Cerdanyola Del Valles

Researchers are evaluating the Aurora system, an AI-supported chatbot designed to help people express emotions, make sense of their life stories, and improve emotional well-being through guided storytelling. The study involves clinical and non-clinical groups, including healthy adults, adults with diagnosed mental disorders in residential care, and healthy older adults. The goal is to assess emotional expression, identity processes, and recovery outcomes using this innovative narrative approach. The Aurora intervention combines structured storytelling with AI and support from licensed mental health professionals. Participants work with the chatbot and facilitator to create a personalized "life book" through guided sessions. There are three study groups: a single session for healthy adults, four sessions over two weeks for adults with mental health diagnoses in residential care, and two sessions over two weeks for healthy older adults. The sessions are tailored to each group's needs but aim to deliver similar total intervention time. Participants complete emotional assessments before and after each session, including positive and negative affect measures. Additional evaluations cover usability, satisfaction, and mental well-being. Adults in the residential care and older adult groups also participate in ecological momentary assessments during pre-intervention, intervention, and post-intervention periods. All data collection is conducted securely with confidentiality safeguards, and the study complies with relevant privacy and ethical regulations.

Researchers are comparing the effects of combined REHACOP (Cognitive Remediation) and Metacognitive Training (MCT) therapy versus MCT alone in people aged 16 to 55 with nonaffective psychotic disorders. The study aims to understand if the combined therapy improves clinical recovery, personal and psychological recovery, cognitive biases, and social cognition, while also considering gender differences and the long-term durability of these effects. This work supports mental health innovation by evaluating effective psychological treatments for psychotic disorders in a clinical setting. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: one receiving 12 weekly sessions of REHACOP plus MCT, and the other receiving 8 weekly sessions of MCT alone. Both therapies involve weekly group sessions lasting 45-60 minutes with 6-10 patients per group. REHACOP covers various cognitive areas except language, social cognition, and psychoeducation modules for this trial. MCT focuses on modules addressing attribution, jumping to conclusions, changing beliefs, empathy, memory, self-esteem, and mood. Participants will visit the clinic for assessments before treatment, after treatment, and six months post-treatment. Evaluations include clinical recovery, functional recovery, personal recovery, cognitive biases, social cognition, and satisfaction with interventions. Researchers will also record relapses and hospitalizations during the follow-up. Data will be collected through tests, questionnaires, and clinical evaluations, with all procedures designed to ensure participant confidentiality and comply with ethical guidelines.

Researchers are studying sentinel lymph node detection in patients with breast cancer using two methods: the usual technique with Technetium 99 and a new tracer called indocyanine green. The goal is to compare how well indocyanine green detects lymph nodes compared to the standard method. This observational study focuses on patients who need sentinel lymph node detection during breast cancer surgery. During surgery, 1 ml of indocyanine green dye will be injected around the areola. After waiting 5 minutes, the lymph nodes will be identified and removed. The study will compare lymph nodes detected by the standard Technetium 99 injection with those found using indocyanine green. Both tracers are applied periareolarly to help locate the lymph nodes. Participants will undergo this procedure during their surgery, and researchers will track the number of sentinel lymph nodes found by each method over time. The study will include patients from January 2024 through January 2029. Measurements will focus on the number of sentinel lymph nodes detected to assess the effectiveness of the indocyanine green tracer compared to the standard approach.