The October issue of the Journal of the Neurological Sciences Vol 489
Issue highlights
Research Article
The International Alliance on Brain Health (IABH): Bridging global efforts toward integrated brain and mental health plans and the promotion of local implementationsBassetti et al. Published online: July 1, 2026 This paper describes the foundation and early development of the International Alliance on Brain Health (IABH), established in Switzerland in 2025 to promote interdisciplinary collaboration, reciprocal innovation, and implementation-oriented exchange between the global North and global South. Drawing on the Alliances founding meeting in Bern, its contribution as a partner to the World Brain Health Forum organized by the Paris Brain Institute, and its subsequent meeting in Buenos Aires, the paper outlines the Alliance's global positioning and priorities for translating brain health frameworks into practice. |
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Research Article (Open Access)
Long-term social cognitive impairment after ischemic stroke: Frequency and association with lesion volume and location in an exploratory pilot studyHelland et al. Published online: June 30, 2026 This exploratory pilot study investigated long-term emotion recognition (ER) impairment in stroke patients under 65 years old who underwent endovascular treatment (EVT) four years prior, comparing their performance on the "Pictures of Facial Affect" test against healthy controls. The researchers found that emotion recognition impairment was present in 23% (more than one in five) of the stroke patients four years post-EVT. Furthermore, lower emotion recognition scores were significantly associated with larger total lesion volumes as well as specific right-hemisphere cortical regions, particularly the inferior parietal lobule and adjacent perisylvian cortex. These preliminary findings suggest that both overall stroke lesion burden and right-hemisphere location serve as potential prognostic markers for long-term social cognition deficits, highlighting the need for larger confirmatory studies in this under-researched area. |
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Research Article
Early use of low dose rituximab in anti acetylcholine receptor generalized myasthenia gravis in South Wales – A retrospective studyAlsukhni et al. Published online: July 7, 2026 This retrospective cohort study evaluated the effectiveness, safety, and steroid-sparing capabilities of early, low-dose rituximab (a single 500 mg infusion) in 17 immunosuppression-naïve adult patients with generalized AChR-positive myasthenia gravis (MG). The results showed rapid clinical improvement within three months, with 14 out of 17 patients reaching MGFA Class Ia, alongside a steep reduction in median prednisolone dosage from 40 mg at baseline down to 0 mg beyond twelve months. Overall, the findings suggest that early low-dose rituximab leads to swift disease control, significant steroid withdrawal, and complete remission in over a third of cases, supporting further research into low-dose early intervention strategies for generalized MG. |
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Research Article
Association of hypoxic burden with brain atrophy in Alzheimer's diseaseRollo et al. Published online: July 5, 2026 This retrospective exploratory study evaluated the link between Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) severity—specifically measured by hypoxic burden (HB)—and neurodegeneration in 22 Alzheimer's Disease (AD) patients. The researchers found that OSA was present in 40.9% of the cohort and that higher hypoxic burden significantly correlated with reduced volumes in the left hippocampus and left amygdala, with OSA patients exhibiting significantly greater left hippocampal atrophy compared to non-OSA controls. These findings suggest that chronic hypoxia associated with OSA severity may accelerate localized brain atrophy in Alzheimer's disease, supporting the need for further research into sleep apnea as a target for modulating neurodegeneration. |
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