Jorge Leite

Universidade Portucalense

The book delves into the profound changes and trials that societies across the globe have grappled with in the wake of global health crises. Its mission is to dissect the multifaceted aftermath of such pandemics, under- lining the pivotal interplay between cultural integration, state responsibili- ties, and the cultivation of a community with a sha...

Mary, who experienced non-fluent aphasia as a result of an ischemic stroke, received 10 years of personalized language training (LT), resulting in transient enhancements in speech and comprehension. To enhance these effects, multisite transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) was added to her LT regimen for 15 sessions. Assessment using the Re...

Background Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) is a brain stimulation method for modulating ongoing endogenous oscillatory activity at specified frequency during sensory and cognitive processes. Given the overlap between event-related potentials (ERPs) and event-related oscillations (EROs), ERPs can be studied as putative biomarkers...

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) are two of the most used non-pharmacological interventions for Alzheimer's Disease (AD). However, most of the clinical trials have focused on evaluating the effects on global cognition and not on specific cognitive functions. Therefore, considerin...

The inability to wait for a target before initiating an action (i.e., waiting impulsivity) is one of the main features of addictive behaviors. Current interventions for addiction, such as transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS), have been suggested to improve this inability. Nonetheless, the effects of tDCS on waiting impulsivity and underly...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0269496.].

The first years of motherhood are often difficult for women, requiring large emotional and biophysical adjustments and increased health risks that may combine with social disadvantage and psychosocial conditions towards decreased maternal well-being. Those outcomes are usually worse in vulnerable populations, as refugee and migrants. Comprehending...

People with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) experience cognitive impairments across lifespan. Multiple studies have correlated cognitive dysfunction to multiple brain regions and networks, based on neuroimaging and electroencephalography (EEG) studies. Event related potentials (ERPs) are brain voltage fluctuations that are time-lock...

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a serious mood disorder and leading cause of disability. Despite treatment advances, approximately 30% of individuals with MDD do not achieve adequate clinical response. Better understanding the biological mechanism(s) underlying clinical response to specific psychopharmacological interventions may he...

Objective Although relatively costly and non-scalable, non-invasive neuromodulation interventions are treatment alternatives for neuropsychiatric disorders. The recent developments of highly-deployable transcranial electric stimulation (tES) systems, combined with mobile-Health technologies, could be incorporated in digital trials to overcome metho...

Recent evidence suggests that both personality traits (PT) and emotion regulation (ER) strategies play an important role in the way people cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was two folded. First, to longitudinally investigate the psychological distress (depression, anxiety, and stress levels) taking in consideration PT and ER s...

Several cognitive training programs, alone or in combination with non-invasive brain stimulation have been tested in order to ameliorate age-related cognitive impairments, such as the ones found in Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). However, the effects of Cognitive Training (CT) - combined or not - with several forms of non-invasive brain stimulatio...

People with pre-pandemic health conditions are more vulnerable and more likely to suffer greater psychosocial impact due to the current COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown measures. Thus, the objective of this work was to systematically review the impact of the early stages COVID-19 pandemic on people with pre-existing psychiatric disorders. The sea...

Background: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been employed to boost working memory training (WMT) effects. Nevertheless, there is limited evidence on the efficacy of this combination in older adults. The present study is aimed to assess the delayed transfer effects of tDCS coupled with WMT in older adults in a 15-day follow-up. We...

Background One of the main features of addictive behaviors is the inability to wait for an action, that is, the waiting impulsivity. It has been suggested that potential therapeutic tools for addiction, such as transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS), might focus on this inability. Nonetheless, whereas there is consensus about the role of pr...

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been widely used to modulate cognition and behavior. However, only a few studies have been probing the brain mechanism underlying the effects of tDCS on cognitive processing, especially throughout electrophysiological markers, such as the P3. This meta-analysis assessed the effects of tDCS in P3 am...

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Attention is a complex cognitive process that selects specific stimuli for further processing. Previous research suggested the existence of three attentional networks: alerting, orienting and executive. However, one important topic is how to enhance the efficiency of attentional networks. In this context, understanding how this system behaves under...

Background: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) affects more than 264 million people worldwide. Current treatments include the use of psychotherapy and/or drugs, however ~30% of patients either do not respond to these treatments, or do not tolerate the side effects associated to the use of pharmacological interventions. Thus, it is important to study n...

Background/Aims: One of the components of working memory is the ability to respond to unexpected demands and rapidly shifting attention between tasks. Previous studies have used transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in order to modulate task and set shifting ability over the prefrontal cortex. However, set shifting/task switching ability r...

Background: Mind wandering is a prevalent phenomenon. However, the concept of mind wandering is associated with distinct and often orthogonal concepts, and researchers are still debating the best strategies to gain access to mind-wandering processes. Nonetheless, there is a progressive acknowledgment that mind wandering is a multidimensional and he...

Several studies suggested the involvement of the parietal cortex in task switching, however it remains unclear if cross-hemispheric transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) over the parietal cortex is able to neuromodulate task-shifting performance. Seventeen volunteers participated in this study. Participants were randomly assigned to receiv...

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the temporal lobe improves memory performance. Little is known about the effects of tDCS when the memory trace is still unstable. In this study, we assess the effects of cross-hemispheric tDCS over the temporal lobe, during a verbal-memory interference task. Fifteen healthy volunteers learned two...

Background Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has shown promising clinical results, leading to increased demand for an evidence-based review on its clinical effects. Objective We convened a team of tDCS experts to conduct a systematic review of clinical trials with more than one session of stimulation testing: Pain, Parkinson’s Disease...

The world population is rapidly aging, bringing together the necessity to better understand the advancing age. This characterization may be used to aid early diagnosis and to guide individually-tailored interventions. While some event-related potential (ERP) components, such as the P300 and late positive complex (LPC), have been associated with flu...

Precedent: Impairments in executive functioning may be associated with compulsive symptoms in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review of cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control and working memory in OCD patients, using emotional and non-emotional paradigms. Method: we reviewed research publi...

Memory consolidation refers to the process by which short-term memories during a learning process become stable or fixed over time, and as such, available for a later retrieval (Nader & Einarsson, 2010). Studies on memory consolidation performed on rats showed that when, both a concurrent learning (Duncan, 1949) and/or electroconvulsive shocks (Gor...

We hypothesized that anodal tDCS of rIFG would enhance response inhibition (placing a 35 cm2 electrode). We further wanted to test whether decreasing excitability in the left IFG would have a synergistic effect (35 cm2 or 100 cm2 ). Furthermore, a computational model was used to predict field intensity and trajectories of current flow to assure th...

Our goal was to test if bilateral tDCS combined with a modified approach avoidance task (CBM) for chocolate was able to reduce implicit and explicit chocolate craving

Long-term trials are key to understanding chronic symptoms such as pain and itch. However, challenges such as high attrition rates and poor recruitment are common when conducting research. The aim of this work is to explore these issues within a long-term randomized control trial using transcranial direct current stimulation to treat pain and itch....

The objective of this meta-analytic review was to systematically assess the effects of working memory training on healthy older adults. We identified 552 entries, of which 27 experiments met our inclusion criteria. The final database included 1130 participants. Near- and far-transfer effects were analysed with measures of short-term memory, working...

Little is known about how the brain processes information while navigating without visual cues. Technical limitations recording brain activity during real-world navigation have impeded research in this field. We have developed a study paradigm that benefits from wireless EEG recording technology. Participants heard a sequence of directional command...

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) over the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC) has already been shown to decrease craving for food. However, it remains unclear whether a single session of tDCS combined with a cognitive bias modification (CBM) task may affect explicit and implicit measures of craving for chocolate. Fifty-one healthy...

Cognitive dysfunction in fibromyalgia has been reported, especially memory. Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) has been effective in enhancing this function. We tested the effects of eight sessions of tDCS and cognitive training on immediate and delayed memory, verbal fluency and wo...

Previous studies showed the efficacy of a single session real-time electroencephalogram (rtEEG) protocols in sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) or Theta up-training. However, the impact of this training on sustained or mind-wandering attention was only modest. This could be explained by the lack of specificity in distinct rtEEG training protocols given thei...

Our minds are continuously alternating between external attention (EA) and mind wandering (MW). An appropriate balance between EA and MW is important for promoting efficient perceptual processing, executive functioning, decision-making, auto-biographical memory, and creativity. There is evidence that EA processes are associated with increased activ...

Previous studies looking at how Mind Wandering (MW) impacts performance in distinct Focused Attention (FA) systems, using the Attention Network Task (ANT), showed that the presence of pure MW thoughts did not impact the overall performance of ANT (alert, orienting and conflict) performance. However, it still remains unclear if the lack of interfere...

This chapter presents a series of important topics that should be considered and evaluated before conducting a clinical trial in which there is a collaboration between industry and academia. It discusses important topics such as the project budget and sources of funding. Additionally, this chapter highlights the advantages of the academia-industry...

This chapter focuses on basic principles of survival analysis for the clinical investigator. Survival analysis is a specific type of standardized statistical analysis that focuses on assessing the time elapsed since the exposure/intervention to the occurrence of an event. Important concepts such as median survival time, cumulative probability of su...

This chapter focuses on two important concepts: subgroup analysis and meta-analysis. Subgroup analysis is especially concerned about variability and how treatment effects can differ due to specific characteristics of the population. Important issues, however, arise when planning for subgroup analysis, such as dealing with false positives and method...

Critical Thinking in Clinical Research explains the fundamentals of clinical research in a case-based approach. The core concept is to combine a clear and concise transfer of information and knowledge with an engagement of the reader to develop a mastery of learning and critical thinking skills. The book addresses the main concepts of clinical rese...

Two psychological mechanisms seem to be associated with the obsessive-compulsive cycle: (1) an emotional mechanism characterized by intense emotional arousal associated with intrusive thoughts of impending danger; (2) a cognitive mechanism exemplified by difficulties with inhibitory control. Several studies found more extensive cognitive deficits i...

The aim of this present study was to asses the effects a single session of tDCS coupled with cognitive training on explicit and implicit preference for chocolate.

Study design: Secondary analysis of a clinical trial. Objective: To analyse adherence to 1-year transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) clinical trial in people with chronic pain due to Spinal Cord Injury (SCI). We also explore the association between dropout and several baseline variables such as age, depression levels, pain severity, numb...

The sensory and motor cortical homunculi proposed by Walter Penfield were a major landmark for the anatomical mapping of the brain. More than 60 years after, the development of new tools to investigate brain function non-invasively has increased our knowledge about the structure and functions of the primary motor Cortex (M1) beyond motor control in...

This study examined the effects of bihemispheric and unihemispheric transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) over the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) on proactive control. Sixteen participants were randomized to receive (i) bihemispheric tDCS, with a 35cm(2) anodal electrode of the right IFG and a 35cm(2) cathode electrode of left IFG or (ii) un...

There is increasing evidence that both mind wandering (MW) and attention are influenced by culture. However, studies on the interference between MW and attention across cultures are virtually nonexistent. Here we researched how individuals from 2 cultures (Portuguese, Brazilian) differ in terms of type of thoughts and content of MW during the cours...

Conventional transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) protocols rely on applying electrical current at a fixed intensity and duration without using surrogate markers to direct the interventions. This has led to some mixed results; especially because tDCS induced effects may vary depending on the ongoing level of brain activity. Therefore, the...

Transcranial pulsed current stimulation (tPCS) is a neuromodulatory technique that has been studied in the last decade. Several parameters have been assessed independently to optimize the effects. Our aim was to explore the effects of tPCS using different montages on cortical brain oscillations indexed by power spectrum and interhemispheric coheren...

Cognitive dysfunction in fibromyalgia patients has been reported, especially when increased attentional demands are required. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) has been effective in modulating attention. We tested the effects of a single session of tDCS coupled with a Go/No-go task in mod...

The objective of the present study was to research the patterns of Default Mode Network (DMN) deactivation in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in the transition between a resting and a non-rest emotional condition. Twenty-seven participants, 15 diagnosed with OCD and 12 healthy controls (HC), underwent a functional neuroimaging paradigm in which...

While the ethio-pathogenesis of Obsessive-Compulsive disorder (OCD) remains unknown, there is increased evidence of widespread structural alterations in both white and gray matter in OCD patients that include, but are not restricted, to abnormalities in corticostriatal- thalamo-cortical (CSTC) regions. The objective of this study was to test the ex...

The integration of obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD) in the Obsessive Compulsive and Related Disorders cluster, while emphasizing the centrality of inhibitory control and repetitive behaviors may fail to fully acknowledge the existence of significant affective and other cognitive impairments. The objective of this paper is to present examples on...

The central sensitization syndrome (CSS) encompasses disorders with overlapping symptoms in a structural pathology spectrum ranging from persistent nociception [e.g., osteoarthritis (OA)] to an absence of tissue injuries such as the one presented in fibromyalgia (FM) and myofascial pain syndrome (MPS). First, we hypothesized that these syndromes pr...

The integration of obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD) in the Obsessive Compulsive and Related Disorders cluster, while emphasizing the centrality of inhibitory control and repetitive behaviors may fail to fully acknowledge the existence of significant affective and other cognitive impairments. The objective of this paper is to present examples on...

Objective: To explore the duration of tPCS after effects given different durations of stimulation on power and interhemispheric coherence of the EEG frequency bands. Our hypothesis was that longer tPCS duration would induce a differential effect on the EEG analysis and a longer duration of after effects on the EEG frequency bands. Materials and Met...

Transcranial pulsed current stimulation (tPCS) has been shown to increase inter-hemispheric coherence of brain oscillatory activity, mainly in fronto-temporal regions, leading to enhancement of functional connectivity across neural networks. The question is whether tPCS can modulate behavior significantly. Our aim was to identify the effects of tPC...

Transcranial Electrical Stimulation (tES) is a safe, painless, and inexpensive non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) technique. tES has been shown to reduce symptoms in a variety of neuropsychiatric conditions such as depression, schizophrenia, anxiety, autism, and craving. There are many factors that can influence the effects of tES, such as curre...

This mini systematic review aimed to investigate the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on working memory in older adults without cognitive impairment. The search was carried out in three different databases for all human trials published from 2005 to 2015, assessing the effects of tDCS on working memory in healthy older adul...

Chronic corneal pain (CCP) is a highly disabling condition and its diagnosis is typically made based on patients’ self-report. Recent advances in the understanding of the pathophysiology of chronic pain syndromes have led to the hypothesis that sensitization of both peripheral (i.e. trigeminal) and central (i.e. thalamocortical) pathways may be inv...

Addiction is a chronic relapsing brain disease with significant economical and medical burden on the societies but with limited effectiveness in the available treatment options. Better understanding of the chemical, neuronal, regional, and network alterations of the brain due to drug abuse can ultimately lead to tailoring individualized and more ef...

The aim of the present study is to explore obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)-related abnormalities in white matter connectivity in OCD for a core region associated with inhibitory control [i.e. inferior frontal gyrus (IFG)]. Fifteen patients with OCD (11 men) and 15 healthy controls (nine men) underwent diffusion tensor imaging scanning to study...

The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is involved in the cognitive appraisal and modulation of the pain experience. In this sham-controlled study, with healthy volunteers, we used bi-hemispheric transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the DLPFC to assess emotional reactions elicited by pain observation. Left-cathodal/right-anodal t...