SHARON SANZ SIMON
Projetos de Pesquisa
Unidades Organizacionais
LIM/21 - Laboratório de Neuroimagem em Psiquiatria, Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina
6 resultados
Resultados de Busca
Agora exibindo 1 - 6 de 6
- Effects of Mnemonic Strategy Training on Brain Activity and Cognitive Functioning of Left-Hemisphere Ischemic Stroke Patients(2019) BATISTA, Alana X.; BAZAN, Paulo R.; CONFORTO, Adriana B.; MA, Maria da Graca M.; SIMON, Sharon S.; HAMPSTEAD, Benjamin; FIGUEIREDO, Eberval Gadelha; MIOTTO, Eliane C.Memory dysfunction is one of the main cognitive impairments caused by stroke, especially associative memory. Therefore, cognitive training, such as face-name mnemonic strategy training, could be an important intervention for this group of patients. The goal of this study was to evaluate the behavioral effects of face-name mnemonic strategy training, along with the neural substrate behind these effects, in the left frontoparietal lobe stroke patients. Volunteers underwent 2 sessions of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during face-name association task: one prior and the other after the cognitive training. The fMRI followed a block design task with three active conditions: trained face-name pairs, untrained face-name pairs, and a couple of repeated face-name pairs. Prior to each fMRI session, volunteers underwent neuropsychological assessment. Training resulted in better performance on delayed memory scores of HVLT-R, and on recognition on a generalization strategy task, as well as better performance in the fMRI task. Also, trained face-name pairs presented higher activation after training in default-mode network regions, such as the posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus, and angular gyrus, as well as in lateral occipital and temporal regions. Similarly, untrained face-name pairs also showed a nonspecific training effect in the right superior parietal cortex, right supramarginal gyrus, anterior intraparietal sulcus, and lateral occipital cortex. A correlation between brain activation and task performance was also found in the angular gyrus, superior parietal cortex, anterior intraparietal sulcus, and lateral occipital cortex. In conclusion, these results suggest that face-name mnemonic strategy training has the potential to improve memory performance and to foster brain activation changes, by the recruitment of contralesional areas from default-mode, frontoparietal, and dorsal attention networks as a possible compensation mechanism.
- Cognitive Effects of Intentional Weight Loss in Elderly Obese Individuals With Mild Cognitive Impairment(2016) HORIE, Nidia Celeste; SERRAO, Valeria T.; SIMON, Sharon Sanz; GASCON, Maria Rita Polo; SANTOS, Alessandra Xavier dos; ZAMBONE, Maria Aquimara; FREITAS, Marta Merenciana del Bigio de; CUNHA-NETO, Edecio; MARQUES, Emerson Leonildo; HALPERN, Alfredo; MELO, Maria Edna de; MANCINI, Marcio C.; CERCATO, CintiaContext: Obesity in midlife is a risk factor for dementia, but it is unknown if caloric restriction-induced weight loss could prevent cognitive decline and therefore dementia in elderly patients with cognitive impairment. Objective: To evaluate the cognitive effect of intentional weight loss in obese elderly patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), considering the influence of age, apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype, physical activity, biochemical markers, and diet. Design: Single-center, prospective controlled trial. Setting: Academic medical center. Participants: Eighty obese patients with MCI, aged 60 or older (68.1 +/- 4.9 y, body mass index [BMI] 35.5 +/- 4.4 kg/m(2), 83.7% women, 26.3% APOE allele epsilon 4 carriers). Intervention: Random allocation to conventional medical care alone (n = 40) or together with nutritional counselling (n = 40) in group meetings aiming to promote weight loss through caloric restriction for 12 months. Outcome Measurements: clinical data, body composition, neuropsychological tests (main outcome), serum biomarkers, APOE genotype, physical performance, dietary recalls. Results: Seventy-five patients completed the follow-up. BMI, on average, decreased 1.7 +/- 1.8kg/m(2) (P = .021), and most of the cognitive tests improved, without difference between the groups. In analysis with linear generalized models, the BMI decrease was associated with improvements in verbal memory, verbal fluency, executive function, and global cognition, after adjustment for education, gender, physical activity, and baseline tests. This association was strongest in younger seniors (for memory and fluency) and in APOE allele epsilon 4 carriers (for executive function). Changes in homeostasis model assessment-estimated insulin resistance, C-reactive protein, leptin and intake of energy, carbohydrates, and fats were associated with improvement in cognitive tests. Conclusions: Intentional weight loss through diet was associated with cognitive improvement in patients with MCI.
- Cognitive intervention in amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment: A systematic review(2012) SIMON, Sharon Sanz; YOKOMIZO, Juliana Emy; BOTTINO, Cassio M. C.Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) represents a transitional state between normal aging and early dementia and is commonly associated with memory impairment (amnestic or A-MCI). Several studies have investigated therapeutic approaches to A-MCI, including cholinestherase inhibitors (I-ChEs), although this practice is still controversial. Thus, there is a current need to determine the effects of cognitive interventions either in combination with I-ChEs or alone. To assess the efficacy of such treatments, neuropsychological instruments and self-evaluated scoring of memory, mood, daily life activities and quality of life are employed. Recently, some studies have used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in order to understand the neurobiological effects of these interventions. The aim of this systematic review is to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive interventions on the enhancement of learning abilities as well as their impacts on cognitive measurements of mood, everyday functioning and functional neuroimaging. This review also focused on the methodological aspects of such studies and attempted to introduce new perspectives on cognitive interventions in this population. The authors concluded that a-MCI patients are capable to learn new information and memory strategies. Although findings in standardized neuropsychological tests are limited, non-standardized cognitive measures and subjective measures show significant changes. Furthermore, fMRI reveals changes in the patterns of brain activation and increase of connectivity.
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapies in older adults with depression and cognitive deficits: a systematic review(2015) SIMON, Sharon Sanz; CORDAS, Taki Athanassios; BOTTINO, Cassio M. C.ObjectivesThe objective of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapies (CBTs) in improving depressive symptoms, disability, and cognition in older adults with depression and cognitive deficits. DesignIt was performed a systematic search for articles published between 1994 and February 2014 in the MEDLINE/Pubmed, PsycINFO, and SCIELO. The studies should have provided information about benefits after CBTs to older adults with depression and cognitive deficits. ResultsCognitive behavioral therapy focused on problem solving is the main approach studied, having better effectiveness than supportive therapy in randomized clinical trials. Significant improvements in mood and disability were consistent, although evidence of changes in cognitive measures is controversial, less studied, and limited. Nevertheless, improvements in executive functions, processing speed, and changes in patients' perspectives of problem solving skills, such as generating alternatives and decision-making, were described. Also, it would be necessary that future studies more often evaluate cognitive status of depressed elders, as well as cognitive changes after psychotherapy. It should be emphasized that there is a lack of studies in this field, and more approaches in CBTs need to be investigated to this population. ConclusionOlder adults with depression and cognitive deficits can benefit from CBTs. Improvements in mood and disability are more consistent than changes in cognition, which are little studied after CBTs. It is necessary more studies in the field, as well as, to investigate more approaches in CBTs to older adults with depression and cognitive deficits.
- Resting state functional connectivity and neural correlates of face-name encoding in patients with ischemic vascular lesions with and without the involvement of the left inferior frontal gyrus(2019) BATISTA, Alana X.; BAZAN, Paulo R.; CONFORTO, Adriana B.; MARTINS, Maria da Graca M.; HOSHINO, Mauricio; SIMON, Sharon S.; HAMPSTEAD, Benjamin; FIGUEIREDO, Eberual G.; CASTRO, Marcia P.; MICHELAN, Debora; AMARO JR., Edson; MIOTTO, Eliane C.Face-name association is a relevant ability for social interactions and involves the ventral and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices, particularly in the left hemisphere, bilateral hippocampal, fusiform gyrus and occipital regions. Previous studies demonstrated the primary role of the hippocampus for this ability in healthy subjects. However, no study has examined the participation of the left inferior frontal area, specially the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) in patients with ischemic vascular lesions. In the present study we addressed this issue and investigated the neural correlates and resting state functional connectivity of face-name memory encoding in ischemic patients with LIFG or without lesions in the left IFG (nLIFG) and healthy controls (HC) using fMRI. The main results showed that the nLIFG group demonstrated efficient compensation related to encoding and performance on face-name learning and recognition memory task, in addition to similar brain areas activated during task performance compared to healthy controls. Some of these areas were more activated in nLIFG group, indicating a compensation mechanism. In contrast, the LIFG group showed worse behavior performance, and no signs of an efficient compensation mechanism. Functional connectivity analysis suggested that the left IFG region seems to be important for maintaining the connectivity of the right fusiform gyrus or, perhaps, lesion in this area is associated to maladaptive reorganization. Our findings highlight the relevant role of the left IFG in face-name learning and encoding, possibly as a primary region in addition to the bilateral hippocampal formation and fusiform gyrus.