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Objective In this phase II psychometric study on the Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA), we tested the clinicometric properties of Italian norms for patients with mild cognitive impairment (PwMCI) and early dementia (PwD) and provided optimal cutoffs for diagnostic purposes. Methods Retrospective data collection was performed for consecutive patients with clinically and biologically defined MCI and early dementia. Forty-five patients (24 PwMCI and 21 PwD) and 25 healthy controls were included. Raw MoCA scores were adjusted according to the conventional 1-point correction (Nasreddine) and Italian norms (Conti, Santangelo, Aiello). The diagnostic properties of the original cutoff ( Results The original cutoff demonstrated high sensitivity (0.93 [95% CI 0.84–0.98]) but low specificity (0.44 [0.32–0.56]) in discriminating between patients and controls. Nominal normative cutoffs (ES0 uLs) showed excellent specificity (SP range = 0.96–1.00 [0.88–1.00]) but poor sensitivity (SE range = 0.09–0.24 [0.04–0.36]). The optimal cutoff for Nasreddine’s method was 23.50 (SE = 0.82 [0.71–0.90]; SP = 0.72 [0.60–0.82]). Optimal cutoffs were 20.97, 22.85, and 22.29 (SE range = 0.69–0.73 [0.57–0.83], SP range = 0.88–0.92 [0.77–0.97]) for Conti’s, Santangelo’s, and Aiello’s methods, respectively. Conclusion Using the 1-point correction, combined with a cutoff of 23.50, might be useful in ambulatory settings with a large turnout. Our optimal cutoffs can offset the poor sensitivity of Italian cutoffs.

"Long-COVID" is a clinical entity that consists of persisting post-infectious symptoms that last for more than three months after the onset of the first acute COVID-19 symptoms. Among these, a cluster of neurological persisting symptoms defines Neuro-Long-COVID. While the debate about the pathogenesis of Long-COVID is still ongoing, sex differences have been individuated for both the acute and the chronic stage of the infection. We conducted a retrospective study describing sex differences in a large sample of patients with Neuro-Long-COVID. Demographic and clinical data were collected in a specifically designed Neuro-Long-Covid outpatient service. Our sample included 213 patients: 151 were females and 62 were males; the mean age was similar between females (53 y, standard deviation 14) and males (55 y, standard deviation 15); no significant differences was present between the demographic features across the two groups. Despite the prevalence of the specific chronic symptoms between male and females showed no significant differences, the total number of females accessing our service was higher than that of males, confirming the higher prevalence of Neuro-Long-COVID in female individuals. Conversely, a worse acute phase response in males rather than females was confirmed by a significant difference in the rates of acute respiratory symptoms (p = 0.008), dyspnea (p = 0.018), respiratory failure (p = 0.010) and the consequent need for ventilation (p = 0.015), together with other acute symptoms such as palpitations (p = 0.049), headache (p = 0.001) and joint pain (p = 0.049). Taken together, these findings offer a subgroup analysis based on sex-dependent characteristics, which can support a tailored-medicine approach.

The traditional view on the cerebellum is that it controls motor behavior. Although recent work has revealed that the cerebellum supports also nonmotor functions such as cognition and affect, only during the last 5 years it has become evident that the cerebellum also plays an important social role. This role is evident in social cognition based on interpreting goal-directed actions through the movements of individuals (social "mirroring") which is very close to its original role in motor learning, as well as in social understanding of other individuals' mental state, such as their intentions, beliefs, past behaviors, future aspirations, and personality traits (social "mentalizing"). Most of this mentalizing role is supported by the posterior cerebellum (e.g., Crus I and II). The most dominant hypothesis is that the cerebellum assists in learning and understanding social action sequences, and so facilitates social cognition by supporting optimal predictions about imminent or future social interaction and cooperation. This consensus paper brings together experts from different fields to discuss recent efforts in understanding the role of the cerebellum in social cognition, and the understanding of social behaviors and mental states by others, its effect on clinical impairments such as cerebellar ataxia and autism spectrum disorder, and how the cerebellum can become a potential target for noninvasive brain stimulation as a therapeutic intervention. We report on the most recent empirical findings and techniques for understanding and manipulating cerebellar circuits in humans. Cerebellar circuitry appears now as a key structure to elucidate social interactions. Frank Van Overwalle, Elien Heleven, Qianying Ma, and Min Pu were supported by an SRP57 grant from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and Elien Heleven was additionally supported by an FWO G002319N/AL907 grant from the Flemish government. Zaira Cattaneo was supported by a Bando Ricerca Finalizzata (GR2016-02363640) by the Italian Ministry of Health. Marco Michelutti and Arseny A. Sokolov were supported by aMille E Una Lode fellowship from the University of Padua to MM, and fellowships from the Leenaards Foundation and the Swiss National Science Foundation, and a grant from the Helmut Horten Foundation to AAS. Catherine Stoodley and Laura C. Rice were supported by an NIH R15MH106957 grant. Van Overwalle, F (corresponding author), Vrije Univ Brussel, Dept Psychol, Pl Laan 2, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium; Vrije Univ Brussel, Ctr Neurosci, Pl Laan 2, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium. Frank.VanOverwalle@vub.ac.be; mmanto@ulb.ac.be; zaira.cattaneo@unimib.it; silvia.clausi@uniroma1.it; chiara.ferrari@unipv.it; gabrieli@mit.edu; xguellparadis@mgh.harvard.edu; Elien.Heleven@vub.be; m.lupo@hsantalucia.it; Qianying.Ma@vub.be; michelutti.marco.m@gmail.com; g.olivito@hsantalucia.it; Min.Pu@vub.be; laura.blevins@student.american.edu; jschmahmann@mgh.harvard.edu; libera.siciliano@uniroma1.it; Arseny.Sokolov@chuv.ch; stoodley@american.edu; kim.vandun@uhasselt.be; LVandervert@aol.com; maria.leggio@uniroma1.it