A Feasibility Study on the Efficacy of Functional Near-Infrared Spectrometry (fNIRS) to Measure Prefrontal Activation in Paediatric HIV
- Authors: Zondo, Sizwe , Ferreira-Correia, Aline , Cockcroft, Kate
- Date: 2024
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/450556 , vital:74960 , xlink:href="https://www.hindawi.com/journals/js/2024/4970794/"
- Description: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is associated with disturbed neurotransmission and aberrant cortical networks. Although advances in the imaging of brain microarchitecture following neuroHIV has added to our knowledge of structural and functional changes associated with HIV, no data exists on paediatric HIV using optical neuroimaging techniques. This study investigated the feasibility of optical neuroimaging in paediatric HIV using functional near-infrared spectrometry (fNIRS). We measured prefrontal brain activation while participants executed a sustained attention task. We specifically tested whether patients living with HIV and study controls could perform the study protocol and whether we could measure the typical fNIRS haemodynamic response associated with neuronal activity. Eighteen participants (10 HIV participants, mean age: 13.9, SD = 1.66 years; 8 controls, mean age: 14.8, SD = 1.28 years), matched for sex, grade, and socio-economic status, were included in the study. All participants completed the Stroop colour word test (SCWT). Oxygenated haemoglobin concentration and the deoxygenated haemoglobin signal were recorded from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the frontopolar area (FA) using fNIRS. The control group performed significantly better in terms of reaction time on the congruent and incongruent condition (congruent: t (16) = −3.36, : incongruent: ). A pooled group analysis of the sample indicated significant activation in the DLPF and FA to the congruent condition of the SCWT (). Although cortical activation was noted in the DLPF and the FA in each of the groups when analysed independently, this neural activation did not reach statistical significance. The results show promise that fNIRS techniques are feasible for assessing prefrontal cortical activity in paediatric HIV. Future studies should seek to reduce the signal-to-noise ratio and consider inter-individual variability when measuring prefrontal activation in paediatric samples.
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The cognitive remediation of attention in HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND): A meta-analysis and systematic review
- Authors: Zondo, Sizwe
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/450732 , vital:74977 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.132166.1"
- Description: Despite medical advances in Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART), patients living with HIV continue to be at risk for developing HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). The optimization of non-HAART interventions, including cognitive rehabilitation therapy (CRT), shows promise in reversing the impact of HAND. No data exist indicating the efficacy of CRT in remediating attention skills following neuroHIV. This paper presents a meta-analysis of randomised and non-randomised controlled trials (RCTs) to remediate attention skills following HIV CRT.
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Could differences in implicit attitudes to sexual concurrency play a role in generalized HIV epidemics?
- Authors: Kenyon, Chris R , Wolfs, Kenny , Osbak, Kara , van Hal, Guido , Zondo, Sizwe , van Lankveld, J
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/450574 , vital:74962 , xlink:href="10.12688/f1000research.14951.2"
- Description: Despite medical advances in Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART), patients living with HIV continue to be at risk for developing HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). The optimization of non-HAART interventions, including cognitive rehabilitation therapy (CRT), shows promise in reversing the impact of HAND. No data exist indicating the efficacy of CRT in remediating attention skills following neuroHIV. This paper presents a meta-analysis of randomised and non-randomised controlled trials (RCTs) to remediate attention skills following HIV CRT.
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A critical appraisal of the ideology of monogamys influence on HIV epidemiology
- Authors: Kenyon, Chris R , Colebunders, Robert , Dlamini, Sipho S , Meulemans, Herman , Zondo, Sizwe
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/450541 , vital:74959 , xlink:href="10.12688/f1000research.14951.2"
- Description: The linked ideas that all members of society should only engage in monogamous relationships and that these should all be based on romantic love are decided outliers from a historical perspective. Despite this, there is a widespread contemporary belief that monogamy based on love is the most ethical and natural form of partnering for humans mononormativism. It has long been accepted that our values influence how we frame and interpret scientific questions. In the article we ask, using the example of mononormativism, how does an individual s sexual ethics influence how they pursue HIV epidemiology? Using a Social Intuitionalist theoretical framework, we argue that a be-lief in monogamy-as-normative has contributed to certain researchers dismissing the evidence that the generalized HIV epidemics in parts of Africa are due to higher rates of non-monogamy.
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