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Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) is a rare and insidious language impairment that worsens over time. It belongs to the group of fronto-temporal dementias. This study was aimed at assessing the role of speed of cognitive abilities, such as word recognition, in PPA. The design is a single-case, longitudinal study. A male patient suffering from PPA was enrolled and fifteen healthy older adults were the control group. An event-related electrical potential connected with word recognition, namely the N400, was delayed by 200 ms at baseline compared to healthy controls and progressively deteriorated. One year later, the delay was greater and two years later the potential had disappeared. Reduced speed of processing is an early pathological factor negatively affecting higher cognitive functions in APP. Event related electrical potentials are recommended in the field of aphasia and cognitive decline. They permit observation of a speed decline in higher cognitive abilities, when pathological changes at a central level begin and language comprehension seems to be unaffected.

A mathematical data processing method is presented that represents a further step in gait analysis. The proposed polynomial regression analysis is reliable in assessing differences in the same patient and even on the same day. The program also calculates the confidence interval of the whole curve. The procedure was applied to normal subjects in order to collect normative data. When a new subject is tested, the polynomial function obtained is graphically superimposed on control data. Should the new curve fall within the limits described by normative data, it is considered to be equivalent. The procedure can be applied to the same subject, either normal or pathological, for retesting kinematic characteristics. The gait cycle is analyzed as a whole, not point-by-point. Ten normal subjects and two patients, one with recent- and the other with late-onset hemiplegia, were tested. Multiple baseline evaluation is recommended before the start of a rehabilitation program.

Interest in the relevance of religion and spirituality to medicine is growing and concerns the possible association between religiousness, spirituality and well-being. In the rehabilitation field these factors may affect outcome. We translated the "Royal Free Interview for Religious and Spiritual Beliefs" into Italian and validated the Italian language version. The translation the Royal Free Interview was accomplished in several steps. Certain adaptations were necessary in order to take into account certain peculiarities of the Italian language and of the Italian-speaking world. The Italian translation presented in this study shows internal consistency: Cronbach's alpha coefficient 0.82 (spiritual scale) and 0.80 (philosophical scale) in the 53 healthy volunteers; alpha coefficient 0.79 (spiritual scale) and 0.64 (philosophical scale) in the stroke patients. Test-retest reliability, evaluated by means of the intraclass correlation coefficient, was 0.83 (spiritual scale) and 0.99 (philosophical scale). There are two main reasons why an Italian translation of a religious coping scale was deemed necessary: i) there is a growing awareness of the possible impact of faith on stress and on the outcome of many disabling diseases; ii) Italy has a large and aging population and thus a high prevalence of disabled patients.

Purpose: The use of ankle or knee arthroprostheses is increasing and proper rehabilitation is needed after the surgery. We have designed a special pool where normal gait can take place under partly unweighted conditions, thus improving quality of therapy and reducing the length of stay. Underwater TV recording permits daily gait analysis., Description: Data are provided on pool shape, length and depth of the walkway, water conditions, safety and other facilities. The cost has been compared to commercial pools of the same type., Conclusion: The design permits accurate definition of stride parameters during rehabilitation which enables the programme to be optimized. The pool is cheaper than commercial ones but offers many more research possibilities. The Authors are glad to share their expertise freely upon request.

Rehabilitation is a multidisciplinary field of growing interest. Evoked and event-related potentials could be useful prognostic, longitudinal monitoring and cortical remodeling tools. In spite of these many possible applications, the literature contains relatively few articles dealing with the use of these potentials in rehabilitation. This review outlines the main achievements that have, however, been recorded. In relation to prognosis, there is general consensus among authors as regards the strongest indicators of poor and good outcome: respectively, the stable absence of somatosensory evoked potentials bilaterally in hypoxic-ischemic coma, and a return of mismatch negativity. Event-related potentials, which are related to cognition, are considered more suitable for prognostic purposes. In longitudinal monitoring, event-related potentials show that recovery processes are not linear and that they can even outlast functional recovery. Electrical correlates of language open up new fields for research in rehabilitation. Finally, several observations indicate that "training" of evoked and event-related potentials is possible, an approach that could increase the viability of cortical remodeling.