Individualized spectral filters alleviate persistent photophobia, headaches and migraines in active duty military and Veterans following brain trauma.

PURPOSE: Consistent with association between photophobia and headache, growing evidence suggests an underlying causal relationship between light sensitivity and central pain. We investigated whether an intervention to regulate light sensitivity by filtering only wavelengths causing difficulties for the specific individual could alleviate headaches/migraines resulting from traumatic brain injury (TBI). METHODS: Secondary data analysis of a clinical database including N = 392 military personnel (97% men, 3% women), ranging in age from 20 to 51 years, diagnosed with TBI, persistent headaches/migraines, and light sensitivity. The average elapsed time from TBI diagnosis to intervention was 3 years. Headache/migraine severity, frequency, medication use, and difficulties related to daily functioning were assessed pre and 4-12 weeks post-intervention with individualized spectral filters. RESULTS: Monthly migraine frequency decreased significantly from an average of 14.8 to 1.9, with 74% reporting no migraines post-intervention. Prescription and over-the-counter medication use decreased by more than 70%. Individuals also reported significant improvement in light sensitivity, headaches/migraine severity, and physical and perceptual symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Wearing individualized spectral filters was associated with symptom relief, increased subjective quality of reported health and well-being, and decreased objective medication use for TBI-related persistent headaches/migraines. These results support a suggested relationship between dysregulated light sensitivity and central regulation of pain.

Evidence for Overlapping Visual Processing Difficulties in Adult ADHD and Visual Stress.

We investigated the viability of spectral filters as an adjunctive treatment for adults with both ADHD and visual processing difficulties. Fifty-nine adults (age 18-50), diagnosed with both ADHD and visual stress received either spectral filters (n = 39) or no intervention (n = 20) to address visual processing difficulties. We administered the MOXO d-CPT, a computer based continuous performance test, before the intervention and one hour after the intervention to assess any short-term change in the participants' attention profile. We used the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) before and 3-6 months after the intervention to assess any long-term intervention impact after 3-6 months. The intervention group had significant short- and long-term improvements in overall attention compared to the control group (X2(1, N = 59) = 20.10, p < .001). On the DSM-5, 49% of participants with short term and 64% with long-term intervention no longer met criteria for an ADHD diagnosis. Findings suggest that spectral filters may be an adjunctive treatment for many adults suffering from perceptually-based attention issues common to visual stress and ADHD.

Representações sociais de adolescentes sobre trabalho doméstico e escola / Social representations of adolescents on domestic work and school

Apresentamos o relato da pesquisa “Para Casa: representações sociais de adolescentes sobre os afazeres domésticos e a escola” que investigou as representações sociais sobre as experiências de trabalho doméstico e de formação escolar construídas por adolescentes do sexo feminino, entre 16 e 19 anos, com trajetória de emprego doméstico e, incluídas na Educação de Jovens e Adultos – EJA. Os dados foram coletados através da aplicação de um questionário sobre o perfil socioeconômico e cultural dos sujeitos; a realização de entrevista semiestruturada e de um grupo focal. Concluímos que trabalho doméstico é representado como uma possibilidade de inclusão no mundo do trabalho, mas não como profissão definitiva. As adolescentes almejam melhores postos de trabalho e cursar faculdade. A escola é vista positivamente pelas adolescentes como espaço de sociabilidade. E a escolarização, embora considerem necessária para ascensão social, impõe tarefas difíceis de serem realizadas, sendo esta a face negativa da escola.

This paper presents an analysis of the data produced by the research "Homework: adolescents social representations of domestic work and the school", which investigated social representations constructed by a group of female adolescent housekeepers and/or remunerated domestic workers, between 16 and 19 years of age, related to the school process in the program Educação de Jovens e Adultos -EJA (Adult and Young Education) developed by the Minas Gerais State Government. Data were collected through a questionnaire on the subjects social, economic and cultural profile, semi-structured interviews and focal group. The analysis focuses on the influences of social position on the school process, as well as on the meanings the adolescents constructed and attributed to their interactions in the school dynamics. The research was carried out with twenty adolescents in two municipal schools in Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais State. Two conclusions are pointed out, the first one shows domestic work as a possibility of inclusion into the labor world and of getting some earning, but not as a lifetime profession. The adolescents have a dream of better job positions and the possibility of getting into college. The second conclusion is that school is seen by the adolescents as an important space for sociability and to huddle together with their age-mates, a positive dimension of school life. As to the learning process, although they consider it an important tool for social improvement, it imposes tasks regarded as difficult, which is seen as the negative face of school.