregulation. Twenty-eight mild PD patients, previously submitted to a urodynamic evaluation, underwent 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate monitoring to allow assessment of their circadian blood pressure profile; the occurrence of postprandial hypotension and orthostatic hypotension was also investigated...

The ABCD3-I criteria have proved to be effective for use in regular clinical practice to assist in transient ischemic attack (TIA) risk stratification and treatment. In this prospective study we aimed to explore the relationships between risk stratification and arterial stenosis location, carotid plaque morphology and vessel involvement in 90 TIA patients, stratifying risk by ABCD3-I scores. Clinical variables such as total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, glycosylated hemoglobin, homocysteine and high-sensitive C-reactive protein levels were recorded...

Post-stroke apathy is considered to be one of the clinical consequences of lesions affecting the structures of the prefrontal cortex, basal ganglia, thalamus and limbic system. However, there is no current consensus on the treatment of post-stroke apathy, which mainly depends on the underlying etiology and comorbidities. A 62-year-old man, affected by hemorrhagic stroke in the left thalamus, presented with mood depression, anhedonia, hyporexia and marked apathy. The patient underwent clinical evaluation before and after receiving two different pharmacological therapies: escitalopram and bupropion...

Individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) and freezing of gait (FOG) have impaired postural control. Recent studies using foot sensory stimulation delivered by means of automated mechanical peripheral stimulation (AMPS) have demonstrated improvements of gait in individuals with PD. This study aimed to investigate the effects of AMPS on postural control in individuals with PD and FOG. Thirty-three subjects participated in this randomized controlled trial. Participants were allocated to two groups: AMPS and AMPS SHAM...

Even after rehabilitation, post stroke patients remain disabled. The Post Stroke Checklist (PSC) was developed to highlight unmet needs of community-dwelling stroke patients. The present study set out to validate Post Soft Care-App, designed to administer the PSC using smartphones and tablets, in order to monitor unmet needs in chronic patients. Fifty-three patients and fifteen physiotherapists were enrolled. The therapists administered the PSC to patients using the app, and then completed a structured questionnaire on its usability and utility...

Some patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) complain of symptoms, such as myokymia, myotonia, spasms, and stiffness, which have been demonstrated to be due to a concurrent non-dystrophic myotonia, i.e. myotonia congenita or paramyotonia congenita. Beyond the known casual association between MS and non-dystrophic myotonia, a channelopathy representing a primary trait of MS rather than an epiphenomenon of demyelization (i.e., an acquired channelopathy) may exist. Indeed, the finding of MS patients with no genetic evidence of non-dystrophic myotonia but showing a clinical picture resembling this condition would support this hypothesis...

The effects of exogenous melatonin on sleep diminish after its long-term use in haemodialysis patients. Our aim was to determine whether melatonin levels accumulate after chronic (at least three months) use of exogenous melatonin, 5 mg daily, and whether discontinuation of this treatment improves endogenous melatonin production and improves the circadian sleep-wake rhythm. In this case series, stable haemodialysis patients discontinued their chronic exogenous melatonin usage for seven days and melatonin concentrations in saliva were analysed...

Hyperglycemia-associated chorea-ballism (HCB) is an infrequent neurological syndrome occurring predominantly in elderly females and in the setting of non-ketotic hyperglycemia (NKH). A systematic review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA statement. Studies published between 1980 and 2018 that reported demographic, clinical, laboratory and imaging features from patients with HCB were screened. 136 studies describing 286 patients were included in the analysis. The patients included had a median age of 72 years; those with ketotic hyperglycemia (KH) were older (p<0...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.