Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Verbal Learning”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 613 records · Page 34Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Serum cholesterol, precursors and metabolites and cognitive performance in an aging population.

The present study investigated if a causal relation exists between serum concentrations of precursors and metabolites of cholesterol and cognitive performance in a healthy aging population. Cognitive function addressing four domains of 144 individuals (30-80 years) was tested at baseline and after 6 years of follow-up. Serum concentrations of different sterols related to cholesterol were measured. Serum levels of lathosterol and lanosterol correlated negatively with cognitive performance on the Word Learning tests for verbal learning and memory. This was observed at baseline and follow-up and was independent of age, sex and educational level. Furthermore, the levels of lathosterol and lanosterol at baseline correlated with performance on the Stroop test and Word Learning tests over the 6-year follow-up period. Serum levels of 27-hydroxycholesterol and 24S-hydroxycholesterol showed inconsistent correlations, while cholesterol, desmosterol, sitosterol and campesterol were not related to cognitive performance.Thus, relative high serum ratios of the cholesterol precursors lanosterol and lathosterol, indicative for a high rate of endogenous cholesterol synthesis, are associated with relatively low memory performance in this aging population.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Neurocognitive correlates of anxiety disorders in children: a preliminary report.

Children with anxiety disorders have been suggested to possess a specific cognitive scheme that underscores negative information and leads to the formation of a negative view of themselves and of the world. The aim of the present study was to assess the neuropsychological processes of children and adolescents with anxiety disorders, as compared to healthy matched controls. Nineteen children (6-18 years) with anxiety disorders and 14 age-matched healthy controls participated in the study. Both groups scored within normal range on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R). All children underwent neuropsychological assessment with the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) (Verbal Processing), the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure test (ROCF) (Nonverbal Processing), and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) (Executive Functions). The anxiety group scored lower than the control group on all measures of the CVLT and had a significantly greater number of errors, perseverative responses, and incorrect answers after negative feedback on the WCST. No differences were detected for the ROCF. We conclude that in children and adolescents, anxiety disorders may be associated with lowered linguistic abilities and cognitive flexibility, as measured by neuropsychological paradigms. Anxiety does not appear to be associated with nonverbal processes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

The effect of melperone, an atypical antipsychotic drug, on cognitive function in schizophrenia.

Melperone, a butyrophenone, has been shown to possess atypical antipsychotic properties, i.e. ability to produce an antipsychotic effect in man at doses that cause minimal extrapyramidal side effects. In addition, melperone shares the following with other atypical antipsychotic drugs: (1) effectiveness for ameliorating negative symptoms; (2) no prolactin elevation; and (3) effectiveness in the treatment of some patients with neuroleptic-resistant schizophrenia. Other atypical antipsychotic drugs have been reported to improve cognitive function. This study was performed to investigate the effect of melperone on cognitive function. Nineteen patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, including 11 neuroleptic-resistant patients, were treated with melperone for 6 weeks. A comprehensive neurocognitive test battery and psychopathological ratings (Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, BPRS) were administered at baseline and after 6 weeks of melperone treatment. Treatment with melperone was associated with improvement in executive function, as measured by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST)-Categories and WCST-Percent Perseveration. On the other hand, visuospatial manipulation, as measured by the Wechsler Intelligent Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) Maze, worsened during melperone treatment. There were no significant changes in other domains of cognition, i.e. verbal learning and memory, verbal working memory, verbal fluency and sustained attention. Scores of WCST-Categories and Perseveration at 6 weeks were predicted from the relevant cognitive test scores at baseline and the change in BPRS Total and Positive scores. These results suggest the usefulness of melperone for facilitating work and social function in patients with schizophrenia. The differences in the cognition-enhancing abilities between melperone and clozapine are discussed.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1989

Motivational effects on neuropsychological functioning: comparison of depressed versus nondepressed individuals.

The neuropsychology of depression was examined in terms of organic and motivational hypotheses. Thirty medication-free depressed outpatients (selected according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [American Psychiatric Association, 1980] criteria for major depression) and 30 nondepressed normal controls were evaluated with a variety of neuropsychology measures. Prior to testing, subjects were assigned randomly to either a motivated or nonmotivated condition. A task measuring level of motivation demonstrated efficacy of the two motivation conditions. A 2 x 2 (Diagnosis x Motivational Level) multivariate analysis of variance of all the dependent measures revealed a significant main effect for depression, but no effect for motivation and no interaction. Univariate analyses demonstrated that the depressed group was impaired on visuospatial short-term memory and learning and on verbal learning. The finding of neuropsychological deficit in depressed subjects was not attributable to motivational factors. The problems with conceptualizing depression as a right-hemisphere dysfunction are discussed.

Depressive Disorder↗
PubMed1992

Recombinant erythropoietin improves cognitive function in chronic haemodialysis patients.

Psychometric performance was studied on two occasions in 18 chronic haemodialysis patients. Nine patients treated with rHuEpo performed a battery of psychometric tests before treatment, haemoglobin [mean (SD)] 5.8 (0.6) g/dl and after partial correction of anaemia, haemoglobin 9.3 (1.28) g/dl. The same battery of psychometric tests was administered on two occasions to nine patients (haemoglobin 7.3 (1.2) g/dl) matched with the treatment group for age, educational status and social class, who did not receive rHuEpo. In the rHuEpo-treated group, IQ, measured by the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised, improved by a mean of 8.7 points (P less than 0.01), while in the control group an improvement by a mean of 2.5 points was not significant. Comparison between the groups of the change in IQ score was significant (P = 0.04). There was no change in the mean scores obtained in either group for the other psychometric tests administered including the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test, Rey auditory verbal learning, and Borkowski verbal fluency test. These results indicate that anaemia makes a reversible contribution to uraemic cognitive dysfunction.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Cognitive correlates of the negative, disorganized, and psychotic symptom dimensions of schizophrenia.

Knowledge of the relationship between specific cognitive abnormalities and the clinical symptoms of schizophrenia could give insight into the nature of their underlying pathophysiology. Composite scores were generated for negative, disorganized, and psychotic symptom ratings in 134 patients with schizophrenia (DSM-IV criteria). Partial correlations (each composite corrected for the others) were computed with neuropsychological measures. Negative symptoms were related to poor performance on tests of verbal learning and memory, verbal fluency, visual memory, and visual-motor sequencing. Disorganized symptoms were correlated with lower verbal IQ and poor concept attainment. Psychotic symptoms had no significant relationship with cognitive deficit.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Differential contribution of current and cumulative indices of lead dose to neuropsychological performance by age.

We examined measures of lead dose that reflect intensity of exposure and cumulative exposure for differential association with neuropsychological functional domains and with neuropsychological performance by age. Eighty active lead smelter workers assessed for verbal memory and visuomotoric skills had a mean (range) age of 44 (24-64) years, duration of employment of 20 (4-26) years, education of 8 (0-13) grades, current blood lead (B-Pb) of 26 microgPb dl(-1) (13-43), working lifetime weighted average blood lead (TWA) of 42 microgPb dl(-1) (17-57), working lifetime integrated blood lead (IBL) of 903 microgPb-yr dl(-1) (81-1,436) and bone lead (bone-Pb) of 41 microgPb (g bone mineral)(-1) (-12-90). Multiple linear regression after adjusting for age and education showed a significant amount of variance in verbal memory (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test and Verbal Paired Associates) explained only by measures of lead dose intensity, B-Pb, and TWA. Visuomotoric ability (Grooved Pegboard [GP] and Digit Symbol) had significant variance accounted for by measures of both lead dose intensity, TWA, and of cumulative lead dose, IBL, and bone-Pb. The relationship between bone-Pb and GP was curvilinear in older workers, with increasingly slower performance above a bone-Pb threshold of 20 microgPb (g bone mineral)(-1). Examination of age-related change in GP with exposure using IBL, a surrogate for cumulative lead dose in the brain, showed enhanced age-related change in older workers with high IBL. These findings suggest that the older nervous system provides a substrate more susceptible to the effects of chronic lead exposure.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

[Cognitive deficiency in mild hypothyroidism].

OBJECTIVE: Moderate and severe primary adult hypothyroidism produces cognitive and behavioral disturbances, but the effects of mild hypothyroidism are not well established. We have tried to determine the pattern of cognitive performance and the effect of hormonal treatment in mild hypothyroidism. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 15 patients with subclinical or very mild hypothyroidism were compared with other 15 patients suffering from mild diseases without central nervous system damage, who were matched in age, sex and previous intelligence. A neuropsychological battery, including tests of global cognitive performance (Mini Mental Status Examination, WAIS), attention (reaction time), visual memory (Benton test, Rey's Figure), verbal memory (word learning), verbal fluency and executive functions (Trail Making Test), was applied. RESULTS: Hypothyroid patients had worse performance in some WAIS subtests, reaction time, verbal fluency, free recall and copy of the Rey's figure. After hormonal treatment, a significant improvement and normal performance in almost all cognitive functions were found. CONCLUSIONS: Even mild hypothyroidism produces cognitive defects, mainly in tasks with high attentional requirements, that can and should be corrected with hormonal replacement.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Cognitive impairment in euthymic bipolar patients: implications for clinical and functional outcome.

OBJECTIVE: Cognitive impairment in bipolar disorder may be a stable characteristic of the illness, although discrepancies have emerged with regard to what dysfunctions remain during remission periods. The aim of this study was to ascertain whether euthymic bipolar patients would show impairment in verbal learning and memory and in executive functions compared with healthy controls. Secondly, to establish if there was a relationship between clinical data and neuropsychological performance. METHODS: Forty euthymic bipolar patients were compared with 30 healthy controls through a battery of neuropsychological tests assessing estimated premorbid IQ, attention, verbal learning and memory, and frontal executive functioning. The effect of subsyndromal symptomatology was controlled. RESULTS: Remitted bipolar patients performed worse than controls in several measures of memory and executive function, after controlling for the effect of subclinical symptomatology, age and premorbid IQ. Verbal memory impairment was related to global assessment of function scores, as well as to a longer duration of illness, a higher number of manic episodes, and prior psychotic symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Results provide evidence of neuropsychological impairment in euthymic bipolar patients, after controlling for the effect of subsyndromal depressive symptoms, suggesting verbal memory and executive dysfunctions. Cognitive impairment seems to be related to a worse clinical course and poor functional outcome.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Volume of focal brain lesions and hippocampal formation in relation to memory function after closed head injury in children.

OBJECTIVES: (1) A study of verbal learning and memory in children who had sustained a closed head injury (CHI) at least 3 months earlier. (2) To relate memory function to focal brain lesion and hippocampal formation volumes using morphometric analysis of MRI. METHODS: A group of 245 children who had been admitted to hospital for CHI graded by the Glasgow coma scale (GCS), including 161 patients with severe and 84 with mild CHI completed the California verbal learning test (CVLT) and underwent MRI which was analysed for focal brain lesion volume independently of memory test data. Brain MRI with 1.5 mm coronal slices obtained in subsets of 25 patients with severe and 25 patients with mild CHI were analysed for hippocampal formation volume. Interoperator reliability in morphometry was satisfactory. RESULTS: Severity of CHI and age at study significantly affected memory performance. Regression analysis showed that bifrontal, left frontal, and right frontal lesion volumes incremented prediction of various learning and memory indices after entering the GCS score and age into the model. Extrafrontal lesion volume did not contribute to predicting memory performance. CONCLUSIONS: Prefrontal lesions contribute to residual impairment of learning and memory after severe CHI in children. Although effects of CHI on hippocampal formation volume might be difficult to demonstrate in non-fatal paediatric CHI, further investigation using functional brain imaging could potentially demonstrate hippocampal dysfunction.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

The premature aging hypothesis: old before its time?

This study tested the hypothesis that alcoholism results in premature aging of memory functioning. It was proposed that support for the premature aging hypothesis must come from qualitative as well as quantitative similarities between younger alcoholics and older controls. The California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) was administered to young and old alcoholics and to young and old controls. The CVLT provides measures of recall, recognition, learning strategies, and error types. Alcoholism and aging produced similar levels of immediate and delayed free recall. However, poor recognition memory and more frequent intrusion and false positive errors were associated with alcoholism but not with aging. Qualitative differences in error types between alcoholism and aging were also found. Results indicated that alcoholism and aging produce independent verbal learning decrements.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Executive control and learning pattern on the CVLT.

We evaluated a 23 year-old man after recovery from encephalitis. In contrast to the expected pattern of increasingly better acquisition across the 5 learning trials of the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT-2), he produced a "J-shaped" curve (Trials 1-5: 8,6,6,9,11). Because he also demonstrated excessive levels of proactive interference as well as poor divided attention, we hypothesized that his atypical learning pattern was due to a build-up of proactive interference secondary to executive dyscontrol. Using a large sample of 4462 healthy adult men, we identified four groups exhibiting various learning patterns. We found that a learning pattern similar to this patient (i.e., a drop after trial 1 followed by recovery) was rare (1.1% of the sample). Individuals with this learning pattern demonstrated increased perseverative responses, as well as greater difficulty maintaining cognitive set on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, decreased attentional control on the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test, and greater levels of proactive interference on the CVLT. Taken together, the results of the study suggest that an early drop, followed by a recovery in learning trial performance, is associated with executive dyscontrol.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

The utility of math difficulties, internalized psychopathology, and visual-spatial deficits to identify children with the nonverbal learning disability syndrome: evidence for a visualspatial disability.

This study examined the criteria currently employed to identify children with the nonverbal learning disability syndrome (NVLD). The most widely accepted definition of NVLD relies on deficits in visual-spatial-organizational, tactile-perceptual, psychomotor, and nonverbal problem-solving skills. These deficits are believed to coexist with strengths in rote verbal learning, phoneme-grapheme matching, verbal output, and verbal classification. The combination of these assets and deficits has been hypothesized to lead to psychosocial and academic problems, including difficulties with mathematics and increased rates of psychopathology. This study compared performance of three groups of children: those with NVLD, those with verbal learning disabilities (VLD), and controls. The results show that the criteria currently employed to identify children with NVLD may not adequately differentiate them. In contrast to previous findings, the study reveals that children with NVLD can demonstrate good math abilities when performing certain types of math tasks, especially those that draw on their robust verbal skills. Also in contrast to most previous findings, in this study children with NVLD (and normal controls) demonstrated lower rates of psychopathology than children with VLD. Finally, for children with NVLD it appears that their visual-perceptual deficits may include a primary deficit in locating objects in space. Based in part on the findings of this study, it may be helpful for diagnostic and treatment purposes to reserve the term Nonverbal Learning Disability for children whose visual-spatial deficits are primary and severe enough to affect academic performance in subjects such as written mathematics. Given the integral nature of social relations in children's lives, a separate category (e.g., social processing disorder) could be created for children whose social skills deficits are primary and impair their social interactions. A broader nonverbal learning model or syndrome, as conceptualized by Rourke (1995), could be retained for describing a broader constellation of assets and deficits across disease types.

Child↗
PubMed2003

Long-term memory deficits in schizophrenia: primary or secondary dysfunction?

Long-term memory impairment is often found in schizophrenia. The question remains whether this is caused by other cognitive deficits. One hundred eighteen first-episode patients were compared with 45 control participants on several memory tasks. The role of processing speed and central executive functions on memory performance was examined with regression analysis for all participants and for patients separately. Deficits were found in general verbal learning performance and retrieval in episodic memory and semantic memory. Processing speed reduced disease-related variance in all memory variables. Coordination, organization of information, and speed of processing were the best predictors for long-term memory deficits in patients. The amount of explained variance, however, is small, especially in general verbal learning performance.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Neuropsychological functioning in youth with bipolar disorder.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the neuropsychological status of youth with bipolar disorder (BPD) or whether cognitive deficits in this population are accounted for by comorbidity with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We compared neuropsychological and academic functioning of youth with and without DSM-IV BPD, controlling for effects of comorbid ADHD. METHODS: Fifty-seven youth with BPD and 46 healthy control subjects were assessed on a battery of clinical neuropsychological measures including subtests from the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children and Adults (Third Editions), the Stroop, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, the Rey-Osterreith Complex Figure, an auditory working memory Continuous Performance Test, a measure of verbal learning, and the Wide Range Achievement Test-Third Edition. RESULTS: Bipolar disorder was associated with impairments on subtests reflecting sustained attention, working memory, and processing speed after controlling for ADHD. Additionally, decrements of moderate effect sizes were found for measures of interference control, abstract problem solving, and verbal learning but did not meet criteria for statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: After controlling for ADHD, youth with BPD show neuropsychological deficits similar to impairments found in adults with the disorder. Further studies are needed to understand the clinical implications of these impairments as well as their role in the underlying risk for pediatric BPD.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Age at onset and cognitive functioning in schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Impairments in cognitive functioning are common in schizophrenia, and the degree of impairment may be associated with the individual's age at onset of the disorder. AIMS: To examine the effect of age at onset on cognitive functioning using the California Verbal Learning Test, sub-tests from the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised and sub-scales from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised among families with schizophrenia. METHOD: The effect of age at onset on cognitive function in 237 people with schizophrenia from a population-based sample was examined using linear mixed effects models with family as the random effect, and age, gender, chronicity of the illness and number of affected first-degree relatives as fixed effects. RESULTS: Impairment in verbal learning and memory was associated with earlier disease onset. No association was found for working memory or IQ. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with early-onset schizophrenia, verbal memory functions in particular should be taken into account in neuropsychological evaluation and efforts at remediation.

Age of Onset↗
PubMed2004

Primacy and recency effects found using affective word lists.

This experiment tested hypotheses linking the right cerebral regulation of hostility and affective verbal learning. First, patterns of recall for positive, negative, and neutral affective list learning among high- and low-hostile individuals were examined. It was expected that low-hostiles would recall more items from the positive list and that high-hostiles would recall more words from the negative affective list. Also, independent of groups, it was expected that there would be a primacy effect for negative words and a recency effect for positive words. Exploratory analyses examined the relation between hostility and primacy and recency effects on the positive and negative word lists. High- and low-hostile participants (n = 65) completed the positive list learning task, the negative list learning task, or the neutral list learning task. Data analyses revealed no significant difference between the high- and low-hostile groups on the different affective lists. However, results of the present investigation reliably demonstrated the predicted primacy and recency effects. There was a primacy effect for the negative affective list and a recency effect for the positive affective list. These findings are consistent with previous research investigating the acquisition pattern of affective verbal learning.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Hippocampal volume, spectroscopy, cognition, and mood in patients receiving corticosteroid therapy.

BACKGROUND: Hippocampal volume reduction, declarative memory deficits, and cortisol elevations are reported in persons with major depressive disorder; however, data linking cortisol elevations with hippocampal atrophy are lacking. Prescription corticosteroid-treated patients offer an opportunity to examine corticosteroid effects on hippocampal volume and biochemistry and memory in humans. METHODS: Seventeen patients on long-term prescription corticosteroid therapy and 15 controls of similar age, gender, ethnicity, education, height, and medical history were assessed with magnetic resonance imaging and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, Stroop Color Word Test and other neurocognitive measures, the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, Young Mania Rating Scale, and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. RESULTS: Compared with controls, corticosteroid-treated patients had smaller hippocampal volumes and lower N-acetyl aspartate ratios, lower scores on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test and Stroop Color Word Test, and higher Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale scores. CONCLUSIONS: Patients receiving chronic corticosteroid therapy have smaller hippocampal volumes, lower N-acetyl aspartate ratios, and declarative memory deficits compared with controls. These findings support the idea that corticosteroid exposure appears to be associated with changes in hippocampal volume and functioning in humans.

Adolescent↗