Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

A F Jorm

Publications and source records attributed to A F Jorm.

180 records · Page 10Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

Cognitive factors at school entry predictive of specific reading retardation and general reading backwardness: a research note.

A sample of 453 Australian children was followed over the first three years of schooling. A broad range of cognitive skills was assessed at the beginning of the first year at school and at the end of the third year the children were classified as retarded, backward or normal readers. At school entry, backward readers were found to be deficient in a broad range of cognitive skills, as might be expected given their lower IQs. Retarded readers, however, were found to be deficient on a more limited range of tasks, mainly involving early literacy and phonological processing skills. The implications of these findings for theories of cognitive deficit in reading retardation are discussed.

Child↗
PubMed1986

Cognitive deficit in the depressed elderly: a review of some basic unresolved issues.

Research relating to three interrelated issues concerning cognitive deficit in the depressed elderly is reviewed. The issues are: the role of ageing in cognitive deficit associated with depression; whether the cognitive deficit is intrinsic to depression in the elderly or a secondary motivational effect; and the possibility of qualitative differences between the cognitive deficits seen in the depressed elderly and in senile dementia. Despite their fundamental importance, only the most tentative conclusions can be drawn with respect to any of these issues because researchers have either failed to recognise them or failed to appreciate the methodological problems involved in researching them.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

The dissemination of research findings: some limitations revealed when attempting a meta-analysis.

A meta-analysis of the literature on drug treatments for Alzheimer's disease revealed the following limitations in the dissemination of research findings: multiple publication of findings, failure to report basic descriptive statistics and failure to respond to written requests for additional information on the research. The possible reasons for these problems and remedies for them are discussed.

Alzheimer Disease↗
PubMed1986

Effects of cholinergic enhancement therapies on memory function in Alzheimer's disease: a meta-analysis of the literature.

A quantitative analysis of the literature on cholinergic enhancement of memory function in Alzheimer's disease showed that such therapies do have an effect if dosages are individualised. Treatments that combine a precursor with an anticholinesterase, however, appear to be the most promising for clinically useful results. The number of studies that have evaluated this combination treatment is small, but the present analysis indicates that further clinical trials would be most worthwhile.

Aged↗
PubMed1985

Subtypes of Alzheimer's dementia: a conceptual analysis and critical review.

Criteria necessary for establishing the existence of qualitatively-different subtypes of a disorder are proposed. A review is made of the existing literature on Alzheimer's Dementia which proposes subtypes on the basis of either psychological or neuropathological data. It is concluded that, as yet, this research has not met the criteria for establishing qualitatively-different subtypes. However, Alzheimer's Dementia does seem to show quantitative variability in a number of respects and this appears to be related to factors of aetiological significance. The possibility that this quantitative variability could provide the basis for subtyping is discussed.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1985

Possible improvements to the diagnostic criteria for dementia in DSM-III.

The DSM-III diagnostic criteria for dementia can be criticised because they treat dementia as a categorical rather than dimensional disorder, and thus ignore the problem of placing appropriate cutoffs. They are also too broad and may result in diagnostic unreliability because of varying interpretations of the criteria by different diagnosticians. Strategies for overcoming these problems are discussed and some improved criteria proposed.

Aged↗
PubMed1984

Phonological confusability in short-term memory for sentences as a predictor of reading ability.

Upon entry to kindergarten, a group of 477 children was given sentence memory tasks involving rhyming and non-rhyming sentences. These tasks were readministered to the children at the end of Grade 1 when the children were also tested for reading ability. Short-term memory for sentences was found to correlate with Grade 1 reading ability on both occasions when it was tested. Furthermore, at both ages the children found rhyming sentences harder to recall than non-rhyming sentences. However, contrary to some previous research, the study failed to find that poor readers were less severely penalized when the short-term memory sentence stimuli rhymed. The possible role of scaling artifacts in producing inconsistent results between studies is discussed.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1983

Specific reading retardation and working memory: a review.

Research into the memory deficit of retarded readers is examined within a working memory framework. Although much of the evidence in this area is confusing, there is fairly consistent evidence that reading retardation can be associated with a deficit in long-term storage of phonological information. This deficit may affect retarded readers' ability to utilize the articulatory loop, a short-term store which appears to play an important role in certain aspects of normal reading acquisition. On the other hand, there is fairly consistent evidence that retarded readers perform normally at storing non-verbal information and the semantic aspects of verbal information in long-term memory. Problems with current research strategies are discussed and suggestions for future research directions are made.

Attention↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Is depression a risk factor for dementia or cognitive decline? A review.

BACKGROUND: It is generally accepted that depression can be associated with significant cognitive deficits and that depression can be comorbid with dementia. OBJECTIVE: This review seeks to go further and ask whether depression earlier in life can be a risk factor for subsequent dementia or for cognitive decline. METHODS: A review was made of the epidemiological evidence from case-control and prospective studies that depression is a risk factor. The literature was also reviewed in relation to six hypotheses that might explain an association: (1) depression treatments are a risk factor for dementia, (2) dementia and depression share common risk factors, (3) depression is a prodrome of dementia, (4) depression is an early reaction to cognitive decline, (5) depression affects the threshold for manifesting dementia, and (6) depression is a causal factor in dementia. RESULTS: A meta-analysis found that depression was associated with an increased risk of subsequent dementia in both case-control studies (95% CI for relative risk: 1.16-3.50) and prospective studies (95% CI: 1.08-3.20). There was little support for hypotheses 1 and 2. The other hypotheses have limited support, but warrant further research. CONCLUSION: There is sufficient evidence to take seriously the possibility that depression is a risk factor for dementia and cognitive decline. Further work is needed to examine depression as a prodrome of vascular dementia, depression as an early reaction to perceived cognitive decline, the effects of depression on the threshold for manifesting dementia, and depression as a source of hippocampal damage through a glucocorticoid cascade.

Case-Control Studies↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Are changes in sensory disability, reaction time, and grip strength associated with changes in memory and crystallized Intelligence? A longitudinal analysis in an elderly community sample.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about predictors of cognitive changes in the elderly. Sensory disability, grip strength, and speed of processing have been established as associates of cognitive performance in cross-sectional studies. However, it is not known whether changes in these predictor variables are associated with changes in cognitive functioning. OBJECTIVES: (1) to examine the relationship between initial level of three predictor variables - speed of processing, sensory disability, and grip strength - and changes in memory and crystallized intelligence (CIQ); (2) to examine the relationships between change in grip strength, cognitive speed, and sensory disability and changes in memory and CIQ, and (3) to investigate these relationships with the effects of age and sex statistically removed. METHODS: Cognitive ability was assessed in two domains: CIQ (3 tests) and memory (3 tests) measured on two occasions approximately three and a half years apart in a large community sample (n = 425; mean age = 75.8, range 70-93 years). Repeated-measures Anova was used to analyze descriptive data. Latent-change models were used to examine structural relationships between constructs. RESULTS: Initial levels of reaction time or grip strength did not predict rate of change on memory tasks. Changes in grip strength, speed, and memory correlated moderately, suggesting that these variables have some tendency to move together over time. Sensory disability correlated with age but not with change in speed, grip, memory, or CIQ. These relationships held across the age range studied after adjustment for age and sex. CONCLUSIONS: The findings are consistent with the action of a common causal mechanism underlying changes in speed, grip, and memory. A number of methodological caveats arise from our analysis. Cross-sectional and longitudinal data sets yield different interpretations about the basic component associates of cognitive performance.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Cohort difference in sexual orientation: results from a large age-stratified population sample.

BACKGROUND: There is some community survey evidence for a cohort difference in female sexual orientation. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether there is a cohort difference in sexual orientation in Australia. METHODS: A community survey was carried out with a sample of 7,447 adults from the age groups 20-24, 40-44 and 60-64 years. As part of this survey respondents were asked a question on sexual orientation which was answered privately. RESULTS: A strong age cohort difference was found for women, with younger women more frequently reporting a homosexual or bisexual orientation. By contrast, no age cohort difference was found for men. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that a heterosexual orientation may have become less common in younger cohorts of Australian women. This finding is consistent with data from other recent studies.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Variation in psychiatric and behavioural symptoms at different stages of dementia: data from physicians' examinations and informants' reports.

An investigation was carried out of psychiatric and behavioural symptoms in non-demented and demented subjects derived from a population study of the very elderly. Information on psychiatric and behavioural symptoms came from two independent sources: a physician's examination and an interview with an informant. The symptoms were grouped into clusters using principal-components analysis. Little agreement was found between the two sources of information on symptoms of anxiety, depression and psychosis. However, there was agreement about an increase in inactivity symptoms as the severity of dementia increased.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Disability in dementia: assessment, prevention, and rehabilitation.

Dementia involves cognitive impairment sufficient to interfere with daily living. Most cases of dementia are due to Alzheimer's disease or cerebrovascular disease. Surveys show that dementia is one of the major causes of disability in the elderly, affecting personal care, everyday cognitive activities, and social behaviour. Several instruments relying on informant reports or behavioural observation have been developed to assess these various components of disability in dementia. Prevention of dementia would make a major contribution to the postponement of disability in old age. In principle, this could be achieved by modifying risk factors for Alzheimer's disease or vascular dementia. There is presently scope for the prevention of vascular dementia, but risk factors for Alzheimer's disease are not sufficiently understood. The paper discusses how, where dementia has already developed, programmes involving cognitive training or environmental redesign can help to maintain skills and reduce behavioural disturbances.

Aged↗