Abstract Objective Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction and by restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior. Some studies have shown that substances derived from Cannabis sativa improve the quality of life of children with ASD without causing serious adverse effects, thus providing an alternative therapeutic option. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a cannabis extract rich in cannabidiol (CBD) in children with ASD. Methods In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, 60 children, aged from 5 to 11 years, were selected and divided into two groups: the treatment group, which received the CBD-rich cannabis extract, and the control group, which received the placebo. They both used their respective products for a period of 12 weeks. Statistical analysis was done by two-factor mixed analysis of variance (two-way ANOVA). Results Significant results were found for social interaction (F1,116 = 14.13, p = 0.0002), anxiety (F1,116 = 5.99, p = 0.016), psychomotor agitation (F1,116 = 9.22, p = 0.003), number of meals a day (F1,116 = 4.11, p = 0.04), and concentration (F1,48 = 6.75, p = 0.01), the last of which was only significant in mild ASD cases. Regarding safety, it was found that only three children in the treatment group (9.7%) had adverse effects, namely dizziness, insomnia, colic, and weight gain. Conclusion CBD-rich cannabis extract was found to improve one of the diagnostic criteria for ASD (social interaction), as well as features that often co-exist with ASD, and to have few serious adverse effects. (ASD behavior effects option CBD (CBD randomized doubleblind, doubleblind double blind, blind double-blind placebocontrolled placebo controlled trial 6 1 years groups CBDrich weeks twofactor factor twoway way ANOVA. ANOVA . ANOVA) F1,116 F1116 F F1 116 (F1,11 1413 14 13 14.13 0.0002, 00002 0.0002 , 0 0002 0.0002) 599 99 5.99 0.016, 0016 0.016 016 0.016) 922 9 22 9.22 0.003, 0003 0.003 003 0.003) 411 4 4.11 0.04, 004 0.04 04 0.04) F1,48 F148 48 (F1,4 675 75 6.75 0.01, 001 0.01 01 0.01) cases 9.7% 97 7 (9.7% dizziness insomnia colic gain interaction, interaction) coexist co exist F1,11 F111 (F1,1 141 14.1 0000 0.000 000 59 5.9 92 2 9.2 0.00 00 41 4.1 0.0 F1,4 F14 (F1, 67 6.7 9.7 (9.7 F1,1 F11 14. 5. 9. 4. 0. F1, (F1 6. (9. (F (9 (

Resumen Estudios han demostrado que la depresión y la ansiedad están asociados a cambios en el reconocimiento de la expresión facial. En la presente investigación, una muestra no clínica ha sido evaluada con respecto a la ansiedad rasgo y estado y los síntomas de depresión. En la tarea experimental, los participantes evaluaran expresiones faciales de alegría, ira, tristeza y miedo, presentadas en cuatro intensidades (25, 50, 75 y 100%), y el rostro neutro. Los resultados mostraron que la ansiedad rasgo se asoció con un mejor reconocimiento de la ira, miedo y alegría. Para la depresión, sólo se encontraron diferencias entre los grupos para la atribución emocional a rostros neutros, en el que los participantes que puntuaran alto en depresión eran más propensos a atribuir miedo a rostros neutros. Los resultados indican una mejora del reconocimiento de la alegría, ira y miedo en la ansiedad rasgo, mientras que los síntomas de depresión y ansiedad estado están asociados a cambios en la evaluación de rostros neutros en individuos no clínicos.

Abstract Previous studies have shown that depression and anxiety are associated to changes in the recognition of facial expression. In the present research, a non-clinical sample was evaluated with respect to trait and state anxiety and depression symptoms. In the experimental task, participants evaluated facial expressions of happiness, anger, sadness, and fear, presented at four intensities (25, 50, 75, and 100%), as well as the neutral face. Results showed that the trait anxiety was associated with a better recognition of anger, fear, and happiness. For depression, we only found differences between groups for emotional attribution to neutral faces, in which participants scoring high in depression were more likely to attribute fear to neutral faces. Findings indicate an improvement of the recognition of happiness, anger, and fear in trait anxiety, whereas symptoms of depression and state anxiety were associated to changes in the evaluation of neutral faces in non-clinical individuals.

RESUMO Nós relatamos o caso de um paciente com 73 anos de idade, diagnosticado com doença de Alzheimer, submetido a 10 sessões diárias de estimulação transcraniana por corrente continua (ETCC). A ETCC foi aplicada sobre o córtex dorsolateral esquerdo como terapêutica adjuvante ao tratamento tradicional que o paciente recebia (medicação anticolinérgica e treino cognitivo). Os dados foram analisados qualitativamente e apresentados em um formato analítico e estruturado. O desempenho foi avaliado através da Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-cognitive subscale, como desfecho primário. Os desfechos secundários incluíram: Neuropsychiatric Inventory, Blessed Dementia Scale e Disability Assessment for Dementia. Os dados obtidos demonstraram que a ETCC teve um efeito estabilizador sobre a função cognitiva geral do paciente e levou ao aumento do desempenho em todos os testes de desfechos secundários. Estes resultados preliminares indicam que a ETCC é uma potencial terapêutica adjuvante para a reabilitação cognitiva na doença de Alzheimer.

ABSTRACT We report the case of a 73-year-old male patient with Alzheimer's disease who underwent 10-daily transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) sessions. tDCS was applied over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex as an adjuvant to the traditional treatment that the patient was receiving, which consisted of anticholinergic medication and cognitive training. The data were qualitatively analyzed and are presented in an analytic and structured form. The effects on cognitive performance were evaluated using the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-cognitive subscale as the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes were assessed with a set of tests consisting of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory, the Blessed Dementia Scale and the Disability Assessment for Dementia. The data obtained revealed that the application of tDCS had a stabilizing effect on overall patient cognitive function and led to improved performance on all the secondary outcome tests. These preliminary results indicate that tDCS is a potential adjuvant therapeutic tool for cognitive rehabilitation in Alzheimer's disease .

RESUMO: O objetivo desta revisão de literatura foi verificar as evidências científicas e restrições dos diferentes tipos de tratamentos para voz na Doença de Parkinson. O levantamento dos artigos foi realizado nas bases de dados PubMed/MEDLINE, SciELO e Lilacs. Utilizou-se como estratégia de busca as combinações com os seguintes descritores: "Parkinson disease and vocal therapy"; "Parkinson disease and speech acoustic"; "Parkinson disease and voice". Os critérios de inclusão foram: idioma em português ou inglês; artigos dos anos 2003-2013; e estudos de intervenção. Adotou-se como critérios de exclusão: os repetidos nas bases de dados; pesquisas com animais. Durante a busca foram localizados 351 artigos, dos quais apenas 18 deles preenchiam os critérios de inclusão adotados no estudo. Os resultados foram apresentados considerando os diferentes tipos de tratamento para a voz na Doença de Parkinson, de acordo com a técnica de intervenção: medicamentoso, cirúrgico e reabilitação, identificando os autores e ano de publicação, características da amostra, o tipo de tratamento, o método utilizado e a conclusão do estudo. Nesta pesquisa observou-se reduzida produção científica no tratamento da voz na doença de Parkinson. A maioria dos artigos abordou as técnicas de tratamento para a voz de alto custo, ou que necessitam de habilitação/certificação no método para a realização da terapia de voz.

ABSTRACT: The aim of this review was to assess the scientific evidences and restrictions of the different kinds of voice treatments in Parkinson's disease. The survey of articles was conducted in the databases PubMed/MEDLINE, SciELO and Lilacs. As a search strategy, combinations with the following descriptors were used: "Parkinson disease and vocal therapy"; "Parkinson disease and speech acoustic"; "Parkinson disease and voice". Inclusion criteria were: Portuguese or English language; articles from 2003-2013; and intervention studies. The following exclusion criteria were adopted: those repeated in the databases; animal research. During the search, 351 articles were found, of which only 18 met the inclusion criteria in the study. The results were presented considering the various types of voice treatment in Parkinson's disease, according to the intervention technique: pharmacological, surgical and rehabilitation, identifying authors and the year of publication, the sample characteristics, the type of treatment, the method used and the conclusion of the study. In this study, it was observed reduced scientific literature for voice treatment in Parkinson's disease. Most articles addressed high-cost treatment techniques for voice, or in need of qualification/certification in the method for carrying out the speech therapy.

Na literatura de estudo das emoções, críticas têm sido dirigidas ao uso de expressões faciais estáticas, principalmente no que se refere a sua suposta baixa validade ecológica. No presente trabalho, foi realizada uma revisão de estudos que compararam diretamente o reconhecimento de emoções usando expressões faciais estáticas e dinâmicas. Foram incluídos estudos comportamentais, de neuroimagem, lesão cerebral e eletromiografia facial, publicados a partir de 1993. De um modo geral, o movimento facial parecer promover o reconhecimento de emoções. Estudos de neuroimagem e lesão cerebral sustentam a ideia de uma dissociação entre os sistemas responsáveis por processar expressões estáticas e dinâmicas. Estudos de eletromiografia indicaram que expressões dinâmicas tendem a eliciar respostas mais intensas de mímica facial e estão relacionadas a uma maior ativação fisiológica. Estes achados sustentam a hipótese de que expressões faciais dinâmicas são ecologicamente mais válidas e, portanto, mais adequados à pesquisa com emoções.

In emotion research, criticism has been directed to the use of static facial expressions, especially concerning its supposedly low ecological validity. In the present work, we performed a review of studies that directly compared the recognition of emotions using static and dynamic facial expressions. Behavioral, neuroimaging, brain damage and facial electromyography studies, published since 1993 were included. Overall, facial motion seems to promote emotional recognition. Neuroimaging and brain damage studies sustain the idea of a dissociation between the systems responsible to process static and dynamic expressions. Electromyography studies indicated that dynamic expressions tend to elicit more intense responses of facial mimic and are related to a higher physiological activation. Those findings support the hypothesis that dynamic facial expressions are ecologically more valid and therefore more appropriate to emotion research.

Trabalhos anteriores têm revelado vieses no reconhecimento de emoções e padrões diferenciais de ativação cerebral no transtorno de ansiedade social. No presente estudo, foi investigada a atribuição de emoções a faces neutras em 22 indivíduos com ansiedade social e 20 voluntários controles. Através do método da escolha forçada, participantes atribuíram emoções de alegria, medo, raiva ou tristeza a faces neutras. Verificou-se que homens e mulheres com ansiedade social atribuíram mais frequentemente emoções de raiva e tristeza às faces neutras, respectivamente. A atribuição de raiva por homens pode estar associada à tendência masculina em detectar sinais de hostilidade no ambiente social, enquanto que o aumento na atribuição de tristeza pelas mulheres pode estar associado à facilitação na identificação de emoções negativas. Os resultados sugerem que a ansiedade social afeta diferentemente os sexos e têm implicações importantes sobre o uso da face neutra como condição de base ou controle nas neurociências comportamentais.

Previous research has revealed facial emotion recognition biases and distinctive patterns of brain activation in social anxiety disorder. We investigated the attribution of emotion to neutral facial displays in 22 subjects with social anxiety and 20 healthy controls. Using a forced choice paradigm, participants labeled neutral faces as happy, fearful, angry or sad. The most frequent emotional labels attributed by males and females to neutral faces were anger and sadness, respectively. These findings are discussed according to the notion that the attribution of anger by men may be associated with the male tendency to detect hostile environmental signs, whereas the increased attribution of sadness by females might be associated with facilitated identification of negative affect. The results suggest that social anxiety disorder differentially affects males and females and has important implications concerning the use of the neutral face as a baseline or control condition in behavioral neuroscience.

A great deal of studies using different visual tasks (e.g., Vernier acuity tasks, tilt illusion, crowding, etc) have revealed that our perception is strongly influenced by the orientation of the stimulus. Most studies have investigated visual acuity in two-dimensional visual spaces (2D) but little is known about the effect of line orientation in depth perception (3D). In one experiment, Vernier Acuity (VA) in frontoparallel (2D) and medial (3D) planes was investigated. We used a virtual reality setup inducing inter-ocular disparities to simulate a 3D visual space, and a common computer screen to present stimuli in the frontal plane. In the experiment, by using the method of constant stimuli, the observer compared VA in the 2D and 3D visual spaces as a function of the stimulus orientation. Results showed that only judgments in the 3D condition were affected by the well-known 'oblique effect', and some impairment in stereoacuity (lines in depth plane) in comparison to 2D acuity (lines in frontal plane) was observed. We attributed the cause for such deterioration in stereoacuity to changes in vertical disparities.

Two models of brain asymmetry in emotional processing were reviewed: the right hemisphere and the valence hypotheses. The first states a dominant role for the right hemisphere in emotional processing, whereas the second assumes that the left hemisphere is dominant for positive emotions and the right hemisphere for negative ones. Different methods, such as the divided visual field technique, have supported both hypotheses. The amygdala and the prefrontal cortex are presented as important structures involved on brain asymmetry in emotional processing. The paper ends pointing out new perspectives for the study of the neural subtrates of different components of emotions.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi investigar o papel das instruções de julgamento e de informações pictóricas de profundidade na percepção de tamanho relativo. No experimento, os observadores escolheram qual dentre dois retângulos (estímulo-padrão e teste) apresentados na tela de um computador era o mais alto. Os observadores foram divididos em grupos de acordo com as instruções de julgamento (aparente ou objetivo) recebidas e o tipo de gradiente de textura no qual eram apresentados os estímulos. Os julgamentos não foram afetados pela textura, mas predominantemente pelas instruções experimentais. Instruções de julgamento aparente apresentaram maiores erros relativos e favoreceram a subestimação de tamanho do estímulo-teste, enquanto instruções de julgamento objetivo favoreceram a superestimação de tamanho. A presença da linha do horizonte promoveu maior acurácia nos julgamentos de tamanho relativo. Instruções de julgamento e altura do horizonte mostraram-se, portanto, como fatores importantes na determinação dos julgamentos de tamanhos relativos percebidos visualmente.

Investigating the role of the judgment instructions and pictorial depth information in the perception of relative size was the purpose of this work. In the experiment, observers chose which rectangle of the two presented (standard and test stimulus) was taller on the computer screen. The observers were divided in groups according to the instructions received (apparent or objective) and the kind of texture gradient in which the stimuli were presented. The judgments were not affected by the texture, but predominantly by the experimental instructions. Apparent judgment instructions had more relative errors and favored the underestimation of size of the standard stimulus, while objective judgment instructions favored the overestimation of size. The presence of the horizon line improved more accuracy of judgments of relative size. Judgment instructions and height of the horizon turned out as important factors in the determination of the judgments of relative size visually perceived.