Cognitive rehabilitation in a visual variant of Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is commonly associated with marked memory deficits; however, nonamnestic variants have been consistently described as well. Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) is a progressive degenerative condition in which posterior regions of the brain are predominantly affected, therefore resulting in a pattern of distinctive and marked visuospatial symptoms, such as apraxia, alexia, and spatial neglect. Despite the growing number of studies on cognitive and neural bases of the visual variant of AD, intervention studies remain relatively sparse. Current pharmacological treatments offer modest efficacy. Also, there is a scarcity of complementary nonpharmacological interventions with only two previous studies of PCA. Here we describe a highly educated 57-year-old patient diagnosed with a visual variant of AD who participated in a cognitive intervention program (comprising reality orientation, cognitive stimulation, and cognitive training exercises). Neuropsychological assessment was performed across moments (baseline, postintervention, follow-up) and consisted mainly of verbal and visual memory. Baseline neuropsychological assessment showed deficits in perceptive and visual-constructive abilities, learning and memory, and temporal orientation. After neuropsychological rehabilitation, we observed small improvements in the patient's cognitive functioning, namely in verbal memory, attention, and psychomotor abilities. This study shows evidence of small beneficial effects of cognitive intervention in PCA and is the first report of this approach with a highly educated patient in a moderate stage of the disease. Controlled studies are needed to assess the potential efficacy of cognition-focused approaches in these patients, and, if relevant, to grant their availability as a complementary therapy to pharmacological treatment and visual aids.

Transcranial direct current stimulation based metaplasticity protocols in working memory

It has been already shown that delivering tDCS that are spaced by an interval alters its impact on motor plasticity. These effects can be explained, based on metaplasticity in which a previous modification of activity in a neuronal network can change the effects of subsequent interventions in the same network. But to date there is limited data assessing metaplasticity effects in cognitive functioning.

Differential activation of the default mode network in jet lagged individuals

Long-term exposure to transmeridian flights has been shown to impact cognitive functioning. Nevertheless, the immediate effects of jet lag in the activation of specific brain networks have not been investigated. We analyzed the impact of short-term jet lag on the activation of the default mode network (DMN). A group of individuals who were on a transmeridian flight and a control group went through a functional magnetic resonance imaging acquisition. Statistical analysis was performed to test for differences in the DMN activation between groups. Participants from the jet lag group presented decreased activation in the anterior nodes of the DMN, specifically in bilateral medial prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex. No areas of increased activation were observed for the jet lag group. These results may be suggestive of a negative impact of jet lag on important cognitive functions such as introspection, emotional regulation and decision making in a few days after individuals arrive at their destination.

Desenvolvimento e otimização do projeto mecatrónico para um Tribómetro Linear

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Mecânica

Numerical simulation of the reflow soldering process

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Mechanical Engineering

Characterization of the oculomotor alterations in inicial phase of Multiple Sclerosis

Dissertação de mestrado em Advanced Optometry

Desenvolvimento de um BMS para aplicações de mobilidade elétrica

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Eletrónica Industrial e de Computadores

Desenvolvimento de um Range Extender para Veículo Elétrico

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Eletrónica Industrial e de Computadores

Caracterização e otimização de uma vitrine frigorífica

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Mecânica

Melhoria do sistema nacional de colocação de professores

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia e Gestão de Sistemas de Informação

Desenvolvimento e otimização do projeto mecatrónico de um tribómetro rotativo (FRICTORQ)

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Mecânica

A five year follow-up study of 11 patients with bipolar disorder

OBJECTIVE: To study the long-term follow-up of patients with bipolar disorder (BPD). METHOD: Eleven outpatients with BPD type I were followed up naturalistically for five years at a university teaching hospital. The Clinical Global Impression Scale (BPD version) was used to evaluate the occurrence of affective episodes, and the Strauss-Carpenter Outcome Scale was used to evaluate social and occupational functioning. RESULTS: The majority of patients were symptomatic most of the time, with predominantly depressive episodes. Overall, patients remained euthymic a mean of 47.7% of the time. Despite a low rate of hospitalization, social and occupational functioning was poor in the majority of patients. A poor disease course with respect to work-related functioning was associated with fewer months of euthymia with a longer duration of depressive episodes. The total number of months of euthymia negatively correlated with the patient's age and disease duration. CONCLUSION: Despite the small sample size, the present findings appear to corroborate previous studies on the evolution of BPD. Most of the patients had a poor disease course, with long symptomatic periods, particularly depressive episodes, and significantly impaired social and occupational functioning.

Géneros textuais e práticas de sucesso no 1º ciclo do ensino básico

Tese de Doutoramento em Estudos da Criança (Área do Conhecimento em Estudos da Língua Portuguesa)

Neurocognitive profile and cognitive intervention in Alzheimer's disease

Tese de Doutoramento em Psicologia (Especialidade de Psicologia Clínica)

“PhenoWorld”: a new multidimensional strategy for studying behaviour in rodents

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências da Saúde