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Background Working memory impairment is common in patients in the chronic phase after acquired brain injury (ABI), and there is a need to develop efficacious rehabilitation methods. This trial explored the effects of two different computer-based cognitive rehabilitation (CBCR) programmes on working memory in the chronic phase after ABI, as well as the role of continuous support versus no support from a health professional on the efficacy of CBCR. Methods A total of 72 patients were randomized into four different groups for a 12-week intervention: Two groups trained with the CBCR-programmes ‘Cogmed’ and ‘Brain+ Health,’ respectively, and one group completed active-control training. All three groups received continuous support from a health professional. The last group trained with the CBCR programme ‘Brain+ Health’ but received no support. Before and after the intervention, patients were tested with a neuropsychological battery of working memory, attention and executive functions. Results Both CBCR-programmes improved working memory when administered with support from a health professional. The programmes improved different sub-components of working memory, possibly because of their individual content and design. None of the CBCR-programmes were more efficacious than sham-training with support. CBCR without support did not improve working memory in patients.

Background: Cognitive decline in Parkinson's disease (PD) has become increasingly recognized in recent years, and there is a need to identify methods for cognitive rehabilitation in PD patients. Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility and effects of 2 different computer-based cognitive rehabilitation (CBCR) interventions on attention, executive functions, and quality of life (QoL) in PD patients. Methods: Thirty nondemented PD patients were randomly assigned to one of 3 groups: one passive control group and 2 intervention groups with 2 different CBCR programmes. The intervention period was 8 weeks with follow-up visits in clinic every second week. Before and after the intervention period, patients were tested with a neuropsychological battery of attention, executive functions, and QoL. Results: Twenty-four patients completed the study. Patients in one of the CBCR groups experienced a significant within-group increase on the primary measures of attention, executive functions, and QoL. However, this effect was not significant between groups. No significant differences were observed for the other CBCR group or the control group. Conclusions: CBCR is a feasible intervention for cognitive rehabilitation in nondemented PD patients. The effects of training were modest and should be further explored in larger clinical trials. Some CBCR programmes might be more effective than others for PD patients.

Colorimetric sensors are widely used as pH indicators, medical diagnostic devices and detection devices. The colorimetric sensor captures the color changes of a chromic chemical (dye) or array of chromic chemicals when exposed to a target substance (analyte). Sensing is typically carried out using the difference in dye color before and after exposure. This approach neglects the kinetic response, that is, the temporal evolution of the dye, which potentially contains additional information. We investigate the importance of the kinetic response by collecting a sequence of images over time. We applied end-to-end learning using three different convolution neural networks (CNN) and a recurrent network. We compared the performance to logistic regression, k-nearest-neighbor and random forest, where these methods only use the difference color from start to end as feature vector. We found that the CNNs were able to extract features from the kinetic response profiles that significantly improves the accuracy of the sensor. Thus, we conclude that the kinetic responses indeed improves the accuracy, which paves the way for new and better chemical sensors based on colorimetric responses.

Background: The need to identify Alzheimer’s disease and late-life depression increases as the overall age of the population rises. The lack of evidence of the underlying physiopathologies as well as the heterogeneity of both illnesses complicate the distinction, thus increasing the risk of misdiagnosis. Providing the appropriate diagnoses are necessary to ensure the best possible outcome of care and treatment of existing and future treatment. This systematic review examines the role of episodic memory impairment and memory-associated biochemical markers to distinguish between late-life depression and Alzheimer’s disease. Method: 78 articles were included for full-text screening, of which 9 met the inclusion criteria. These criteria are that articles includes both participants with late-life depression and Alzheimer’s disease, examining impaired episodic memory and are peer-reviewed. Studies examining genes or having comorbid illnesses were not included. Results: Late-life depression and Alzheimer’s disease can both be characterized by hippocampal atrophy which consequently can lead to impairment of episodic memory (especially coding new information) and changes in memory-associated biochemical markers. Indeed, measures of cerebrospinal fluid (p-tau231, AβxMAP&t-tau/Aβ40, Aβ1-40/1-42, D-serine and Neprilysin) and urinary samples (AD7c-NTP) are able to distinguish between the two illnesses with a sensitivity and specificity ~80%. Neuropsychological tests (FCSRT, OI) have approximately the same accuracy. Yet, also reflected in the reviewed papers is the fact that late-life depression is not a homogeneous diagnosis, thus subtypes might be particularly difficult to differentiate from Alzheimer’s disease. Furthermore, the possibility that subtypes of late-life depression are prodromes to Alzheimer’s disease is a pressing issue questioning whether the differentiation is even possible. Conclusion: Measures of memory impairment can be valid means to distinguish late-lif

Complaints of fatigue following acquired brain injury (ABI) are often associated with depression. However, the nature of this relationship is unclear; furthermore, research among young people with ABI is limited. The objective of this cross-sectional study was (1) to investigate levels of depression in young outpatients with ABI (15–30 years old) and (2) to determine how different dimensions of fatigue relate to depression. Five dimensions of fatigue were assessed with the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20), and depression was assessed with the Major Depression Inventory (MDI). Mann–Whitney U-tests and multiple regression analyses were conducted. The ABI group (n = 105), on average 23.7 years old (SD = 4.2) and 31 months post-injury (SD = 61), had elevated levels of fatigue and depression compared to a convenience sample of 160 healthy controls, all p’s < .001. In multivariate analyses, the predominantly mental dimensions of fatigue, General Fatigue, Mental Fatigue, and Reduced Motivation, were independently associated with MDI, all p’s < .01, while the physical dimensions, Physical Fatigue and Reduced Activity, were not. Distinctions within the concept of fatigue may be important in relation to depression, and future research could benefit from adopting a multidimensional approach in the development of more targeted and effective treatments of fatigue and depression following ABI.

The left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) is a key region for language comprehension and production. Previous studies point to a preferential involvement of left anterior IFG (aIFG) in lexical and semantic processes, while the posterior IFG (pIFG) has been implicated in supporting syntactic and phonological processes. Here we used focal neuronavigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to probe the functional involvement of left IFG in lexical and grammatical processing at the sentence level. We applied 10 Hz TMS effective or sham bursts to left aIFG and pIFG, while healthy volunteers performed an adjective-noun production task contrasting grammatical and lexical determiners. For each trial, we measured the time from the stimulus onset to the moment of articulation (response time) and the time from articulation onset to the end of articulation (duration). Focal TMS of IFG generally delayed response times. The TMS-induced delay in response times was relatively stronger for the grammatical condition compared to the lexical condition, when TMS targeted aIFG. Articulation of the determiner was generally shorter in trials presenting grammatical determiners relative to lexical determiners. The shorter articulation time for grammar determiners was facilitated by effective TMS to pIFG. Together, the effects of TMS on task performance provide novel evidence for a joint involvement of anterior and posterior parts of left IFG in implementing grammatical determiners during language production, suggesting an involvement of aIFG in the initiation and pIFG in the production of grammatically appropriate verbal responses at the sentence level.