Our study aims to assess the long-time effects of group therapy intervention on marriage communication between fluent and non-fluent aphasic patients and their spouses. From the initial cohort of 150 couples four experimental groups have been selected, each comprising 20 subjects: (1) patients with fluent aphasia (FAP) (2) patients with fluent aphasia spouses (FAPS) (3) patients with non-fluent aphasia (NFAP) (4) patients with non-fluent aphasia spouses (NFAPS). All aphasic patients had mild or moderate fluent or nonfluent aphasia, as confirmed by the Cracow Neuropsychological Battery for Aphasia Examination – CNBA (Pąchalska, 1999). To assess the 3 aspects of interactions between spouses: support, engagement and depreciation we use the Communication in Marriage Questionnaire – KKM scores (Kaźmierczak, Plopa, 2008). These patients attended the groups sessions administered according to Pąchalska’s Model of Aphasia Group Therapy (1991a; 1991b) . It was found that after the long-time group intervention the experimental and the control groups of aphasic patients as well as their spouses differ one from another. NFAP as well as FAP therapy patients had higher KKM scores in the support received from their spouses and their spouses engagement in communication and lower scores in depreciation in their spouses’ behavior than did the controls. Also NFAPS evaluated support and engagement expressed by their aphasic partner higher than the control group. However FAPS and the control group KKM scores were quite similar, except for the support expressed by their aphasic partner. Long-time group therapy for patients with aphasia with the presence of caregivers not only improves the communication with significant others but also it is associated with better marital interactions and communication after therapy as reflected in the KKM scores than in the case of the controls, and improves the patient’s and caregivers’ perception of quality of life.
Perception is one of the psychological operations that can be analyzed from the point of view of microgenetic theory. Our study tests the basic premise of microgenesis theory – the existence of recurrent stages of visual information processing. The event related potentials in two variants of a cued GO/NOGO task (contrasting images of Animals and Plants in the first variant, and contrasting images of Angry and Happy faces in the second variant) were studied during the first 300 ms following stimulus presentation. The independent component analysis was applied to a large collection of ERPs. The functional independent components associated with visual category discrimination, comparison to working memory, action initiation and conflict detection were separated. Information processing in the ventral visual stream (the temporal independent components) occurs at two sequential stages with positive/negative fluctuations of the cortical potential as indexes of the stages. The first stage represents the comparison of the pure physical features of the visual input with the memory trace. The second stage represents the comparison of more sophisticated semantic/emotional features with the working memory. The two stages are the results of interplay between bottom-up and top-down projections in the visual ventral stream.
Introduction and objective. Heat stress induces the expression of genes encoding heat-shock proteins and immune response mediators. The aim of this study was to determine the differences in the expression of genes encoding heat-shock proteins 70 kDa and27 kDa, interleukin 6, interleukin 10and C-reactive protein, between athletes and non-athletes after sauna bathing. Materials and method. Athletes (n=9) and non-athletes (n=9) were exposed to a Finnish sauna twice during one session at a temperature of 98.2 °C and humidity of 10% ± 2%, with a 5 min break for cooling down under a shower. The groups did not differ in terms of age, height or body mass. Blood samples were taken before and after sauna exposure in order to assess gene expression, using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Results. Differences were observed in leukocyte mRNA levels of tested genes between athletes and non-athletes. In the non-athlete group, all the tested genes were expressed at higher levels as a response to the same heat challenge. Conclusion. It appears that expression of stress-related genes induced by heat stress is dependent on the level of physical activity.
Objective. The study aimed to evaluate the application of ERPs neuromarkers for the assessment and treatment of a patient with chronic crossed aphasia after severe TBI and a long-term coma. Case report. An ambidextrous female patient, aged 29, suffered from posttraumatic chronic crossed aphasia, severe TBI and a prolonged coma after a car accident. The patient took part in two differentiated rehabilitation programmes of neurotherapy included 20 sessions of relative beta training and 20 sessions of rTMS; both programmes were combined with behavioural training. The patient was tested 3 times: before the experiment, after completion of programme A, and after completion of programme B. Results. In the 1 st recording, the neuromarker of aphasia was found -an excess of the P2 wave over the left temporal area. There was a cognitive control deficit -an excess of omission errors and an increase of RT variability -all indexes of sporadic ADHD. In the 2 nd recording, slight improvements in cognitive control, and language functions were found. In the 3 rd recording, after the rTMS sessions most of her cognitive dysfunctions had been resolved, including language functions. It should be stressed that the activation (especially the increase in the ERP potential of the right side over the frontal lobe) was found. The neuromarker of aphasia did not change, only the location had slightly moved frontally. Conclusions. The application of ERP neuromarkers assists in the diagnosis, treatment, and academic success of an ambidextrous patient with chronic posttraumatic aphasia and sporadic ADHD. ERPs can be used to assess the functional brain changes induced by neurotherapeutical programmes.
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