CONCLUSION: The Migraine Impact on Neurocognitive Dynamics study demonstrates the feasibility of high-frequency smartphone-based assessment of cognition and symptoms in migraine and provides a methodological foundation for future analyses of within-person cognitive and symptom...

Oregon Health & Science University researchers have secured a $5.8 million, five-year federal award to investigate whether damage to the gastrointestinal tract contributes to neuroinflammation in people living with HIV - raising the potential for new treatments to preserve brain function in people with HIV and older adults. "Even though antiretroviral drugs are very successful at suppressing the virus, we've seen people living with HIV have neurocognitive disorders similar to what happens when people age," said co-lead investigator Afam Okoye, Ph.D., professor in the OHSU Vaccine & Gene Therapy Institute. "If we can show a dynamic relationship between inflammation in the gut and the brain, this line of research could then lead to new treatments to reduce neuroinflammation." The award from the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health will enable researchers to align nonhuman primate models with human autopsy tissues to better understand the interplay between inflammation in the gut and brain health among people living with HIV. Scientists have long associated inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract with impaired cognition in the brain. People with inflammatory bowel disease are at increased risk for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, for example. This problem disproportionately affects people living...

목적/배경: 본 연구의 목적은 편두통 환자의 인지 기능 및 증상에 대한 고빈도 평가를 평가하기 위해 수행된, 30일간 스마트폰을 활용한 전향적·분산형 관찰 코호트 연구인 ‘편두통이 신경인지 역학에 미치는 영향(Migraine Impact on Neurocognitive Dynamics)’ 연구의 설계, 실행 가능성 및 기저 특성을 기술하는 데 있다. 인지 증상은 편두통 부담의 중요한 구성 요소이지만, 단일 방문 검사나 회고적 설문지를 통해 측정하기는 어렵다. 스마트폰을 활용한 반복적인 평가를...

목적/배경: 본 연구의 목적은 편두통 환자의 인지 기능 및 증상에 대한 고빈도 평가를 평가하기 위해 수행된, 30일간 스마트폰을 활용한 전향적·분산형 관찰 코호트 연구인 ‘편두통이 신경인지 역학에 미치는 영향(Migraine Impact on Neurocognitive Dynamics)’ 연구의 설계, 실행 가능성 및 기저 특성을 기술하는 데 있다. 인지 증상은 편두통 부담의 중요한 구성 요소이지만, 단일 방문 검사나 회고적 설문지를 통해 측정하기는 어렵다. 스마트폰을 활용한 반복적인 평가를...

Background: Adolescents living with perinatally acquired HIV (PHIV) remain at risk of neurocognitive difficulties, yet access to valid neurocognitive tests is limited in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where most of this population resides. Tests that can be administered by nonspecialist personnel are culturally and linguistically appropriate for SSA’s diverse populations and are brief enough for routine use are needed to expand access, but few such tools exist. Objective: We adapted , a brief tablet-based neurocognitive test battery, into Luganda and evaluated its validity and acceptability for use among Ugandan adolescents with PHIV. Methods: In this cross-sectional validation study, 100 Ugandan adolescents aged 11 to 20 years (50 with PHIV; 50 HIV-negative controls) completed the Luganda- or English-language battery and a commonly used traditional test battery. Participants were recruited from an existing longitudinal cardiovascular cohort at the Joint Clinical Research Centre in Kampala, Uganda. We examined convergent validity with correlations between the 2 batteries’ individual and global -scores, known-groups validity with unadjusted and age-adjusted group comparisons, criterion validity by examining classification agreement between the 2 batteries quantified with Cohen κ, and acceptability through self-reported technology use and ease of use. Results: and the traditional battery global -scores were strongly correlated (=0.75;

Accommodation, performance, and the ethics of academic difference / Accommodement, performance et éthique de la différence à l’université

Brayden Yellman, MD & Paige Zuckerman, M.ED, Beehive Mental Health A New View: Reorienting to the Neurocognitive, Neuroinflammatory, and Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in ME/CFS

Health Nation asked Dr. Nikhil Palekar, M.D., questions about the Alzheimer’s biomarker screening test, cognitive and neurocognitive tests, what specialists you should see if you are experiencing memo...

Impaired lung function and neurocognitive symptoms were linked to separate distinct oral microbiota profiles, whereas gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms were associated with a distinct sputum microbiota profile. In participants with ongoing symptoms, there was an overabundance of lactic acid bacteria, which was tied to inflammation and poorer health outcomes. This shift suggests a possible role for lactic acid–producing bacteria and host immune response in more severe long COVID, the authors said. The sputum microbiota analysis produced similar findings at six months, but bacterial composition didn’t differ appreciably by symptom severity. “People who had the worst symptoms five to six months after Covid infection had big changes in the microbiome in their mouth and lungs,” senior author James Chalmers, MD, PhD, of the University of Dundee, said in a news release from the European Respiratory Society, which publishes the journal. “We also found that changes in the airway microbiome were linked not just to lung problems, but also to symptoms like brain fog and gut symptoms, suggesting the lung microbiome could have effects on health more broadly.” Which came first? But the authors cautioned that it’s not clear whether the changes in microbiota occurred before or after COVID-19 infection or whether the...

Post-infectious inflammatory response syndrome (PIIRS) is an increasingly recognized complication of cryptococcal meningoencephalitis (CM) in non-HIV infected hosts with significant morbidity and mortality. Data describing long-term outcomes following immunomodulatory therapy are limited.MethodsWe conducted a prospective observational study of 15 immunocompetent adults with CM-PIIRS treated with a pulse corticosteroid taper (PCT) regimen. Performance status, neurocognitive, ophthalmologic, audiologic, and radiologic assessments were performed at greater than one year following CM diagnosis.ResultsAfter one year, performance status continued to improve from both baseline and the post-pulse periods. Neurocognitive testing revealed mild residual deficits, within the limits of normal, most prominently in information processing and psychomotor speed. Ocular abnormalities were frequent at baseline but showed substantial and sustained reductions following PCT, particularly in retinal nerve fiber layer thickness. Visual field deficits improved by 40% and remained stable thereafter. Evidence for changes in hearing sensitivity at post 1-year follow-up was mixed with 44.5% of ears meeting criteria for improvement, 11% for worsening, and 44.5% being stable. Radiologic abnormalities improved in 79% of patients, although intermittent inflammatory flares occurred during PCT but responded to dose escalation. A prolonged corticosteroid taper may be helpful, and MRI imaging can be used to evaluate response to taper.ConclusionsIn immunocompetent patients with CM-PIIRS, adjunctive corticosteroid therapy was associated with sustained improvement in neurologic, visual, and radiologic outcomes with mixed improvement in hearing after a year of therapy, with mild residual deficits.

A 2025 meta-analysis of 68,691 Asian adults reveals soy consumption—especially fermented natto—is associated with significantly lower odds of neurocognitive decline.