Leite, Jorge
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Leite
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Jorge
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Jorge Leite
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Jorge Leite obtained his PhD in 2011 from the University of Minho, where he also completed his Psychology Degree in 2005. From 2013 to 2016, he underwent postdoctoral training at the Neuromodulation Center, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Currently, he holds the positions of Vice-Rector for Research, Associate Professor, and Coordinator of the CINTESIS.UPT. Throughout his career, he has made significant contributions to the field, with over 70 peer-reviewed publications, including articles in journals, book chapters, and conference proceedings. According to Scopus data, over half of his publications are featured in the top 25% of journals, while 45% are among the top 25% most cited documents globally. He has also supervised numerous MSc dissertations and is currently overseeing four PhD theses. Furthermore, he actively participates in various research projects, taking on roles such as Principal Investigator, Researcher, and Supervisor. These projects have successfully secured over 6M euros in funding. His dedication to his work has been recognized with seven awards and/or honors. Furthermore, he has collaborated with 167 fellow researchers in various scientific endeavors.
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E-4404-2013Research Projects
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CINTESIS.UPT - Centro de Investigação em Tecnologias e Serviços de Saúde
Centro de Investigação em Tecnologias e Serviços de Saúde (CINTESIS.UPT), former I2P, is an R&D unit devoted to the study of cognition and behaviour in context. With an interdisciplinary focus, namely on Education, Translational and Applied Psychology
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Publication Open Access Executive impairments in obsessive compulsive disorder: A systematic review with emotional and non-emotional paradigms2020-02 - Tubío Fungueiriño, Maria; Fernandez Prieto, Montse; Carvalho, Sandra; Carracedo, Angel; Gonçalves, Óscar F.; Leite, JorgePrecedent: Impairments in executive functioning may be associated with compulsive symptoms in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review of cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control and working memory in OCD patients. using emotional and non-emotional paradigms. Method: we reviewed research published in PubMed, Web of Science, PsychInfo, Scopus, Scielo, and ProQuest Psychology databases, from January 2008 to April 2019. The review followed a two-stage process. In the first stage, we selected only studies using neutral stimuli paradigms, while in the second we selected executive-emotional paradigms. Results: The first stage of the review provided 16 final results, while the second stage, with emotional stimuli, provided 3 results. Conclusions: There is some initial evidence for the existence of executive impairments in OCD, as expressed in the performance and/or processing of working memory inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility. There is also initial evidence that these latter two could be modulated by the presentation or mental representation of negative valence stimuli or images, as well as the presence of aversive contingencies.Publication Open Access Tailoring transcranial alternating current stimulation based on endogenous event-related P3 to modulate premature responses: A feasibility study2024-04-03 - Mendes, Augusto; Lema, Alberto; Carvalho, Sandra; Leite, JorgeBackground Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) is a brain stimulation method for modulating ongoing endogenous oscillatory activity at specified frequency during sensory and cognitive processes. Given the overlap between event-related potentials (ERPs) and event-related oscillations (EROs), ERPs can be studied as putative biomarkers of the effects of tACS in the brain during cognitive/sensory task performance. Objective This preliminary study aimed to test the feasibility of individually tailored tACS based on individual P3 (latency and frequency) elicited during a cued premature response task. Thus, tACS frequency was individually tailored to match target-P3 ERO for each participant. Likewise, the target onset in the task was adjusted to match the tACS phase and target-P3 latency. Methods Twelve healthy volunteers underwent tACS in two separate sessions while performing a premature response task. Target-P3 latency and ERO were calculated in a baseline block during the first session to allow a posterior synchronization between the tACS and the endogenous oscillatory activity. The cue and target-P3 amplitudes, delta/theta ERO, and power spectral density (PSD) were evaluated pre and post-tACS blocks. Results Target-P3 amplitude significantly increased after activetACS, when compared to sham. Evoked-delta during cue-P3 was decreased after tACS. No effects were found for delta ERO during target-P3 nor for the PSD and behavioral outcomes. Conclusion The present findings highlight the possible effect of phase synchronization between individualized tACS parameters and endogenous oscillatory activity, which may result in an enhancement of the underlying process (i.e., an increase of target-P3). However, an unsuccessful synchronization between tACS and EEG activity might also result in a decrease in the evoked-delta activity during cue-P3. Further studies are needed to optimize the parameters of endogenous activity and tACS synchronization. The implications of the current results for future studies, including clinical studies, are further discussed since transcranial alternating current stimulation can be individually tailored based on endogenous event-related P3 to modulate responses.Publication Open Access Transcranial direct current stimulation decreases P3 amplitude and inherent Delta activity during a waiting impulsivity paradigm: Crossover study2024-02-07 - Mendes, Augusto J.; Galdo-Álvarez, Santiago; Lema, Alberto; Carvalho, Sandra; Leite, JorgeThe inability to wait for a target before initiating an action (i.e., waiting impulsivity) is one of the main features of addictive behaviors. Current interventions for addiction, such as transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS), have been suggested to improve this inability. Nonetheless, the effects of tDCS on waiting impulsivity and underlying electrophysiological (EEG) markers are still not clear. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of neuromodulation over the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) on the behavior and EEG markers of reward anticipation (i.e., cue and target-P3 and underlying delta/theta power) during a premature responding task. For that, forty healthy subjects participated in two experimental sessions, where they received active and sham tDCS over the rIFG combined with EEG recording during the task. To evaluate transfer effects, participants also performed two control tasks to assess delay discounting and motor inhibition. The active tDCS decreased the cue-P3 and target-P3 amplitudes, as well as delta power during target-P3. While no tDCS effects were found for motor inhibition, active tDCS increased the discounting of future rewards when compared to sham. These findings suggest a tDCS-induced modulation of the P3 component and underlying oscillatory activity during waiting impulsivity and the discounting of future rewards.Publication Open Access Digitalized transcranial electrical stimulation: a consensus statement2022-09-05 - Brunoni, André R.; Ekhtiari, Hamed; Antal, Andrea; Auvichayapat, Paradee; Baeken, Chris; Benseñor, Isabela M; Bikson, Marom; Boggio, Paulo; Borroni, Barbara; Brighina, Filippo; Brunelin, Erome; Carvalho, Sandra; Caumo, Wolnei; Ciechanski, Patrick; Charvet, Leigh; Clark, Vincent P; Kadosh, Roi Cohen; Cotelli, Maria; Datta, Abhishek; Deng, Zhi-De; Raedt, Rudi De; Ridder, Dirk De; Fitzgerald, Paul B; Floel, Agnes; Frohlich, Flavio; George, Mark S; Ghobadi-Azbari, Peyman; Goerigk, Stephan; Hamilton, Roy H; Jaberzadeh, Shapour J; Hoy, Kate; Kidgell, Dawson J; Zonoozi, Arash Khojasteh; Kirton, Adam; Laureys, Steven; Lavidor, Michal; Lee, Kiwon; Lisanby, Sarah H; Loo, Colleen; Martin, Donel M; Miniussi, Carlo; Mondino, Marine; Monte-Silva, Katia; Morales-Quezada, Leon; Nitsche, Michael A; Okano, Alexandre H; Oliveira, Claudia S; Onarheim, Balder; Pacheco-Barrios, Kevin; Padberg, Frank; Nakamura-Palacios, Ester M; Palm, Ulrich; Paulus, Walter; Plewnia, Christian; Priori, Alberto; Rajji, Tarek K; Razza, Lais B; Rehn, Erik M; Ruffini, Giuliov; Schellhorn, Klaus; Zare-Bidoky, Mehran; Simis, Marcel; Skorupinski, Pawel; Suen, Paulo; Thibaut, Aurore; Valiengo, Leandro C L; Vanderhasselt, Marie-Anne; Vanneste, Sven; Venkatasubramanian, Ganesan; Violante, Ines R; Wexler, Anna; Woods, Adam J; Fregni, Felipe; Leite, JorgeObjective: Although relatively costly and non-scalable, non-invasive neuromodulation interventions are treatment alternatives for neuropsychiatric disorders. The recent developments of highly-deployable transcranial electric stimulation (tES) systems, combined with mobile-Health technologies, could be incorporated in digital trials to overcome methodological barriers and increase equity of access. The study aims are to discuss the implementation of tES digital trials by performing a systematic scoping review and strategic process mapping, evaluate methodological aspects of tES digital trial designs, and provide Delphi-based recommendations for implementing digital trials using tES. Methods: We convened 61 highly-productive specialists and contacted 8 tES companies to assess 71 issues related to tES digitalization readiness, and processes, barriers, advantages, and opportunities for implementing tES digital trials. Delphi-based recommendations (>60% agreement) were provided. Results: The main strengths/opportunities of tES were: (i) non-pharmacological nature (92% of agreement), safety of these techniques (80%), affordability (88%), and potential scalability (78%). As for weaknesses/ threats, we listed insufficient supervision (76%) and unclear regulatory status (69%). Many issues related to methodological biases did not reach consensus. Device appraisal showed moderate digitalization readiness, with high safety and potential for trial implementation, but low connectivity. Conclusions: Panelists recognized the potential of tES for scalability, generalizability, and leverage of digital trials processes; with no consensus about aspects regarding methodological biases. Significance: We further propose and discuss a conceptual framework for exploiting shared aspects between mobile-Health tES technologies with digital trials methodology to drive future efforts for digitizing tES trials.Publication Open Access Probing the relationship between late endogenous ERP components with fluid intelligence in healthy older adults2020-07-07 - Teixeira-Santos, Ana C.; Pinal, Diego; Pereira, Diana R.; Carvalho, Sandra; Sampaio, Adriana; Leite, JorgeThe world population is rapidly aging, bringing together the necessity to better understand the advancing age. This characterization may be used to aid early diagnosis and to guide individually-tailored interventions. While some event-related potential (ERP) components, such as the P300 and late positive complex (LPC), have been associated with fluid intelligence (Gf) in young population; little is known whether these associations hold for older people. Therefore, the main goal of this study was to assess whether these ERP components are associated with Gf in the elderly. Fifty-seven older adults performed a continuous performance task (CPT) and a visual oddball paradigm while EEG was recorded. Participants were divided into two groups, according to their performance in the Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices test: high-performance (HP) and low-performance (LP). Results showed that the HP group, compared to the LP group, had higher LPC amplitudes in the CPT and shorter P300 latencies in the oddball task, highlighting the role of ERP components as a potential electrophysiological proxy of Gf abilities in the elderly.Publication Open Access Working memory training coupled with transcranial direct current stimulation in older adults: A randomized controlled experiment2022-04-12 - Teixeira-Santos, Ana C.; Moreira, Célia S.; Pereira, Diana R.; Pinal, Diego; Fregni, Felipe; Carvalho, Sandra; Sampaio, Adriana; Leite, JorgeBackground: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been employed to boost working memory training (WMT) effects. Nevertheless, there is limited evidence on the efficacy of this combination in older adults. The present study is aimed to assess the delayed transfer effects of tDCS coupled with WMT in older adults in a 15-day follow-up. We explored if general cognitive ability, age, and educational level predicted the effects. Methods: In this single-center, double-blind randomized sham-controlled experiment, 54 older adults were randomized into three groups: anodal-tDCS (atDCS)+WMT, sham-tDCS (stDCS)+WMT, and double-sham. Five sessions of tDCS (2 mA) were applied over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Far transfer was measured by Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM), while the near transfer effects were assessed through Digit Span. A frequentist linear mixed model (LMM) was complemented by a Bayesian approach in data analysis. Results: Working memory training improved dual n-back performance in both groups submitted to this intervention but only the group that received atDCS+WMT displayed a significant improvement from pretest to follow-up in transfer measures of reasoning (RAPM) and short-term memory (forward Digit Span). Near transfer improvements predicted gains in far transfer, demonstrating that the far transfer is due to an improvement in the trained construct of working memory. Age, formal education, and vocabulary score seem to predict the gains in reasoning. However, Bayesian results do not provide substantial evidence to support this claim. Conclusion: This study will help to consolidate the incipient but auspicious field of cognitive training coupled with tDCS in healthy older adults. Our findings demonstrated that atDCS may potentialize WMT by promoting transfer effects in short-term memory and reasoning in older adults, which are observed especially at follow-up.Publication Open Access The effects of direct current stimulation and random noise stimulation on attention networks2021-03-18 - Lema, Alberto; Carvalho, Sandra; Fregni, Felipe; Gonçalves, Óscar F.; Leite, JorgeAttention is a complex cognitive process that selects specific stimuli for further processing. Previous research suggested the existence of three attentional networks: alerting, orienting and executive. However, one important topic is how to enhance the efficiency of attentional networks. In this context, understanding how this system behaves under two different modulatory conditions, namely transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and transcranial Random Noise Stimulation (tRNS), will provide important insights towards the understanding of the attention network system. Twenty-seven healthy students took part on a randomized single-blinded crossover study, testing the effects that involved three modalities of unilateral stimulation (tRNS, anodal tDCS, and sham) over the DLPFC, during the performance of the attention network test (ANT) in three different conditions: standard, speed and accuracy. Results showed that tRNS was able to increase attention during more complex situations, namely by increasing alerting and decreasing conflict effect in the executive network. Under the Speed condition, tRNS increased efficiency of the alerting network, as well as under the more demanding conflict network, tRNS overall increased the performance when comparing to sham. No statistical significant effects of tDCS were observed. These results are compatible with the attention requiring the synchronization of pre-existing networks, rather the reinforcement or creation of new pathways.Publication Restricted Access Transcranial direct current stimulation as an add-on treatment to cognitive-behavior therapy in first episode drug-naïve major depression patients: The ESAP Study Protocol2020-11-03 - Carvalho, Sandra; Gonçalves, Óscar F.; Brunoni, André R.; Fernandes-Gonçalves, Ana; Fregni, Felipe; Leite, JorgeMajor Depressive Disorder (MDD) affects more than 264 million people worldwide. Current treatments include the use of psychotherapy and/or drugs, however ∼30% of patients either do not respond to these treatments, or do not tolerate the side effects associated to the use of pharmacological interventions. Thus, it is important to study non-pharmacological interventions targeting mechanisms not directly involved with the regulation of neurotransmitters. Several studies demonstrated that transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) can be effective for symptoms relief in MDD. However, tDCS seems to have a better effect when used as an add-on treatment to other interventions.Publication Open Access The psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal: The role of personality traits and emotion regulation strategies2022-06-17 - Kluwe-Schiavon, Bruno; Zorzi, Lucas De; Meireles, Joana; Sequeira, Henrique; Carvalho, Sandra; Leite, JorgeRecent evidence suggests that both personality traits (PT) and emotion regulation (ER) strategies play an important role in the way people cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was two folded. First, to longitudinally investigate the psychological distress (depression, anxiety, and stress levels) taking in consideration PT and ER strategies in 3 different moments: during the first lockdown period (April/20), at the first deconfinement (May/20) and 1-month after the first deconfinement (Jun/20)–Experiment I. Second, to cross-sectionally evaluate the impact of the pandemic in psychological distress and the correlates with PT and ER 6-months after the first deconfinement November/20 to February/21 –Experiment II. A total of 722 volunteers (Experiment I = 180; Experiment II = 542) aged 18 years or older participated in this online survey. The findings from Experiment I show that psychological distress decreased after the lockdown period, however, neuroticism traits predicted higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress symptoms, while difficulties in ER strategies were identified as a risk factor for depression and stress. For experiment II, neuroticism traits and being infected with COVID-19 were associated to higher levels of symptomatology, while unemployment and the use of emotional suppression strategies to cope with emotional situations were associated to depressive and anxiety symptoms. Although the psychological impact of the COVID-19 outbreak decreased over time in our sample, the current findings suggest that difficulties in emotional regulation and high levels of neuroticism traits might be potential risk factors for psychiatric symptomatology during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, people with difficulties in ER and neuroticism traits would benefit from psychological interventions that provide personality-appropriate support and promote emotion regulation skills during stressful events, such as the case of the global pandemic.Publication Open Access The acute impact of the early stages of COVID-19 pandemic in people with pre-existing psychiatric disorders: A systematic review2022-04-23 - Carvalho, Sandra; Coelho, Catarina G.; Kluwe-Schiavon, Bruno; Magalhães, Juliana; Leite, JorgePeople with pre-pandemic health conditions are more vulnerable and more likely to suffer greater psychosocial impact due to the current COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown measures. Thus, the objective of this work was to systematically review the impact of the early stages COVID-19 pandemic on people with pre-existing psychiatric disorders. The search was performed between 23 January and 2 September 2021 in PubMed, PsycINFO, and EMBASE. A total of 4167 published results were identified; however, only 49 were included in this review. Results show that there was considerable heterogeneity among studies, which resulted in a low consensus. However, it seems that the impact of the first stage of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychiatric disorders was two-fold: (1) an overall effect, in which people suffering from psychiatric disorders in general experienced more psychological distress and anxiety when compared to people who had no psychiatric diagnosis, and (2) a condition-specific effect, namely in people suffering from eating disorders and obsessive compulsive disorders. Moreover, the current work highlights that there were also some external factors that were related to worsening symptoms. For instance, unemployment or experiencing work and financial difficulties can be a trigger for greater distress during the pandemic for people with mood disorders, and being alone and in social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic may actually increase substance use and relapse rates. Further studies are needed to prospectively investigate the long-term effects of the current COVID-19 pandemic on people with (pre)-existing psychiatric conditions and on the onset or deterioration of psychiatric-related symptoms in a larger number of participants, as well as exploring the long-term effects of the current pandemic on mental health.