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Results for “Verbal Learning”

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PubMed2000

Magnesium sulfate therapy affects attention and working memory in patients undergoing preterm labor.

OBJECTIVE: Patients commonly consent to undergoing invasive procedures while receiving magnesium sulfate therapy. This study evaluated the effects of magnesium sulfate on attention, comprehension, and memory in patients undergoing preterm labor. STUDY DESIGN: Consenting patients were studied while receiving(study) and not receiving (control) intravenous magnesium sulfate tocolysis for preterm labor. Excluded were patients with possible preeclampsia, imminent delivery, sedative administration, or prior mental illness. Patient comprehension was assessed with the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination. Level of attention and working memory were evaluated with the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test. Verbal learning, short-term memory, and recognition were determined with the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test. Gross mental-neurologic deficits were evaluated with the Mini-Mental Status Examination. The tests were administered by the same examiner. Control testing was performed >24 hours after intravenous magnesium sulfate was discontinued. Magnesium levels were obtained at the time of testing. The primary outcome measure was the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test score because of its ability to elicit subtle differences in attention capacity. Statistical analysis included the paired t test and the McNemar test. RESULTS: Fifteen patients completed the study. Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test scores were significantly higher (ie, more errors were made) during magnesium sulfate therapy than periods without therapy (14 +/- 8 vs 7 +/- 7; P <.05). Comprehension (Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination score) was not different between the groups (P =.7). There was no difference in short-term memory (Hopkins Verbal Learning Test) or gross mental-neurologic deficits between the 2 groups (all P >.1). CONCLUSIONS: Magnesium sulfate therapy appears to have an effect on attention and working memory but not on long-term memory or comprehension. The significant differences in Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test scores reveal deficits in information-processing ability in patients on a regimen of magnesium sulfate therapy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

The interrelationship between language function and verbal learning/memory performance in patients with complex partial seizures.

The purpose of this investigation was to inquire into the relationship between demographic, seizure related, and language factors with the adequacy of verbal learning and memory function in 25 patients with complex partial seizures of dominant temporal lobe origin. Language function in general, and measures of verbal comprehension (aural and reading) and retrieval ability (naming and associative fluency) in particular, emerged as the most robust predictors of verbal learning and memory performance in this sample. Our findings both supported and extended the hypothesis of Mayeux et al. (1980) of a relationship between adequacy of language function and verbal learning and memory performance in patients with complex partial seizures. The implications of these findings for studies investigating the relationship between complex partial seizures/temporal lobe pathology and memory function are discussed.

Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Evidence for unexpected weaknesses in learning in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder without reading disabilities.

This study examined the mechanisms underlying verbal learning in children with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), none of whom had reading disabilities. Children with ADHD were compared to typically developing children on both process and product scores from the California Verbal Learning Test for Children. The findings indicated that children with ADHD initially learned the same number of words as controls but showed weaknesses recalling the words after delays, suggesting that children with ADHD are less efficient learners. Regardless of ADHD status, boys and girls performed differently. Boys used semantic clustering less frequently and recalled fewer words from the middle region of the list than girls; girls also outperformed boys in terms of overall performance, despite lower verbal IQ scores. These findings show that children with ADHD can exhibit unexpected weaknesses in learning even without a formal learning disability. Gender differences in verbal learning are also illustrated.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Impairment of executive function but not memory in first-degree relatives of patients with bipolar I disorder and in euthymic patients with unipolar depression.

OBJECTIVE: The authors' goal was to characterize cognitive flexibility and verbal learning in relatives of patients with bipolar disorder and in euthymic patients with recurrent major depression. METHOD: The intradimensional/extradimensional shift task and California Verbal Learning Test were administered to 27 first-degree relatives of probands with bipolar I disorder, 15 euthymic outpatients with recurrent unipolar depression, and 47 healthy comparison subjects. RESULTS: The relatives of patients with bipolar I disorder and the euthymic patients with unipolar depression were more likely to fail the intradimensional/extradimensional shift task than the healthy comparison subjects. The impairments at the extradimensional shift stage were pronounced. Verbal learning, delayed recall, and recognition were unimpaired in all groups. CONCLUSIONS: Attentional set shifting may represent an endophenotype in mood disorder, related to underlying vulnerability rather than the actual disease phenotype.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Risperidone versus haloperidol on secondary memory: can newer medications aid learning?

The introduction of the new generation of antipsychotic medications for the treatment of schizophrenia has been accompanied by a growing interest in the neurocognitive effects of these drugs. The present study compared the effects of risperidone and haloperidol on secondary memory in a group of treatment-resistant schizophrenia patients. The study design included a baseline phase and two double-blind phases in which patients were randomly assigned to medication under two different dose conditions (fixed dose and flexible dose). Secondary memory was assessed at baseline, fixed-dose, and flexible-dose phases, using the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT). Six measures were selected, which formed three factors (general verbal learning ability, retention, and learning strategy). Risperidone-treated patients showed greater improvement than haloperidol-treated patients in general verbal learning ability, a finding characterized by significant treatment effects on CVLT measures of learning acquisition, recall consistency, and recognition memory. After controlling for benztropine status, differences on the measures of learning acquisition and recall consistency remained significant, and differences in recognition memory weakened slightly (p = 0.07). No significant treatment effects were noted on retention or learning strategy. These findings suggest that risperidone may exert a facilitating effect on the acquisition of new verbal information, an effect that does not appear to be due to the activation of semantic encoding strategies.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Sex differences in verbal memory in schizophrenia patients treated with "typical" neuroleptics.

The relationship between sex and verbal learning and memory was investigated in 70 males and 36 females with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Ninety-seven percent of the sample was receiving typical neuroleptic medication as treatment and had never received atypical medications. Selected scores from the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) [Delis, D.C., Kramer, J.H., Kaplin, E., Ober, B., 1987. The California Verbal Learning Test-Research Edition. Psychological Corporation, New York] were dependent variables in a series of hierarchical multiple regression analyses. Predictors comprised demographic, clinical and general cognitive measures. Sex was the most powerful predictor of both cumulative learning (Trial A5 recall) and the absolute number of words recalled after 20 min (Long-Delay Free Recall), accounting for 14% and 16% of score variance, respectively. Chlorpromazine-equivalent dose was negatively related to learning and recall. However, recall savings (Percent Retention) was unrelated to any predictor. This pattern of results parallels sex differences observed in the general population, albeit at a lower overall level of performance and with the suggestion of greater relative deficit in males. Schizophrenia does not eliminate and may even increase the advantage women demonstrate over men in some aspects of verbal memory.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Increased cerebral response during a divided attention task following sleep deprivation.

We recently reported that the brain showed greater responsiveness to some cognitive demands following total sleep deprivation (TSD). Specifically, verbal learning led to increased cerebral activation following TSD while arithmetic resulted in decreased activation. Here we report data from a divided attention task that combined verbal learning and arithmetic. Thirteen normal control subjects performed the task while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) scans after a normal night of sleep and following 35 h TSD. Behaviourally, subjects showed only modest impairments following TSD. With respect to cerebral activation, the results showed (a) increased activation in the prefrontal cortex and parietal lobes, particularly in the right hemisphere, following TSD, (b) activation in left inferior frontal gyrus correlated with increased subjective sleepiness after TSD, and (c) activation in bilateral parietal lobes correlated with the extent of intact memory performance after TSD. Many of the brain regions showing a greater response after TSD compared with normal sleep are thought to be involved in control of attention. These data imply that the divided attention task required more attentional resources (specifically, performance monitoring and sustained attention) following TSD than after normal sleep. Other neuroimaging results may relate to the verbal learning and/or arithmetic demands of the task. This is the first study to examine divided attention performance after TSD with neuroimaging and supports our previous suggestion that the brain may be more plastic during cognitive performance following TSD than previously thought.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

A Canadian multicenter trial assessing memory and executive functions in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders treated with olanzapine.

Serial verbal learning task (explicit long-term memory) and verbal fluency (generation of a response) are tests that are usually severely impaired in schizophrenia. Despite the growing literature supporting the clinical efficacy of olanzapine, psychiatrists still question its cognitive consequences. This study assessed the efficacy of olanzapine on neurocognitive functioning. Patients (N = 134) meeting diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia, schizophreniform, or schizoaffective disorders began an 8-week, open-label olanzapine treatment at a dose of 5 mg/d, which was increased to 10 mg/d after 1 week. Daily dosage was subsequently adjusted between 5 and 20 mg/d based on individual clinical status. All previous antipsychotics were tapered and discontinued during the first 2 weeks of the study. Neuropsychologic assessments were carried out at baseline and at 4 and 8 weeks. Explicit long-term memory was assessed with the Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test: the average immediate recall score significantly improved (P < 0.001), as did the delayed recall score (P < 0.001). The average total score on category fluency improved from 34.6 words at baseline to 37.6 words at end point (P < 0.0001). Time on both Trail A and B making tasks significantly decreased (P < 0.0001). Lack of a control arm makes it impossible to exclude a practice effect as an explanation for the enhanced cognitive performance, although the Word List Recall test represents one of the better resources to avoid a practice effect. After switching to olanzapine, there was a statistically significant improvement of cognitive function in the 3 main domains tested and no significant worsening of any memory or executive function measure.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1984

Dissociations between skill learning and verbal recognition in amnesia and dementia.

Patients with Huntington's disease (HD), patients with alcoholic Korsakoff's syndrome, and normal control subjects were compared on tests of skill learning (mirror reading) and verbal recognition. Like previously reported results, the patients with Korsakoff's syndrome acquired the mirror-reading skill at a normal rate but were severely impaired in their recognition of the words used on the mirror-reading task. In contrast to the amnesic patients, the demented patients with HD were retarded in their ability to acquire this skill but showed normal verbal recognition. Besides emphasizing substantial differences in the anterograde substantial differences in the anterograde memory disorders of these two patient populations, the results suggest that the memory disorder of patients with HD may appear much more severe when recall rather than recognition test paradigms are employed. This failure of recall by the patients with HD may be due to an inability to generate strategies necessary to search their short- and long-term memories.

Alcohol Amnestic Disorder↗
PubMed1995

Assessment of visual memory: a comparison of Chinese characters and geometric figures as stimulus materials.

The study compared the suitability of geometric figures and Chinese characters for assessing visual memory. In Study 1, 40 Chinese characters were found to be significantly less verbalisable than were 40 geometric figures from the Biber Figure Learning Test. In Study 2, memory for Chinese characters, for Biber figures, and for items on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test were compared using 14 subjects with left cerebrovascular accident, 15 subjects with right cerebrovascular accident, and 29 matched controls. Subjects in the left hemisphere group showed impairment on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test but not on Chinese characters, whereas subjects in the right hemisphere group showed impairment on Chinese characters but not on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test. This double dissociation was not evident when comparisons involved the Biber Figure Learning Test. The Chinese character set used in this study was thus judged to be more suitable than were geometric figures in the Biber Figure Learning Test for assessing visual memory.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Implicit learning of new verbal associations.

Implicit learning of a series of new verbal associations was studied in four experiments. The first two experiments demonstrated that learning of a repeating sequence of verbal stimuli may occur without awareness, but only when the stimulus-response mapping requires an attention-demanding activity: Subjects who were unaware of the sequence learned when instructed to categorize the stimuli, but not when instructed simply to read them. However, in both situations, unaware subjects performed no better than untrained control subjects in expressing their knowledge of the sequence explicitly. In Experiments 3 and 4, subjects showed implicit learning when the task involved either motor responses to verbal stimuli or verbal responses to spatially arranged stimuli. These findings are discussed in terms of the conditions under which implicit learning can be obtained. First, they demonstrate implicit learning of a set of new associations in the verbal domain. Second, the data suggest that attention is important in implicit learning. Finally, the degree of interitem organization that is familiar preexperimentally seems to partially determine the amount of implicit learning.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Effects of alcohol and combined marijuana and alcohol use during adolescence on hippocampal volume and asymmetry.

BACKGROUND: Converging lines of evidence suggest that the hippocampus may be particularly vulnerable to deleterious effects of alcohol and marijuana use, especially during adolescence. The goal of this study was to examine hippocampal volume and asymmetry in adolescent users of alcohol and marijuana. METHODS: Participants were adolescent (aged 15-18) alcohol (ALC) users (n=16), marijuana and alcohol (MJ+ALC) users (n=26), and demographically similar controls (n=21). Extensive exclusionary criteria included prenatal toxic exposure, left handedness, and psychiatric and neurologic disorders. Substance use, cognitive, and anatomical measures were collected after at least 2 days of abstinence from all substances. RESULTS: Adolescent ALC users demonstrated a significantly different pattern of hippocampal asymmetry (p<.05) and reduced left hippocampal volume (p<.05) compared to MJ+ALC users and non-using controls. Increased alcohol abuse/dependence severity was associated with increased right>left (R>L) asymmetry and smaller left hippocampal volumes while marijuana abuse/dependence was associated with increased L>R asymmetry and larger left hippocampal volumes. Although MJ+ALC users did not differ from controls in asymmetry, functional relationships with verbal learning were found only among controls, among whom greater right than left hippocampal volume was associated with superior performance (p<.05). CONCLUSIONS: Aberrations in hippocampal asymmetry and left hippocampal volumes were found for adolescent heavy drinkers. Further, the functional relationship between hippocampal asymmetry and verbal learning was abnormal among adolescent substance users compared to healthy controls. These findings suggest differential effects of alcohol and combined marijuana and alcohol use on hippocampal morphometry and the relationship between hippocampal asymmetry and verbal learning performance among adolescents.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Effects of topiramate on cognitive function.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the impact of topiramate on tests of intellect and other cognitive processes. METHODS: This was a retrospective study. The neuropsychological test scores of 18 patients obtained before and after the introduction of treatment with topiramate (median dose 300 mg) were compared with changes in test performance of 18 patients who had undergone repeat neuropsychological assessments at the same time intervals. Complaints of cognitive decline precipitated referral for reassessment in five cases in the topiramate treated group. The groups were matched for age and intellectual level at the time of the first assessment. Patients were assessed using the WAIS-R, tests of verbal and non-verbal memory, language, and perceptual processing. A subgroup of patients underwent a brief reassessment after the withdrawal or substantial reduction of topiramate. RESULTS: Repeat assessments in those taking topiramate were associated with a significant deterioration in many domains, which were not seen in the comparison group. The greatest changes were for verbal IQ, verbal fluency, and verbal learning (p<0. 001). Improvements in verbal fluency (p<0.05), verbal learning (p<0. 01), and digit span (p<0.001) were recorded in those patients who had topiramate withdrawn or reduced. CONCLUSIONS: In our patient group topiramate had a negative impact on cognition which was consistent with subjective complaints of patients. Tests requiring verbal processing seemed especially sensitive to the drug. A decline in verbal intellect (VIQ), a measure which has been considered by some to be insensitive to antiepileptic drug effects, was particularly striking. Caution is warranted in the interpretation of the findings due to methodological limitations of the study design. Further investigation of mediating factors such as serum concentrations, comedication, and other potential risk factors, however, is needed to enable appropriate targeting of treatment with this effective antiepileptic agent.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Neurocognitive and psychosocial correlates of ventroposterolateral pallidotomy surgery in Parkinson's disease.

The purpose of this study was to characterize the neuropsychological and psychosocial profile of patients with Parkinson's disease before and after they underwent unilateral left or right pallidotomy, to assess specific cognitive and personality changes caused by lesioning the globus pallidus, and to predict favorable surgical outcome based on these measures. Eighteen patients underwent comprehensive neuropsychological assessment before and after left-sided pallidotomy (10 patients) or right-sided pallidotomy (eight patients). The findings support the presence of frontosubcortical cognitive dysfunction in all patients at baseline and a specific pattern of cognitive impairment following surgery, with side of lesion being an important predictor of pattern and degree of decline. Specifically, patients who underwent left-sided pallidotomy experienced a mild decline on measures of verbal learning and memory, phonemic and semantic verbal fluency, and cognitive flexibility. Patients who underwent right-sided pallidotomy exhibited a similar decline in verbal learning and cognitive flexibility, as well as a decline in visuospatial construction abilities; however, this group also exhibited enhanced performance on a delayed facial memory measure. Lesioning the globus pallidus may interfere with larger cognitive circuits needed for processing executive information with disruption of the dominant hemisphere circuit, resulting in greater deficits in verbal information processing. The left-sided pallidotomy group also reported fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety following surgery. This enhanced mood functioning was not seen for the right-sided pallidotomy group. No relationships were noted between cognitive impairment or advanced age at baseline and surgicaloutcome. This study provides objective evidence for specific changes in neurocognitive and psychosocial functioning following left- and right-sided pallidotomy.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Verbal selective learning after traumatic brain injury in children.

Selective learning (SL), the ability to select items to learn from among other items, engages cognitive control, which is purportedly mediated by the frontal cortex and its circuitry. Using incentive-based auditory word recall and expository discourse tasks, we studied the efficiency of SL in children ages 6 to 16 years who had sustained severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) at least 1 year earlier. We hypothesized that SL would be compromised by severe TBI. Results indicated that children with severe TBI performed significantly worse than age-matched typically developing children on word- and discourse-level measures of SL efficiency with no significant group differences in number of items recalled from auditory word lists or declarative facts. We conclude that severe TBI disrupts incentive-based cognitive control processes, possibly due to involvement of frontal neural networks.

Acoustic Stimulation↗