Tianjin University of Sport

Peripheral nerve injury is a common neurological condition that often leads to severe functional limitations and disabilities. Research on the pathogenesis of peripheral nerve injury has focused on pathological changes at individual injury sites, neglecting multilevel pathological analysis of the overall nervous system and target organs. This has led to restrictions on current therapeutic approaches. In this paper, we first summarize the potential mechanisms of peripheral nerve injury from a holistic perspective, covering the central nervous system, peripheral nervous system, and target organs. After peripheral nerve injury, the cortical plasticity of the brain is altered due to damage to and regeneration of peripheral nerves; changes such as neuronal apoptosis and axonal demyelination occur in the spinal cord. The nerve will undergo axonal regeneration, activation of Schwann cells, inflammatory response, and vascular system regeneration at the injury site. Corresponding damage to target organs can occur, including skeletal muscle atrophy and sensory receptor disruption. We then provide a brief review of the research advances in therapeutic approaches to peripheral nerve injury. The main current treatments are conducted passively and include physical factor rehabilitation, pharmacological treatments, cell-based therapies, and physical exercise. However, most treatments only partially address the problem and cannot complete the systematic recovery of the entire central nervous system–peripheral nervous system–target organ pathway. Therefore, we should further explore multilevel treatment options that produce effective, long-lasting results, perhaps requiring a combination of passive (traditional) and active (novel) treatment methods to stimulate rehabilitation at the central–peripheral–target organ levels to achieve better functional recovery.

In recent years, research has increasingly concentrated on examining verbal working memory (VWM) with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, the findings on whether ASD experience impairments in VWM are inconsistent, which could be attributed to various factors, including age, IQ, task variations, and participant heterogeneity. Therefore, this study undertakes a meta-analysis to review the advancements in research on VWM deficits in ASD, exploring the potential influence of factors such as age, IQ, sample size, and test tasks on VWM performance in this population. According to the Boolean algorithm, this study combined keywords related to VWM in children and adolescents with ASD, and published them in Web of Science, PsyCINFO, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, CNKI, and Wanfang Database to find all research findings in ASD related VWM published before 2024, and the final meta-analysis comprised 25 studies. The research conclusion indicate that children and adolescents with ASD have deficits in VWM. In addition, age, IQ, sample size, and testing tasks may not be important factors affecting the VWM in ASD. The conclusion of this study provides theoretical basis and clinical guidance for further exploring the influencing factors and intervention methods of VWM with ASD in the future.