Digital technology has led to innovations that have been critical in improving sound reproduction, in tailoring hearing aids for individual patients and in treating hearing impairment and developing cochlear implants — tiny electronic devices linking sound directly to the auditory nerve of a deaf person.
Current challenges in the cognitive assessment of MCI include: test selection, the availability of normative databases, and the effect of different base rates of MCI and AD in different settings; establishing cut-off points for impairment; and developing measures more sensitive to early AD while having sufficient specificity to distinguish between etiologically different conditions.
In fact, one study showed that former NFL players had a higher incidence of Alzheimer's disease and other conditions associated with cognitive impairment, and developed these problems at a younger age than the national average.
Stroke is one of the leading causes of death or physical/cognitive impairment in both developed and developing countries, and therefore numerous prediction models have been developed and many clinical characteristics have been identified as potential predictors [ 23, 24].
Our previous studies were conducted on the clinical utilization of the NeReBot, a device for the treatment of poststroke upper-limb impairment designed and developed at Padua University [ 13, 14].
Although recent preliminary evidence points to sex specific patterns of sleep impairment related to chronic and developing PTSD, mechanisms connecting the sex specific patterns and the development and maintenance of PTSD have not been investigated.
Furthermore, it was reported that single nucleotide polymorphisms in the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene increase the risk of impairment of cognitive function and developing AD [ 15, 16], suggesting a relation between serum vitamin D levels and risk of AD.
According to several major studies, about half of people over 65 have episodes of delirium — a sudden change in mental status — during hospital stays, and those who do are at increased risk for falling, requiring nursing home care, and developing cognitive impairment and dementia.
A questionnaire composed of already validated sections (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ)) and new questions concerning headache characteristics, life style, impairment and others developed by MB and RJ was sent to patients and controls.
It is, however, possible that these individuals may go on to experience cognitive impairment and later develop AD.
Further research is required in order to fully understand the factors that influence occupational impairment and to develop specific and effective interventions.
