Raffaele Ferri

• MD
• Scientific Director at Oasi Research Institute - IRCCS

Here, we investigated whether educational attainment influences the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying vigilance regulation, as reflected in resting-state eyes-closed electroencephalographic (rsEEG) rhythms, in patients with dementia due to Parkinson’s (PDD) and Lewy body disease (DLB). Clinical, demographic, and rsEEG data were obtained from...

Introduction Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) and its associated motor manifestations, such as periodic leg movements during sleep (PLMS), exhibit significant sex-related differences in prevalence, progression, and treatment response. Epidemiological studies suggest a higher prevalence of RLS in women, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This...

Introduction Recent evidence has highlighted Large Muscle Group Movements during sleep (LMM) as a distinct phenomenon in restless Legs Syndrome (RLS), with neurophysiological and neurobiological differences from periodic leg movements during sleep (PLMS). While LMM are correlated with sleep fragmentation and instability, their relationship with tre...

Study Objectives The pathobiology of restless legs syndrome (RLS) remains poorly understood, complicating effective treatment. This observational cross-sectional study aimed to identify a cerebrospinal fluid proteomic signature of RLS and to explore sex-specific differences in cerebrospinal fluid proteomics. Methods Cerebrospinal fluid samples wer...

Depression is a common comorbidity in Parkinson’s disease (PD), significantly reducing patients’ quality of life. This mini-review examines pharmacological and nonpharmacological therapies for managing depression in PD, analyzing their benefits, and limitations. Pharmacological options include tricyclic antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake...

Capgras syndrome (CS) is a delusional misidentification phenomenon increasingly reported in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Lewy Body Dementia (LBD). Aim of the present scoping review was to provide an overview on current evidence on the pharmacological treatment of CS in PD and LBD, identifying knowledge gaps in the literature. The foll...

Background/Objectives: Huntington’s disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder caused by the expansion of the CAG nucleotide repeat in the first exon of the huntingtin (HTT) gene. The disease typically manifests between the second and third decades of life and progresses gradually. The pathogenesis of HD involves the dysregula...

In this “centenary” paper, an expert panel revisited Hans Berger’s groundbreaking discovery of human resting state electroencephalographic (rsEEG) alpha rhythms (8–12 Hz) in 1924, his foresight of substantial clinical applications in patients with “senile dementia,” and new developments in the field, focusing on Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most p...

Fasting–feeding timing is a crucial pattern implicated in the regulation of daily circadian rhythms. The interplay between sleep and meal timing underscores the importance of maintaining circadian alignment in order to avoid creating a metabolic environment conducive to carcinogenesis following the molecular and systemic disruption of metabolic per...

Background Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a common sensory‐motor disorder characterized by an urge to move the legs, often with unpleasant sensations, particularly during rest. Current treatments include iron supplementation, dopamine agonists, and opioids, but new therapeutic approaches are needed. The dysfunction of the A11 nucleus, which modula...

Background To date, few data to transcranial Doppler sonography (TCD) are available in patients with mild vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) at risk for vascular or mixed dementia. In a previous study in patients with mild VCI and cerebral small vessels disease, a hemodynamic pattern of cerebral hypoperfusion and enhanced vascular resistance were...

Background The amplitude of resting‐state electroencephalographic (rsEEG) rhythms is a promising neurophysiological biomarker to investigate the abnormalities of oscillatory neurophysiological thalamocortical mechanisms related to the general cortical arousal and vigilance in wakefulness in patients with dementia due to neurodegenerative diseases a...

Study Objectives This study aimed to investigate the effect of dopamine agonists (DA) and Clonazepam on Large Muscle Group Movements during sleep (LMM), a distinct motor phenomenon, in Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS). Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 51 drug-free adult patients with RLS, divided into three groups: 33 received a DA (p...

Sleep is essential for brain development and overall health, particularly in children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). Sleep disruptions can considerably impact brain structure and function, leading to dysfunction of neurotransmitter systems, metabolism, hormonal balance and inflammatory processes, potentially contributing to the pathophys...

Patients with mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease (ADMCI) typically show abnormally high delta (<4 Hz) and low alpha (8–12 Hz) rhythms measured from resting-state eyes-closed electroencephalographic (rsEEG) activity. Here, we hypothesized that the abnormalities in rsEEG activity may be greater in ADMCI patients than in those with M...

Study objectives: Sleep disorders and/or disordered sleep represent common clinical presentations of pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS), occurring in up to 80% of affected children, with REM sleep motor disinhibition being a prevalent feature. To date, limited polysomnographic (PSG) studies have been conducted. Therefore, the o...

This study aims to investigate large muscle group movements (LMM) during sleep across the lifespan, from school‐aged children to older adults, and to examine their relationship with sleep architecture (REM and NREM). A total of 141 healthy participants were included, divided into five age groups: school‐aged children ( n = 43), adolescents ( n = 31...

Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), restless legs syndrome (RLS), or both may exhibit varied manifestations of depressive and anxiety symptomatology, reflecting the complex interplay between sleep disturbances, neurotransmitter imbalances, and psychosocial stressors in these often overlapping conditions. The aim of this study was to compar...

More than six million people worldwide are affected by Parkinson’s disease (PD), a multifactorial disorder characterized by the progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc). Several immunohistochemical studies suggest that neuromelanin (NM), found in these neurons, plays a key role in their degeneration. In t...

Prior studies evaluating sleep quality have found that women often have better polysomnography‐defined sleep quality than men, but women subjectively report a greater frequency of sleep disturbances. Although these studies can be partially attributed to study design, it is currently unclear what may be causing these discrepancies. In this study, we...

Background Anhedonic features within major depressive disorder (MDD) have been associated with worse course and outcome and may predict non-response to treatment. However a detailed clinical profile of anhedonia in MDD is still lacking. Materials and Methods One thousand two hundred ninety-four patients with MDD were selected from the cross-sectio...

Background Patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD) frequently exhibit non‐motor symptoms, particularly sleep disturbances. Sleep disorders in PD patients are intricately linked to the pathogenesis and progression of PD itself, exacerbating neurodegenerative processes and worsening patient quality of life. Objectives This review underscores the sign...

Restless legs syndrome is usually associated with periodic limb movements during sleep, which are defined as repetitive, stereotyped movements in sleep. Changes in spectral analysis of electroencephalography and heart rate were shown to be associated with periodic limb movements during sleep and non‐periodic leg movements in sleep. Considering the...

The present study was developed based on the data of The PDWAVES Consortium (www.pdwaves.eu) and the PharmaCog project. The Partners and institutional affiliations are reported on the cover page of this manuscript. In this study, the clinical, neuropsychological, and magnetic resonance imaging data collection and analysis in patients with ADMCI and...

Quantitative methods to evaluate data acquired from polysomnography (PSG) may be sensitive to physiological and behavioral patterns including insomnia, cognition, psychiatric disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, and other aspects of daily function. Further, PSG analytic tools may provide insight into both systemic and acquired neurological diseas...

Objective: Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is an important tool for treatment optimisation. Its usefulness has recently been demonstrated for some first-line antidepressants; however, few studies have been reported on the relationship between blood levels of mirtazapine and its antidepressant effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the...

The auditory P300 wave, also known as P3b, is an event-related potential component thought to reflect central information processes involved in stimulus evaluation or categorization. It is typically elicited using the oddball paradigm, which involves mixing low-probability target items with high-probability standard stimuli. Its latency is associat...

This study aimed to investigate sex‐related differences in the response to ropinirole and pramipexole in patients with restless legs syndrome (RLS). By analysing clinical parameters and polysomnographic (PSG) findings, we sought to elucidate the potential factors related to sex disparities modulating treatment responses and sleep quality in RLS. A...

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant changes in daily life for humanity and has had a profound impact on mental health. As widely acknowledged, the pandemic has led to notable increases in rates of anxiety, depression, distress, and other mental health-related issues, affecting both infected patients and non-infected individuals. COVID-19...

The triadic interplay between sleep, immunity, and cancer represents a growing area of biomedical research with significant clinical implications. This review synthesizes the current knowledge on how sleep influences immune function, the immune system’s role in cancer dynamics, and the direct connections between sleep patterns and cancer risk. Afte...

The neurological condition known as narcolepsy type 1(NT1) is an uncommon condition marked by extreme daytime sleepiness, cataplexy, sleep paralysis, hallucinations, disrupted nocturnal sleep, and low or undetectable levels of orexin in the CSF fluid. NT1 has been hypothesized to be an immunological disorder; its treatment is currently only symptom...

Purpose Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) tact-training was provided to an adult with post-stroke anomic aphasia, with the main purposes to improve naming of pictures, with a possible generalization to another different setting, through telehealth sessions. Method The Multiple probe experimental design across behaviors was used. Two sets of stimuli...

ASD is a complex condition primarily rooted in genetics, although influenced by environmental, prenatal, and perinatal risk factors, ultimately leading to genetic and epigenetic alterations. These mechanisms may manifest as inflammatory, oxidative stress, hypoxic, or ischemic damage. To elucidate potential variances in gene expression in ASD, a tra...

Sleep is a complex physiological state characterized by distinct stages, each exhibiting unique electroencephalographic patterns and physiological phenomena. Sleep research has unveiled the presence of intricate cyclic‐periodic phenomena during both non‐rapid eye movement and rapid eye movement sleep stages. These phenomena encompass a spectrum of...

Introduction: Children born prematurely (<37 weeks’ gestation) are at increased risk of perinatal complications, comorbidities, and iron deficiency. Iron deficiency is associated with restless legs syndrome and periodic limb movement disorder. In this study, we assessed the prevalence of restless sleep disorder (RSD) and elevated periodic limb move...

Objective Sleep problems constitute a common and heterogeneous complaint in pediatric palliative care (PPC), where they often contribute to disease morbidity and cause additional distress to children and adolescents and their families already facing the burden of life-threatening and life-limiting conditions. Despite the significant impact of slee...

Study Objectives Recently, criteria have been drawn up for large muscle group movements during sleep (LMM), defined as movements lasting for 3–45 seconds in adults, which are often accompanied by changes in sleep stage, arousals, and increases in heart rate. The aim of this study was to characterize LMM in restless legs syndrome (RLS) in order to b...

Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) is a common sleep disorder characterized by an urge to move the legs that is responsive to movement (particularly during rest), periodic leg movements during sleep, and hyperarousal. Recent evidence suggests that the involvement of the adenosine system may establish a connection between dopamine and glutamate dysfunctio...

Background: Rett syndrome (RTT) is a rare neurological disorder primarily associated with mutations in the methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MECP2) gene. The syndrome is characterized by cognitive, social, and physical impairments, as well as sleep disorders and epilepsy. Notably, dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system is a key feature of the synd...

Introduction Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection remains a significant health challenge, particularly due to the global effects on health, social impact, and overall well-being. Studies on people living with HIV (PLWH) have identified that sleep disturbance interfere with quality of life, medication effect, comorbidities and disease progre...

Introduction Studies on Hispanic patients (HP) in the US have highlighted a higher prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) compared to non-Hispanic White patients (WP). However, the role of obesity or body mass index (BMI) as a confounding factor remains unclear. Few studies have investigated the success of titration in split-night polysomnogra...

Introduction This study aimed to investigate whether women experiencing restless legs syndrome (RLS) undergo distinct changes in periodic leg movements during sleep (PLMS) during the post-menopausal period, using an age threshold of >50 years as a proxy, in comparison to men of the same age. The assessment of leg movement activity during sleep empl...

Introduction The distinction between mild, moderate, and severe apnea is crucial, as it classifies patients into different categories of modifiable risk factors. In hypopnea scoring, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services use the 4% criterion, differing from American Academy of Sleep Medicine 's 3%, affecting AHI measurement and the assessment...

Introduction Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) is a widely prevalent and complex neurological disorder. Despite notable advancements in managing RLS, the disorder continues to face challenges related to its recognition and management. Objective This study seeks to gain comprehensive insights into the knowledge and clinical practices among Italian neuro...

The present exploratory study tested the hypothesis that computerized cognitive training (CCT) in home telemonitoring may beneficially affect eyes-closed resting-state electroencephalographic (rsEEG) rhythms in Parkinson's disease patients with cognitive deficits (PDCD). A Eurasian database provided clinical-demographic-rsEEG datasets in 40 PDCD pa...

Almost all individuals with Down’s syndrome (DS) show the characteristic neuropathological features of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) by the age of 40, yet not every individual with DS experiences symptoms of AD later in life. Similar to neurotypical developing subjects, AD in people with DS lasts for a long preclinical phase in which biomarkers follow a...

The aim of this study was to analyze signaling pathways associated with differentially expressed messenger RNAs in people with restless legs syndrome (RLS). Seventeen RLS patients and 18 controls were enrolled. Coding RNA expression profiling of 12,857 gene transcripts by next-generation sequencing was performed. Enrichment analysis by pathfindR to...

BACKGROUND Diet and sleep represent key behavioral risk factors for major non-communicable diseases. Dietary factors may modulate systemic inflammation and potentially affect the human brain functionality, finally affecting the sleep-wake cycle. In this context, the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) has been studied as a tool to investigate the diet...

Background and purpose This study compared the features of isolated rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) and antidepressant‐related REM sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) with the aim of highlighting markers that might distinguish the two entities. Methods The observational cohort study included RBD patients with and without antidep...

The burden of sleep disorders is a global health concern that affects millions of people worldwide [...]

Aims Although clonazepam (CLO) and melatonin (MLT) are the most frequently used treatments for REM sleep behavior disorder, the polysomnographic features associated with their use are little known. The aim of this study was to evaluate polysomnographic and clinical parameters of patients with idiopathic/isolated REM sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) t...

Purpose of Review Understanding the prevalence, presentation, and outcomes of the contribution of sleep disorders to sleep disruption and quality of life of persons living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection (PLWH) is crucial for planning comprehensive patient care and management strategies. This review focuses on the presence of slee...

Purpose of Review This topical review aims to explore the potential of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) as both a neurophysiological diagnostic tool and a novel therapeutic approach for restless legs syndrome (RLS). Recent Findings Overall, TMS data suggest that RLS should be regarded as a complex sensory-motor disorder in which cortical, s...

Huntington's disease (HD) is a rare, incurable neurodegenerative disorder where fast and non-invasive diagnosis targeting patients' condition plays a crucial role. In modern medicine, various scientific areas are being combined, such as computing, medicine and biomedical engineering. This survey is focused on the most recent image processing method...

The prevalence of sleep disorders, characterized by issues with quality, timing, and sleep duration is increasing globally. Among modifiable risk factors, diet quality has been suggested to influence sleep features. The Mediterranean diet is considered a landmark dietary pattern in terms of quality and effects on human health. However, dietary habi...

Parkinson’s disease (PD) stands as the most prevalent degenerative movement disorder, marked by the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra of the midbrain. In this study, we conducted a transcriptome analysis utilizing post mortem mRNA extracted from the substantia nigra of both PD patients and healthy control (CTRL) individua...

This review article explores the use of Virtual Reality (VR) technology in cognitive rehabilitation for individuals with neurological conditions, such as stroke, traumatic brain injury, and neurodegenerative diseases. The introduction highlights the challenges posed by cognitive impairments and the limitations of traditional rehabilitation methods....