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Biomedical subjects

G J Larrabee

Publications and source records attributed to G J Larrabee.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

A review of mild head trauma. Part I: Meta-analytic review of neuropsychological studies.

We conducted a meta-analytic review of neuropsychological studies of mild head trauma (MHT). Studies were included if they met these criteria: patients studied at least 3 months after MHT; patients selected because of a history of MHT rather than because they were symptomatic; and attrition rate of less than 50% for longitudinal studies. Studies of children were not considered. We found a total of 8 published papers with 11 samples that met these criteria. Using the g statistics, the overall effect size of 0.07 was nonsignificant, but the d statistic yielded an effect size of 0.12, p < .03. Measurers of attention had the largest effect, g = 0.17. p < .02 and d = 0.20, p < .006. Severity of injury accounted for far more variance than did specific neuropsychological domain, however. The small effect size suggests that the maximum prevalence of persistent neuropsychological deficit is likely to be small and neuropsychological assessment is likely to have positive predictive value of less than 50%. Consequently, clinicians will more likely be correct when not diagnosing brain injury than when diagnosing a brain injury in cases with chronic disability after MHT.

Clinical Trials as Topic↗
PubMed1995

Construct validity of various verbal and visual memory tests.

Factor analysis was conducted on attention, information processing, verbal and visual memory scores of 112 patients. Factor structure did not vary as a function of age. The Expanded Paired Associates Test, Verbal Selective Reminding Test, Continuous Recognition Memory Test, and Continuous Visual Memory Test defined a general memory factor. The PASAT, WMS Mental Control, and WAIS-R Digit Span defined an attention/information processing factor. Immediate Visual Reproduction (VR) loaded primarily on visual/nonverbal intelligence, whereas delayed VR loaded primarily with the memory factor. The Trail Making Test, Part B was more closely associated with visual/nonverbal intelligence than with attention/information processing. Serial Digit Learning was more closely associated with attention/information processing than with general memory.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Estimated prevalence of age-associated memory impairment derived from standardized tests of memory function.

Recent research on the prevalence of age-associated memory impairment (AAMI) has reflected considerable variability, with estimates ranging from 35% to 98%. This variability is attributed to (a) failure to employ the complete diagnostic criteria for AAMI and (b) failure to consider age as a variable in estimating prevalence. Analysis of published normative data on both standard clinical memory tests and computer-simulated everyday memory tests shows a clear increase in the percentage of persons meeting the AAMI memory performance criterion as a function of age. These data are offered as an upper-bound estimate of the prevalence of AAMI, by age decade.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Structure of everyday memory in adults with Age-Associated Memory Impairment.

Everyday memory was tested in a group of adults manifesting Age-Associated Memory Impairment; a computerized battery of tests was constructed to simulate memory tasks of daily life. Confirmatory and other structural equation models were estimated for the entire sample of 273 Ss and for 3 age groups. A 4-factor model was found to fit the data well and was invariant across age and gender. After education had been controlled, only the General Recall factor was found to be consistently related to age in both men and women; the other 3 factors--Narrative Memory, Digit Recall, and Visual Memory--were related to age only in men. Confirmatory factor analyses of the everyday memory tests combined with several psychometric memory tests suggested that some of the latter (the Benton Visual Retention Test and Wechsler Memory Scale Hard Paired Associates) load on more than 1 factor of everyday memory, suggesting complex relationships between the 2 types of tests.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1993

Do men show more rapid age-associated decline in simulated everyday verbal memory than do women?

Recent magnetic resonance imaging data suggest that men show more rapid age-associated atrophy of the left hemisphere than do women. To investigate whether a similar pattern occurs for functional decline, the authors tested 417 male-female pairs, ages 17-79 years and matched perfectly on age and education, on 3 computer-simulated everyday verbal memory tests: Name-Face Association, First-Last Name Associate Learning, and Grocery List Selective Reminding. Age and gender significantly predicted performance on all 3 tests. By contrast, only 1 of 15 Age x Gender interactions was significant, accounting for merely 1% of the test variance. These data suggest that although gender-based differences in rate of left-hemisphere structural decline may occur with normal aging, these apparently do not translate into differential functional decline in simulated everyday verbal memory.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Accelerated forgetting in Alzheimer-type dementia.

Accelerated forgetting of name-face associations and grocery list items within the first hour postpresentation is demonstrated in 80 persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD) compared to 80 control subjects matched on age, education, and gender. Differences in forgetting which exceeded statistical regression effects remained, even when AD and control subjects were matched on rate of acquisition during the learning trials of name-face associations. Results are discussed in relation to the neuropathology of AD, organic amnestic disorders, and methodological factors concerning previous research on forgetting in persons with AD.

Aged↗
PubMed1993

Age and incidental recall for a simulated everyday memory task.

We compared intentional learning on an everyday memory task, associate learning of name-face pairs, with Type II incidental recall of the city of residence for each of the name-face pairs. Performance on intentional and incidental learning was significantly associated with age and performance differences begun as early as the fifth decade. Age was more strongly associated with intentional than with incidental learning, and performance on the single incidental recall trial was most similar to the first trial of the intentional learning task.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Assessment of memory complaint in age-associated memory impairment: the MAC-Q.

Few brief self-report memory questionnaires are available, and non has been well validated. We designed a brief questionnaire, the MAC-Q, to assess age-related memory decline. Validity and reliability of the MAC-Q were assessed in 232 subjects meeting diagnostic criteria for age-associated memory impairment (AAMI). Concurrent validity of the MAC-Q was supported by a significant correlation (r = .41, p < .001) with a lengthy, well-validated memory questionnaire. Multiple regression analysis indicated that memory test scores were significant predictors of MAC-Q scores. MAC-Q scores were not predicted by Hamilton Depression Scale scores, suggesting that memory complaint in AAMI is not related to affective status. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the MAC-Q were satisfactory. Our data support the validity and reliability of the MAC-Q, a new brief memory questionnaire. The MAC-Q is of particular relevance to the assessment of AAMI, but should also prove useful in any clinical or research setting requiring a brief index of memory complaint.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Changes in facial recognition memory across the adult life span.

We found significant and similar associations of facial recognition memory performance with age using two different methodologies: signal detection (SD) and delayed nonmatching-to-sample (DNM). These data demonstrate that previously reported associations between age and facial recognition memory performance were not specific to method of assessment, and that significant declines are seen as early as 50 years of age.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Factors attenuating the validity of the Geriatric Depression Scale in a dementia population.

OBJECTIVE: The validity of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) in cognitively impaired patients has been questioned. We investigated possible factors (memory loss, dementia severity, unawareness of illness) attenuating the validity of the GDS in patients with dementia. PATIENTS: Eighty-three patients who met research diagnostic criteria for "probable Alzheimer's disease." Subjects with major depressive disorder were excluded. Dementia severity ranged from mild to moderate. SETTING: Outpatient clinics, including institutional settings and private research settings. MEASUREMENTS: Depression--GDS; Hamilton Depression Scale. Memory--Wechsler Memory Scale; Benton Visual Retention Test. Dementia severity--Mini-Mental State Examination. Self-awareness of cognitive deficits--Difference score between a self-report memory questionnaire and an informant-rated memory questionnaire. RESULTS: Multiple regression analysis revealed that Hamilton scores were the major predictor of GDS scores. Memory scores and self-awareness scores were also significant predictors. Dementia severity scores were not a significant predictor. CONCLUSIONS: The GDS is a valid measure of mild-to-moderate depressive symptoms in Alzheimer patients with mild-to-moderate dementia. However, Alzheimer patients who disavow cognitive deficits also tend to disavow depressive symptoms, and the GDS should be used with caution in such patients. Finally, the argument that memory impairment precludes accurate self-report of recent mood is negated by our finding that many patients accurately reported depressive symptoms and that worse memory was associated with more self-reported depressive symptoms.

Aged↗
PubMed1991

Diagnosis, assessment and treatment of age-associated memory impairment.

We have reviewed diagnostic criteria and assessment procedures for AAMI, as well as pharmacologic and behavioral treatments for this condition. This research gives reason to hope that an important behavioral deficit associated with aging may be modified through drug and behavioral treatment.

Aging↗
PubMed1991

The association of memory complaint with computer-simulated everyday memory performance.

The relationship of memory self-report to self-rated depression and to actual performance on computer-simulated everyday memory tasks was investigated in 125 normal adults. Canonical correlation analyses demonstrated that self-rated memory performance and objective computer-simulated everyday memory performance shared from 27.9% to 29.4% of common variance. These data provide initial concurrent validity for a new memory self-report scale, the MAC-S. Results are discussed in relation to psychometric factors important in the design and validation of self-report memory scales.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Treatment of age-associated memory impairment with guanfacine.

Alpha2 adrenergic agonists have been shown to improve memory test performance in amnesic humans and aged nonhuman primates. In a group of drugs in this class that were tested for their effects on age-related memory impairments in aged monkeys, guanfacine was the most effective for improving mnemonic function at doses that were without significant side effects. These data prompted studies of guanfacine for its effect on learning and memory in persons with age-associated memory impairment (AAMI), the results of which are now reported. The data suggest that guanfacine may have modest mood-improving effects but had no significant effects on learning and memory in the subjects tested.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

A self-rating scale for evaluating memory in everyday life.

A memory self-rating scale is described that includes 21 ability-to-remember items, 24 items assessing frequency of occurrence of memory failures, and 4 global rating items assessing overall comparison to others, comparison to the best one's memory has ever been, speed of recall, and concern or worry over memory function. Factor analysis yielded 5 orthogonal Ability to Remember and 5 orthogonal Frequency of Occurrence factors. The factor structure was not affected by age or sex, and level of complaint on the factor scores was not strongly associated with age.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

The Misplaced Objects Test: a measure of everyday visual memory.

The Misplaced Objects Test is a computerized test of object location recall. The test is structurally similar to tasks used in the evaluation of age and drug effects in preclinical animal research. Delayed recall of 20 common objects which the subject has placed using a touch sensitive screen in a computer-simulated 12-room house is evaluated with three measures. Scores include the number of objects found on the first attempt (Found 1), the number of objects found on the second attempt (Found 2), and the total number of objects found on both attempts (Found T). Performance was evaluated in relation to age, gender, education, and affective status, as well as in relation to several traditional neuropsychological measures. Misplaced Objects Test performance was most strongly associated with age and Wechsler Memory Scale Paired Associate Learning. Additional significant relationships were found with gender, education, and the WAIS Digit Symbol subtest. Potential future applications of the test were discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Visual recognition memory in normal adults and patients with unilateral vascular lesions.

Visual recognition memory was examined in 310 normal adults (age range 18-91) and 60 patients with unilateral vascular lesions (30 right, 30 left) using the Continuous Visual Memory Test (CVMT). Significant age-related differences were found for both acquisition and delayed phases of the CVMT, with older subjects performing lower on all variables. Data from clinical groups revealed that both patients with left-hemisphere (LCVA) and right-hemisphere (RCVA) lesions performed below age-matched controls. However, RCVA patients performed significantly worse than LCVA patients. Data generally supported the double-dissociation hypothesis, with a majority of RCVA patients exhibiting impaired visual memory but preserved verbal memory, and vice versa for LCVA patients. Results also suggested that the CVMT Delayed task was less susceptible to potentially confounding effects of visual-spatial and verbal ability than was the acquisition phase.

Adolescent↗