The diploma thesis deals with the topic of neurocognitive changes in schizophrenia and the possibility of non-pharmacological interventions. It first summarizes current knowledge about schizophrenia, in connection with interdisciplinary overlaps enabling orientation in the topic. The thesis describes the individual cognitive disorders that are part of the disease. The main focus of the work is to inform about the possibilities of cognitive remediation. We focus on cognitive training and transcranial direct current stimulation in more detail. In particular, the use of stimulation methods has not yet been described in Czech literature. The work should thus contribute to the mapping of this issue. The theoretical part is followed by an empirical presentation of the results of our pilot study. In the study, we use a quantitative-qualitative methodology to map objective and subjective changes in cognitive functions before and after the application of stimulation and cognitive training in patients with schizophrenia. We included 9 patients who met the entry criteria. The results of the quantitative part did not reveal significant changes after the application of active tDCS stimulation in combination with cognitive training. The qualitative part of the study described subjectively perceived changes and...

This diploma thesis deals with experiencing emotions and emotional habituation. The aim of the work was to compare changes in subjectively felt intensity of emotional experience and physiological responses during repeated affective stimulation. In the theoretical part were presented the concepts of affective experience and emotional habituation, their biological basis and methods of investigation. The empirical part is devoted to an experiment in which sets of positive and negative picture (IAPS database) and sets of videos in different order were repeatedly presented to group of 124 people. During the presentation were observed changes in subjective evaluation of stimuli and in physiological responses (skin conductance, skin temperature). The habituation process has been tested with regard to the order of stimuli. The results demonstrated that habituation process were present at a subjective level. Also habituation process occured for the physiological indicator, the skin temperature in the part of group that saw for the first stimulus set of positive videos. The habituation of skin conductance did not appear, on the contrary its values increase with a series of repetitions. There is some probability, that subjective and physiological habituation are independent to each other. Previous affective...

This thesis focuses on the direction and coordination of volunteers in organisations with multidisciplinary teams working with homeless people, and the challenges faced by both these organisations and their volunteers. The results of the experimental section, which focuses on the motivation of volunteers and stimulation from the organisations, have their basis in practical research using semi-structured interviews with leading workers at the organisations, their volunteers, and volunteers from the Labre project, which represents an introductory characterisation of the problem in practice; one which the respondents then refer to in the interviews. Problem areas as identified by both the workers and the volunteers themselves include integration into the organisation, unsupervised activity, non-stimulating conditions, irregular contact, and apathy from the side of the target group. Systematic leadership by a volunteer coordinator is financially demanding for the organisations, and the workers attend to their volunteers in addition to other competences, making systematic leadership more difficult. A recommendation for workers in non-profit organisations working with volunteers is derived from the results of the empirical part. It is based on a careful consideration of the application of volunteer work,...

Title: Effect of Balance Training on Balance and Walking in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis Objectives: Main aim of this master thesis is to assess the effect of four-week sensorimotor stimulation therapy and four-week balance training with Homebalance® in Multiple Sclerosis patients with balance disorders. Also to assess how effective these techniques are, if they are performed without any other therapy. And at the end compare them between each other. Methods: The research was conducted with 20 subjects divided in two groups of ten. These two groups differed in their balance programme. First group underwent four- week sensorimotor stimulation therapy twice a week for an hour. Second group trained at home with Homebalance® for four weeks 15-20 minutes a day. Everyone has been measured before and after therapies with Timed 25-foot walk (T25FW), Timed Up-and-Go Test (TUG) and TUG cognitive, Mini-BESTest and Berg Balance Scale, they also filled in short balance questionnaire, 12-Item Multiple Sclerosis Walking Scale (MSWS-12) and Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I). Data analysis was provided by Shapiro-Wilk test, Student t-test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Mann-Whitney U test according to data distribution. Results: The average EDSS score in people with Homebalance® therapy was 3,8 (± 1,53)...

Infectious diseases are the worldwide leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Sepsis is the major cause of death in infectious diseases. It is one of the most serious and also one of the most difficult treatable conditions of contemporary medicine. Sepsis is the main cause of death in intensive care units. Causal therapy of sepsis does not yet exist. With a far better understanding of patho/physiological mechanism of sepsis, it is possible to model new preclinical experiments to verify the efficiency and security of new therapeutic procedures. Large animal experiments in progressive sepsis, with the use of domestic porcine, play a vital role. Long-standing experience with this model and similarity to human facilitate the realization of more complex experiments with potential for the relevant translation of results into the subsequent clinical studies on human subjects. The objective of this doctoral dissertation was to assess on the clinically relevant model: 1) the efficiency and security of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in the event of vasoplegic septic shock; and 2) the benefit of two innovative therapeutic approaches to treatment of sepsis: a) the intravenous administration of mesenchymal stem cells; and b) the activation of the neuro-inflammatory reflex through the vagus nerve stimulation.

Dystonia is a neurological syndrome characterized by the involuntary contraction of opposing muscles, causing twisting movements or abnormal postures (modified by Fahn, 1987). Writer's cramp is the most common form of task-specific focal dystonia. In the first study, patients with writer's cramp were evaluated for differences in cortical activation during movements likely to induce cramps (complex movements) and movements which rarely lead to dystonia (simple movements). Although complex patient movements during fMRI were never associated with dystonic cramps, they exhibited abnormally decreased cortical activity. This was not observed in simple movements and was unrelated to the character of handwriting or the presence/absence of visual feedback. Our results support the theory of dualistic sensorimotor system behavior in writer's cramp. As the somatosensory system is believed to be affected in focal dystonia, we focused on modulation of the primary somatosensory cortex (SI) induced by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in the second study, in order to improve writer's cramp. In conclusion, 1 Hz rTMS of the SI cortex can improve manifestations of writer's cramp while increasing cortical activity in both hemispheres. Handwriting as well as subjective assessment improved in most...

Dystonia is a neurological syndrome characterized by the involuntary contraction of opposing muscles, causing twisting movements or abnormal postures (modified by Fahn, 1987). Writer's cramp is the most common form of task-specific focal dystonia. In the first study, patients with writer's cramp were evaluated for differences in cortical activation during movements likely to induce cramps (complex movements) and movements which rarely lead to dystonia (simple movements). Although complex patient movements during fMRI were never associated with dystonic cramps, they exhibited abnormally decreased cortical activity. This was not observed in simple movements and was unrelated to the character of handwriting or the presence/absence of visual feedback. Our results support the theory of dualistic sensorimotor system behavior in writer's cramp. As the somatosensory system is believed to be affected in focal dystonia, we focused on modulation of the primary somatosensory cortex (SI) induced by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in the second study, in order to improve writer's cramp. In conclusion, 1 Hz rTMS of the SI cortex can improve manifestations of writer's cramp while increasing cortical activity in both hemispheres. Handwriting as well as subjective assessment improved in most...

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the globus pallidus internus (GPi) is an effective symptomatic treatment for pharmacoresistant dystonic syndromes. The relationship between grey matter volume and intracortical inhibition of the primary motor cortex (MI) in regard to the effectiveness and the state (ON/OFF) of GPi DBS was analysed in the first study. The grey matter of chronically treated patients showed hypertrophy of the supplementary motor area and cerebellar vermis whereas this difference was more significant in patients with a better clinical outcome. The grey matter of the cerebellar hemispheres of the patients showed positive correlation with the improvement of an intracortical inhibition which was generally less effective in patients regardless of the GPi DBS state. Moreover, we showed the same level of SICI in the good responders as in the healthy controls, while in non-responders was the SICI decreased. In the second study, by using paired associative stimulation (PAS) we studied the influence of primary somatosensory cortex (SI) on the MI excitability in dystonia in regards to the effectiveness of GPi DBS. SI PAS decreased the MI excitability in the GPi DBS ON state while switching the stimulation off decreased an inhibitory effect of SI on MI excitability. Non-responders showed a...

INTRODUCTION This graduation theses considers with the influence of rehabilitation by electrotactile stimulation of the tongue on stability of stance and gait in patients with degenerative cerebellar ataxia. Electrotactile stimulation of the tongue is an innovative method based on biofeedback principle, which uses additive sensory information about the position of the head to train the postural stability METHOD We used this method in six patients (four men and two women) with this disease. Patients went through intensive twelve-day therapy. The duration of the lessons was 30 minutes twice a day. We examined postural stability of the patients by using clinical evaluations (Balance Evaluation Systems Test, Dynamic Gait Index), posturography (modified Clinical Test of Sensory Interaction for Balance) and questionnaires (Activities -specific Balance Confidence, Dizziness Handicap Inventory) before and after the therapy. RESULTS The patients showed significant improvement in both clinical tests after the therapy. The results of posturography measurement are not so definite - the significant improvement was achieved only in some measured parameters. Both questionnaires did not show significant improvement. CONCLUSION The results of this study show, that electrotactile stimulation tongue could have a...

This work is the structured indictment of mediality in us. It argues that media do not satisfy us, nor we are controlled by them. We are much rather satisfied and at the same time controlled by the mediality inside ourselves. Mediality phenomenon is postulated here in the spirit of Jean Baudrillard's theory, not as a mediator of the relations between people, but as their killer. The expansion of digital media doesn't bring us closer to others, but it separates others from us in time and space. The others are transmitted to us only in the form of selected mosaic of images. This alienation is the result of a desire for our own particular worlds, not the conspiracy of power. Efficiency, speed, focus on result and positive thinking are the values that define the orientation of media development. The result is not imitation, but perfection. That's why we use the media. It lures us by the promise of immortality, but in conclusion it only creates a lifeless sign from us. Every human desire is ambivalent, and the desire to create our own post-mortem images can become in its hypertrophy the fatal fulfilment of the death instinct.