Depression is characterized by affective symptoms and neuropsychological deficits. After treatment, affective symptoms frequently remit, but cognitive alterations may remain affecting the lives of people and having an impact on health, economy, and societies. The present work describes the methods, procedures, and equipment for a randomized three-arm controlled experiment designed to measure the effects of exergames on executive functions (EFs) under depression. EFs are complex cognitive functions that are essential for organizing information, planning an action, reasoning, decision-making, and problem-solving. Literature shows that EFs are compromised in depression, affecting daily-life activities and other cognitive domains. To conduct the experiment, depressed middle-aged adults will be randomly distributed into three experimental groups: an intervention group training with exergames, an active control group training only with cognitive video games, and a passive control group or wait-list. EFs are evaluated at three different time points: pre-post intervention, and three months follow-up, using the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Researchers will collect cognitive-behavioral and neural information [event-related potentials (ERPs)]. Results will be explored by performing analysis of variance to compare the outcomes of the diverse groups at the three different time points, understanding the benefits of exergames in terms of EFs under depression. The study of simultaneous multidomain interventions in depression holds promise for the development of novel approaches, to implementing psychological and neuropsychological health [this experiment is part of a registered clinical trial entitled “MUDgame” (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT06536530). Registered on August 2024, https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06536530].

Melatonin is widely available as a dietary supplement and/or medicine for sleep. It is an endogenous hormone produced in the pineal gland of the brain, with metabolites providing additional beneficial mechanisms such as supporting long-term memory. Melatonin is well known as a hormone that plays a role in the circadian rhythm (sleep cycle), but additional mechanisms such as antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activity are elucidated from animal research models. This article discusses melatonin supplementation and the current understanding of how it may provide benefits beyond the use as a sleep aid including a review of the evidence in how it may aid in mitigating components of cognitive decline.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is characterized by its infiltrative growth pattern and high recurrence rate despite treatment. While local progression within the central nervous system (CNS) is the rule, manifestations outside the CNS, particularly skin and subcutaneous metastases, are very infrequent and seldom reported in the literature. The authors reviewed the current understanding of this rare condition, with the main purpose of giving visibility to its clinical presentation and prognostic implications, thus improving clinical management and encouraging research in this area. A PubMed, Cochrane Library, and EMBASE search from database inception through March 2024 was conducted. In this way, we compiled a total of thirty-five cases in our review. As far as we know, our work gathers the largest number of patients with this condition. Remarkably, we observed that the typical presentation of soft-tissue high-grade glioma metastases is the finding of subcutaneous erythematous nodules in patients previously operated on for a primary CNS tumor, within the craniotomy site and nearby, mostly in the first year after the initial surgery. It was also noted that there is a trend of developing a concomitant CNS recurrence and/or other metastases in different locations, either simultaneously or subsequently. From here, we propose some possible mechanisms that explain the extracranial spread of GBM. We concluded that a poor outcome is expected from the diagnosis of skin and subcutaneous metastases: the mean overall survival was 4.38 months. Yet, assessing individual characteristics is always mandatory; a palliative approach seems to be the best option for the majority of cases.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common malignant primary central nervous system (CNS) tumor. It presents an aggressive pattern, with a tendency for intracranial progression despite optimal treatment. On the other hand, metastases and manifestations outside the CNS are exceptional, and very few cases have been described. The authors submitted a case of a 48-year-old male diagnosed with a left parietooccipital GBM isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) wild-type, non-methylated O⁶-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT). Six months after surgical treatment, followed by a chemotherapy (CT) and radiotherapy scheme, he developed a few subcutaneous erythematous nodules within the surgical scar. A punch biopsy confirmed the histopathology of GBM. The CT scan showed concomitant intracranial progression. We ruled out systemic metastases. As the performance status was good [Karnofsky Performance Status 90 (KPS 90)] and the subcutaneous implants were growing rapidly, limiting the quality of life, we decided to perform palliative surgery to remove the implants. The result was good. Unfortunately, the patient worsened during the following week, after ruling out medical complications, we attributed the worsening to cerebral tumor swelling, revealed in the CT scan, as unresponsive to steroids. He passed away a few days later. Based on the analysis of our case, we intend to provide useful information for the approach to this peculiar manifestation of GBM.