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Objectives: The current study intended to investigate whether social learning processes other than imitation can be traced in human adults, particularly in brain-injured patients who have lost their ability to imitate. This was undertaken by exploring the extent to which the observation of how to solve a tool-use task primed the performance of left (LBD) and right (RBD) brain-damaged patients, as well as of healthy adults. Methods: Participants were assigned to a no model condition (N), in which they were left alone to solve the problems, and a demonstration condition (D), in which they could either observe a Correct (C) or an Incorrect + Correct Demonstration (I+C) in which they witness a failed attempt followed by the correct solution of the task. Results: Consistent with predictions, LBD overall performance was significantly worse than that of control subjects, while RBD did not differ from controls. However, there was only a trend in LBD to perform worse than RBD and controls after both type of demonstrations, and alternative non-imitative processes were rarely adopted by both patient groups. Yet, looking at single cases, all LBD scoring below controls in C engaged in (goal) emulation, and all had ideomotor apraxia, those in I+C showed mimicry, and were affected by frontal dysfunction. Conclusions: The left hemisphere is indeed critical for motor control and selective neuropsychological deficits can compromise action imitation and selection of goal-directed movements, independently from each other. Our findings also suggest that when the ability to imitate actions is lost or lowered emulation may come available.

Background and purpose: Among the most common post-COVID symptoms, many patients experienced subjective cognitive deficit, commonly named "brain fog," that might be present also in those individuals without severe acute COVID-19 respiratory involvement. Some studies have investigated some of the mechanisms that might be associated with the brain fog with objective techniques including transcranial magnetic stimulation and neuroimaging. Methods: The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of electroencephalographic (EEG) alterations in people with post-COVID self-reported cognitive deficit. Results: Out of the 90 patients attending the post-COVID neurology ambulatory service, twenty patients presenting brain fog at least 4 weeks after acute non-severe COVID-19 infection, and without previous history of epilepsy, were investigated with 19-channel EEG, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). EEG was found altered in 65% of the sample, among which 69% presented a slowing activity and 31% were characterized by epileptic discharges principally in the frontal areas. None of the patients showed DWI MRI lesions. Conclusions: These findings highlight the usefulness of EEG analysis to objectively describe possible neurophysiological abnormalities in post-COVID patients presenting subjective cognitive deficit.

The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between psychological distress and taste and sense of smell dysfunctions on healthcare workers (HCW) who contracted the COVID-19 infection in the midst of the disease outbreak. Reports of sudden loss of taste and smell which persist even after recovery from COVID-19 infection are increasingly recognized as critical symptoms for COVID-19 infections. Therefore, we conducted a cross-sectional study on COVID-19 HCW (N = 104) who adhered to respond to a phone semistructured interview addressing the virus symptoms and associated psychological distress. Data were collected from June to September 2020. Findings confirm the association between experienced taste/olfactory loss and emotional distress and suggest that dysfunctions of taste and smell correlate positively with anxiety and depression. Furthermore, their psychological impact tends to persist even after the recovery from the disease, suggesting the need for appropriate psychological interventions to prevent people from developing more serious or long-lasting psychological disorders and, as far as HCW, to reduce the risk of work-related distress.