Brain SciencesPub Date : 2026-10-20DOI: 10.3390/brainsci16101129
Tania Akter, Mohammad Hanif Ali, Md Imran Khan, Md Shahriare Satu, Md Jamal Uddin, Salem A Alyami, Sarwar Ali, Akm Azad, Mohammad Ali Moni
{"title":"RETRACTED: Akter et al. Improved Transfer-Learning-Based Facial Recognition Framework to Detect Autistic Children at an Early Stage. <i>Brain Sci.</i> 2021, <i>11</i>, 734.","authors":"Tania Akter, Mohammad Hanif Ali, Md Imran Khan, Md Shahriare Satu, Md Jamal Uddin, Salem A Alyami, Sarwar Ali, Akm Azad, Mohammad Ali Moni","doi":"10.3390/brainsci16101129","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci16101129","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The journal retracts the article, \"Improved Transfer-Learning-Based Facial Recognition Framework to Detect Autistic Children at an Early Stage\" [...].</p>","PeriodicalId":9095,"journal":{"name":"Brain Sciences","volume":"16 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13684342/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149236821","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Brain SciencesPub Date : 2026-10-19DOI: 10.3390/brainsci16101127
K K Mujeeb Rahman, M Monica Subashini
{"title":"RETRACTED: Mujeeb Rahman, K.K.; Subashini, M.M. Identification of Autism in Children Using Static Facial Features and Deep Neural Networks. <i>Brain Sci.</i> 2022, <i>12</i>, 94.","authors":"K K Mujeeb Rahman, M Monica Subashini","doi":"10.3390/brainsci16101127","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci16101127","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The journal retracts the article \"Identification of Autism in Children Using Static Facial Features and Deep Neural Networks\" [...].</p>","PeriodicalId":9095,"journal":{"name":"Brain Sciences","volume":"16 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13684101/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149236846","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Brain SciencesPub Date : 2026-09-21DOI: 10.3390/brainsci16090998
Mirjana Raicevic, Srdjan S Nikolovski
{"title":"Pediatric Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Concussion: Modern Pathophysiological Insights, Diagnostic Advances, and Active Management Protocols.","authors":"Mirjana Raicevic, Srdjan S Nikolovski","doi":"10.3390/brainsci16090998","DOIUrl":"10.3390/brainsci16090998","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Traumatic brain injury and pediatric concussion represent major global public health concerns. This narrative review aims to provide an updated overview of pediatric concussion by integrating current evidence regarding pathophysiology, diagnostic advances, neuroimaging, biomarkers, and evidence-based management strategies. Concussion pathophysiology involves a complex neurometabolic cascade characterized by ionic imbalance, mitochondrial dysfunction, cerebral blood flow alterations, diffuse axonal injury, and neuroinflammation. In pediatric populations, unique neurodevelopmental vulnerabilities (higher head-to-torso ratio, weaker cervical musculature, ongoing myelination) magnify these disturbances. Contemporary management has evolved from prolonged rest to early active recovery, incorporating brief initial rest (24-48 h) followed by sub-symptom threshold aerobic exercise, structured return-to-learn accommodations, and stepped return-to-sport protocols. Emerging diagnostic tools include the Child SCAT6/Child SCOAT6, vestibular/ocular motor screening, and blood biomarkers (GFAP, UCH-L1, NfL). Future research should focus on standardizing pediatric biomarker thresholds and validating multimodal diagnostic algorithms through prospective multicenter studies.</p>","PeriodicalId":9095,"journal":{"name":"Brain Sciences","volume":"16 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13604428/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149058430","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Brain SciencesPub Date : 2026-09-21DOI: 10.3390/brainsci16090999
Marilena Mangiardi
{"title":"Beyond Biomarkers: Reclaiming the Central Role of Clinical Neurophysiology in Neuromuscular Disorders.","authors":"Marilena Mangiardi","doi":"10.3390/brainsci16090999","DOIUrl":"10.3390/brainsci16090999","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Over the past two decades, advances in molecular genetics, immunology, neuroimaging, fluid biomarkers, and artificial intelligence have substantially transformed the diagnosis, classification, and treatment of neuromuscular disorders. However, increasing biological precision has also highlighted an important distinction between identifying disease mechanisms and characterizing their functional expression. Clinical neurophysiology occupies a specific position within this evolving diagnostic landscape by directly assessing nervous system function and providing objective information on impulse conduction, neuromuscular transmission, motor unit integrity, physiological reserve, and disease activity. Consequently, neurophysiological assessment contributes not only to diagnosis but also to differential diagnosis, longitudinal monitoring, prognostic assessment, and therapeutic evaluation. In this critical review, I examine the factors that have progressively shifted clinical neurophysiology from an interpretative clinical discipline toward a more procedural role. Using representative examples from myasthenia gravis, immune-mediated neuropathies, myopathies, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, I discuss how physiological information complements molecular, serological, imaging, and other biological biomarkers. I further examine the emerging role of artificial intelligence, including its potential for automated signal analysis and quantitative assessment, as well as current limitations related to generalizability, validation, and overreliance on pattern recognition. I propose a complementary conceptual framework in which biological and molecular approaches characterize disease mechanisms, while clinical neurophysiology defines their functional expression and clinical relevance in the individual patient. Within this framework, clinical neurophysiology should not be considered an alternative to precision medicine, but an integrated physiological dimension of it, connecting biological characterization with clinically actionable functional information.</p>","PeriodicalId":9095,"journal":{"name":"Brain Sciences","volume":"16 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13604423/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149058373","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Brain SciencesPub Date : 2026-09-21DOI: 10.3390/brainsci16090997
Sebastian Dzierzęcki, Grzegorz Turek, Michał Turek, Zenon Mariak, Wojciech Czyżewski, Jan Gajewski, Jakub Litak, Magdalena Rybaczek, Mateusz Ząbek, Aleksandra Giba, Patrycja Zabrocka, Mirosław Ząbek
{"title":"Efficacy and Safety of Microvascular Decompression in Patients with Trigeminal Neuralgia Previously Treated with Gamma Knife Stereotactic Radiosurgery.","authors":"Sebastian Dzierzęcki, Grzegorz Turek, Michał Turek, Zenon Mariak, Wojciech Czyżewski, Jan Gajewski, Jakub Litak, Magdalena Rybaczek, Mateusz Ząbek, Aleksandra Giba, Patrycja Zabrocka, Mirosław Ząbek","doi":"10.3390/brainsci16090997","DOIUrl":"10.3390/brainsci16090997","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>Background/Objectives</b>: Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery (GKS) controls classical trigeminal neuralgia (TN) in 70-90% of patients, but pain recurs in a substantial minority, and these patients are then considered for microvascular decompression (MVD). Whether radiation-induced arachnoid thickening, vessel-nerve adhesion and nerve atrophy compromise the safety or efficacy of subsequent MVD remains unresolved, and the available series are small. The objective of this study was to determine whether prior GKS alters the efficacy or the safety of subsequent MVD. <b>Methods:</b> We performed a retrospective, two-center cohort study of consecutive patients with classical TN who underwent MVD between 2015 and 2025. Of more than 1571 patients treated with GKS for TN during this period, 35 subsequently underwent MVD for insufficient pain relief (GKS+); they were compared with 60 consecutive patients who underwent primary MVD without prior radiosurgery (GKS-). The primary outcome was pain control on the Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI) scale at last follow-up, dichotomized as good (BNI I-III) or poor (BNI IV-V). Secondary outcomes were postoperative adverse events, medication-free status, intraoperative findings, intradural operative time and length of stay. <b>Results:</b> Good long-term pain control was achieved in 31 of 35 GKS+ patients (88.6%) and 55 of 60 GKS- patients (91.7%; <i>p</i> = 0.725) over a mean follow-up of 31.2 and 39.7 months, respectively. Radiation-related intraoperative changes-most often arachnoid thickening (62.9%)-were present in all GKS+ patients. Composite adverse events occurred in 31.4% of GKS+ and 36.7% of GKS- patients (<i>p</i> = 0.660), but the majority were trigeminal sensory disturbances (22.9% and 25.0%, respectively); non-sensory complications occurred in 3 GKS+ patients (8.6%) and 7 GKS- patients (11.7%; <i>p</i> = 0.741). At long-term follow-up, 48.6% of GKS+ and 60.0% of GKS- patients were medication-free (<i>p</i> = 0.294). There were no major neurological deficits and no surgery-related deaths in either cohort. <b>Conclusions:</b> Prior Gamma Knife radiosurgery did not reduce the efficacy or the safety of subsequent microvascular decompression, despite consistently more demanding intraoperative conditions. MVD remains an appropriate rescue option for persistent or recurrent trigeminal neuralgia after failed radiosurgery.</p>","PeriodicalId":9095,"journal":{"name":"Brain Sciences","volume":"16 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13604575/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149058335","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation Selectively Improves Executive Control and Cognitive Flexibility Following Sustained High Cognitive Load: A Randomized, Single-Blind, Sham-Controlled Study.","authors":"Haixu Lyu, Haiyan Liu, Yifan Yang, Wanying Xing, Tingwei Feng, Xufeng Liu","doi":"10.3390/brainsci16091001","DOIUrl":"10.3390/brainsci16091001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Acute exposure to sustained high cognitive load rapidly depletes executive functions, yet rapid, field-compatible countermeasures remain scarce. This study examined whether transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) improves cognitive functions across multiple domains-including the attention networks, cognitive flexibility, and working memory-following sustained high cognitive load.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Healthy young men completed a 1 h dual task combining spatial 1-back and color-word Stroop judgments (the BS task) to induce a high-cognitive-load state; 65 participants were randomized to receive 30 min of active taVNS (left cymba conchae; 25 Hz; 500-μs pulse width; 30 s on/30 s off) or sham stimulation under a single-blind design, and 62 provided complete data and were analyzed. Cognitive performance was assessed with the Attention Network Test, Cued Switching Task, and spatial 2-back task immediately after the intervention and after 1, 2, 4, and 8 h; baseline-corrected change scores were analyzed with linear mixed-effects models.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The induction task reliably increased subjective workload and degraded task accuracy. Immediately after the intervention, taVNS significantly reduced the conflict effect relative to sham (<i>b</i> = -16.43 ms, 95% CI [-32.03, -0.82], <i>F</i>(1, 127.5) = 4.34, <i>p</i> = 0.039, <i>d</i> = 0.64) and the switch cost (<i>b</i> = -59.79 ms, 95% CI [-109.66, -9.92], <i>F</i>(1, 81.8) = 5.69, <i>p</i> = 0.019, <i>d</i> = 0.53); both immediate effects remained significant after Holm correction. Group × time interactions were nonsignificant, and the temporal course of the between-group differences should therefore be interpreted cautiously. No significant effects were observed for alerting, orienting, or working memory.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These findings indicate that taVNS selectively and immediately improves executive control and cognitive flexibility following sustained high cognitive load, supporting its potential as a portable, rapid-acting cognitive countermeasure for high-demand operational settings.</p>","PeriodicalId":9095,"journal":{"name":"Brain Sciences","volume":"16 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13604627/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149058289","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Brain SciencesPub Date : 2026-09-21DOI: 10.3390/brainsci16091000
Ciro Civile
{"title":"Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (TDCS) at Fp3-Fp2 Reduces the Face Inversion Effect: Evidence Against an Expectancy Account.","authors":"Ciro Civile","doi":"10.3390/brainsci16091000","DOIUrl":"10.3390/brainsci16091000","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) delivered through the Fp3-Fp2 montage reduces the face inversion effect (FIE), a result now used to argue that perceptual expertise underlies face recognition. Because beliefs about brain stimulation can change behaviour in the absence of any current, the literature rests on a premise that has never been examined: its sham condition provides a neutral baseline. The objective of this study was to test that premise, by establishing whether taking part in a tDCS study, as against no such study, changes performance in this paradigm.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Participants (<i>n</i> = 96, 32 per group) completed an old/new recognition task with upright and inverted faces. The anodal and sham groups were run under a double-blind procedure, so that participants in both knew they might be receiving active stimulation; a third, no-tDCS group completed the identical task on the same timetable, with no electrodes applied and no mention of stimulation.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Anodal tDCS halved the FIE relative to both control groups (<i>M</i> = 0.23 vs. 0.55 and 0.56), where <i>F</i>(2, 93) = 9.99, <i>p</i> < 0.001, and ηp2 = 0.18, through impaired recognition of upright faces, where <i>p</i> < 0.001; sensitivity to inverted faces was unaffected, where <i>p</i> = 0.983. The sham and no-tDCS groups were equivalent on every measure taken, and every Bayes factor for that comparison favoured the null (BF = 0.18-0.27).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Within the paradigm and procedure employed here, the beliefs that accompany taking part in a tDCS study did not change performance. The reduction in the FIE by anodal tDCS at Fp3-Fp2 is therefore unlikely to be an expectancy effect, and the sham control used throughout this literature study can be treated as a valid baseline.</p>","PeriodicalId":9095,"journal":{"name":"Brain Sciences","volume":"16 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13604077/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149058417","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Brain SciencesPub Date : 2026-09-20DOI: 10.3390/brainsci16090996
Tianbo Li, Huanxiang Sun, Yi Jiang, Xiuling Zhang
{"title":"Temporal Dynamics of Ensemble Face Representations Under Magnocellular- and Parvocellular-Biased Visual Inputs: A Time-Resolved EEG Decoding Study.","authors":"Tianbo Li, Huanxiang Sun, Yi Jiang, Xiuling Zhang","doi":"10.3390/brainsci16090996","DOIUrl":"10.3390/brainsci16090996","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background/objectives: </strong>Ensemble perception enables the visual system to rapidly extract summary statistics from multiple objects. However, the temporal dynamics of ensemble average representations and their dependence on magnocellular-biased (M-biased) and parvocellular-biased (P-biased) visual information remain unclear. This study examined when ensemble face-gender information could be decoded under these two stimulus conditions.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Twenty-four healthy adults performed a two-alternative forced-choice gender judgment task with neutral face ensembles and single faces. M-biased stimuli were low-luminance-contrast grayscale faces, whereas P-biased stimuli were isoluminant red-green faces. Time-resolved multivariate pattern analysis, temporal generalization, and cross-condition generalization characterized gender-related EEG dynamics.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Behaviorally, responses were faster for P-biased than M-biased stimuli and for single faces than ensembles, with no significant accuracy differences. Balanced Integration Scores were significantly higher for P-biased than M-biased stimuli in both ensemble and single-face conditions. M-biased ensemble gender information was reliably decodable during early (95-300 ms) and late processing (775-930 ms), with significant early temporal generalization. P-biased face ensembles showed no significant cluster-corrected time-resolved decoding but exhibited significant temporal generalization during middle-to-late processing. Under M-biased stimulation, ensemble gender information generalized to single-face judgments from 690-995 ms.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Ensemble face-gender information showed a multistage temporal organization. M-biased ensemble information became decodable early. Late cross-condition generalization further indicated that ensemble and single-face judgments shared gender-discriminative task information. These findings characterize the temporal evolution of ensemble gender information under pathway-biased visual stimulation and provide a temporal perspective on ensemble perception.</p>","PeriodicalId":9095,"journal":{"name":"Brain Sciences","volume":"16 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13604322/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149058313","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Brain SciencesPub Date : 2026-09-19DOI: 10.3390/brainsci16090992
Mark Hedrick, Kelly Yeager, Cary Springer
{"title":"Perception of Vowel Segments by Children and Adults: A Preliminary Study of Segment Duration.","authors":"Mark Hedrick, Kelly Yeager, Cary Springer","doi":"10.3390/brainsci16090992","DOIUrl":"10.3390/brainsci16090992","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>Background/Objectives</b>: Children's perception of phonemes differs from that of adults. Our purpose was to examine whether children's perception of vowels differs from that of adults because of differential emphasis on vowel segments (steady-state or transition), degree of coarticulation, or amount of information to make a perceptual judgment of the vowel. <b>Methods</b>: A, between-group cross-sectional design was employed. Twenty-four children aged four to nine years and 17 adults (aged 18 to 53) participated. Stimuli were three naturally produced syllables (/bɑ/, /bi/ and /bu/), presented in the sound field in entirety or segmented to isolate the formant transition or the vowel static formant center. Participants selected the vowel presented by choosing from corresponding pictures on a computer screen. <b>Results</b>: The data from children showed consistently less accuracy for vowel identification than adults for whole syllable and all segments except full transitions. <b>Conclusions</b>: Children were more attuned to acoustic change or contrast to enable vowel perception than adults, yet needed more extensive change before reaching adult performance.</p>","PeriodicalId":9095,"journal":{"name":"Brain Sciences","volume":"16 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13604414/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149058418","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Brain SciencesPub Date : 2026-09-19DOI: 10.3390/brainsci16090995
Rocco Salvatore Calabrò, Rosaria De Luca, Riccardo Raul Ruberto, Andrea Calderone, Demetrio Milardi, Francesco Tomaiuolo
{"title":"Sexual Dysregulation After Traumatic Brain Injury and Stroke: A Critical Narrative Review of Neurobiology, Clinical Phenotypes, and Management.","authors":"Rocco Salvatore Calabrò, Rosaria De Luca, Riccardo Raul Ruberto, Andrea Calderone, Demetrio Milardi, Francesco Tomaiuolo","doi":"10.3390/brainsci16090995","DOIUrl":"10.3390/brainsci16090995","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>Background/Objectives:</b> Acquired brain injury (ABI) can disturb sexual regulation, but the literature does not support a single lesion-to-behavior relationship. This critical narrative review evaluates hypersexuality, sexual disinhibition, and rare acquired paraphilic manifestations after traumatic brain injury (TBI) and stroke, and asks how sparse, heterogeneous evidence can inform proportionate clinical care. <b>Methods:</b> PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched up to 6 August 2026. Two reviewers independently screened records and full texts. Evidence appraisal considered methodological quality, directness, and competing explanations. Thirteen English-language case-based publications were assessed, with neurological observations distinguished from pharmacological comparators. <b>Results:</b> Sexual dysfunction is common after ABI, whereas dysregulated sexual behavior is less frequent and poorly quantified. TBI primarily supports a distributed vulnerability model involving diffuse axonal injury and disruption of frontal regulatory connections. Stroke can nominate strategic candidate nodes, but lesion-network effects and clinical context remain decisive. Clinical observations associate inappropriate sexual behavior with broader behavioral difficulties, without establishing a uniform syndrome. Recent guidelines support individualized sexuality care, while contemporary imaging studies strengthen network plausibility without directly establishing sexual-dysregulation mechanisms. <b>Conclusions:</b> A phenotype-first framework separates dysfunction from dysregulation and distinguishes direct clinical evidence from mechanistic extrapolation. Assessment should establish what changed and whether reversible contributors explain the behavior before assigning a persistent phenotype. Management should match the dominant clinical problem, preserve consensual intimacy, and use the least restrictive targeted strategy. Explicit monitoring should determine whether benefit justifies continued treatment. Case-based evidence and language-restricted selection limit generalizability; prospective studies require standardized phenotypes and repeated observation across settings.</p>","PeriodicalId":9095,"journal":{"name":"Brain Sciences","volume":"16 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13604643/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149058445","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}