Using Medical Family Therapy with Parents of an Adult Child with Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract

Acquired traumatic brain injury (ATBI) is a public health concern causing approximately 2.5 million emergency room visits in the United States annually. Medical family therapy (MedFT) displays how biological issues impact each area of a client’s life. This paper highlights how MedFT can be utilized with parents of an adult child with ATBI; the case is presented as treatment occurred with benefits of the inclusion of MedFT. Researchers propose a call to the field of marriage and family therapy to increase access of MedFT to afford more opportunities to help families who experience medical conditions.     

外伤性脑梗死的病因分析与防治策略

外伤性脑梗死是颅脑外伤患者比较常见且严重的一种并发症.其病因主要是脑血管壁损伤、血管受机械牵拉挤压、脑血管痉挛及低灌注、氧自由基及其他血管活性物质的改变.随着影像技术的发展进步,外伤性脑梗死的早期诊断已基本能做到,了解其主要发病机制以后,针对性地给予扩容,保证脑灌注压.通过提早预防、早期手术和内科药物、物理治疗方法,改善预后.     

脊髓损伤者生育困难与服务需求调查

对63名18岁以上未婚或已婚未生育子女的脊髓损伤者进行问卷调查,并对其中17人进行了深入访谈,了解其生育愿望、影响因素与生育服务现状,探讨解决脊髓损伤者生育困难的方法和措施.调查发现,脊髓损伤者生育愿望普遍而迫切,受到经济水平、教育背景、生活环境、其他脊髓损伤者生育经历等多方面因素影响;同时发现社会对此问题关注不够、认识不足、服务缺失.建议从改善环境、提高认识、普及知识、专业培训、建立制度等方面对脊髓损伤者提供专业化服务,解决生育困难,保障生育权力.     

Using Corticomuscular and Intermuscular Coherence to Assess Cortical Contribution to Ankle Plantar Flexor Activity During Gait

The present study used coherence and directionality analyses to explore whether the motor cortex contributes to plantar flexor muscle activity during the stance phase and push-off phase during gait. Subjects walked on a treadmill, while EEG over the leg motorcortex area and EMG from the medial gastrocnemius and soleus muscles was recorded. Corticomuscular and intermuscular coherence were calculated from pair-wise recordings. Significant EEG–EMG and EMG–EMG coherence in the beta and gamma frequency bands was found throughout the stance phase with the largest coherence towards push-off. Analysis of directionality revealed that EEG activity preceded EMG activity throughout the stance phase until the time of push-off. These findings suggest that the motor cortex contributes to ankle plantar flexor muscle activity and forward propulsion during gait.     

Interlimb Coordination During Step-to-Step Transition and Gait Performance

Most energy spent in walking is due to step-to-step transitions. During this phase, the interlimb coordination assumes a crucial role to meet the demands of postural and movement control. The authors review studies that have been carried out regarding the interlimb coordination during gait, as well as the basic biomechanical and neurophysiological principles of interlimb coordination. The knowledge gathered from these studies is useful for understanding step-to-step transition during gait from a motor control perspective and for interpreting walking impairments and inefficiency related to pathologies, such as stroke. This review shows that unimpaired walking is characterized by a consistent and reciprocal interlimb influence that is supported by biomechanical models, and spinal and supraspinal mechanisms. This interlimb coordination is perturbed in subjects with stroke.     

Pediatric traumatic brain injury: Language outcomes and their relationship to the arcuate fasciculus

Pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) may result in long-lasting language impairments alongside dysarthria, a motor-speech disorder. Whether this co-morbidity is due to the functional links between speech and language networks, or to widespread damage affecting both motor and language tracts, remains unknown.     

Social Skills Training in Two Subtypes of Psychiatric Inpatients with Generalized Social Phobia

The aim of this study was to investigate the differential effectiveness of broad-spectrum group social skills training (SST) in two subtypes of psychiatric inpatients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of generalized social phobia (GSP). SST participants were assigned to two GSP subtypes on the basis of their level of performance in social situations, i.e., a “reticent” subtype ( n = 28) and a “non-reticent” subtype (n = 28). As hypothesized, it was revealed that the benefit of SST did not differ in the two subtypes. These findings support the effectiveness and feasibility of comprehensive SST for patients with two subtypes of generalized social phobia.     

Using simulation to assess the ability of youth to safely operate tractors

BackgroundOperating farm tractors is dangerous for children. Recent studies document mismatches between children and physical requirements for operating tractors. The role of cognition has not been studied, because such research conducted in real-life situations places youth at risk. The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and psychometric properties of a simulated virtual tractor environment to examine how children’s age and development impacts safe tractor operations.MethodsFifty-five male youth ages 10–17 living/working on farms with experience driving tractors tested the virtual environment and simulation modules. Six adult male farmers were recruited as a reference group to compare youth performance with adults.ResultsThe simulation had adequate face validity with realism scores reported between “somewhat” and “quite” realistic. Internal reliability of the simulation was excellent, as demonstrated by highly significant intraclass correlations for key indicators of performance (speeds and hazard clearances). While there was some evidence for construct validity, as indicated by trends in performance across the age groups, findings were mixed.ConclusionStudy findings support using simulation for assessing the abilities of children to safely operate tractors.     

Neurobehavioural profile following cumulative mild traumatic brain injury in adolescent rugby players in South Africa

The study investigated the neurobehavioural components of executive dysfunction following sport-related Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI) in Grade 12 adolescent rugby players over a rugby season. In a non-equivalent quasi-experimental design, a rugby group (n?=?90) were compared with demographically equivalent noncontact sport controls (n?=?59). The Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Functions – Self Report (BRIEF-SR) was employed to assess the neurobehavioural component of executive functions. Independent and dependent t-test analyses were conducted to compare the groups at baseline and end-of-season intervals. The overall findings suggest more pronounced deleterious effects on executive functioning from exposure to the concussive and sub-concussive events among the rugby group. High school rugby players experience adverse neurobehavioural effects in executive dysfunction from contact rugby sport injuries.