Burden of Disease Associated with Refractory and Unexplained Chronic Cough in Canada: Results from a National Survey.

INTRODUCTION: Chronic cough (persisting for ≥ 8 weeks) is a common disorder that includes refractory chronic cough (RCC; cough that persists despite treatment of underlying disease) and unexplained chronic cough (UCC; cough with no identifiable cause). We evaluated self-reported health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) and work/activity impairment associated with RCC/UCC in Canada. METHODS: Our exploratory study included Canadians in the Leger Opinion Panel with RCC or UCC. Key entry criteria were ≥ 18 years of age, cough for ≥ 8 weeks, not currently smoking/quit ≥ 1 year ago, no serious respiratory disease or lung cancer, and not taking angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors. Respondents completed a 30-min online survey with general and cough-specific HR-QoL questionnaires, including the EuroQol (EQ) visual analogue scale (VAS), EQ-5-dimension 5-level (EQ-5D-5L), cough severity VAS, Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ), and Work Productivity and Activity Impairment-Specific Health Problem (WPAI-SPH). RESULTS: Of 49,076 individuals who completed the chronic cough screening questionnaire (July 30-September 1, 2021), 1,620 (3.3%) met entry criteria for RCC/UCC and 1,046 (2.1%) completed the survey. The mean age of respondents was 45 years and 61% were female. Respondents reported impairments in global HR-QoL (EQ-VAS 73.8, 61% with anxiety/depression on the EQ-5D-5L) and cough-specific HR-QoL (mean cough severity VAS score 29.7, LCQ index 15.2). Work and non-work activities were reduced by 34% and 30%, respectively, on the WPAI-SPH. CONCLUSION: RCC/UCC is prevalent in Canada and associated with impaired HR-QoL, particularly in mental health domains. Additional support and management options may be required to fully address this burden.

Validating the theoretical bases of sleep reactivation during sharp-wave ripples and their association with emotional valence.

Sleep is important for memory consolidation, and an abundant literature suggests that reactivation in the hippocampus during sleep is instrumental to this process. Yet, the current interpretation of activity during sharp-waves ripples (SWRs), as replay of wake experiences, relies on hypotheses that, while widely accepted, have only recently begun to be tested directly. Moreover, this theory has been mainly studied in the context of pure spatial learning, and it is still not clear how emotional valence can fit into this conceptual framework when considering reward- or punishment-based learning. In this review, we will present recent experimental arguments validating the interpretation of sleep replay as reactivation of awake experiences and examine the evidence showing that the emotional valence is also replayed during sleep in a coordinated fashion with hippocampal SWRs. Finally, we will detail recent experiments showing that brain-computer interfaces can be used to modify the emotional valence associated with sleep replay.

NREM2 and Sleep Spindles Are Instrumental to the Consolidation of Motor Sequence Memories.

Although numerous studies have convincingly demonstrated that sleep plays a critical role in motor sequence learning (MSL) consolidation, the specific contribution of the different sleep stages in this type of memory consolidation is still contentious. To probe the role of stage 2 non-REM sleep (NREM2) in this process, we used a conditioning protocol in three different groups of participants who either received an odor during initial training on a motor sequence learning task and were re-exposed to this odor during different sleep stages of the post-training night (i.e., NREM2 sleep [Cond-NREM2], REM sleep [Cond-REM], or were not conditioned during learning but exposed to the odor during NREM2 [NoCond]). Results show that the Cond-NREM2 group had significantly higher gains in performance at retest than both the Cond-REM and NoCond groups. Also, only the Cond-NREM2 group yielded significant changes in sleep spindle characteristics during cueing. Finally, we found that a change in frequency of sleep spindles during cued-memory reactivation mediated the relationship between the experimental groups and gains in performance the next day. These findings strongly suggest that cued-memory reactivation during NREM2 sleep triggers an increase in sleep spindle activity that is then related to the consolidation of motor sequence memories.

Development of a Dualistic Model of Sexual Passion: Investigating Determinants and Consequences.

In empirical research, sexual passion has frequently been conceptualized as the interdependent dynamics experienced with a partner and as following a unidimensional continuum of intensity. A recent theoretical model conceptualized sexual passion as an intrapersonal motivation, which can energize both partnered and non-partnered sexual behaviors (Philippe, Vallerand, Bernard-Desrosiers, Guilbault, & Rajotte, 2017). This model also departs from the typical unidimensional continuum by positing the existence of two types of sexual passion: harmonious sexual passion (HSP) and obsessive sexual passion (OSP). The purpose of the present research was to extend the development of such a dualistic model by examining key theoretical determinants and consequences of each type of sexual passion. Study 1 provided empirical evidence of discriminant validity for such a model with respect to key-related constructs in the sex literature (e.g., sexual desire, hypersexuality, self-determined motives). The results of Study 2 showed that both types of sexual passion were associated with a high engagement in various sexual activities, but that only HSP combined it with couple adjustment. Finally, Study 3 indicated that both HSP and OSP were associated with common as well as distinct determinants, while being conducive to different personal and interpersonal consequences. Overall, there were very few moderations by biological sex. The results of these three studies provide empirical support for the sexual passion model and pave the way for new research directions.

Maintaining vs. enhancing motor sequence memories: respective roles of striatal and hippocampal systems.

It is now accepted that hippocampal- and striatal-dependent memory systems do not act independently, but rather interact during both memory acquisition and consolidation. However, the respective functional roles of the hippocampus and the striatum in these processes remain unknown. Here, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used in a daytime sleep/wake protocol to investigate this knowledge gap. Using a protocol developed earlier in our lab (Albouy et al., 2013a), the manipulation of an explicit sequential finger-tapping task, allowed us to isolate allocentric (spatial) and egocentric (motor) representations of the sequence, which were supported by distinct hippocampo- and striato-cortical networks, respectively. Importantly, a sleep-dependent performance enhancement emerged for the hippocampal-dependent memory trace, whereas performance was maintained for the striatal-dependent memory trace, irrespective of the sleep condition. Regression analyses indicated that the interaction between these two systems influenced subsequent performance improvements. While striatal activity was negatively correlated with performance enhancement after both sleep and wakefulness in the allocentric representation, hippocampal activity was positively related to performance improvement for the egocentric representation, but only if sleep was allowed after training. Our results provide the first direct evidence of a functional dissociation in consolidation processes whereby memory stabilization seems supported by the striatum in a time-dependent manner whereas memory enhancement seems linked to hippocampal activity and sleep-dependent processes.

[Functional brain plasticity associated with motor learning]. / Plasticité fonctionnelle du cerveau et apprentissage moteur - Imagerie et cognition (5).

This review presents the results of studies carried out in our laboratory that aim to investigate, through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the brain plasticity associated with motor sequence learning, defined as our ability to integrate simple stereotyped movements into a single motor representation. Following a brief description of Doyon and colleagues' model (2002, 2005, 2009) of motor skill learning that has guided this work, we then describe the functional changes that occur at the different (rapid, slow, automatization) acquisition phases, and propose specific roles that the putamen, the cerebellum and their motor-related cortical areas, play in this form of motor behavior. Finally, we put forward evidence that post-training, non-REM sleep (and spindles in Stage 2 sleep, in particular) contributes to the consolidation of a motor sequence memory trace, and that increased activity within the striatum and/or the hippocampus mediates this mnemonic process.

Beyond spindles: interactions between sleep spindles and boundary frequencies during cued reactivation of motor memory representations.

There is now ample evidence that sleep spindles play a critical role in the consolidation of newly acquired motor sequences. Previous studies have also revealed that the interplay between different types of sleep oscillations (e.g. spindles, slow waves, sharp-wave ripples) promotes the consolidation process of declarative memories. Yet the functional contribution of this type of frequency-specific interactions to motor memory consolidation remains unknown. Thus, this study sought to investigate whether spindle oscillations are associated with low- or high-frequency activity at the regional (local) and interregional (connectivity) levels. Using an olfactory-targeted memory reactivation paradigm paired to a motor sequence learning task, we compared the effect of cuing (Cond) to no-cuing (NoCond) on frequency interactions during sleep spindles. Time-frequency decomposition analyses revealed that cuing induced significant differential and localized changes in delta (1-4 Hz) and theta (4-8 Hz) frequencies before, during, and after spindles, as well as changes in high-beta (20-30 Hz) during the spindle oscillation. Finally, coherence analyses yielded significant increases in connectivity during sleep spindles in both theta and sigma (11-17 Hz) bands in the cued group only. These results support the notion that the synchrony between spindle and associated low- or high-frequency rhythmic activity is an integral part of the memory reactivation process. Furthermore, they highlight the importance of not only measuring spindles' characteristics, but to investigate such oscillations in both time and frequency domains when assessing memory consolidation-related changes.

The incidence and nature of cerebellar findings in schizophrenia: a quantitative review of fMRI literature.

Clinical evidence and structural neuroimaging studies linked cerebellar deficits to cognitive-related symptoms in schizophrenia. Yet, in functional neuroimaging literature to date, the role of the cerebellum in schizophrenia was not explored in a systematic fashion. Here, we reviewed 234 functional magnetic resonance imaging studies indexed by PubMed and published in 1997-2010 that had at least one group of schizophrenia patients, used blood oxygenation level dependent contrast and the general linear model to assess neuronal activity. We quantified presence/absence of cerebellar findings and the frequency of hypo- and hyperactivations (ie, less or more activity in patients relative to healthy controls). We used peaks of activations reported in these studies to build a topographical representation of group differences on a cerebellar map. Cerebellar activity was reported in patients in 41.02% of the articles, with more than 80% of these dedicated to cognitive, emotional, and executive processes in schizophrenia. Almost two-thirds of group comparisons resulted in cerebellar hypoactivation, with a frequency that presented an inverted U shape across different age categories. The majority of the hypoactivation foci were located in the medial portion of the anterior lobe and the lateral hemispheres (lobules IV-V) of the cerebellum. Even though most experimental manipulations did not target explicitly the cerebellum's functions in schizophrenia, the cerebellar findings are frequent and cerebellar hypoactivations predominant. Therefore, although the cerebellum seems to play an important functional role in schizophrenia, the lack of reporting and interpretation of these data may hamper the full understanding of the disorder.

NREM Sleep Oscillations and Brain Plasticity in Aging.

The human electroencephalogram (EEG) during non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM) is characterized mainly by high-amplitude (>75 µV), slow-frequency (<4 Hz) waves (slow waves), and sleep spindles (∼11-15 Hz; >0.25 s). These NREM oscillations play a crucial role in brain plasticity, and importantly, NREM sleep oscillations change considerably with aging. This review discusses the association between NREM sleep oscillations and cerebral plasticity as well as the functional impact of age-related changes on NREM sleep oscillations. We propose that age-related reduction in sleep-dependent memory consolidation may be due in part to changes in NREM sleep oscillations.