Motion-Assisted, Multi-Modal Memory Desensitization and Reconsolidation Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Women with a History of Sexual Trauma.

Background: Women military service members (SMs) are more likely to have posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to sexual assault, highlighting a need for the development and validation of therapies. A new exposure-based therapy called motion-assisted, multi-modal memory desensitization and reconsolidation (3MDR) uses participant-chosen music and images and an eye movement (EM) task in a virtual environment. Motion-assisted, multi-modal memory desensitization and reconsolidation has shown effectiveness in treating treatment-resistant male veterans; thus, this paper focuses expressly on the utility of 3MDR in female study participants, who were 50% of the full study population.

Acoustic neuromodulation with or without micro-voltage tACS reduces post-concussive symptoms.

Objective: Persistent post-concussive symptoms (PPCS) are common and disruptive, particularly in military service members (SM), yet there are no approved therapies targeting underlying physiological processes. This study was designed to compare acoustic neuromodulation using Cereset Research™ Standard Operating Procedures (CR-SOP), with Cereset Research Cranial Electrical Stimulation (CR-CES), on PPCS.

Methods: SM, veterans, or dependents with PPCS (Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory [NSI] Score ≥23) were randomized to receive 10 sessions of engineered tones linked to brainwaves (CR-SOP) or 5 sessions of CR-CES, which adds intermittent low voltage transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) to CR-SOP.

Safety of early chemoprophylaxis for venous thromboembolism after traumatic brain injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis. A military traumatic brain injury initiative study.

Objective: There is continuing uncertainty about the safety of early chemoprophylaxis for venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). The objective of this paper was to 1) calculate the risk of progression of posttraumatic intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) after VTE chemoprophylaxis, and 2) compare the probability of ICH progression in early versus late VTE prophylaxis.

Methods: The authors searched for English-language literature from database inception to January 2023.

Internet-Guided Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia Among Patients With Traumatic Brain Injury: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Many military service members and veterans report insomnia after sustaining traumatic brain injury (TBI). Limitations of first-line treatment, cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), include availability of qualified clinicians, low completion rates, and cost.

Objective: To investigate the feasibility and efficacy of internet-guided CBT-I (eCBT-I) in military service members and veterans with insomnia and a history of TBI.

Quantitative Pupillometry Predicts Return to Play and Tracks the Clinical Evolution of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in US Military Academy Cadets: A Military Traumatic Brain Injury Initiative Study.

Background And Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the utility of the pupillary light reflex use as a biomarker of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).

Methods: This prospective cohort study was conducted at The US Military Academy at West Point. Cadets underwent a standard battery of tests including Balance Error Scoring System, Sports Concussion Assessment Tool Fifth Edition Symptom Survey, Standard Assessment of Concussion, and measure of pupillary responses.

Randomized, controlled clinical trial of acoustic stimulation to reduce postconcussive symptoms.

Objective: Effective interventions are needed to address postconcussive symptoms. We report the results of randomized, sham-controlled trial of Cereset Research™ Standard Operating Procedures (CR-SOP), a noninvasive, closed-loop, allostatic, acoustic stimulation neurotechnology previously shown to improve insomnia.

Methods: Military service members, veterans, or their spouses with persistent symptoms (Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory [NSI] Score ≥23) after mTBI 3 months to 10 years ago, were randomized to receive 10 sessions of engineered tones linked to brainwaves (LB, intervention), or random engineered tones not linked to brainwaves (NL, sham control).

Actigraphic evidence of persistent sleep disruption following repetitive mild traumatic brain injury in a gyrencephalic model.

We studied the effect of multimodal traumatic brain injuries on daily sleep/activity patterns and related histology. Gyrencephalic ferrets wore actigraphs and received military-relevant brain injuries including shockwaves, strong rotational impact, and variable stress, which were evaluated up to 6 months post injury. Sham and Baseline animals exhibited activity patterns occurring in distinct clusters of high activity, interspersed with periods of low activity.

Plasma Biomarker Concentrations Associated With Return to Sport Following Sport-Related Concussion in Collegiate Athletes-A Concussion Assessment, Research, and Education (CARE) Consortium Study.

Importance: Identifying plasma biomarkers associated with the amount of time an athlete may need before they return to sport (RTS) following a sport-related concussion (SRC) is important because it may help to improve the health and safety of athletes.

Objective: To examine whether plasma biomarkers can differentiate collegiate athletes who RTS in less than 14 days or 14 days or more following SRC.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This multicenter prospective diagnostic study, conducted by the National Collegiate Athletics Association-Department of Defense Concussion Assessment, Research, and Education Consortium, included 127 male and female athletes who had sustained an SRC while enrolled at 6 Concussion Assessment, Research, and Education Consortium Advanced Research Core sites as well as 2 partial-Advanced Research Core military service academies.

Cigarette smoking and gray matter brain volumes in middle age adults: the CARDIA Brain MRI sub-study.

Cigarette smoking has been associated with dementia and dementia-related brain changes, notably gray matter (GM) volume atrophy. These associations are thought to reflect the co-morbidity of smoking and vascular, respiratory, and substance use/psychological conditions. However, the extent and localization of the smoking-GM relationship and the degree to which vascular, respiratory, and substance use/psychological factors influence this relationship remain unclear.

White matter microstructure, white matter lesions, and hypertension: An examination of early surrogate markers of vascular-related brain change in midlife.

Objective: We examined imaging surrogates of white matter microstructural abnormalities which may precede white matter lesions (WML) and represent a relevant marker of cerebrovascular injury in adults in midlife.

Methods: In 698 community-dwelling adults (mean age 50 years ±3.5 SD) from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Brain MRI sub-study, WML were identified on structural MR and fractional anisotropy (FA), representing WM microstructural integrity, was derived using Diffusion Tensor Imaging.

Cigarette smoking and cerebral blood flow in a cohort of middle-aged adults.

Cigarette smoking is often associated with dementia. This association is thought to be mediated by hypoperfusion; however, how smoking behavior relates to cerebral blood flow (CBF) remains unclear. Using data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) cohort (mean age = 50;  = 522), we examined the association between smoking behavior (status, cumulative pack-years, age at smoking initiation, and years since cessation) and CBF (arterial spin labeling) in brain lobes and regions linked to dementia.

Associations of plasma clusterin and Alzheimer's disease-related MRI markers in adults at mid-life: The CARDIA Brain MRI sub-study.

Background: Clinical and epidemiological studies of older persons have implicated clusterin in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis. In the context of identifying early biomarkers of risk, we examined associations of plasma clusterin and characteristics of AD in middle-aged individuals from the community.

Materials And Methods: Subjects were 639 cognitively normal individuals (mean age 50 ± 3.

Allometric scaling of brain regions to intra-cranial volume: An epidemiological MRI study.

There is growing evidence that sub-structures of the brain scale allometrically to total brain size, that is, in a non-proportional and non-linear way. Here, scaling of different volumes of interest (VOI) to intra-cranial volume (ICV) was examined. It was assessed whether scaling was allometric or isometric and whether scaling coefficients significantly differed from each other.

Vascular risk factors, cerebrovascular reactivity, and the default-mode brain network.

Cumulating evidence from epidemiologic studies implicates cardiovascular health and cerebrovascular function in several brain diseases in late life. We examined vascular risk factors with respect to a cerebrovascular measure of brain functioning in subjects in mid-life, which could represent a marker of brain changes in later life. Breath-hold functional MRI (fMRI) was performed in 541 women and men (mean age 50.

Brain Volume as an Integrated Marker for the Risk of Death in a Community-Based Sample: Age Gene/Environment Susceptibility--Reykjavik Study.

Background: Total brain volume is an integrated measure of health and may be an independent indicator of mortality risk independent of any one clinical or subclinical disease state. We investigate the association of brain volume to total and cause-specific mortality in a large nondemented stroke-free community-based cohort.

Methods: The analysis includes 3,543 men and women (born 1907-1935) participating in the Age, Gene, Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study.

Dissociable effects of Alzheimer disease and white matter hyperintensities on brain metabolism.

Importance: Cerebrovascular disease and Alzheimer disease (AD) frequently co-occur and seem to act through different pathways in producing dementia.

Objective: To examine cerebrovascular disease and AD markers in relation to brain glucose metabolism in patients with mild cognitive impairment.

Design And Setting: Cohort study among the Alzheimer Disease Neuroimaging Initiative clinical sites in the United States and Canada.

Asymptomatic Left Bundle Branch Block Predicts New-Onset Congestive Heart Failure and Death From Cardiovascular Diseases.

Background: Left bundle branch block (LBBB) has been proposed as a risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. We sought to characterize the strength of these associations in a population without preexisting clinical heart disease.

Methods: The association between LBBB and new-onset congestive heart failure (CHF) or death from cardiovascular diseases was examined in 1,688 participants enrolled in the SPPARCS study who were free of known CHF or previous myocardial infarction.

Relative contributions of biomarkers in Alzheimer's disease.

Purpose: To assess relationships between biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and their potential contributions to AD.

Methods: Biomarkers and cognitive evaluations were assessed longitudinally in 179 patients with mild cognitive impairment, from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative from 2003 to 2006, and were used to examine, at any given time, the joint contributions of hippocampal volume, whole brain volume, and brain glucose metabolism on clinical AD progression, using the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive subscale (ADAS-Cog). Marginal structural models were applied, and an inverse-probability of treatment weight estimation was used to account for time-dependent confounding between study variables.

Reduced exercise tolerance and pulmonary capillary recruitment with remote secondhand smoke exposure.

Rationale: Flight attendants who worked on commercial aircraft before the smoking ban in flights (pre-ban FAs) were exposed to high levels of secondhand smoke (SHS). We previously showed never-smoking pre-ban FAs to have reduced diffusing capacity (Dco) at rest.

Methods: To determine whether pre-ban FAs increase their Dco and pulmonary blood flow (Qc) during exercise, we administered a symptom-limited supine-posture progressively increasing cycle exercise test to determine the maximum work (watts) and oxygen uptake (VO2) achieved by FAs.

Effects of age and β-amyloid on cognitive changes in normal elderly people.

Age-related decline is common in multiple cognitive domains. β-amyloid (Aβ) deposition, a pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, is also associated with cognitive changes in many older people. In this study, we examined a wide range of cognitive function in order to differentiate the effect of age and Aβ on cognition during aging.

Associations between respiratory illnesses and secondhand smoke exposure in flight attendants: A cross-sectional analysis of the Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute Survey.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Secondhand tobacco smoke (SHS) is associated with increased risk of respiratory illness, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Prior to smoking bans on airlines in the late 1980s, flight attendants were exposed to a significant amount of SHS. In the present study, we examine associations between flight attendant SHS exposure and development of respiratory illnesses and cardiovascular disease.

A cross-validation deletion-substitution-addition model selection algorithm: Application to marginal structural models.

The cross-validation deletion-substitution-addition (cvDSA) algorithm is based on data-adaptive estimation methodology to select and estimate marginal structural models (MSMs) for point treatment studies as well as models for conditional means where the outcome is continuous or binary. The algorithm builds and selects models based on user-defined criteria for model selection, and utilizes a loss function-based estimation procedure to distinguish between different model fits. In addition, the algorithm selects models based on cross-validation methodology to avoid "over-fitting" data.