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Nisticò V, Ilia N, Conte F, Broglia G, Sanguineti C, Lombardi F, Scaravaggi S, Mangiaterra L, Tedesco R, Gambini O, Priori A, Maravita A, Demartini B. Forearm bisection task suggests an alteration in body schema in patients with functional movement disorders (motor conversion disorders). J Psychosom Res 2024; 178:111610. [PMID: 38359638 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2024.111610] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2023] [Revised: 01/16/2024] [Accepted: 02/11/2024] [Indexed: 02/17/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES To explore potential alterations of the Body Schema, the implicit sensorimotor representation of one's own body, in patients with Functional Movement Disorders (FMD, Motor Conversion Disorders), characterized by neurological symptoms of altered voluntary motor function that cannot be explained by typical medical conditions. This investigation is prompted by the potential dissociation from their reportedly intact sense of ownership. METHODS 10 FMD patients and 11 healthy controls (HC) underwent the Forearm Bisection Task, aimed at assessing perceived body metrics, which consists in asking the subject, blindfolded, to repeatedly point at the perceived middle point of their dominant forearm with the index finger of their contralateral hand, and a psychometric assessment for anxiety, depression, alexithymia, and tendency to dissociation. RESULTS FMD patients bisected their forearm more proximally (with an increased shift towards their elbow equal to 7.5%) with respect to HC; average bisection point was positively associated with anxiety levels in the whole sample, and with the tendency to dissociation in the FMD group. CONCLUSIONS FMD patients perceive their forearm as shorter than HC, suggesting an alteration of their Body Schema. The Body Schema can go through short- and long-term updates in the life course, mainly related to the use of each body segment; we speculate that, despite FMD being a disorder of functional nature, characterized by variability and fluctuations in symptomatology, the lack of sense of agency over a body part might be interpreted by the nervous system as disuse and hence influence the Body Schema, as deficits of organic etiology do.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veronica Nisticò
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy; "Aldo Ravelli" Research Center for Neurotechnology and Experimental Brain Therapeutics, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy; Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università degli Studi di Milano - Bicocca, Milano, Italy.
| | - Neofytos Ilia
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | - Francesca Conte
- Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università degli Studi di Milano - Bicocca, Milano, Italy
| | - Giovanni Broglia
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | - Claudio Sanguineti
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | - Francesco Lombardi
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | - Silvia Scaravaggi
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | - Laura Mangiaterra
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | - Roberta Tedesco
- Unità di Psichiatria, Servizio Psichiatrico di Diagnosi e Cura, Ospedale Civile di Legnano, ASST Ovest Milanese, Milano, Italy
| | - Orsola Gambini
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy; "Aldo Ravelli" Research Center for Neurotechnology and Experimental Brain Therapeutics, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy; Unità di Psichiatria 52, Presidio San Paolo, ASST Santi Paolo e Carlo, Milano, Italy
| | - Alberto Priori
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy; "Aldo Ravelli" Research Center for Neurotechnology and Experimental Brain Therapeutics, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy; III Clinica Neurologica, Presidio San Paolo, ASST Santi Paolo e Carlo, Milano, Italy
| | - Angelo Maravita
- Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università degli Studi di Milano - Bicocca, Milano, Italy
| | - Benedetta Demartini
- "Aldo Ravelli" Research Center for Neurotechnology and Experimental Brain Therapeutics, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy; Unità di Psichiatria, Servizio Psichiatrico di Diagnosi e Cura, Ospedale Civile di Legnano, ASST Ovest Milanese, Milano, Italy
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Varma A, Szlaszynska M, Ben-Haim A, Ilia N, Tarricone S, Lewandowska-Bejm J, Visentin F, Gadler A. Bearing the Burden of Tick-Borne Encephalitis in Europe, 2012-2020: Rising Cases, Future Predictions and Climate Change. Int J Med Stud 2022. [DOI: 10.5195/ijms.2022.1464] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a central nervous system disease that is posing a growing public health challenge in Europe. Its disease burden, despite carrying a significant global impact, is still relatively unexplored. This study aims to outline a regression model of how the increasing cases will influence the burden of TBE in the upcoming years, using YLDs (years lived with disability) and DALYs (Disability-adjusted life years), and address climate change as a determinant.
Methods: Information regarding the number of cases, YLDs and DALYs of TBE was collected from European countries using available surveillance data from 2012 to 2020. Number of TBE cases and burden projections were created until 2025, using a linear regression model. The total reported cases of TBE cases in this timeframe, age-group and gender distribution were inserted and modeled in ECDC BCoDE Toolkit, a software application that calculates the burden of communicable diseases, YLDs and DALYs of each year. A non-systematic bibliographic search was conducted exploring the impact of climate change on TBE.
Results: Our findings showed a linear growth in number of TBE cases (74.3% increase), DALYs (71.3%), YLDs (71.75%) in European countries from 2012 to 2020. By 2025, these factors are likely to increase by 141% (95% CI: [108%,175%]), 134% (95% CI: [91%,177%]) and 134% (95% CI: [98%,172%]) compared to 2012, respectively (p<0.0001).
Conclusions: The likelihood of morbidity and mortality increase of TBE, as well as climate-related changes in tick activity, highlight that prompt action is necessary by introducing preventive measures in European populations.
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