Pseudobulbar Affect

Researchers are conducting an observational study to build a secure, high-quality audiovisual database of adults with cancer to aid future artificial intelligence (AI) research in pain assessment. The study aims to capture how people with cancer express pain and non-pain experiences through short video and sound recordings. This research includes two groups: those admitted for cancer-related pain and those admitted for chemotherapy without pain. Participants will be video recorded from the shoulders up for up to 60 seconds while reading a short sentence and describing their pain or daily experience. They will complete a brief questionnaire about their mood and pain expression. Those in the pain group may have recordings on several consecutive days during their admission, while the control group will be recorded once. Clinical information such as pain scores, medications, and cancer type will be collected from medical records. No experimental treatments or extra hospital visits are involved. During the study, participants will be assessed through audiovisual recordings and questionnaires. Researchers will collect clinical data from electronic health records and analyze facial and vocal features using open-source software. The primary outcome is the audiovisual recordings of facial and vocal pain expression collected up to two weeks. This study provides a foundation for developing AI tools to support more accurate pain monitoring in clinical care, with all data securely stored and handled with privacy protections.

Researchers are studying the brain connections in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), focusing on those who also experience pseudobulbar affect (PBA). This study aims to understand differences in brain structure and function using advanced imaging techniques. The research includes healthy controls and ALS patients both with and without PBA to compare these groups. Participants will undergo two non-invasive brain imaging procedures: diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI), an MRI method that captures detailed diffusion signals in brain tissue, and resting state magnetoencephalography (MEG), which records brain activity. Healthy controls will have only baseline imaging, while ALS patients may be assessed at baseline and again after six months to track changes over time. During the study, participants will have brain imaging at the start and possibly at six months later. Researchers will measure mean kurtosis and spectral connectivity to analyze brain structure and function. The study is non-randomized and does not involve any treatment. Participants will be monitored for their ability to complete surveys and cooperate, and safety will be ensured by following guidelines for MRI and MEG scans.