Brain Week, 270 free events in Italy.
Increased attention to mental health post Covid
From 13 to 19 March, the "Week of the Brain" is back: the worldwide campaign that disseminates new neuro-scientific discoveries and makes public the progress and benefits of brain research conducted to date.
In Italy, universities, foundations, associations, private healthcare companies, researchers, ASL, RSA and many freelancers responded.
The 2023 Brain Week calendar has over 270 free events that will take place throughout the national territory.
The goal, however, is only one: to allow adults and children to discover and understand the most fascinating organ of the human body in a creative and innovative way.
In 1996, in the United States, the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives established Brain Awareness Week.
In Italy, inspired by this, "Week of the Brain" was born in 2016,
www.settimanadelcervello.it, coordinated by the psychologist Donatella Ruggeri.
Year after year, the acclaim and initiatives offered to experts in the subject and citizens have grown.
"After two years of hiatus due to the covid emergency, - underlines the psychologist Donatella Ruggeri - Brain Week returns to connect people, themes, territories, professionalism and dissemination. In these two years, research has continued and we have adopted new behaviors and embraced new awareness of our mental health; for this reason we are more curious and receptive to psychological issues, we want to know how to take care of ourselves and our brain, and the event responds promptly to this new need".
From Monday, therefore, it will be possible:
participate in seminars and workshops that will promote awareness of one's own cognitive functions and explain the brain's potential and methods of operation;
carry out cognitive screenings for the prevention of dementia and the early identification of learning disabilities in school;
participate in online events to understand how to counteract mental aging and receive suggestions to always have an active and fit brain.
Among the regions with the highest number of events we find Lombardy (46), Piedmont (40) and Lazio (30).
As far as individual cities are concerned, however, it is Rome that wins the gold medal as the first city by number of events (23), followed by Milan (20) and Turin (18).
The complete calendar can be consulted on the website www.settimanadelcervello.it.
technology opens new era for post stroke .
Ass. Alice, 1 million in Italy survive with disabling results
Technological innovation is opening a new era in the treatment of neurological diseases, and this also applies to the post-stroke phase.
This was highlighted by ALICE Italia Odv, Association for the fight against cerebral stroke, which adheres to the Week of the brain, from today to 19 March.
Recent is the news of two women who have recovered the use of the arm and partially also of the hand thanks to the electrical stimulation of the spinal cord.
This is a first feasibility study, published in Nature Medicine, on two chronic phase patients who were implanted for 29 days with electrodes at the cervical level for electrical stimulation (with controlled direct current) to facilitate limb control Paretic and the corresponding hand.
Study results show improvements in strength, speed, and performance of functional tasks.
No adverse events were observed.
Some improvements were maintained even after the stimulation was removed.
the need to transfer the person affected by stroke to an accredited rehabilitation center for neurorehabilitation interventions as soon as possible and how important it is to promptly identify cognitive, language and swallowing deficits.
Unfortunately, however, not everyone in Italy can benefit from adequate post-stroke rehabilitation". Currently, in our country there are about 1 million people who, after being affected by a cerebral stroke, survive with more or less disabling outcomes, which makes this pathology the first cause of disability in Italy.