INTRODUCTION

Mental health plays a crucial role in overall well-being, yet stigma and misconceptions persist, even among future healthcare professionals. This study assessed medical students’ knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions (KAP) regarding mental health and explored their association with sociodemographic characteristics.

METHODS

We conducted an analytical cross-sectional study among 270 medical students at a private Philippine university from September to October 2023. Participants completed a validated questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, Spearman’s correlation, and odds ratios were calculated.

RESULTS

Most respondents exhibited high knowledge (80.7%), positive attitudes (90.4%), and favorable perceptions (95.6%) toward mental health. Students who had not interacted with individuals with mental illness were 2.87 times more likely to display negative attitudes (OR = 2.87, 95% CI: 1.19–6.90, p = 0.015). Attitude and perception showed a moderate positive correlation (r = 0.409, p < 0.001), while knowledge and perception demonstrated a weak negative correlation (r = -0.129, p = 0.034).

CONCLUSION

These medical students generally possessed good knowledge, positive attitudes, and perceptions regarding mental health. Academic progression and real-life exposure positively influence attitudes, highlighting the need for experiential learning to reduce stigma and promote empathy in medical training.

Human ; Mental Health ; Knowledge ; Attitude ; Perception ; Philippines

Practice-based learning is the key objective of postgraduate education. COVID-19 has revealed that medical institutions may need to adopt adaptive strategies to guide their students. The aim of this study is to describe the perception of Philippine medical clerks towards their surgical preparedness with an Enriched Virtual Mode (EVM)-Hybrid Learning during the pandemic. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 176 fourth-year students using a 21-item 4-point-Likert questionnaire. Descriptive analysis showed that students sustained a strong enthusiasm for surgery (composite mean = 2.83 ± 0.62), with the highest ratings given to skill-oriented subjects, such as practical minors (3.05 ± 0.82) and clinical surgery (3.03 ± 0.78). Preparedness was similarly high (3.17 ± 0.46): practice was regarded as essential (3.50 ± 0.68) and operating-room exposure useful (3.22 ± 0.68), though time for hands-on practice was adequate (2.84 ± 0.74). Preference scores revealed a desire for richer tactile experience (3.36 ± 0.37), with scrubbing, suturing and live surgery observation receiving most support (>3.50). Overall satisfaction reached a moderate-to-high level (2.99 ± 0.48) but lagged behind interest and preparedness, indicating that limited physical immersion tempered fuller contentment. These suggest that while a blended curriculum can preserve enthusiasm and sense of readiness, emphasis on protected skills laboratories and increased exposure to the operating room may be needed to translate conceptual competence into experiential fulfillment.

Human ; Male ; Female ; Young Adult: 19-24 Yrs Old ; Cross-sectional Studies ; Education ; Curriculum ; Perception ; Observation ; Schools, Medical ; Personal Satisfaction ; Learning ; Mental Competency ; Laboratories ; Pandemics

METHODOLOGY

A survey was conducted among 463 adults in Manila, achieving a valid response rate of 92.3% (427 responses analyzed). Participants represented diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. The survey explored perceptions regarding AAA of healthcare services for neurological emergencies.

RESULTS

Across income levels (poor, middle, rich), participants favored private hospitals for accessibility and convenience, such as emergency room access and prompt care. Private hospitals were also preferred for availability of diagnostic equipment, medications, specialist expertise and 24/7 care. Public hospitals, however, were preferred for affordability, particularly for emergency visits, medications, tests, neurologist consultations and ambulance services.

DISCUSSION

Findings reveal a clear preference split: private hospitals are valued for accessibility and resources, while public hospitals remain the affordable choice. This reflects ongoing systemic and socioeconomic challenges in Manila’s healthcare landscape.

CONCLUSION

The study provides actionable insights for policymakers and healthcare providers seeking to improve emergency neurological care. Addressing gaps in access and affordability can enhance patient outcomes and satisfaction while promoting more equitable healthcare delivery.

Human ; Male ; Female ; Adolescent: 13-18 Yrs Old ; Young Adult: 19-24 Yrs Old ; Adult: 25-44 Yrs Old ; Middle Aged: 45-64 Yrs Old ; Adult ; Emergencies ; Perception

Human taste is an important function of chemical perception. In recent years, brain taste evoked potentials have received more and more attention as a feasible tool for objective assessment of taste dysfunction. This paper reviews the main characteristics of gustatory evoked potential signals, the most widely used recording and processing techniques, and the scientific advances and relevance of gustatory evoked potentials in many important applications. In particular, taste evoked potentials are used to study the central effects of food intake and taste disorders, which may affect cognition and personality, or may be potential indicators of the onset or progression of neurological disorders. For these reasons, this paper presents and analyzes the latest scientific results and future challenges of using gustatory evoked potentials as an attractive solution to objective monitoring techniques for taste disorders. Human taste is an important function of chemical perception. In recent years, brain gustatory evoked potentials have received more and more attention as a feasible tool for objective assessment of taste dysfunction. This paper reviews the main characteristics of gustatory evoked potential signals, the most widely used recording and processing techniques, and the scientific advances and relevance of gustatory evoked potentials in many important applications. In particular, gustatory evoked potentials are used to study the central effects of food intake and taste disorders, which may affect cognition and personality, or may be potential indicators of the onset or progression of neurological disorders. For these reasons, this paper presents and analyzes the latest scientific results and future challenges of using gustatory evoked potentials as an attractive solution to objective monitoring techniques for taste disorders.
Humans ; Evoked Potentials ; Taste/physiology* ; Taste Perception/physiology*

Objective:This study aims to investigate the perception of Mandarin aspirated and unaspirated consonants by children with cochlear implants （CIs） under quiet and noisy conditions. It also examines factors that may affect their acquisition, such as auditory conditions, place of articulation, manner of articulation, chronological age, age at implantation, and non-verbal intelligence. Methods:Twenty-eight CI children aged 3 to 5 years who received implantation from 2018 to 2023 were recruited. Additionally, 88 peers with normal hearing （NH） were recruited as controls. Both groups participated in a perception test for aspirated/unaspirated consonants under quiet and noisy conditions, along with tests for speech recognition, speech production, and non-verbal intelligence. The study analyzed the effects of group （CI vs. NH）, auditory condition, and consonant characteristics on children's perception of aspirated/unaspirated consonants in Mandarin, as well as the factors contributing to CI children's acquisition of these consonants. Results:①CI children's ability to perceive aspirated/unaspirated consonants was significantly poorer than that of their NH peers （χ²= 14.16, P<0.01）, and their perception accuracy was influenced by the acoustic features of consonants （P<0.01）; ②CI children's consonant perception abilities were adversely affected by noise （P<0.01）, with accuracy in noisy conditions particularly influenced by the manner of articulation （P<0.05）; ③The age at implantation significantly affected CI children's ability to perceive aspirated/unaspirated consonants （β= -0.223, P=0.012）, with earlier implantation associated with better performance. Conclusion:It takes time for CI children to acquire Mandarin aspirated/unaspirated consonants, and early implantation shows many advantages, especially for the perception ability of fine speech features.
Humans ; Cochlear Implants ; Child, Preschool ; Speech Perception ; Cochlear Implantation ; Male ; Female ; Language

Objective:To compare the outcomes of multiple scales, primarily the speech, spatial, and other qualities of hearing scale for parents（SSQ-P）, in children with ipsilateral vs. Contralateral cochleareimplantat ion（CRI）. Methods: A total of 69 children who received cochlear implantation surgery from April 1999 to June 2024 were included. Patients were divided into two groups based on whether the implantation was on the same side. General information such as gender, age, age at initial implantation and reimplantation was collected. The primary caregivers of the children were followed up by telephone using the categories of auditory performance（CAP）, speech intelligibility rating（SIR）, and SSQ-P questionnaires. Statistical methods including stepwise regression, linear regression, and permutation tests were employed to investigate if there were any statistically significant differences in the scores of CAP, SIR, SSQ-P total, SSQ-P speech perception, SSQ-P spatial hearing, and SSQ-P auditory quality dimensions between the ipsilateral and contralateral reimplantation groups. Results:Of the 69 children included, 62 were in the ipsilateral reimplantation group with a mean age of 11.1 years, and 7 were in the contralateral reimplantation group with a mean age of 11.7 years. Statistical analysis showed that patients in the contralateral reimplantation group had significantly lower SSQ-P total scores （P<0.05） and spatial hearing dimension scores （P<0.05） than those in the ipsilateral reimplantation group after controlling for the corresponding confounders. Conclusion:The effect of ipsilateral reimplantation of cochlear implants is superior to that of contralateral reimplantation in terms of overall auditory function and spatial hearing in daily life for children, but the mechanisms require further investigation.
Humans ; Cochlear Implantation ; Child ; Parents ; Speech Perception ; Male ; Cochlear Implants ; Female ; Hearing ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Speech ; Child, Preschool

Objective:To explore various factors influencing speech recognition ability in patients with age-related hearing loss（ARHL） and to investigate the correlation between speech recognition ability and cognitive function. Methods:This case-control study enrolled 150 ARHL patients（experimental group） and 132 normal-hearing controls. Participants underwent relevant assessments of auditory function, cognitive function, and tinnitus severity. Various statistical analyses were performed to evaluate the results. Results:①The PBmax and MoCA scores were significantly lower in the ARHL group compared to the control group（P<0.05）. ②PBmax in the ARHL group was significantly influenced by multiple factors（P<0.05）. ③Negative correlations were observed between PBmax in the ARHL group and age, degree of hearing loss, duration of the disease, duration of the worst hearing loss, smoking status, and tinnitus severity（P<0.05）, while positive correlations were found between PBmax and education level, occupation type, frequency of verbal communication, and cognitive function level（P<0.05）. ④Higher education level, frequent verbal communication, and high cognitive function level were protective factors for PBmax in ARHL patients（P<0.05）, whereas the other factors were independent risk factors（P<0.05）. ⑤A significant correlation was found between PBmax and MoCA scores in the ARHL group, and this correlation between cognitive function and speech recognition ability remained significant across different degrees of hearing loss（<0.05）. Conclusion:Speech recognition ability in ARHL patients is influenced by multiple factors. Cognitive function demonstrates a robust, bidirectional association with speech recognition ability, even after adjusting for hearing loss severity.
Humans ; Case-Control Studies ; Middle Aged ; Male ; Female ; Aged ; Speech Perception ; Cognition ; Presbycusis/physiopathology* ; Adult ; Hearing Loss

Neural activities differentiating bodies versus non-body stimuli have been identified in the occipitotemporal cortex of both humans and nonhuman primates. However, the neural mechanisms of coding the similarity of different individuals' bodies of the same species to support their categorical representations remain unclear. Using electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG), we investigated the temporal and spatial characteristics of neural processes shared by different individual body silhouettes of the same species by quantifying the repetition suppression of neural responses to human and animal (chimpanzee, dog, and bird) body silhouettes showing different postures. Our EEG results revealed significant repetition suppression of the amplitudes of early frontal/central activity at 180-220 ms (P2) and late occipitoparietal activity at 220-320 ms (P270) in response to animal (but not human) body silhouettes of the same species. Our MEG results further localized the repetition suppression effect related to animal body silhouettes in the left supramarginal gyrus and left frontal cortex at 200-440 ms after stimulus onset. Our findings suggest two neural processes that are involved in spontaneous categorical representations of animal body silhouettes as a cognitive basis of human-animal interactions.
Humans ; Animals ; Male ; Electroencephalography ; Magnetoencephalography ; Female ; Young Adult ; Adult ; Pattern Recognition, Visual/physiology* ; Brain Mapping ; Photic Stimulation ; Brain/physiology* ; Dogs

Rhythm, as a prominent characteristic of auditory experiences such as speech and music, is known to facilitate attention, yet its contribution to working memory (WM) remains unclear. Here, human participants temporarily retained a 12-tone sequence presented rhythmically or arrhythmically in WM and performed a pitch change-detection task. Behaviorally, while having comparable accuracy, rhythmic tone sequences showed a faster response time and lower response boundaries in decision-making. Electroencephalographic recordings revealed that rhythmic sequences elicited enhanced non-phase-locked beta-band (16 Hz-33 Hz) and theta-band (3 Hz-5 Hz) neural oscillations during sensory encoding and WM retention periods, respectively. Importantly, the two-stage neural signatures were correlated with each other and contributed to behavior. As beta-band and theta-band oscillations denote the engagement of motor systems and WM maintenance, respectively, our findings imply that rhythm facilitates auditory WM through intricate oscillation-based interactions between the motor and auditory systems that facilitate predictive attention to auditory sequences.
Humans ; Memory, Short-Term/physiology* ; Male ; Beta Rhythm/physiology* ; Female ; Theta Rhythm/physiology* ; Young Adult ; Auditory Perception/physiology* ; Adult ; Electroencephalography ; Acoustic Stimulation ; Reaction Time/physiology* ; Brain/physiology* ; Attention/physiology*

The ability to localize sound sources rapidly allows human beings to efficiently understand the surrounding environment. Previous studies have suggested that there is an auditory "where" pathway in the cortex for processing sound locations. The neural activation in regions along this pathway encodes sound locations by opponent hemifield coding, in which each unilateral region is activated by sounds coming from the contralateral hemifield. However, it is still unclear how these regions interact with each other to form a unified representation of the auditory space. In the present study, we investigated whether functional connectivity in the auditory "where" pathway encoded sound locations during passive listening. Participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while passively listening to sounds from five distinct horizontal locations (-90°, -45°, 0°, 45°, 90°). We were able to decode sound locations from the functional connectivity patterns of the "where" pathway. Furthermore, we found that such neural representation of sound locations was primarily based on the coding of sound lateralization angles to the frontal midline. In addition, whole-brain analysis indicated that functional connectivity between occipital regions and the primary auditory cortex also encoded sound locations by lateralization angles. Overall, our results reveal a lateralization-angle-based representation of sound locations encoded by functional connectivity patterns, which could add on the activation-based opponent hemifield coding to provide a more precise representation of the auditory space.
Humans ; Sound Localization/physiology* ; Male ; Female ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Young Adult ; Functional Laterality/physiology* ; Adult ; Brain Mapping ; Auditory Cortex/physiology* ; Acoustic Stimulation ; Auditory Pathways/physiology* ; Brain/physiology*