Procedural memory stimulation in Alzheimer's disease: impact of a training programme

The study evaluates the efficacy of a procedural memory stimulation programme in mild and mild-moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD). Twenty basic and instrumental activities of daily living have been selected, and divided into two groups, comparable for difficulty. Ten normal elderly subjects (age 68.0±4.8 years; MMSE score: 28.7±0.9; education: 7.6±3.5 years) were asked to perform the two groups of daily activities and the time required to perform the tasks of each group was recorded and used as a reference. Ten mild and mild-moderate AD patients (age 77.2±5.3 years; MMSE score: 19.8±3.5; education: 7.3±4.7 years) without major behavioural disturbances constituted the experimental group. Patients were evaluated in all 20 daily activities and the time employed was recorded at baseline and after a 3-week training (1 h/d, 5 d/week) period. Five patients were trained during the 3 weeks on half of the 20 daily activities and the other five patients were trained on the remainder. This procedure was adopted in order to detect separately the improvement in "trained" and "not trained" activities, allowing to control better the effects of the intervention. The assessment of the functional impact of the training was directly measured, through the variation of time employed to perform tasks before and after training. After 3 weeks of training a significant improvement was observed for the trained activities, from 3.6 to 1.9 standard deviations below the performance of the normal elderly controls ( P <0.05). AD patients improved also in not-trained activities from 3.5 to 2.7 standard deviations below the controls'performance ( P <0.05). The rehabilitation of activities of daily living through developing procedural memory strategies may be effective in mild and mild-moderate AD patients.     

Cognitive behaviour therapy approach to disputing automatic thoughts: a two-stage model

Research shows that clients with automatic thoughts (dysfunctional thinking) often do not think of alternative explanations in relation to negative events. Furthermore, these automatic thoughts are characterized by a broad global, self-evaluative and ambiguous nature that could make disputing (or changing the ways they think) the most difficult part of the therapeutic process. This paper proposes a two-stage practise-based disputing model, guided by research, that aims to 'bring' an automatic thought to a specific, objective, quantifiable and concrete level at which not only is the particular aspect(s) of the automatic thought that causes emotional disturbances finely focused, but the disputing is also likely to be effective and manageable. Furthermore, it will also generate alternative explanations that are helpful in reducing emotional disturbances and in facilitating problem solving approach. In this paper, the authors use a case example to discuss the rationale that underpins the conceptualization of the model and to illustrate the process in which the strategies of the model are effectively used.     

Wives prefer reading: Stress and female sexuality

A clinical discussion is presented of sources of sexual stress for women and how they might interfere with healthy sexual functioning. Several therapeutic techniques to reduce sexual stress are described and clinical case examples are given to clarify their use in clinical practice.     

Effect of cognitive and motor tasks on postural stability in Parkinson's disease: a posturographic study.

To analyse the effect of concomitant cognitive or motor task performance on balance control in Parkinson's disease (PD), we performed a posturographic study in 24 PD patients and in 20 sex- and age-matched control subjects. Postural sway was measured with eyes open (EO) and eyes closed (EC) during quiet stance and during performance of calculation or motor sequence of thumb opposition to the other fingers. No difference of centre of foot pressure (COP) parameters was observed during quiet standing (either EO or EC) between patients and controls, but visual deprivation induced in both groups a worsening of postural stability. COP area was significantly increased in PD patients during dual task performance, whereas no difference of COP path and x-y axes was observed. The effects induced by the performance of cognitive or motor task were significantly more evident in PD patients with clinical evidence of postural instability (presence of prior falls in the history). This study demonstrates that dual task interference on postural control can be observed in PD patients during performance of cognitive as well as motor tasks. The balance deterioration during dual task performance was significantly enhanced in patients with history of prior falls. These findings have some implications for the strategies to be used in reducing the risk of fall in PD.     

癫(癎)患者认知功能影响因素的研究

目的:研究癫患者认知功能的影响因素。方法:对166例癫患者进行认知评定。认知评定工具:听觉词语测验、逻辑记忆测验、数字符号转换测验、Stoop字色干扰测验、连线测验、言语流畅性测验、Rey-Osterrieth复杂图片测验及Boston命名测验。影响因素与认知功能评分之间采用一元线性相关及多元逐步回归分析。结果:患者年龄、性别、文化程度、起病年龄、病程、发作频率、发作持续时间、全身强直阵挛发作(GTCS)、复杂部分性发作(CPS)及抗癫药物数量与患者的认知功能有相关性。结论:癫患者的起病年龄与其认知损害成正比,病程越长对癫患者的认知损害越明显,原发或继发全身性强直阵挛发作与言语功能损害、复杂部分性发作与言语记忆损害之间的关系密切,用药种类与记忆、注意力以及精神运动能力的损害有关。     

赖型钩端螺旋体重组DNApCX7的特异性鉴定和限制性内切酶谱分析

本实验将赖型钩端螺旋体（简称钩体）ＤＮＡ基因库的克隆ｐＣＸ７制备成￣（３２）Ｐ－重组ＤＮＡ探针，对８个不同血清群的１７株问号状钩体、双曲钩体ＰａｔｏｃⅠ株以及细螺旋体３０５５株ＤＮＡ进行打点杂交；同时用１５种ＤＮＡ片断进行限制性内切酶谱分析。结果表明，该重组ＤＮＡ具有问号状钩体种（Ｓｐｅｃｉｅｓ）特异性，但与不同问号状钩体之间的同源性程度有差别；限制性内切酶谱分析发现ｐＣＸ７重组ＤＮＡ片段长约１．７ｋｂ，具有１个Ｂｇ１Ⅱ识别位点和３个ＢｓｔＢ１识别位点。     

核苷酸结合寡聚化结构域样受体蛋白3炎症小体在脑卒中后认知障碍中的研究进展

脑卒中后认知障碍(PSCI)是脑卒中患者常见的并发症,严重影响患者的生活质量。目前,PSCI在临床治疗中尚未发现有效的针对性治疗措施。大量研究证实核苷酸结合寡聚化结构域样受体蛋白3(NLRP3)炎症小体的活化在PSCI中起关键作用,且对其进行的许多抑制性治疗显示出了改善认知障碍的功效。为此,本文总结了NLRP3炎症小体的活化和影响因素及其与PSCI的关系,发现在PSCI的细胞和动物模型中,针对NLRP3或其炎症小体成分的抑制措施可以减轻炎性反应和相应的病理特征,从而促进其认知功能的恢复,因此,靶向NLRP3炎症小体可能是PSCI治疗的新趋势。然而到目前为止,尽管许多药物和治疗措施已成功鉴定出能够抑制NLRP3炎症小体的活化,但其在临床中的治疗效果和安全性仍有待进一步验证。     

老年人主观认知下降与慢性病共病的相关性分析

背景 主观认知下降（SCD）是阿尔茨海默病（AD）早期预防的目标阶段,AD与慢性病共病关系密切,但二者间相关性尚不十分明确。目的 探究老年人SCD与慢性病共病的相关性,为AD早期预防和干预提供理论依据。方法 于2021年1月至2022年6月,在广州市城市生活小区和养老机构以便利抽样法抽取≥60岁的老年人612例。采用基础版蒙特利尔认知评估量表（MoCA-B）、临床痴呆量表（CDR）、Hachinski缺血指数量表（HIS）评定客观认知功能水平,通过SCD标准诊断框架和SCD问卷（SCD-Q9）进行分组,将整体客观认知水平无异常、符合SCD标准诊断框架和SCD-Q9≥5分的老年人分入SCD组,将整体客观认知功能无异常和SCD-Q9<5分的老年人为认知无异常（CN）组。采用一般资料问卷收集老年人的社会人口学（性别、年龄、居住地、受教育年限、婚姻状况、退休前职业类型、月收入）和健康相关资料[体质指数、腰围、吸烟习惯、饮酒习惯、饮茶习惯、锻炼频率、午觉习惯及平均时长、睡眠质量、抑郁及焦虑症状、日常生活活动能力（ADL）],其中睡眠质量、抑郁症状、焦虑症状及ADL分别采用匹兹堡睡眠指数量表...     

Maintenance of targeting errors by isthmo-optic axons following the intraocular injection of tetrodotoxin in chick embryos.

We have studied the role of electrical activity in the elimination of axonal targeting errors, which is a normal process in brain development. The experiments were focused on the isthmo-optic nucleus (ION), which, in adults, projects in topographical order on the contralateral retina. During embryogenesis, however, a few isthmo-optic neurons project to the ipsilateral retina, and many project to topographically inappropriate parts of the contralateral one; both kinds of targeting error are known to be eliminated by the deaths of the parent neurons. We injected tetrodotoxin (TTX) intraocularly at embryonic days 13 and 15 and, on the latter, applied a retrograde label to the retina of the same eye. Embryos were fixed at embryonic day 17. In some embryos, the label was a peripherally placed fleck of the carbocyanine dye "diI"; the resulting retrogradely labeled neurons in the contralateral ION were much more widely scattered in the TTX-injected embryos than in controls (errors in topography). In other embryos, the label was a solution of rhodamine-B-isothiocyanate (RITC) injected into the vitreous body; this yielded several ipsilaterally labeled isthmo-optic neurons in the TTX-injected embryos, but virtually none in the controls. The numbers of both kinds of aberrantly projecting neuron approached those previously reported near the beginning of the ION's period of neuronal death. We conclude that electrical activity plays an important role in the elimination of axonal targeting errors in the chick embryo's isthmo-optic system.     

The role of imperatives in psychopathology: A reply to Ellis

In his recent formulations of rational emotive therapy (RET), Ellis (1985) has increasingly emphasized what he believes to be the central role of necessitous thinking or musturbation in the development of depression. In his most recent article (Ellis, 1987), he suggests that necessitous thinking is the primary cognitive component of depression and that RET stands alone in its recognition of the role of this cognitive element. The present study addressed three issues raised by Ellis's paper: (1) Clarify whether necessitous thinking has been neglected by other cognitive theorists, (2) test empirically the role of necessitou thinking in depression relative to other established cognitive constructs, e.g., the cognitive triad (Beck, 1967), and (3) determine whether necessitous thinking is particularly salient in depression as compared with other forms of psychopathology. It was predicted that necessitous thinking would be found in other forms of psychology in addition to depression, and this was confirmed. The results are discussed as highlighting the importance of empirically testing theoretical predictions.From the Foundation for Cognitive Therapy.