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PubMed1986

Dissociation of memory and awareness in young and older adults.

Young (mean age = 23.41 years) and older (mean age = 69.41 years) adults studied a list of 80 words. They were tested immediately and 7 days later for both yes/no recognition and for ability to complete fragments such as E D L M, with words, some of which had been studied previously. The fragment completion task was not described as a memory test and subjects were encouraged to respond to all word fragments. Younger adults scored higher on recognition than older adults but not on fragment completion. These results, similar to those obtained with amnesics, suggest that older adults are impaired on tasks which require a conscious effort to recognize an event but that memory without awareness is unaffected by age.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Differential diagnosis of mental subnormality and abnormality: the contribution of psychometrics.

In a psychiatric population, cognitive abnormality impacts on intellectual functioning and is often misconstrued as subnormality, i.e., mental retardation. Standard IQ and neuropsychological tests contribute little to the differential diagnosis, which hinges on the question of developmental failure. A developmentally rooted psychometric battery, one that assesses conceptual, perceptual-motor, and social maturity, is proposed as an objective diagnostic method. Research confirms the validity of this approach for distinguishing between psychosis with severe functional vs. developmental impairment, even when matched for IQ. Diagnostic and treatment implications are discussed.

Child Development↗
PubMed1991

Dissociation between knowledge of living and nonliving things in dementia of the Alzheimer type.

Patients who survive herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE) sometimes present a category-specific disorder for living things. Since HSE specifically involves the temporolimbic structures of both hemispheres, these structures could play a critical role in processing and storing information about living things. If this were the case, a category-specific disorder for the same items should also be observed in the early stages of dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) as the temporolimbic structures are often severely affected in this condition. To test this hypothesis, we administered to 15 DAT patients and to 10 normal controls a confrontation-naming task and a verbal associates recognition task, with both living and nonliving items as stimuli. The hypothesis was confirmed, since DAT patients performed worse with living than with nonliving items, and scored worse than normal controls on the living but not the nonliving items.

Alzheimer Disease↗
PubMed1987

Magnetic resonance imaging and computerized tomography in relation to the neurobehavioral sequelae of mild and moderate head injuries.

Twenty patients admitted for minor or moderate closed-head injury were studied to investigate the relationship between magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and neurobehavioral sequelae. The MRI scans demonstrated 44 more intracranial lesions than did concurrent computerized tomography (CT) scans in 17 patients (85%); most of these lesions were located in the frontal and temporal regions. Estimates of lesion volume based on MRI were frequently greater than with CT; however, MRI disclosed no additional lesions that required surgical evacuation. Neuropsychological assessment during the initial hospitalization revealed deficits in frontal lobe functioning and memory that were related to the size and localization of the lesions as defined by MRI. Follow-up MRI and neuropsychological testing at 1 month (13 cases) and 3 months (six cases) disclosed marked reduction of lesion size paralleled by improvement in cognition and memory. These findings encourage further investigation of the prognostic utility of MRI for the clinical management and rehabilitation of mild or moderate head injury.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Preliminary observations on language and learning in XXY boys.

Difficulties with processing, storing and retrieving, and producing linguistic information were particularly evident among the XXY boys. These decrements in abilities were associated with decreased achievement in a variety of reading and spelling tasks in this study as well as in that of Graham et al [4]. The data suggest that a continuum of language disability is present throughout the early life of these children and is associated with the XXY anomaly. Furthermore, when considered in relation to cross-sectional observations on older Turner syndrome patients, these data suggest the possibility that pathologic variations in sex chromosome complements may differentially affect brain development and subsequent functioning of the children.

Aneuploidy↗
PubMed2004

[Extremely Low Birthweight Infants in Iceland. Neurodevelopmental profile at five years of age.].

OBJECTIVE: This study was part of a geographically defined national study on survival, health, development, and longterm outcome of extremely low birthweight infants (ELBW; birthweight < 1000g) in Iceland focusing on development and neurodevelopmental measures in comparison to a reference group. METHODS: All 35 ELBW longtime survivors born in 1991-95 and 55 children as matched reference group were enrolled in a prospective study on longterm health and development. The children underwent medical examinations and neurodevelopmental testing at five years of age in 1996-2001, and their parents answered a questionnaire on their behavior. Comparison was made between ELBW infants and the reference group. Revised (WPPSI-R) showed significantly lower full scale IQ scores for the ELBW group compared to the reference group (p<0.001). More difference was apparent between the groups for the performance IQ than the verbal IQ. Scores on Test of Language Development (TOLD-2P) showed differences between the ELBW group and the reference group on the total language quotient (p=0.025). Significant differences were not obtained between the groups on TOLD-2P s individual subtests, languistic features nor linguistic systems. Total Scores on the Miller Assessment for Preschoolers (MAP) with emphasis on sensory motor development, were significantly lower for the ELBW group compared to the reference group (p<0.001). Additionally, significant differences were found on three of five subscales of the MAP. Evaluation of fine motor skills with the Finmotorisk utvecklingsstatus 1-7aar (FU) revealed significant differences (p<0.001), favoring the reference group. Parental answers on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) showed differences between the groups on three of eight factors in favor of the reference group (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Developmental testing at five years of age indicates that the performance of 25% of the ELBW children in this study, is consistent with that of same age peers. However, as a group, the ELBW children performed significantly poorer regarding cognitive development and sensory-motor skills when compared to the reference group. The most prominent neurodevelopmental difficulties of the ELBW children were within perceptual organization, coordination, and executive skills. Behavior problems were not rated as significant according to parental answers, although there were some differences between the groups. Since a large portion of ELBW children experiences developmental problems, it is important to provide early intervention during preschool years and support services and special education during school years, to reduce the longterm effects of developmental deficits.

English Abstract↗
PubMed2002

Auditory processing deficits in reading disabled adults.

The nature of the auditory processing deficit of disabled readers is still an unresolved issue. The quest for a fundamental, nonlinguistic, perceptual impairment has been dominated by the hypothesis that the difficulty lies in processing sequences of stimuli at presentation rates of tens of milliseconds. The present study examined this hypothesis using tasks that require processing of a wide range of stimulus time constants. About a third of the sampled population of disabled readers (classified as "poor auditory processors") had difficulties in most of the tasks tested: detection of frequency differences, detection of tones in narrowband noise, detection of amplitude modulation, detection of the direction of sound sources moving in virtual space, and perception of the lateralized position of tones based on their interaural phase differences. Nevertheless, across-channel integration was intact in these poor auditory processors since comodulation masking release was not reduced. Furthermore, phase locking was presumably intact since binaural masking level differences were normal. In a further examination of temporal processing, participants were asked to discriminate two tones at various intervals where the frequency difference was ten times each individual's frequency just noticeable difference (JND). Under these conditions, poor auditory processors showed no specific difficulty at brief intervals, contrary to predictions under a fast temporal processing deficit assumption. The complementary subgroup of disabled readers who were not poor auditory processors showed some difficulty in this condition when compared with their direct controls. However, they had no difficulty on auditory tasks such as amplitude modulation detection, which presumably taps processing of similar time scales. These two subgroups of disabled readers had similar reading performance but those with a generally poor auditory performance scored lower on some cognitive tests. Taken together, these results suggest that a large portion of disabled readers suffer from diverse difficulties in auditory processing. No parsimonious explanation based on current models of low-level auditory processing can account simultaneously for all these results, though increased within-channel noise is consistent with the majority of the deficits found in the subgroup of poorer auditory processors.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Conceptual encoding following severe closed head injury.

This investigation examined whether survivors of severe closed head injury encode semantic properties of to-be-remembered words and the relationship of such processing to frontal lobe functioning. Fourteen patients enrolled in rehabilitation and 12 controls were administered the Release from Proactive Inhibition paradigm involving trials of recalling words from the same category followed by a shift to a new category or continued presentation of identical material. Similar to the controls, patients demonstrated a facilitation in recall when the category shifted. An association between the amount of release and frontal lobe functioning (as evaluated by neuropsychological tests and magnetic resonance imaging) was not compelling and depended upon the particular measure of release that was utilized. Pending replication in a larger, more representative sample, we suggest that conceptual encoding is relatively preserved in long-term survivors. The failure to find a robust relationship between frontal lobe pathology and semantic encoding is discussed in light of other investigations suggesting an association.

Craniocerebral Trauma↗
PubMed1992

Failure of a binaural comprehension deficit to select responders to earplug use in schizophrenia.

Previous studies have suggested that on the Auditory Comprehension Test, a significant proportion of schizophrenics demonstrate a binaural comprehension deficit. To test whether wearing an earplug in their more poorly performing ear would be beneficial, we studied 34 in-patient schizophrenics and noted a binaural deficit in 12 (35%). Of these, eight patients subsequently wore an earplug in each ear for at least one week. We found no effect of the earplug on psychopathology.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Motion-perception deficits and reading impairment: it's the noise, not the motion.

We tested the hypothesis that deficits on sensory-processing tasks frequently associated with poor reading and dyslexia are the result of impairments in external-noise exclusion, rather than motion perception or magnocellular processing. We compared the motion-direction discrimination thresholds of adults and children with good or poor reading performance, using coherent-motion displays embedded in external noise. Both adults and children who were poor readers had higher thresholds than their respective peers in the presence of high external noise, but not in the presence of low external noise or when the signal was clearly demarcated. Adults' performance in high external noise correlated with their general reading ability, whereas children's performance correlated with their language and verbal abilities. The results support the hypothesis that noise-exclusion deficits impair reading and language development and suggest that the impact of such deficits on the development of reading skills changes with age.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Profiles of cognitive dysfunction in chronic amphetamine and heroin abusers.

Groups of subjects whose primary drug of abuse was amphetamine or heroin were compared, together with age- and IQ-matched control subjects. The study consisted of a neuropsychological test battery which included both conventional tests and also computerised tests of recognition memory, spatial working memory, planning, sequence generation, visual discrimination learning, and attentional set-shifting. Many of these tests have previously been shown to be sensitive to cortical damage (including selective lesions of the temporal or frontal lobes) and to cognitive deficits in dementia, basal ganglia disease, and neuropsychiatric disorder. Qualitative differences, as well as some commonalities, were found in the profile of cognitive impairment between the two groups. The chronic amphetamine abusers were significantly impaired in performance on the extra-dimensional shift task (a core component of the Wisconsin Card Sort Test) whereas in contrast, the heroin abusers were impaired in learning the normally easier intra-dimensional shift component. Both groups were impaired in some of tests of spatial working memory. However, the amphetamine group, unlike the heroin group, were not deficient in an index of strategic performance on this test. The heroin group failed to show significant improvement between two blocks of a sequence generation task after training and additionally exhibited more perseverative behavior on this task. The two groups were profoundly, but equivalently impaired on a test of pattern recognition memory sensitive to temporal lobe dysfunction. These results indicate that chronic drug use may lead to distinct patterns of cognitive impairment that may be associated with dysfunction of different components of cortico-striatal circuitry.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Category-specific treatment of a lexical-semantic deficit: a single case study of global aphasia.

The aim of this study was to improve the comprehension of single items in a subject with global aphasia. Existing models of semantic organisation were used to inform and guide the treatment programme. Detailed pre-therapy testing suggested a severe comprehension deficit with an inability to obtain a precise semantic specification of the items, irrespective of modality of input. A category-specific hierarchical treatment programme including generic and specific details about items was implemented through various exercises and drills. Post-therapy testing revealed a significant improvement on treated and untreated items of treated categories but limited generalisation to items in untreated categories. Improvement in the subject's general semantic abilities was also documented following treatment. The results, which are shown to be a direct consequence of the intervention programme, lend support to the categorical and hierarchical view of the organisation of semantics and provide a basis for future rehabilitation studies in this area.

Aphasia↗
PubMed2005

Nonstandardized assessment approaches for individuals with traumatic brain injuries.

Nonstandardized assessment procedures serve a variety of purposes, including determining competencies in domains for which there are no standardized tests, describing performance in the context of real-world settings and activities, and exploring the effects of systematic changes in communication and cognitive demands and partner supports. This article reviews evidence on the use of nonstandardized procedures for the assessment of individuals with traumatic brain injury and offers recommendations for the use of the procedures that are supported by the available evidence.

Aphasia↗
PubMed1993

Similarities and differences in memory deficits in patients with primary dementia and depression-related cognitive dysfunction.

The authors examined differences between the verbal memory performance of older patients with major depression (MD) alone; major depression with reversible depression-related cognitive dysfunction (MD/DRCD); and primary dementia and major depression (DEM/MD). Patients were evaluated before antidepressant treatment and 6 and 15 months after treatment. Of the three groups, patients with MD alone acquired significantly more information on the California Verbal Learning Test and showed a more pronounced primacy effect. Patients with DEM/MD were more likely to commit errors of intrusion. Although older depressed patients with MD/DRCD may resemble patients with DEM/MD on some aspects of verbal memory performance, differences may be observed in the types of learning errors they commit. Diagnostic implications are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Neuropsychological comparison of alcohol-exposed children with or without physical features of fetal alcohol syndrome.

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is associated with behavioral and cognitive deficits. However, the majority of children born to alcohol-abusing women do not meet the formal criteria for FAS and it is not known if the cognitive abilities of these children differ from those of children with FAS. Using a set of neuropsychological tests, 3 groups were compared: (a) children with FAS, (b) children without FAS who were born to alcohol-abusing women (the PEA group), and (c) normal controls. The results indicated that, relative to controls, both the FAS and the PEA groups were impaired on tests of language, verbal learning and memory, academic skills, fine-motor speed, and visual-motor integration. These data suggest that heavy prenatal alcohol exposure is related to a consistent pattern of neuropsychological deficits and the degree of these deficits may be independent of the presence of physical features associated with FAS.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

The British Picture Vocabulary Scale: constructing confidence intervals to evaluate change.

The practitioner is often faced with the situation where a client has been administered a test more than once, and it must be determined whether variation in the scores obtained is either due to real change or merely reflects imprecision in measurement. This paper offers a table of standard errors of prediction, and confidence levels based thereon, which can help in making this decision where the British Picture Vocabulary Scale is used. The table is based on the normative data provided in the manual.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Behavioral effects of low-level exposure to elemental Hg among dentists.

Exposure thresholds for health effects associated with elemental mercury (Hg degree) exposure were examined by comparing behavioral test scores of 19 exposed (mean urinary Hg = 36 micrograms/l) with those of 20 unexposed dentists. Thirty-six micrograms Hg/l is 7 times greater than the 5 micrograms Hg/l mean level measured in a national sample of dentists. To improve the distinction between recent and cumulative effects, the study also evaluated porphyrin concentrations in urine, which are correlated with renal Hg content (a measure of cumulative body burden). Subjects provided an on-site spot urine sample, were administered a 1-h assessment consisting of a consent form, the Profile of Mood Scales, a symptom and medical questionnaire, and 6 behavioral tests: digit-span, symbol-digit substitution, simple reaction time, the ability to switch between tasks, vocabulary, and the One Hole Test. Multivariate regression techniques were used to evaluate dose-effects controlling for the effects of age, race, gender and alcohol consumption. A dose-effect was considered statistically significant below a p value of 0.05. Significant urinary Hg dose-effects were found for poor mental concentration, emotional lability, somatosensory irritation, and mood scores. Individual tests evaluating cognitive and motor function changed in the expected directions but were not significantly associated with urinary Hg. However, the pooled sum of rank scores for combinations of tests within domains were significantly associated with urinary Hg, providing evidence of subtle preclinical changes in behavior associated with Hg exposure. Coproporphyrin, one of three urinary porphyrins altered by mercury exposure, was significantly associated with deficits in digit span and simple reaction time.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Affect↗
PubMed2006

Neurological assessments of marijuana users.

This chapter summarizes the neurological approaches used to assess the potential long-term effects of drugs on the nervous system of drug abusers. These include the use of neuropsychological assessments, transcranial Doppler (TCD) sonography, and electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings. Neuropsychological procedures are used in an effort to provide an unbiased estimate of the individual's cognitive capacity, and included tests of language skills, attention, memory, and motor skills. TCD allows for the measurements of blood flow in the anterior cerebral and middle cerebral arteries, which supply blood to the cortex. An EEG recording was included in our assessment on marijuana abusers using a sound-attenuated, electronically shielded chamber. These neurological approaches have allowed the detection of various neurological and neurovascular deficits that are associated with the abuse of marijuana.

Electroencephalography↗