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At least 1,207 records · Page 67Linked to original sources
PubMed2006

Motor inhibition and learning impairments in school-aged children following exposure to organophosphate pesticides in infancy.

Despite the critical role of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in cortical function and development, no long-term studies have been conducted in humans on the long-term sequelae of the disruption of the cholinergic system in early childhood. We report a neuropsychological assessment of healthy school-aged children, who had been hospitalized in infancy following exposure to organophosphate pesticides, compared with children exposed to other toxins such as kerosene, and age- and sex-matched non-exposed children. Although overall, the children seem to have overcome the acute one-time exposure incident, and they all attend regular schools, a finer assessment of specific cognitive abilities indicates they are impaired compared with the matched controls. Specifically, the children who had been exposed to organophosphate pesticides had a deficit in inhibitory motor control. Children with pesticide or kerosene poisoning had a retrieval deficit on the acquisition phase of a verbal learning task.

Case-Control Studies↗
PubMed2000

Sex differences in brain-behavior relationships between verbal episodic memory and resting regional cerebral blood flow.

Women have better verbal memory, and higher rates of resting regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). This study examined whether there are also sex differences in the relationship between verbal episodic memory and resting rCBF. Twenty eight healthy right-handed volunteers (14 male, 14 female) underwent a neuropsychological evaluation and a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) (15)O-water study. Immediate and delayed recall was measured on the logical memory subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale - Revised (WMS-R), and on the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT). Resting rCBF (ml/100 g/min) was calculated for four frontal, four temporal, and four limbic regions of interest (ROIs). Women had better immediate recall on both WMS-R and CVLT tasks. Sex differences in rCBF were found for temporal lobe regions. Women had greater bilateral blood flow in a mid-temporal brain region. There were also sex differences in rCBF correlations with performance. Women produced positive correlations with rCBF laterality in the temporal pole. Greater relative CBF in the left temporal pole was associated with better WMS-R immediate and delayed recall in women only. These results suggest that trait differences in temporal pole brain-behavior relationships may relate to sex differences in verbal episodic memory.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Long-term neuropsychological outcome after traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVE: To describe neuropsychological outcome 5 years after injury in persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI) who received inpatient medical rehabilitation. To determine the magnitude and pattern neuropsychological recovery from 1 year to 5 years after injury. DESIGN: Longitudinal cohort study with inclusion based on the availability of neuropsychological data at 1 year and 5 years after injury. SETTING: National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems of Care. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred eighty-two persons with complicated mild to severe traumatic brain injury. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Digits Forward and Backward, Logical Memory I and II, Token Test, Controlled Oral Word Association Test, Symbol Digit Modalities Test, Trail Making Test, Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, Visual Form Discrimination, Block Design, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, and Grooved Pegboard. RESULTS: Significant variability in outcome was found 5 years after TBI, ranging from no measurable impairment to severe impairment on neuropsychological tests. Improvement from 1 year after injury to 5 years was also variable. Using the Reliable Change Index, 22.2% improved, 15.2% declined, and 62.6% were unchanged on test measures. CONCLUSIONS: Neuropsychological recovery after TBI is not uniform across individuals and neuropsychological domains. For a subset of persons with moderate to severe TBI, neuropsychological recovery may continue several years after injury with substantial recovery. For other persons, measurable impairment remains 5 years after injury. Improvement was most apparent on measures of cognitive speed, visuoconstruction, and verbal memory.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Prospective study of hippocampal volume and function in human subjects treated with corticosteroids.

PURPOSE: Decreased hippocampal volume reported in neuropsychiatric and endocrine disorders is considered a result of putative neuronal damage mediated by corticosteroids. This is the first prospective study of hippocampal volume and function in patients treated with corticosteroids. METHODS: 14 subjects treated systemically with prednisone or betamethasone for dermatological or rheumatic disorders underwent prospective neurocognitive testing (Auditory Verbal Learning Test-AVLT, Trail Making Test-TMT, Digit Span-DS) and nine of them also repeated magnetic resonance volumetry. RESULTS: The mean duration of treatment between the first and the second assessment was 73+/- 38 days with mean daily dose of 37+/- 17 mg prednisone and 193+/- 29 days, with mean daily dose of 24+/- 15 mg prednisone between the first and the third assessment. There was a trend towards decreases in total AVLT scores and an improvement in the TMT and DS, but no significant changes in the volumes of the right or the left hippocampi between the assessments. Prednisone dose did not correlate with the hippocampal volume change. CONCLUSION: We observed a trend for decline in verbal memory despite improvement in psychomotor speed, attention/working memory and no macroscopic hippocampal volume changes during 36-238 days of treatment with therapeutic doses of corticosteroids.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Social cognitive problem-solving in schizophrenia: associations with fluency and verbal memory.

This study assessed the relationship between social functioning and neurocognitive function in individuals with schizophrenia. Social cognitive problem-solving (SCPS) is a significant contributor to social competence and is an aspect of information processing that is involved in the identification and resolution of interpersonal or social problems. We examined 49 schizophrenia patients and 28 healthy controls using the means-ends problem-solving procedure (MEPS) for SCPS, the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), and a series of fluency tests for neurocognitive assessment, as well as the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF). Fluency tests can be used to evaluate divergent thinking, and a qualitative analysis was done of the fluency test responses. The results suggest that patients with schizophrenia have a significantly poorer MEPS performance than normal controls. In patients with normal RAVLT scores, MEPS scores were correlated with task-modified responses on the fluency test but not with any of the WCST scores. This suggests that SCPS is related to divergent thinking that requires concept flexibility and/or the conversion of viewpoint in patients with schizophrenia in whom verbal memory function is preserved.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Perseveration. Part II: A study of perseveration in closed-head injury.

This study examines the nature and extent of perseveration in 15 individuals with closed-head injury (CHI) by (a) identifying and describing the types of perseveration that occurred on verbal and non-verbal tasks, (b) examining the possible underlying neuropsychological mechanisms of perseverative behaviour and (c) exploring neuroanatomical correlates of perseveration. Performance of the 15 CHI patients was compared with 15 neurologically normal subjects matched for sex, age, handedness and educational level. The CHI subjects produced significantly more perseverations than did normals, and 'recurrent' perseveration was the most frequently occurring type. A test of verbal learning elicited the greatest number of recurrent perseverations. Overall test performance of the CHI group suggested that memory dysfunction and impaired attention were most likely responsible for perseverative errors. CT scan analyses showed that the three most perseverative CHI subjects evidenced left temporal lobe damage.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Neurological basis of skill learning.

Skill-learning, i.e., anterograde memory of 'procedures' has been separated from conventional declarative memory, or event- or data-related memory. This type of memory requires a concerted activity of various neural structures which are not assigned to the acquisition of declarative memory. We employed mirror reading task as a paradigm of skill acquisition memory and tried to elucidate possible neurological mechanisms involved in the procedural memory process. Ten normal control subjects, 10 early, non-treated Parkinson's, and 9 relatively early spinocerebellar degeneration patients participated in our study. The results showed a clear dissociation between declarative memory and mirror reading skill acquisition capacity. Thus, the Parkinson's patients as well as the spinocerebellar patients showed retardation in acquiring mirror reading skills, while both groups showed normal performance in auditory verbal learning tests and word recognition tests. The facts suggest a possible role of the nigro-striatal system and fronto-ponto-cerebellar system in forming these skill-related memory.

Aged↗
PubMed1988

Paired associate learning: form 1 and form 2 of the Wechsler Memory Scale.

Despite its popularity as a clinical measure, the paired Associate Learning (PAL) subtest of Wechsler's Memory Scale (WMS) still remains relatively undocumented for its psychometric properties. This article reports on the performance of 500 (form 1) and 600 (form 2) general medical patients hospitalized for other than neuropsychiatric conditions across five (20-69) and six (20-79) ten-year age bands respectively. In both alternate forms of PAL, strong age effects emerged while sex differences were more marked in form 2. Temporal reliability, assessed in separate student samples, proved adequate for either form. Parallel form correlations also indicated a moderate relationship between them. When easy and hard associates were analysed as separate measures with MANOVA the two forms were found to differ. Some possible reasons for these results are explored with respect to current information processing concepts postulated to affect verbal learning performance, and their utility in helping distinguish between pseudodementia and mild Alzheimer type dementia. Separate factor analyses also showed the two equivalent forms to diverge somewhat in their structural pattern with form 1 demonstrating clear clusterings of the pairs along a continuum ranging from very easy (overlearned) and mediate (superordinate) to hard associates.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1986

Factor structure of Benton's tests of visual retention, visual construction, and visual form discrimination.

The standard drawing and multiple-choice versions of the Benton Visual Retention Test (BVRT), the Visual Form Discrimination Test (VFDT), the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT), and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised Digit Span subtest were administered to a mixed sample of 97 psychiatric, neurologic, and control subjects. Factor analysis of the Benton test battery measures alone showed that the standard and multiple-choice BVRT protocols performed very similarly. Scoring of the standard BVRT for errors and number of correct items was shown to be statistically redundant for this sample. Possible simplification of standard BVRT scoring was suggested. Copying and immediate visual-memory skills emerged as separable factors on the standard BVRT. When the AVLT and Digit Span measures were factor analyzed with the Benton lest battery measures, however, simple factorial structure emerged only for the AVLT measures (one factor) and the BVRT copying measures that were grouped with the VFDT. A verbal mediation component was thought to be associated with the multifactorial BVRT and multiple-choice BVRT results in this analysis.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Effect of a synesthete's photisms on name recall.

A multilingual, colored-letter synesthete professor (MLS), 9 nonsynesthete multilingual professors and 4 nonsynesthete art professors learned 30 names of individuals (first and last name pairs) in three trials. They recalled the names after each trial and six months later, as well as performed cued recall trials initially and after six months. As hypothesized, MLS recalled significantly more names than control groups on all free recall tests (except after the first trial) and on cued recall tests. In addition, MLS gave qualitatively different reasons for remembering names than any individual control participant. MLS gave mostly color reasons for remembering the names, whereas nonsynesthetes gave reasons based on familiarity or language or art knowledge. Results on standardized memory tests showed that MLS had average performance on non-language visual memory tests (the Benton Visual Retention Test-Revised--BURT-R, and the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test--CFT), but had superior memory performance on a verbal test consisting of lists of nouns (Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test--RAVLT). MLS's synesthesia seems to aid memory for visually or auditorily presented language stimuli (names and nouns), but not for non-language visual stimuli (simple and complex figures).

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Neuropsychological study of 12 patients with pure degenerative cerebellar disease].

INTRODUCTION: The cerebellum has been traditionally associated with motor control learning and performance. However, since 1970 a growing body of clinical and experimental evidences has suggested that the cerebellum may be involved in nonmotor cognitive functions as well. OBJECTIVE: To explore the presence of eventual cognitive impairment in non-demented patients with isolated degenerative cerebellar diseases. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twelve patients with the diagnosis of selective degenerative cerebellar disorders, either inherited or sporadic, were selected (mean age: 40.42 +/- 13.49 years; mean education level: 9.92 +/- 3.99 years; duration of illness: 12.13 +/- 11.27 years, MMSE: 26.75 +/- 1.5) and evaluated through a standardized neuropsychological tests battery. Normalized Z scores were estimated and compared against 0, employing the t test for one sample. RESULTS: Significant cognitive deficits were found in the following domains: executive, visuo-spatial, memory and attention functions. Performance on the Wisconsin test showed a significative number of perseverative errors. Memory deficits included verbal learning and free recall difficulties, with good recognition of the material presented. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study are consistent with the role of the cerebellum as modulator of mental functions. The cognitive deficits resulting from cerebellar pathology may be related with the disruption of cerebello-cortical connexions involving a complex network which includes the prefrontal region, suggesting that the cerebellum may process cortical information coming from different areas linked with the control of cognition.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Tests of memory in narcoleptics.

This study attempted to evaluate the validity of self-reports of memory deficits in narcoleptics by comparing the scores of these patients with the scores of matched control subjects on standardized tests of memory function. After completing a short interview designed to elicit qualitative information about memory difficulties, 30 narcoleptic subjects and 30 control subjects completed the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS), Rey-Auditory Verbal Learning Test, the Rey Complex Figure Test, Strub and Black's List of Letters, and the Symbol Digits Modalities Test (SDMT). In addition, the Profile of Mood States (POMS) was used to detect variation in performance due to anxiety or fatigue. Continuous polygraphic recordings were obtained during the testing to detect any changes in alertness. Subjects with narcolepsy experienced more difficulty in maintaining attention than control subjects, as evidenced by significantly more perseveration errors (p less than or equal to 0.01) on Strub and Black's List of Letters. Despite differences in their ability to sustain attention, there were no significant differences between narcoleptic and control subjects on measures of concentration (Digit Span from the WMS, and the SDMT). Furthermore, there was no objective evidence of memory impairment when the scores of narcoleptic and control subjects were compared on standardized tests of immediate and delayed recall, as well as on tests of verbal and visual memory.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Cues trained apart compete for behavioral control in rats: convergence with the associative interference literature.

Contemporary theories of associative learning require cues be trained in compound for cue competition (interference) to occur. That is, Cues A and X should compete for behavioral control only if training consists of AX-outcome (O) trials and not if each cue is separately paired with O (i.e., X-O and A-O). Research with humans challenges this view by showing that A-O trials interpolated between training and testing of a X-O association impair responding to X (i.e., retroactive interference). In six conditioned suppression studies with rats, the authors demonstrate that two cues trained apart can each interfere with the potential of the other to predict the outcome. The authors conclude that this type of interference (a) reflects a failure to retrieve the target association due to priming at test of the interfering association and (b) is attenuated if the outcome is of high biological significance. These findings parallel previous reports in verbal learning research and suggest that a similar associative structure underlies some types of associations in nonverbal subjects.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2026

Development and Validation of Machine Learning Models for Predicting Early Cognitive Decline Using Home Sensor-Derived Behavioral Data: Sensors in-Home for Elder Wellbeing (SINEW) Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: As the global population continues to age, the prevalence of geriatric conditions, including dementia and frailty, is also increasing. Early identification of individuals at an elevated risk of these conditions, such as those presenting with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or prefrailty, can provide a critical window for prompt intervention aimed at preventing or reversing disease progression. To promote such early identification, there is a burgeoning interest in the use of digital sensor technology and predictive modeling. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to use a continuous, home-based monitoring sensor system for older adults to distinguish those exhibiting normal aging from those with MCI, early dementia, prefrailty, or frailty, and to predict their transition from normal aging to one of these conditions. METHODS: This longitudinal cohort study will recruit 200 community-dwelling adults aged ≥65 years with normal cognition or MCI at baseline. A multi-sensor system will be installed in participants' homes, including passive infrared motion sensors, door contact sensors, bed sensors, medication box sensors, wearable activity bands, and Bluetooth proximity beacons. These devices will continuously capture spatiotemporal activity patterns, mobility indicators, sleep behaviors, and medication-taking routines. Annual assessments will include standardized cognitive tests (eg, Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Mini-Mental State Examination, Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test, digit span, Color Trails Test, semantic fluency, Stroop), frailty measures (modified Fried phenotype, gait speed, grip strength), mental health scales, sleep quality, and psychosocial indicators. Sensor-derived features-such as gait variability, activity regularity, sleep fragmentation, and medication adherence patterns-will be integrated with clinical data to develop supervised machine learning models. Planned approaches include logistic regression, random forests, gradient boosting, and deep learning. Model performance will be evaluated using cross-validation and independent test sets. Primary metrics will include area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, sensitivity, specificity, precision, recall, and F1-score. Models will be benchmarked against gold-standard clinical diagnoses and validated using temporal subsets of the dataset. RESULTS: Enrollment for this study started in November 2019 and will continue until March 2030. As of June 2025, we have enrolled 138 participants. Full data analysis has yet to begin. CONCLUSIONS: We aim to develop a reliable and effective sensor system for in-home use that will facilitate the early detection of cognitive and physical decline. In so doing, it will add to our current understanding of digital biomarkers. It is common for older adults to seek clinical intervention only when their cognitive impairment has already reached an advanced stage. The implementation of readily deployable sensor systems within community settings presents us with opportunities for prompt intervention, which holds the potential for delaying or reversing disease progression and allowing for a greater number of functional and meaningful years.

Humans↗
PubMed1986

Caffeine and memory performance on the AVLT.

The Auditory-Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) is a memory test that assesses recall of lists of words on single and multiple trials. College students (N = 33) were given the AVLT, either with or without a prior administration of 100 mg caffeine. Caffeine subjects recalled fewer words than did control subjects, both after single presentations of lists and across repeated trials. Caffeine subjects showed a greater deficit in recalling the middle-to-end portions of the lists. Personality scores on the Maudsley Personality Inventory showed a positive correlation of recall on a pretest with Neuroticism, and no correlation with Introversion.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Verbal and visual memory in patients with early Parkinson's disease: effect of levodopa.

BACKGROUND: The effect of initiation of levodopa therapy on the memory functions in patients with Parkinson's disease remains poorly understood. AIMS: To evaluate the effect of initiation of levodopa therapy on memory, in patients with early Parkinson's disease. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Prospective case control study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventeen patients with early Parkinson's disease were evaluated for verbal memory using Rey's auditory verbal learning test, and visual memory using the Benton's visual retention test and Form sequence learning test. UPDRS scores, Hoehn and Yahr's Staging and Schwab and England scores of Activities of daily living. Hamilton's depression rating scale and MMSE were also evaluated. Six controls were also evaluated according to similar study protocol. Levodopa was then prescribed to the cases. Same tests were repeated on all the subjects after 12 weeks. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 59.8 (+ 12.9 yrs); mean disease duration of 3.26 (+ 2.06 yrs). The mean UPDRS scores of patients were 36.52 (+ 15.84). Controls were of a similar age and sex distribution. A statistically significant improvement in the scores on the UPDRS, Hamilton's depression scale, Schwab and England scale, and a statistically significant deterioration in the scores of visual memory was observed in patients with PD after starting levodopa, as compared to their baseline scores. There was no correlation between degree of deterioration and the dose of levodopa. CONCLUSION: Initiation of levodopa therapy in patients with early and stable Parkinson's disease is associated with deterioration in visual memory functions, with relative preservation of the verbal memory.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

The role of executive function in imagery mnemonics: evidence from multiple sclerosis.

The use of imagery in learning and memory involves metacognitive skills that seem to depend upon executive function as well as motivational mechanisms. This implies that the efficacy of imagery mnemonics should be impaired in neurological patients who show either executive dysfunction or affective disorders. This hypothesis was tested in patients with multiple sclerosis. Imagery instructions led to improved recall in three different tasks, although experimenter-generated imagery proved to be more effective than subject-generated imagery and there was little evidence that patients maintained the use of imagery mnemonics on follow-up testing. Three other tasks defined a unitary trait of executive processing efficiency, and this was significantly correlated with the benefit obtained from the use of the Method of Loci in a free-recall tasks, but not with the benefit gained from other imagery mnemonics. The patients' scores, on a widely used depression inventory, were not significantly correlated with the benefit obtained from the use of imagery mnemonics. Nonetheless, it is concluded that executive processing capacity determines the benefit that is derived from the use of more complex forms of imagery mnemonic in verbal-learning tasks.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Semantic category fluency versus initial letter fluency over 60 seconds as a measure of automatic and controlled processing in healthy school-aged children.

Verbal fluency was operationalized as the number of words produced in a restricted category (i.e., semantic category [SCF] and words beginning with a given letter [ILF]) in 60 seconds. Word production in the first 15 seconds of either type of fluency task was defined as a measure of automatic information processing, whereas word production in the remaining 45 seconds (in 15-second periods) was taken as a measure of controlled information processing. Data revealed that over 60 seconds healthy children aged 8.4-9.7 years (n = 91) produced significantly more words and less incorrect responses on the SCF task than on the ILF task. Although word production was a function of both type of task and time, it was highest in the initial time slice of either type of fluency and decreased as time on task increased. Finally, no sex differences were found for any measure of performance on either type of fluency task. In contrast, the level of occupational achievement of the caregiver (LOA) appeared to be a determinant of the child's performance on either type of fluency task, indicating that LOA affects higher-order processes, such as the automation of newly learned verbal skills and effortful processing.

Child↗