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Introduction: Research has well demonstrated that the pandemic entailed several implications among university students worldwide in terms of increased use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), technostress, disruptions in academic goals and motivation processes, and growing psychological suffering. Responding to the new research need to go in-depth into the processes linking technostress and motivation dimensions to inform current research/interventions, the present study aimed to explore the direct effects of perceived Technostress dimensions (Techno-Overload, Work-Home Conflict, Pace of Change, Techno-Ease, Techno-Reliability, and Techno-Sociality) and Academic Motivation dimensions (Amotivation, Intrinsic, and Extrinsic Motivation dimensions) on students' perceived levels of Anxiety/Depression and test the potential indirect effect (mediating role) of Academic Motivation dimensions in the associations between Technostress and psychological health conditions., Methods: Overall, 1,541 students from five European countries (Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Serbia, United Kingdom) completed a survey comprising a Background Information Form, the Technostress Scale, the Academic Motivation Scale-College, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Hayes' PROCESS tool was used to test direct and indirect (mediating) effects., Results: Data revealed that Techno-Overload, Work-Home Conflict, Amotivation, and Extrinsic Motivation-Introjected had a direct negative effect, whereas Techno-Ease, Techno-Reliability, Techno-Sociality, all Intrinsic Motivation dimensions, and Extrinsic Motivation-Identified had a direct protective role for students' psychological health. The significant indirect role of motivation dimensions in the associations between Technostress dimensions and Anxiety/Depression was fully supported., Discussion: Findings allow gaining further insight into the pathways of relationships between technostress, motivation, and psychological health, to be used in the current phase, featured by the complete restoration of face-to-face contacts, to inform the development of tailored research and interventions, which address lights and shadows of the technology use, and which take into account the necessity to enhance its potentials yet without impairing students' motivation and psychological health., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Vallone, Galvin, Cattaneo Della Volta, Akhtar, Chua, Ghio, Giovazolias, Kazakou, Kritikou, Koutra, Kovacevic, Lee-Treweek, Mašková, Mavritsaki, Nastic, Plassova, Stuchlíková and Zurlo.)

Introduction: Infertility literature suggests widespread recourse to long-term medical treatments despite evidence of high stress, costs, and adverse effects of repeated treatment failures. However, there is a lack of research comparing predictors of stress and psychological health outcomes between members of infertile couples who - after repeated failures - persist in pursuing medical treatments (PT) with those who opted for quitting treatments and adopting (QTA). Basing on a transactional and multidimensional approach to infertility-related stress and health, the present study aims at exploring individual (socio-demographics; coping strategies) and situational (infertility-related parameters; infertility-related stressors; couple's dyadic adjustment dimensions) predictors of state-anxiety and depression in male and female partners of PT-infertile couples and of QTA-infertile couples., Methods: Participants were both members of 176 couples with duration of infertility and a history of medical treatments for at least 3 years (76 PT-infertile couples, 100 QTA-infertile couples). The study variables were compared by study group across genders. Structural equation models (SEM) were used to test main and moderating effects of study variables on state-anxiety and depression by study group and across genders., Results: Members of infertile couples quitting treatments and adopting (QTA) reported significantly lower levels of state-anxiety and depression, higher stress related to need for parenthood and rejection of childfree-lifestyle and lower stress related to social and couple's relationship concerns than those who persist in pursuing medical treatments (PT). Members of infertile couples quitting treatments and adopting (QTA) recurred to a greater extent to active coping strategies (problem-solving/social-support) and to a lower extent to passive coping strategies (avoiding/turning-to-religion), and they reported higher levels of dyadic adjustment. Specificities in main and moderating factors related to state-anxiety and depression by study group and across genders were found., Conclusion: Findings should be addressed to provide a comprehensive assessment of both members of infertile couples facing repeated treatment failures to identify risks and resources and develop tailored evidence-based interventions., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Zurlo, Cattaneo Della Volta and Vallone.)

Postural control is a complex sensorimotor skill that is fundamental to our daily life. The abilities to maintain and recover balance degrade with age. However, the time decay of balance performance with age is not well understood. In this study, we aim at quantifying the age-dependent changes in standing balance under static and dynamic conditions. We tested 272 healthy subjects with ages ranging from 20 to 90. Subjects maintained the upright posture while standing on the robotic platform hunova®. In the evaluation of static balance, subjects stood on the fixed platform both with eyes open (EO) and eyes closed (EC). In the dynamic condition, subjects stood with eyes open on the moving foot platform that provided three different perturbations: (i) an inclination proportional to the center of pressure displacements, (ii) a pre-defined predictable motion, and (iii) an unpredictable and unexpected tilt. During all these tests, hunova® measured the inclination of the platform and the displacement of the center of pressure, while the trunk movements were recorded with an accelerometer placed on the sternum. To quantify balance performance, we computed spatio-temporal parameters typically used in clinical environments from the acceleration measures: mean velocity, variability of trunk motion, and trunk sway area. All subjects successfully completed all the proposed exercises. Their motor performance in the dynamic balance tasks quadratically changed with age. Also, we found that the reliance on visual feedback is not age-dependent in static conditions. All subjects well-tolerated the proposed protocol independently of their age without experiencing fatigue as we chose the timing of the evaluations based on clinical needs and routines. Thus, this study is a starting point for the definition of robot-based assessment protocols aiming at detecting the onset of age-related standing balance deficits and allowing the planning of tailored rehabilitation protocols to prevent falls in older adults., Competing Interests: ADL and VS works for Movendo Technology srl, work for Movendo Technology that commercializes the hunova robotic device used in this study. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Marchesi, De Luca, Squeri, De Michieli, Vallone, Pilotto, Leo, Casadio and Canessa.)

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has broadly impacted university students' customary life, resulting in remarkable levels of stress and psychological suffering. Although the acute phase of the crisis has been overcome, it does not imply that perceived stress related to the risk of contagion and to the changes in the relational life experienced over more than 1 year of the pandemic will promptly and abruptly decrease. This study aims at comparing university students' psychological health conditions before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also at providing information on how psychological health conditions evolved over the 1 year of the pandemic. We analyzed data from a repeated cross-sectional survey on different samples of university students before the pandemic in 2017 ( n  = 545) and during the pandemic ( n  = 671). During the pandemic, data were collected at three stages (Stage 1, April 2020 n  = 197; Stage 2, November 2020 n  = 274; and Stage 3, April 2021 n  = 200). The COVID-19 Student Stress Questionnaire (CSSQ) and the Symptom-Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) were used to assess, respectively, COVID-19-related stressors (Relationships and Academic Life, Isolation, and Fear of Contagion) and the presence of psychological symptoms. Psychological health conditions were compared at baseline and during the pandemic, whereas both psychological health conditions and perceived levels of COVID-19-related stressors were compared over the three pandemic stages. In addition, Logistic Regression was used to explore the associations between COVID-19-related stressors and psychological symptoms. Findings revealed a significant increase in symptoms of Depression (DEP), Phobic-Anxiety (PHOB), Obsessive-Compulsive (O-C), and Psychoticism (PSY) from pre to during the pandemic. Perceived levels of COVID-19-related stress and specific psychological symptoms significantly increased as the pandemic was progressing. COVID-19-related stressors emerged as significantly associated with several psychopathological symptoms. Findings are discussed with the aim of providing tailored interventions to prevent mental disease and promote psychological adjustment in this specific stage of transition within this exceptional global emergency., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Zurlo, Cattaneo Della Volta and Vallone.)

Background: The measures taken to contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, such as the lockdown in Italy, do impact psychological health; yet, less is known about their effect on cognitive functioning. The transactional theory of stress predicts reciprocal influences between perceived stress and cognitive performance. However, the effects of a period of stress due to social isolation on spatial cognition and exploration have been little examined. The aim of the present study was to investigate the possible effects and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on spatial cognition tasks, particularly those concerning spatial exploration, and the physiological leftward bias known as pseudoneglect. A right-hemisphere asymmetry for spatial attention processes crucially contributes to pseudoneglect. Other evidence indicates a predominantly right-hemisphere activity in stressful situations. We also analyzed the effects of lockdown on coping strategies, which typically show an opposite pattern of hemispheric asymmetry, favoring the left hemisphere. If so, then pseudoneglect should increase during the lockdown and be negatively correlated with the efficacy of coping strategies., Methods: One week before the start of the lockdown due to COVID-19 in Italy (T1), we had collected data from a battery of behavioral tests including tasks of peri-personal spatial cognition. During the quarantine period, from late April to early May 2020 (T2), we repeated the testing sessions with a subgroup of the same participants (47 right-handed students, mean age = 20, SD = 1.33). At both testing sessions, participants performed digitized neuropsychological tests, including a Cancellation task, Radial Arm Maze task, and Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices. Participants also completed a newly developed COVID-19 Student Stress Scale, based on transactional models of stress, and the Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced-New Italian Version (COPE-NIV) to assess coping orientation., Results: The tendency to start cancelation from a left-sided item, to explore first a left-sided arm of the maze, and to choose erroneous response items on the left side of the page on Raven's matrices increased from T1 to T2. The degree of pseudoneglect increment positively correlated with perceived stress and negatively correlated with Positive Attitude and Problem-Solving COPE-NIV subscales., Conclusion: Lockdown-related stress may have contributed to increase leftward bias during quarantine through a greater activation of the right hemisphere. On the other hand, pseudoneglect was decreased for better coping participants, perhaps as a consequence of a more balanced hemispheric activity in these individuals., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Somma, Bartolomeo, Vallone, Argiuolo, Cerrato, Miglino, Mandolesi, Zurlo and Gigliotta.)

Research has shown a direct relationship between infertility-related stress and anxiety in infertile patients. The present study goes into this relationship in depth, testing the moderating role of coping strategies (Seeking Social Support, Avoidant, Positive Attitude, Problem-Solving, Turning to Religion) in the associations between specific infertility-related stress dimensions (Social Concern, Need for Parenthood, Rejection of Childfree Lifestyle, Couple's Relationship Concern) and State-Anxiety among male and female partners of infertile couples. Gender differences were also explored. Both members of 254 infertile couples completed a questionnaire consisting of Socio-demographics, Fertility Problem Inventory-Short Form (FPI-SF), Coping Orientation to Problem Experienced-New Italian Version (COPE-NIV), and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Y (STAI-Y). The results revealed that Social Concern and Couple's Relationship Concern, in both partners, and Need for Parenthood, in female partners, had positive correlations with State-Anxiety. Seeking Social Support and Avoidant coping were related to increasing levels of State-Anxiety in both partners, whereas Positive Attitude coping strategies were related to lower levels of State-Anxiety in female partners. Problem-Solving and Avoidant coping played moderating roles between specific infertility-related stress dimensions and State-Anxiety in unexpected directions. Problem-Solving exacerbated the negative effects of Social Concern, whereas Avoidant coping buffered the negative effects of several infertility-related stress dimensions in both partners. Interventions to improve stress management and psychological health in infertile couples should consider that the adequacy of coping strategies is inherently situation specific. It therefore follows that patient-centered clinical interventions should consider the potential inadequacy of promoting Problem-Solving strategies, and that even Avoidance can be an efficient strategy for dealing with specific infertility-related stress dimensions., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Zurlo, Cattaneo Della Volta and Vallone.)

Clinical observations suggest that during times of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown university students exhibit stress-related responses to fear of contagion and to limitations of personal and relational life. The study aims to describe the development and validation of the 7-item COVID-19 Student Stress Questionnaire (CSSQ), a measurement tool to assess COVID-19-related sources of stress among university students. The CSSQ was developed and validated with 514 Italian university students. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted with one split-half sub-sample to investigate the underlining dimensional structure, suggesting a three-component solution, which was confirmed by the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) with the second one split-half sub-sample (CFI = 0.95; TLI = 0.95; RMSEA = 0.06). The CSSQ three subscales measure COVID-19 students' stressors related to (1) Relationships and Academic Life (i.e., relationships with relatives, colleagues, professors, and academic studying); (2) Isolation (i.e., social isolation and couple's relationship, intimacy and sexual life); (3) Fear of Contagion. A Global Stress score was also provided. The questionnaire revealed a satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.71; McDonald's omega = 0.71). Evidence was also provided for convergent and discriminant validity. The study provided a brief, valid and reliable measure to assess perceived stress to be used for understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown among university students and for developing tailored interventions fostering their wellbeing., (Copyright © 2020 Zurlo, Cattaneo Della Volta and Vallone.)

Ischemic damage to the brain triggers substantial reorganization of spared areas and pathways, which is associated with limited, spontaneous restoration of function. A better understanding of this plastic remodeling is crucial to develop more effective strategies for stroke rehabilitation. In this review article, we discuss advances in the comprehension of post-stroke network reorganization in patients and animal models. We first focus on rodent studies that have shed light on the mechanisms underlying neuronal remodeling in the perilesional area and contralesional hemisphere after motor cortex infarcts. Analysis of electrophysiological data has demonstrated brain-wide alterations in functional connectivity in both hemispheres, well beyond the infarcted area. We then illustrate the potential use of non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques to boost recovery. We finally discuss rehabilitative protocols based on robotic devices as a tool to promote endogenous plasticity and functional restoration.