Enhancing the wellness of caregivers of individuals with epilepsy: The effects of a brief stress management course.

PURPOSE: To determine whether a brief stress management video can improve the quality of life of caregivers of persons with epilepsy (PWE). METHODS: Thirty-three adult caregivers of PWE who scored 5 or higher on the Caregiver Self-Assessment Questionnaire (CSAQ) completed a 30-min stress management video. This was preceded by a pre-intervention assessment, followed by post-intervention assessment at 1 month, and a delayed post-intervention assessment evaluation 3 months after video was viewed. Measures of program acceptability were also obtained. RESULTS: There was significant improvement when comparing pre- and post-intervention CSAQ scores. This improvement was sustained at 3 months post intervention. Measures of program acceptability were favorable. CONCLUSION: A brief stress management course can help improve the quality of life of caregivers of PWE.

The effects of a brief memory enhancement course on individuals with epilepsy.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to determine whether a brief memory enhancement course in persons with epilepsy (PWE) can improve cognitive abilities, quality of life, self-management, and seizure severity. METHODS: Thirty-nine PWE completed a 1-hour memory enhancement course. This was preceded by a baseline/preintervention assessment (BA/PRE), followed by postintervention assessment (POST) at 1 & 1/2 to 3 months, and a delayed postintervention assessment evaluation (DPOST) at 4 & 1/2 to 6 months after course completion. In order to assess for retesting bias, an additional 30 PWE underwent a separate BA and PRE. RESULTS: There was significant improvement on the Patient-Reported Outcomes Patient Information System version 2.0 Cognitive Function Abilities Subset and the Epilepsy Self-Management Scale (ESMS) on both POST and DPOST when compared with BA/PRE. Retesting bias did not occur. On ESMS subscale evaluation, significant improvement occurred on the Lifestyle Management subscale. There was no improvement in quality of life and seizure severity. There was good patient acceptability for the memory program. CONCLUSION: A brief memory enhancement course results in sustained improvement in cognitive functioning and self-management of PWE.

Organ of Corti explants direct tonotopically graded morphology of spiral ganglion neurons in vitro.

The spiral ganglion is a compelling model system to examine how morphological form contributes to sensory function. While the ganglion is composed mainly of a single class of type I neurons that make simple one-to-one connections with inner hair cell sensory receptors, it has an elaborate overall morphological design. Specific features, such as soma size and axon outgrowth, are graded along the spiral contour of the cochlea. To begin to understand the interplay between different regulators of neuronal morphology, we cocultured neuron explants with peripheral target tissues removed from distinct cochlear locations. Interestingly, these "hair cell microisolates" were capable of both increasing and decreasing neuronal somata size, without adversely affecting survival. Moreover, axon characteristics elaborated de novo by the primary afferents in culture were systematically regulated by the sensory endorgan. Apparent peripheral nervous system (PNS)-like and central nervous system (CNS)-like axonal profiles were established in our cocultures allowing an analysis of putative PNS/CNS axon length ratios. As predicted from the in vivo organization, PNS-like axon bundles elaborated by apical cocultures were longer than their basal counterparts and this phenotype was methodically altered when neuron explants were cocultured with microisolates from disparate cochlear regions. Thus, location-dependent signals within the organ of Corti may set the "address" of neurons within the spiral ganglion, allowing them to elaborate the appropriate tonotopically associated morphological features in order to carry out their signaling function. J. Comp. Neurol. 524:2182-2207, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.