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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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

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 15
  • PublicationOpen Access
    Executive impairments in obsessive compulsive disorder: A systematic review with emotional and non-emotional paradigms
    2020-02 - Tubío Fungueiriño, Maria; Fernandez Prieto, Montse; Carvalho, Sandra; Carracedo, Angel; Gonçalves, Óscar F.; Leite, Jorge
    Precedent: 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.
  • PublicationOpen Access
    Maternal mental health in refugees and migrants: a comprehensive systematic review
    2023-08-17 - Almeida, Lígia Moreira; Moutinho, Ana Raquel; Siciliano, Florência; Caldas, José Peixoto; Leite, Jorge
    The first years of motherhood are often difficult for women, requiring large emotional and biophysical adjustments and increased health risks that may combine with social disadvantage and psychosocial conditions towards decreased maternal wellbeing. Those outcomes are usually worse in vulnerable populations, as refugee and migrants. Comprehending mothers’ needs regarding mental health and psychological well-being must be prioritized. A systematic review using MEDLINE, EBSCO, and SCOPUS databases was carried out, searching for population-based studies published between 2012 and 2022 reporting on maternal mental health in displaced populations. A total of 2881 articles were retrieved; 35 publications met the inclusion criteria, being included in the final evaluation. Displaced women tend to be at higher risks of maternal mental distress, due to life stressors, isolation, intrapersonal and background characteristics, mental health stigma, discrimination, and barriers in accessing adequate healthcare. Refugee and asylum-seekers are at the most vulnerable positions. Postpartum depression is the most assessed condition regarding mental health but is manifestly insufficient for public health systems in assuring an adequate state of maternal well-being. Maternal mental healthcare must be patient-centered, more accessible, and available to both native and displaced mothers. PROSPERO Registration Number: CRD42022335343.
  • PublicationOpen Access
    Digitalized transcranial electrical stimulation: a consensus statement
    2022-09-05 - 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, Jorge
    Objective: 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.
  • PublicationRestricted Access
    Evidence-based guidelines and secondary meta-analysis for the use of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in neurological and psychiatric disorders
    2021-04 - Fregni, Felipe; El-Hagrassy, Mirret M.; Pacheco-Barrios, Kevin; Carvalho, Sandra; Simis, Marcel; Brunelin, Jerome; Nakamura-Palacios, Ester Miyuki; Marangolo, Paola; Venkatasubramanian, Ganesan; San-Juan, Daniel; Caumo, Wolnei; Bikson, Marom; Brunoni, André R.; Leite, Jorge
    Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has shown promising clinical results, leading to increased demand for an evidence-based review on its clinical effects. Objective We convened a team of tDCS experts to conduct a systematic review of clinical trials with more than one session of stimulation testing: Pain, Parkinson’s Disease Motor Function and Cognition, Stroke Motor Function and Language, Epilepsy, Major Depressive Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Tourette Syndrome, Schizophrenia and Drug Addiction. Methods Experts were asked to conduct this systematic review according to the search methodology from PRISMA guidelines. Recommendations on efficacy were categorized into: Levels A (definitely effective), B (probably effective), C (possibly effective) or no recommendation. We assessed risk of bias for all included studies to confirm whether results were driven by potentially biased studies. Results Although most of the clinical trials have been designed as proof-of-concept trials, some of the indications analyzed in this review can be considered as definitely effective (Level A) such as depression, probably effective (Level B) such as neuropathic pain, fibromyalgia, migraine, post-operative patient-controlled analgesia and pain, Parkinson´s disease (motor and cognition), stroke (motor), epilepsy, schizophrenia and alcohol addiction. Assessment of bias showed that most of the studies had low risk of biases and sensitivity analysis for bias did not change these results. Effect sizes vary from 0.01 to 0.70 and were significant in about 8 conditions, with largest effect size being in postoperative acute pain, and smaller in stroke motor recovery (nonsignificant when combined with robotic therapy). Conclusion All recommendations listed here are based on current published Pubmed-indexed data. Despite high level of evidence in some conditions, it needs to be underscored that effect sizes and duration of effects are often limited; thus, real clinical impact needs to be further determined with different study designs.
  • PublicationRestricted Access
    Non-pharmacological treatment-related changes of molecular biomarkers in major depressive disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysisTagedEnd
    2023-01-24 - Irwin, Courtney L.; Coelho, Patrícia S.; Kluwe-Schiavon, Bruno; Silva-Fernandes, Anabela; Gonçalves, Óscar F.; Carvalho, Sandra; Leite, Jorge
    Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a serious mood disorder and leading cause of disability. Despite treatment advances, approximately 30% of individuals with MDD do not achieve adequate clinical response. Better understanding the biological mechanism(s) underlying clinical response to specific psychopharmacological interventions may help fine tune treatments in order to further modulate their underlying mechanisms of action. However, little is known regarding the effect of non-pharmacological treatments (NPTs) on candidate molecular biomarker levels in MDD. This review aims to identify molecular biomarkers that may elucidate NPT response for MDD. Methods: We performed a systematic review and a multilevel linear mixed-effects meta-analyses, and a metaregression. Searches were performed in PubMed, Scopus, and PsycINFO in October 2020 and July 2021. Results: From 1387 retrieved articles, 17 and six studies were included in the systematic review and meta-analyses, respectively. Although there was little consensus associating molecular biomarker levels with symptomology and/or treatment response, brain metabolites accessed via molecular biomarker-focused neuroimaging techniques may provide promising information on whether an individual with MDD would respond positively to NPTs. Furthermore, non-invasive brain stimulation interventions significantly increased the expression of neurotrophic factors (NTFs) compared to sham/placebo, regardless of add-on pharmacological treatment. Conclusions: NTFs are candidate biomarkers to fine-tune NIBS for MDD treatment.
  • PublicationOpen Access
    Probing the relationship between late endogenous ERP components with fluid intelligence in healthy older adults
    2020-07-07 - Teixeira-Santos, Ana C.; Pinal, Diego; Pereira, Diana R.; Carvalho, Sandra; Sampaio, Adriana; Leite, Jorge
    The 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.
  • PublicationRestricted Access
    Modulation of the cognitive event-related potential P3 by transcranial direct current stimulation: Systematic review and meta-analysis
    2022-01 - Mendes, Augusto J.; Pacheco-Barrios, Kevin; Lema, Alberto; Gonçalves, Óscar F.; Fregni, Felipe; Carvalho, Sandra; Leite, Jorge
    Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been widely used to modulate cognition and behavior. However, only a few studies have been probing the brain mechanism underlying the effects of tDCS on cognitive processing, especially throughout electrophysiological markers, such as the P3. This meta-analysis assessed the effects of tDCS in P3 amplitude and latency during an oddball, n-back, and Go/No-Go tasks, as well as during emotional processing. A total of 36 studies were identified, but only 23 were included in the quantitative analysis. The results show that the parietal P3 amplitude increased during oddball and n-back tasks, mostly after anodal stimulation over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (p = 0.018, SMD = 0.4) and right inferior frontal gyrus (p < 0.001, SMD = 0.669) respectively. These findings suggest the potential usefulness of the parietal P3 ERP as a marker of tDCS-induced effects during task performance. Nonetheless, this study had a low number of studies and the presence of considerable risk of bias, highlighting issues to be addressed in the future.
  • PublicationOpen Access
    Working memory training coupled with transcranial direct current stimulation in older adults: A randomized controlled experiment
    2022-04-12 - Teixeira-Santos, Ana C.; Moreira, Célia S.; Pereira, Diana R.; Pinal, Diego; Fregni, Felipe; Carvalho, Sandra; Sampaio, Adriana; Leite, Jorge
    Background: 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.
  • PublicationOpen Access
    The effects of direct current stimulation and random noise stimulation on attention networks
    2021-03-18 - Lema, Alberto; Carvalho, Sandra; Fregni, Felipe; Gonçalves, Óscar F.; Leite, Jorge
    Attention 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.
  • PublicationRestricted 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 Protocol
    2020-11-03 - Carvalho, Sandra; Gonçalves, Óscar F.; Brunoni, André R.; Fernandes-Gonçalves, Ana; Fregni, Felipe; Leite, Jorge
    Major 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.