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Biomedical subjects

C J Golden

Publications and source records attributed to C J Golden.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Diagnostic validity of a short neurobehavioral test for screening of parietal lobe lesions.

Disturbances stemming from lesions of the parietal lobes can produce the most wide-ranging and diagnostically ambiguous symptoms of any of the cortical regions. Currently, parietal assessment and research is hampered by the lack of a specific, brief battery which emphasizes sensory-perceptual rather than cognitive aspects of parietal lobe disease. The Neurological Tests of Parietal Impairment (NTPI) is a battery designed to fulfill this need, providing a broad but brief assessment of major neurobehavioral symptoms of parietal insult. The present study was a preliminary attempt to investigate the diagnostic validity of the NTPI, comparing 7 focal left and 7 focal right parietal lesion cases with 7 focal left and 4 focal right frontal lobe cases, and 5 cases with diffuse cortical disease. The NTPI was found correctly to lateralize right parietal patients and successfully to discriminate them from patients with both right and left frontal lesions on all NTPI subtests except those involving complex receptive speech. Diffuse lesion cases could not be differentiated from parietal patients on the NTPI, as expected. Left parietal patients were not correctly lateralized as effectively as right parietal cases by the NTPI, nor could their performance be differentiated from that of the frontal lesion cases. Possible reasons for this finding were discussed.

Adult↗

The Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery and the Peabody Individual Achievement Test: a correlational analysis.

A group of 100 neurological, psychiatric, and normal subjects were administered both the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery and the Peabody Individual Achievement Test. Correlations between LNNB subtests that tap skills necessary for academic achievement (Reading, Writing, Intellectual Processes, Arithmetic) and corresponding PIAT subtests were high. Correlations between LNNB Localization scales and PIAT scores were also high, with the left Parietal-Occipital Scale showing the highest correlation. Multiple regression analyses generated prediction equations for each PIAT subtest using the LNNB clinical scales.

Achievement↗

Relationships between the Booklet Category Test and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test.

This study compares total errors on the Booklet Form of the Category Test (DeFilippis, McCampbell & Rogers, 1979) with several scores of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (Heaton, 1981). In a heterogeneous sample of 30 neurologically impaired patients and 31 normal individuals the two tests exhibited a maximum correlation of 0.52 when partialing out the effects of age and education. In addition, this study suggests that the two exhibit similar overall diagnostic hit rates; however, they differ in false negatives and false positives. These results bring into question the assumption that these two neuropsychological tests are interchangeable. A need to recognize the nature of the differences between the tests in their clinical applications and in future research is discussed.

Age Factors↗

Aging and performance on the Luria-Nebraska neuropsychological battery.

The Luria-Nebraska Battery has been shown to be a valid measure of neuropsychological functioning in younger adults; however, little validity research with the elderly has been reported. Seventy-eight healthy elderly adults (mean age = 72.2 years) were tested with the Luria-Nebraska Battery and 92% of the profiles were found to be within normal limits. Significant age-related effects were also found on the Luria-Nebraska Battery. Similarly, the healthy elderly were divided into two age groups, young-old (60-74) and old-old (75+). Only the expressive speech and writing scales showed significant differences, and these were in the opposite direction one might expect, in that the old-old group performed significantly better. Additionally, the performance of 100 elderly brain damaged patients (mean age = 68 years) was examined and 86% of the profiles indicated the presence of brain damage. Overall, this study suggests that the Luria-Nebraska Battery may be a useful measure of neuropsychological functioning in elderly groups.

Aged↗

Neuropsychological performance in schizophrenics with histories of substance abuse.

Both schizophrenia and substance abuse have been associated with cerebral impairment, although the neuro psychological performance of schizophrenic patients with substance abuse histories has not been examined. In this study, the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery was administered to schizophrenic patients with or without histories of substance abuse. The study found that the schizophrenics without substance abuse histories showed evidence of cerebral dysfunction, while those schizophrenics with histories of substance abuse could not be differentiated from normal.

Adult↗

Effect of alcohol ingestion on regional cerebral blood flow.

Regional distribution of cerebral blood flow was assessed in 10 normal social drinkers following consumption of .75 g/kg alcohol and in a control session without alcohol. Alcohol increased blood flow in the gray matter in all brain areas except the left anterior area. The results are discussed in terms of the effect of alcohol on regional cerebral activation.

Adult↗

Test-retest reliability of the clinical, factor, and localization scales of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery.

Comparisons were made between initial test scores of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery, the Factor scales and the Localization scales, and a second set of scores derived from a readministration of the battery. Thirty random, unscreened, psychiatric inpatients with a wide variety of diagnoses served as subjects. Patient condition was not controlled, and no subjects were dropped from the data pool. Sixteen males and 14 females with a mean age of 31.8 years (SD = 12.7), mean education of 9.3 years (SD = 3.2), and a test-retest interval mean of 8.1 months (SD = 6.0) participated. All patients had significant emotional difficulties which resulted in repeated hospitalization, and all were cooperative with test procedures. Test-retest scores for the 14 Luria scales ranged from .83 to .96, averaging .89 and for the eight Localization scales, and the reliability ranged from a low of .78 to a high of .95, with a mean of .89. The factor scales test-retest reliability coefficients ranged from .01 to .96, with a .75 average for the 30 scales. All the correlations, except two on the Factor Scales, were significant at p less than .001. These results support the findings of an earlier study which focused on the 14 Luria scaled scores only. The data suggest that the Luria Battery is reliable over time.

Adolescent↗

Deficits of ideokinetic praxis in chronic schizophrenics on a modified version of the Luria-Nebraska Motor Scale.

One disturbance of motility in schizophrenia is the blocking of voluntary action, or ambitendency. Although the traditional explanation for this disorder is psychological, the documentation of psychomotor slowing in the literature suggests the possibility of a neurologic pathogenesis. It was hypothesized that disconnection between the ideatory and motor components of a voluntary action described as ambitendency is similar to the ideokinetic apraxia of disease of the left frontal cortex. It was also hypothesized that because of this presumed anatomical locus, manifestation of ideokinetic apraxia in schizophrenia would be correlated with corticomotor slowing of the dominant hand. To test these hypotheses, a modified version of the Motor Scale of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Examination and the Finger Tapping Test of the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery were administered to 10 chronic undifferentiated schizophrenics, 10 paranoid schizophrenics, 10 patients with major depressive disorders, 10 patients with mixed personality disorders, and 10 normals. Both chronic schizophrenics and major depressives demonstrated a significant frequency of ideokinetic apraxia in comparison with the other groups. Age was found to correlate positively with ideokinetic apraxia in the depressives, suggesting that such symptoms may be an artifact of the aging process in these subjects. Ideokinetic apraxia was correlated with slowing of the dominant hand in the chronic schizophrenics, suggesting a neurologic rather than a psychologic basis for their blocking of voluntary action. No group demonstrated a significant incidence of ideational apraxia.

Adult↗

Neuropsychological deficits among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Sixty-six patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were evaluated for neuropsychological functioning. While the patients showed normal skills on broad intellectual tasks, they displayed mild cerebral deficits on several neuropsychological tests. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the neuropsychological test battery scores were significantly related to partial pressure of arterial oxygen (PaO2), and to degree of pulmonary impairment. Although the cognitive deficits were real, they were generally small. This result may explain why the widely assumed link between chronic lung disorders and cognitive deficit has been difficult to demonstrate. The general pattern was similar to deficits produced by chronic alcoholism and childhood asthma, with complex skills suffering the greatest insult. Because the cognitive deficits among COPD patients in stable condition are small, it is uncertain whether they have importance clinically or for accomplishing daily activities.

Aged↗

Brain damage among mentally disordered sex offenders.

The incidence and nature of structural brain dysfunction was investigated in a pilot study sample of individuals currently assigned the Nebraska Penal Code designation of mentally disordered sexual offender. It was hypothesized that the sexual offenders would show a significantly higher incidence of dysfunction than a psychosocially normal group as evidenced by computed tomography scan measures, regional cerebral blood flow, and neuropsychological instruments. The hypothesis was tested by two different methods. One method used a 160 by 160 printout of density numbers generated by computer from computed tomography scans administered to the sexual offenders. The second method used mean blood flow data generated from a Harshaw TASC-5 Regional Cerebral Blood Flow analysis system. Additionally, the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Test Battery was administered as a measure of the behavioral correlates of brain dysfunction. Preliminary analyses indicate that 50% of the sexual offenders tested showed brain dysfunction as demonstrated by decreased density measures, decreased blood flow, and performance deficits on the Luria Battery. The implications of these findings, if confirmed, are substantial on issues of criminal responsibility, sentencing, treatment, and rehabilitation of the sex offender. Case reports of the patients studied are presented.

Adult↗

Difference in brain densities between chronic alcoholic and normal control patients.

The densities of the brains of 11 chronic alcoholics were compared with those of 11 age-matched normal control subjects. Densities were determined from the density numbers generated by computerized tomography at three levels of the brain-the highest level of the lateral ventricles and the next two higher levels-with adjustments made to control for possible artifacts in the data. The advantage of the dominant hemisphere over the nondominant hemisphere was lessened in alcoholics.

Adult↗