Perceptual Disturbances Research Articles

Characterizing clinical progression in patients with musculoskeletal pain by pain severity and central sensitization-related symptoms

Central sensitization-related symptoms (CSS) are associated with the severity and progression of pain. The relationship between the severity of pain/CSS and clinical progresses remains unclear. This multicenter, collaborative, longitudinal study aimed to characterize the clinical outcomes of patients with musculoskeletal pain by classifying subgroups based on the severity of pain/CSS and examining changes in subgroups over time. We measured the pain intensity, CSS, catastrophic thinking, and body perception disturbance in 435 patients with musculoskeletal pain. Reevaluation of patients after one month included 166 patients for pain intensity outcome and 110 for both pain intensity and CSS outcome analysis. We classified the patients into four groups (mild pain/CSS, severe pain/mild CSS, severe pain/CSS, and mild pain/severe CSS groups) and performed multiple comparison analyses to reveal the differences between the CSS severity groups. Additionally, we performed the adjusted residual chi-square to identify the number of patients with pain improvement, group transition, changing pain, and CSS pattern groups at baseline. The most characteristic result was that the mild and severe CSS groups showed worsening pain. Moreover, many of the group transitions were to the same group, with a few transitioning to a group with mild pain/CSS. Our findings suggest that the severity and improvement of CSS influence pain prognosis.

Hospital Hallucinosis - where to look for the cause of the delirious syndrome in a geriatric patient and what management to implement

Delirium syndrome is a serious, and often underestimated, problem arising in elderly patients. The number of accurate diagnoses of this acute condition is significantly lower than actuall present. This is often due to the attribution of its symptoms to the underlying disease. Delirium syndrome, by leading to perceptual disturbances in the patient, impairs his functioning and threatens health and even life of a patient. The pathophysiology of the onset of delirium is not well understood, with many factors influencing its development. Those directly related to the patient (predisposing), as well as triggering factors. In geriatric patients, the risk of developing delirium is much higher than in younger patients due to the depletion of the body's functional reserves. Homeostasis of the body's systems is disturbed even with small negative stimuli. It is important to closely observe the patient, taking a well-gathered history of the patient's baseline health status and the changes that have occurred in the patient's condition. A well-conducted physical examination and diagnostic imaging is essential. There is no universal scheme for managing a patient who is delirious. It is important to take an personalized approach and quickly find the cause and try to treat it. We can use commonly available scales and guidelines for diagnosing the delirious syndrome, such as ICD-10, DSM-5 or CAM, to make the accurate diagnosis easier. It has been shown that with the help of non-pharmacological preventive management, we can significantly reduce the number of consciousness disorders that appear in elderly patients under the course of delirium. In severe cases, pharmacotherapy comes to our aid.

Diagnostic Infrared Thermography of the Tongue and Taste Perception in Patients with Oral Lichen Planus: Case-Control Study.

Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory disease of autoimmune origin that affects the skin and mucous membranes. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of infrared thermography (IRT) as a diagnostic tool in patients with oral lichen planus (OLP), as well as disturbances in taste perception, in cases with and without tongue involvement. A case-control study was carried out in a sample of 87 patients divided into three groups: healthy individuals (controls; n = 43), OLP patients without involvement of the tongue (n = 24), and OLP patients with involvement of the tongue (n = 20). The patient symptoms and the clinical characteristics of the lesions were assessed. Four thermal images of the tongue were obtained using IRT: dorsum, right and left lateral surface, and tip of the tongue. General taste perception capacity and subjective sweet, acid, salty, and bitter sensation were evaluated in all three groups. There were no statistically significant differences in the IRT values among the three groups (p ≥ 0.05). In the OLP patients with involvement of the tongue, significantly higher values were observed in the mixed forms of the disease (p = 0.032). The OLP patients with and without involvement of the tongue showed no significant alterations in taste sensation (p = 0.69). IRT may serve as a complementary tool for assessing the activity of OLP with involvement of the tongue. However, more research is needed in this field.

Perceptual Dysfunction in Eating Disorders.

Eating disorders (EDs) are characterized by abnormal responses to food and weight-related stimuli and are associated with significant distress, impairment, and poor outcomes. Because many of the cardinal symptoms of EDs involve disturbances in perception of one's body or abnormal affective or cognitive reactions to food intake and how that affects one's size, there has been longstanding interest in characterizing alterations in sensory perception among differing ED diagnostic groups. Within the current review, we aimed to critically assess the existing research on exteroceptive and interoceptive perception and how sensory perception may influence ED behavior. Overall, existing research is most consistent regarding alterations in taste, visual, tactile, and gastric-specific interoceptive processing in EDs, with emerging work indicating elevated respiratory and cardiovascular sensitivity. However, this work is far from conclusive, with most studies unable to speak to the precise etiology of observed perceptual differences in these domains and disentangle these effects from affective and cognitive processes observed within EDs. Further, existing knowledge regarding perceptual disturbances in EDs is limited by heterogeneity in methodology, lack of multimodal assessment protocols, and inconsistent attention to different ED diagnoses. We propose several new avenues for improving neurobiology-informed research on sensory processing to generate actionable knowledge that can inform the development of innovative interventions for these serious disorders.

Acquired Cerebral Achromatopsia Secondary to Occipital Stroke

Background: Acquired cerebral achromatopsia, a form of color vision impairment, is infrequently reported and often results from injuries to the occipital cortex. Case Presentation: We detail a case of a middle-aged women with vascular risk factors who visited the emergency department with blurred vision and disturbances in color perception, characterized as an inability to differentiate colors. A notable finding in her neurological examination was homonymous hemianopia. Hyperacute magnetic resonance imaging revealed a subacute infarction in the right occipital lobe. As she was outside the treatment window for alteplase and invasive interventions, she received aspirin and clopidogrel as treatment. Discussion: Patients with posterior circulation strokes often present with non-specific symptoms, which can lead to delayed diagnoses and treatment. Acquired cerebral achromatopsia, the inability to perceive color after acute brain injury, is a rare phenomenon associated with PCA stroke that has not been well studied yet. It usually involves the ventral occipitotemporal cortex in V4 complex, which anatomically is theorized to be the brain's color center. A comparison was made between two instances of acquired cerebral achromatopsia. In the first case, a 60-year-old woman displayed hemi-achromatopsia in the right visual field. In the second case, a 74-year-old woman suffered two strokes. The first stroke on the left hemisphere resulted only in a right homonymous hemianopia with normal color perception; however, upon the occurrence of the second stroke on the right hemisphere, she developed full field achromatopsia. The contrasting presentations of these cases after lesions in the ventral posterior regions of their left hemisphere suggests a hypothesis that individual differences might exist in the hemispheric laterality of color centers in the brain. Our patient experienced a right subacute occipital stroke; however, she exhibited bilateral achromatopsia. The exact cause of this full field achromatopsia from this specific lesion remains uncertain, but her presentation might support the hypothesis. Conclusion: Posterior circulation stroke infarctions often present with nonspecific symptoms making timely diagnosis and management challenging. Achromatopsia is an infrequent and subtle manifestation of posterior circulation infarctions that warrant further investigations and management.

Evidence for a specific distortion in perceptual body image in eating disorders: A replication and extension.

A core feature of eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, is an overestimation of body size. A key question is whether this overestimation arises solely from body image concerns typical in eating disorders, or if there is an additional perceptual disturbance. To address this question, we applied a two-component model of body size estimation that has been thoroughly replicated in the body image literature concerning healthy individuals. This model shows statistically independent, additive effects on body size estimates of: a) body image concerns, and b) a perceptual component known as contraction bias. Here body image concerns were defined by a principal components analysis (PCA) of psychometric tasks including the: Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory, Body Shape Questionnaire, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-4. The PCA identified three components referred to as PSYCH, FAMPEER, and ATHIN. We investigated the influence of age, personal body mass index (BMI), and these three components on body size estimation in 33 women with a current or past history of eating disorders and 100 healthy controls. Low-BMI control participants overestimated their size, while high-BMI controls underestimated their size, exhibiting the expected normal perceptual contraction bias. However, the women with a history of eating disorders showed no evidence of contraction bias, suggesting a different processing of perceptual aspects of body size estimation compared to controls. We discuss two putative mechanisms that can explain these differences in accuracy of personal body size estimation.

Risk Stratification of QTc Prolongation in Critically Ill Patients Receiving Antipsychotics for the Management of Delirium Symptoms.

Patients experiencing significant agitation or perceptual disturbances related to delirium in an intensive care setting may benefit from short-term treatment with an antipsychotic medication. Some antipsychotic medications may prolong the QTc interval, which increases the risk of potentially fatal ventricular arrhythmias. In this targeted review, we describe the evidence regarding the relationships between antipsychotic medications and QTc prolongation and practical methods for monitoring the QTc interval and mitigating arrhythmia risk. Searches of PubMed and Cochrane Library were performed to identify studies, published before February 2023, investigating the relationships between antipsychotic medications and QTc prolongation or arrhythmias. Most antipsychotic medications commonly used for the management of delirium symptoms (eg, intravenous haloperidol, olanzapine, quetiapine) cause a moderate degree of QTc prolongation. Among other antipsychotics, those most likely to cause QTc prolongation are iloperidone and ziprasidone, while aripiprazole and lurasidone appear to have minimal risk for QTc prolongation. Genetic vulnerabilities, female sex, older age, pre-existing cardiovascular disease, electrolyte abnormalities, and non-psychiatric medications also increase the risk of QTc prolongation. For individuals at risk of QTc prolongation, it is essential to measure the QTc interval accurately and consistently and consider medication adjustments if needed. Antipsychotic medications are one of many risk factors for QTc prolongation. When managing agitation related to delirium, it is imperative to assess an individual patient's risk for QTc prolongation and to choose a medication and monitoring strategy commensurate to the risks. In intensive care settings, we recommend regular ECG monitoring, using a linear regression formula to correct for heart rate. If substantial QTc prolongation (eg, QTc > 500 msec) is present, a change in pharmacologic treatment can be considered, though a particular medication may still be warranted if the risks of discontinuation (eg, extreme agitation, removal of invasive monitoring devices) outweigh the risks of arrhythmias. This review aims to summarize the current literature on relationships between antipsychotic medications and QTc prolongation and to make practical clinical recommendations towards the approach of antipsychotic medication use for the management of delirium-related agitation and perceptual disturbances in intensive care settings.

Disturbed interoception in body dysmorphic disorder: A framework for future research.

Body dysmorphic disorder is a severe psychiatric condition characterised by a preoccupation with a perceived appearance flaw or flaws that are typically not observable to others. Although significant advances in understanding the disorder have been made in the past decade, current explanations focus on cognitive, behavioural and visual perceptual disturbances that contribute to the disorder. Such a focus does not consider how perception of the internal body or interoception may be involved, despite (1) clinical observations of disturbed perception of the body in body dysmorphic disorder and (2) disturbed interoception being increasingly recognised as a transdiagnostic factor underlying a wide range of psychopathologies. In this paper, we use an existing model of hierarchical brain function and neural (predictive) processing to propose that body dysmorphic disorder involves defective interoception, with perceived appearance flaws being the result of 'interoceptive prediction errors' that cause body parts to be experienced as 'not just right'. We aim to provide a framework for interoceptive research into body dysmorphic disorder, and outline areas for future research.

The Use of Natural Language Processing for Computer-Aided Diagnostics and Monitoring of Body Image Perception in Patients with Cancers.

Head and neck cancers (H&NCs) constitute a significant part of all cancer cases. H&NC patients experience unintentional weight loss, poor nutritional status, or speech disorders. Medical interventions affect appearance and interfere with patients' self-perception of their bodies. Psychological consultations are not affordable due to limited time. We used NLP to analyze the basic emotion intensity, sentiment about one's body, characteristic vocabulary, and potential areas of difficulty in free notes. The emotion intensity research uses the extended NAWL dictionary developed using word embedding. The sentiment analysis used a hybrid approach: a sentiment dictionary and a deep recursive network. The part-of-speech tagging and domain rules defined by a psycho-oncologist determine the distinct language traits. Potential areas of difficulty were analyzed using the dictionaries method with word polarity to define a given area and the presentation of a note using bag-of-words. Here, we applied the LSA method using SVD to reduce dimensionality. A total of 50 cancer patients requiring enteral nutrition participated in the study. The results confirmed the complexity of emotions in patients with H&NC in relation to their body image. A negative attitude towards body image was detected in most of the patients. The method presented in the study appeared to be effective in assessing body image perception disturbances, but it cannot be used as the sole indicator of body image perception issues. The main problem in the research was the fairly wide age range of participants, which explains the potential diversity of vocabulary. The combination of the attributes of a patient's condition, possible to determine using the method for a specific patient, can indicate the direction of support for the patient, relatives, direct medical personnel, and psycho-oncologists.

Identification of Dyscalculia in Children Special Needs for the Impaired Knowing Numbers

This study aims to identify and describe the difficulties in learning mathematics or dyscalculia experienced by children with special needs with disabilities in learning mathematics the subject of knowing numbers. The type of research used in this research is descriptive research with a qualitative approach. Research instruments include observation, tests, and interviews. The results obtained were that the S1 subject experienced the characteristics of dyscalculia which included difficulties in language and reading, abnormalities in visual perception disorders, perseveration, and disturbances in body perception. While subject S2 experienced the characteristics of dyscalculia, namely language and reading difficulties. This study concludes that S1 and S2 subjects were identified as having dyscalculia.

Investigation for Factors Affecting Body Perception Disturbance in Patients with Low Back Pain by Mechanism-Based Classification of Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Central sensitization is a pathophysiological cause of chronic low back pain and is linked with psychosocial factors. The association between central sensitization (CS) and body perception disturbance is currently unclear, and no prior studies have investigated this relationship in patients with acute or subacute low back pain. The objective of this study was to investigate potential factors that influence body perception disturbance using a mechanistic classification of low back pain. This cross-sectional study was conducted at the time of initial physical therapy in patients with low back pain. During the study period, 169 patients were recruited. Pain intensity, disease duration, disability, CS, and body perception disturbance were evaluated. Patients were divided into three groups according to the pathology of low back pain, and multivariate analysis was used to examine factors affecting body perception disturbance. The dependent variable was Fremantle Back Awareness Questionnaire (FreBAQ); the independent variables were age, gender, BMI, VAS, disease duration, RDQ, and CS Inventory-9 (CSI-9). A total of 117 patients were included in our analysis. According to the mechanistic classification of pain, 66 (56.4%), 36 (30.8%), and 15 (12.8%) patients were categorized as having nociceptive pain (NP), peripheral neuropathic pain (PNP), and CS pain (CSP), respectively. Patients with PNP or CSP were significantly older than those with NP (p < 0.01). FreBAQ and RDQ scores were significantly higher in patients with CSP than those with NP (p < 0.05). The results of multiple regression analyses indicated that CSI-9 scores were significantly associated with FreBAQ (p < 0.01). Patients with CS syndrome and low back pain tend to have higher CSI-9 scores and be older. Body perception disturbance is influenced by CS or CS syndrome, regardless of the stage of low back pain, suggesting that patients with chronic low back pain tend to have low body image.

Abstract 254: Imaging Findings of Stroke Following Treatment of Ruptured Cerebral Aneurysm Increases Risk of Postoperative Delirium

Introduction Delirium is an acute cognitive or perceptual disturbance that is associated with prolonged hospital and ICU length of stay, therefore, extending recovery time. According to a recent study, approximately one in five patients undergoing intracranial procedures are vulnerable to postoperative delirium within the first three days of surgery.1‐4 Retrospective cohort studies found a link between postoperative delirium and intraoperative hypotension, indicating reduced cerebral blood flow.5 ICSS‐ MRI study (International Carotid Stenting Study Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study), indicated that patients with periprocedural hemodynamic depression had decreased cerebral blood flow and increased the risk of new lesions in imaging.6 Ruptured intracerebral aneurysms are associated with higher morbidity and mortality than unruptured ones. This is secondary to delayed postoperative cerebral ischemia and infarction caused by vasospasm.7 Clinical indicators like delirium can play a role in evaluating for delayed cerebral ischemia and infarction leading to timely management of vasospasms.5,8,9 Our study aimed to assess the association between imaging findings of stroke and delirium in patients who underwent treatment for ruptured aneurysms. Methods We reviewed the medical records of 167 patients with ruptured intracranial aneurysms between 2015‐2019. We included all the patients who had a postoperative delirium assessment, neurological assessments, and MRI/CT scans for evaluation of cerebral ischemia. Patients were divided into 2 groups, one group with delirium and the other without delirium. Delirium was assessed by using the ICD9/10 codes and The Intensive Care Delirium Screening Checklist (ICDSC).10 Results A total of 167 patients presented with ruptured aneurysm and the incidence of delirium was 38.3% (64 patients). Patients with delirium had a median age of 57 (50.0‐65.8) compared to a median age of 55 (44.0‐64.0) in patients without delirium. Additional risk factors (delirium vs no delirium) included a history of stroke (17.5%/7.8%), smoking (30.1% vs 40.6%), female gender (63.1% vs 71.9%), preop‐benzodiazepines (26.2% vs 23.4%), intraoperative hypotension (78.6% vs 85.9%), and history of alcohol abuse (9.7% vs 9.4%). None of these factors reached statistical significance between patients with and without Delirium (p‐value &gt;0.05). A new neurological deficit was noted in 17 (26.6%) patients with delirium compared to 12 (11.7%) patients without delirium (p‐value, 0.01). 24/29 (82.8%) patients with new neurological deficits had imaging finding suggesting acute ischemic changes (p‐value, &lt;0.001). 30/64 (49.9%) patients with delirium had imaging findings associated with acute ischemic changes on imaging (p‐value, 0.001). After adjusting for confounders such as age, preop benzodiazepines, history of drug abuse, and history of stroke. Patients with delirium had imaging findings suggestive of acute ischemic changes of stroke ORadj 2.46 (CI 95%, 1.12 – 5.36, p‐value 0.02), while patients with new neurological deficit did not ORadj 1.66 (CI 95%, 0.62 – 4.41, p‐value 0.31). Conclusion Our findings suggest that delirium might be one of the manifestations associated with imaging changes indicating acute silent ischemic strokes. Delirium might be one of the manifestations postoperatively for delayed cerebral ischemia as noted on imaging, this highlights the importance of timely identification and management of patients with delirium.

Neural Correlates of Facial Emotion Recognition Impairment in Blepharospasm: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study.

Selective impairment in recognizing facial expressions of disgust was reported in patients with focal dystonia several years ago, but the basic neural mechanisms remain largely unexplored. Therefore, we investigated whether dysfunction of the brain network involved in disgust recognition processing was related to this selective impairment in blepharospasm. Facial emotion recognition evaluations and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging were performed in 33 blepharospasm patients and 33 healthy controls (HCs). The disgust processing network was constructed, and modularity analyses were performed to identify sub-networks. Regional functional indexes and intra- and inter-functional connections were calculated and compared between the groups. Compared to HCs, blepharospasm patients demonstrated a worse performance in disgust recognition. In addition, functional connections within the sub-network involved in perception processing rather than recognition processing of disgust were significantly decreased in blepharospasm patients compared to HCs. Specifically, decreased functional connections were noted between the left fusiform gyrus (FG) and right middle occipital gyrus (MOG), the left FG and right FG, and the right FG and left MOG. We identified decreased functional activity in these regions, as indicated by a lower amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation in the left MOG, fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation in the right FG, and regional homogeneity in the right FG and left MOG in blepharospasm patients versus HCs. Our results suggest that dysfunctions of the disgust processing network exist in blepharospasm. A deficit in disgust emotion recognition may be attributed to disturbances in the early perception of visual disgust stimuli in blepharospasm patients.

Debate: Better use of existing services, not more new pathways, is required for psychosis prevention in young people - Commentary on Salazar de Pablo and Arango: 'Prevention of psychosis in adolescents: does CAMHS have a role?'

There has been much academic interest in 'the clinical high-risk state for psychosis' (CHR-P) concept. Whilst early intervention in psychosis (EIP) services have offered input to individuals meeting the CHR-P criteria the involvement of CAMHS clinicians in supporting young people with ideational and perceptual disturbance has been more inconsistent and uncertain. We bring together our relevant lived experience, empirical evidence and clinical and research expertise to write this commentary. We assert that the CHR-P paradigm needs to be revised. This should reflect the low transition rates to psychosis and the prevalent general, impairing psychopathology in individuals meeting these criteria. Nevertheless, it is clear that both CAMHS and EIP services have potential roles in meeting the needs of young people affected by distressing ideational and perceptual disturbance. We suggest that new care pathways and services are not required for young people affected by distressing psychosis-like experiences. Rather more effective joint working between CAMHS, EIP, crisis services and other agencies could meet the needs of these young people more comprehensively.

Cerebral Palsy: Opinions on Development, Occurrence, Presentation and Management

Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common childhood disability affecting motor function as a result of injury to the underdeveloped brain, occurring in 2-3 children in every 1000 live births. However, CP as a disease is been studied well, and understood by the pathologist, general physicians, researchers, obstetricians, and paediatricians. The motor disorders of cerebral palsy are often associated with disturbances of sensation, perception, cognition, communication, and behaviour, epilepsy, and secondary musculoskeletal problems. There are multiple risk factors have been identified for CP in the last decade, likely; premature birth (before 37 weeks) and low birth weight (less than 2.7 KG) these. two are most classically associated with CP. Others include the mother’s systemic illness, substance abuse, maternal undernutrition, Gestational diabetes, excessive bleeding per vagina, and preeclampsia, along with multiple gestations, C-section, vacuum-assisted delivery, forceps delivery, post-term delivery, induction of labour, obstructed labour, asphyxia, etc. When considered to be a movement disorder, it can be classified as spastic, dyskinetic, or ataxic. When considering the area of presentation, it can be quadriplegic, hemiplegic, diplegic, and monoplegic. Hypertonicity of the muscles is the most common symptom along with other motor issues such as impaired balance, coordination, and hand function. periventricular leukomalacia is the most common neurological finding seen. Keeping cognizance of the impairment these symptoms can cause to the independent functioning of the child in society, early diagnosis is extremely important.

Abnormal higher-order network interactions in Parkinson's disease visual hallucinations.

Visual hallucinations in Parkinson's disease can be viewed from a systems-level perspective, whereby dysfunctional communication between brain networks responsible for perception predisposes a person to hallucinate. To this end, abnormal functional interactions between higher-order and primary sensory networks have been implicated in the pathophysiology of visual hallucinations in Parkinson's disease, however the precise signatures remain to be determined. Dimensionality reduction techniques offer a novel means for simplifying the interpretation of multidimensional brain imaging data, identifying hierarchical patterns in the data that are driven by both within- and between-functional network changes. Here, we applied two complementary non-linear dimensionality reduction techniques-diffusion-map embedding and t-distributed stochastic neighbour embedding (t-SNE)-to resting state functional MRI data, in order to characterize the altered functional hierarchy associated with susceptibility to visual hallucinations. Our study involved 77 people with Parkinson's disease (31 with hallucinations; 46 without hallucinations) and 19 age-matched healthy control subjects. In patients with visual hallucinations, we found compression of the unimodal-heteromodal gradient consistent with increased functional integration between sensory and higher order networks. This was mirrored in a traditional functional connectivity analysis, which showed increased connectivity between the visual and default mode networks in the hallucinating group. Together, these results suggest a route by which higher-order regions may have excessive influence over earlier sensory processes, as proposed by theoretical models of hallucinations across disorders. By contrast, the t-SNE analysis identified distinct alterations in prefrontal regions, suggesting an additional layer of complexity in the functional brain network abnormalities implicated in hallucinations, which was not apparent in traditional functional connectivity analyses. Together, the results confirm abnormal brain organization associated with the hallucinating phenotype in Parkinson's disease and highlight the utility of applying convergent dimensionality reduction techniques to investigate complex clinical symptoms. In addition, the patterns we describe in Parkinson's disease converge with those seen in other conditions, suggesting that reduced hierarchical differentiation across sensory-perceptual systems may be a common transdiagnostic vulnerability in neuropsychiatric disorders with perceptual disturbances.

Virtual reality in managing Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS): a scoping review.

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is a severe pain disorder that does not yet have a specific treatment. Patients with CRPS not only suffer from a wide range of symptoms that affect their quality of life but also present psychological affections to the way they see their body and specifically their affected limb. Virtual Reality (VR) modalities have become a targeted treatment for chronic pain and in the case of CRPS, may be a valuable approach to the mechanisms that affect these patients. Using the PRISMA Scoping Review guidelines, we intend to uncover the key information from the studies available about VR modalities in the treatment of CRPS. We focus on the improvement of pain levels, body perception disturbances (BPD), and limb movement/daily function. Our search strategy resulted in 217 articles from PubMed. Twenty were assessed for eligibility and seven were included in the final qualitative synthesis. Of these seven articles, we included a clinical trial, three pilot studies, a blinded randomized controlled trial, a crossover double-blind trial, and a randomized controlled trial. These studies provide important subjective patient findings, along with some statistically significant results in the experiences of VR therapies modulating pain, BPD, and improving limb movement/daily function. However, not all the studies included statistical analysis, and there are contradicting data found from some patients that did not perceive any improvement from VR therapies. We describe the results found in 7 articles that focus on the treatment of CRPS with VR modalities. Overall, the articles have various limitations, but the strategies related to immersive virtual reality, cardiac signaling, body switching and limb modulation have shown the most promising results for pain reduction and BPD improvement. These strategies reflect on pathophysiological mechanisms that are hypothesized to be affected in CRPS patients leading to the chronic pain and BPD that they experience. Not much evidence was found for improvement in limb movement and daily function. This review is a pathway for future studies on this topic and a more extensive data synthesis when more information is available.

Does the Etiology, Phenomenology and Motor Subtype of Delirium Differ When It Occurs in Patients With An Underlying Dementia?: A Multi-Site, International Study.

To compare the etiology, phenomenology and motor subtype of delirium in patients with and without an underlying dementia. A combined dataset (n = 992) was collated from two databases of older adults (>65 years) from liaison psychiatry and palliative care populations in Ireland and India. Phenomenology and severity of delirium were analysed using the Delirium Symptom Rating Scale Revised (DRS-R98) and contributory etiologies for the delirium groups were ascertained using the Delirium Etiology Checklist (DEC). Delirium motor subtype was documented using the abbreviated version of the Delirium Motor Subtype Scale (DMSS4). Delirium superimposed on dementia (DSD) showed greater impairment in short term memory, long term memory and visuospatial ability than the delirium group but showed significantly less perceptual disturbance, temporal onset and fluctuation. Systemic infection, cerebrovascular and other Central nervous system etiology were associated with DSD while metabolic disturbance, organ insufficiency and intracranial neoplasm were associated with the delirium only group. The etiology and phenomenology of delirium differs when it occurs in the patient with an underlying dementia. We discuss the implications in terms of identification and management of this complex condition.

Visual Dysfunction in Parkinson's Disease.

Non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD) include ocular, visuoperceptive, and visuospatial impairments, which can occur as a result of the underlying neurodegenerative process. Ocular impairments can affect various aspects of vision and eye movement. Thus, patients can show dry eyes, blepharospasm, reduced blink rate, saccadic eye movement abnormalities, smooth pursuit deficits, and impaired voluntary and reflexive eye movements. Furthermore, visuoperceptive impairments affect the ability to perceive and recognize visual stimuli accurately, including impaired contrast sensitivity and reduced visual acuity, color discrimination, and object recognition. Visuospatial impairments are also remarkable, including difficulties perceiving and interpreting spatial relationships between objects and difficulties judging distances or navigating through the environment. Moreover, PD patients can present visuospatial attention problems, with difficulties attending to visual stimuli in a spatially organized manner. Moreover, PD patients also show perceptual disturbances affecting their ability to interpret and determine meaning from visual stimuli. And, for instance, visual hallucinations are common in PD patients. Nevertheless, the neurobiological bases of visual-related disorders in PD are complex and not fully understood. This review intends to provide a comprehensive description of visual disturbances in PD, from sensory to perceptual alterations, addressing their neuroanatomical, functional, and neurochemical correlates. Structural changes, particularly in posterior cortical regions, are described, as well as functional alterations, both in cortical and subcortical regions, which are shown in relation to specific neuropsychological results. Similarly, although the involvement of different neurotransmitter systems is controversial, data about neurochemical alterations related to visual impairments are presented, especially dopaminergic, cholinergic, and serotoninergic systems.

Minor Phenomena in Parkinson's Disease-Prevalence, Associations, and Risk of Developing Psychosis.

Minor phenomena, including passage phenomena, feeling of presence, and illusions, are common and may represent a prodromal form of psychosis in Parkinson's disease (PD). We examined the prevalence and clinical correlates of minor phenomena, and their potential role as a risk factor for PD psychosis. A novel questionnaire, the Psychosis and Mild Perceptual Disturbances Questionnaire for PD (PMPDQ), was completed by Fox Insight cohort participants with and without PD. Additional assessments included the Non-Motor Symptoms Questionnaire (NMSQuest), REM Sleep Behavior Disorder Single Question Screen (RBD1Q), Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale Part II, demographic features, and medication usage. For participants with PD, we used regression models to identify clinical associations and predictors of incident psychosis over one year of follow-up. Among participants with PD (n = 5950) and without PD (n = 1879), the prevalence of minor phenomena was 43.1% and 31.7% (P < .001). Of the 3760 participants with PD and no baseline psychosis, independent correlates of minor phenomena included positive responses on the NMSQuest apathy/attention/memory (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.3-2.1, P < .001) or sexual function domain (OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.1-1.6, P = .01) and positive RBD1Q (OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.05-1.5, P = .01). Independent risk factors for incident PD psychosis included the presence of minor phenomena (HR 3.0, 95% CI 2.4-3.9, P < .001), positive response on the NMSQuest apathy/attention/memory domain (HR 1.8, 95% CI 1.3-2.6, P < .001), and positive RBD1Q (HR 1.5, 95% CI 1.1-1.9, P = .004). Minor phenomena are common, associated with specific non-motor symptoms, and an independent predictor of incident psychosis in PD.