Neuropsychology最新文献

Objective: Emerging literature suggests later life adversity increases susceptibility to cognitive disorders, whereas structural support (defined here as social networks/contacts) and life satisfaction benefit cognitive health. However, evidence for these associations remains limited in low- and middle-income countries. To address this gap, the present study examined the associations of later life adverse (recent stressful events, neighborhood disadvantages, and multimorbidity) and favorable (structural support and life satisfaction) factors with cognitive outcomes in Brazil.

Method: This population-based study utilized a nationally representative sample of 6,564 adults aged 50 and over, drawn from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Aging. Survey-weighted generalized linear models characterized the association of each relevant factor with cognitive performance, assessed through a global composite score derived from performance on tasks designed to measure temporal orientation, immediate and delayed memory recall, semantic fluency, and prospective memory. Two-way interaction models tested whether sex, race, or household income extreme quintiles modified significant associations.

Results: In the multivariable model, greater structural support (0.030, 95% CI [0.021, 0.040]) and life satisfaction (0.014, 95% CI [0.008, 0.019]) were strongly associated with better cognitive function, independent of demographic characteristics and the adverse factors investigated. Notably, the protective association of structural support on cognition was twice as strong among individuals self-identified as Black/Brown (0.039, 95% CI [0.025, 0.052]) compared to White participants (0.019, 95% CI [0.007, 0.032]) and over 2.5 times stronger for individuals in the lowest household income quintile (0.048, 95% CI [0.028, 0.069]) relative to those in the highest quintile (0.018, 95% CI [0.000, 0.035]). Among adverse experiences, only recent severe illness (-0.057, 95% CI [-0.090, -0.023]) was significantly associated with poorer cognition, potentially reflecting a combination of biological and psychosocial mechanisms.

Conclusions: Public health initiatives should prioritize building community-based support structures and endeavor to target Black/Brown and socioeconomically disadvantaged communities while addressing factors that contribute to life satisfaction in later adulthood. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Previous research suggested that Recognition Memory Test-Words (RMT-W) scores may be confounded by gender and handedness. This study was designed to examine its classification accuracy as a performance validity test (PVT) and susceptibility to demographic characteristics.

Method: Archival data were collected from a consecutive sequence of 310 diagnostically heterogeneous examinees (181 men; M_Age = 41.4; M_Education = 12.9). The RMT-W's classification accuracy was computed against psychometrically operationalized criterion groups.

Results: Optimal RMT-W cutoffs (≤ 42 to ≤ 40) produced a good combination of sensitivity (.62-.70) and specificity (.90-.96), correctly classifying 85.6%-87.7% of the sample. Women scored 1.5 points higher. RMT-W scores were unrelated to handedness but were correlated with education. A linear relationship emerged between level of education and the cutoff needed to achieve ≥ .90 specificity: ≤ 43 for ≥ 13 years of education, ≤ 41 for 12 years of education, and ≤ 39 for ≤ 11 years of education. RMT-W ≤ 45 had .91 specificity in women with postsecondary education.

Conclusions: Results suggest that overall, the RMT-W remains an effective free-standing PVT. Gender, age, and handedness in isolation had minimal impact on RMT-W scores. However, education had a clinically significant effect. The combined effect of gender and education produced a marked shift in classification accuracy. Systematic research is needed on the relationship between demographics and PVT outcomes to ensure that cutoffs have the same clinical interpretation regardless of patient variables. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

In this editorial, the author states that editors do not assume ownership of a journal; they merely look after it for the next generation. The incoming associate editors and the author are grateful to the American Psychological Association (APA) for entrusting them to look after Neuropsychology for the next generation of clinicians and scientists. They recognize the many serious challenges that today's scientists are facing in public perception, funding, and policy. Building upon the journal's strong, 39-year foundation of scientific excellence and outstanding leadership, they aspire to leverage the journal's rigorous editorial processes, tremendous resources, and international reach for the betterment of society, scientists, and the communities of people with conditions that affect the central nervous system. In this editorial, they provide a brief history of Neuropsychology to help us plot a course for the next 5 years. From their vantage point, Neuropsychology's future is data-driven, transparent, inclusive, and community-oriented. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurological condition characterized by white and gray matter decline that leads to slower motor function and cognitive impairment. Although language remains relatively intact, individuals with MS often have word retrieval difficulties. Previous research suggests that these difficulties may be related to vocabulary, the number of words an individual knows, and other semantic aspects of language. However, few studies have examined phonological aspects of speech.

Method: We examined speech in 89 individuals with MS and 88 age-matched neurotypical adults using a phonemic verbal fluency task. We took a network science approach, building a phonological network from participants' responses and their close phonological neighbors. We then examined the local network characteristics (degree, clustering coefficient) of participants' responses to assess whether responses differed between the groups.

Results: Although individuals with MS produced fewer responses during the task, the network characteristics of their responses were similar to neurotypical adults, the control group. Moreover, lexical characteristics such as word length and lexical frequency were also similar between groups (model R² values < 1%). Finally, a forward flow analysis, which quantifies the phonological similarity between adjacent responses and provides a metric of how people search phonemic space, did not differ between groups.

Conclusions: Overall, these results suggest that phonological aspects of speech remain stable in individuals with MS. Word retrieval difficulties in MS may arise from neurological changes in semantic processes, in combination with other cognitive abilities such as speed of processing and executive function, which are common in MS. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Moral cognition has been insufficiently studied in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). This study investigated moral decision making and judgment using ecologically valid moral dilemmas in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) and progressive MS phenotypes, exploring associations with clinical and psychological variables.

Method: Twenty-one individuals with relapsing-remitting MS and 21 with progressive MS completed a battery of moral dilemmas (instrumental, incidental, and ecological) and questionnaires assessing quality of life, mood, alexithymia, and empathy. Data from pwMS were compared to those of 56 age- and education-matched healthy controls. Group differences were analyzed using Mann-Whitney U tests, and effect sizes (r) were reported.

Results: Compared to healthy controls, pwMS showed significantly higher moral acceptability in instrumental (U = 633.0, p = .001, r = 0.39), incidental (U = 745.5, p = .035, r = 0.23), and ecological dilemmas (U = 563.0, p < .001, r = 0.44). Moral permissiveness was positively correlated with disability (Expanded Disability Status Scale: ρ = 0.36, p = .019) and negatively with physical quality of life (Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life-Physical: ρ = -0.33, p = .034) and inhibitory control (Stroop Test: ρ = 0.47, p = .002). Empathy scores were inversely correlated with moral acceptability across all dilemmas (p < .05).

Conclusions: PwMS exhibit increased moral permissiveness, particularly in relation to clinical disability, physical functioning, and executive control. These findings contribute to characterizing the sociocognitive profile of MS and support the inclusion of moral cognition in future research, though implications for patient care remain preliminary. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Remote assessment of episodic memory would be a cost-effective alternative to in-person visits for early detection of memory impairment related to Alzheimer's disease (AD), but there is a need for test development and studies in population-based samples. The aim of this study was to investigate the validity and correlates of a novel three-trial administration of 10-word list learning included in the modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status in a population-based study of 65- to 96-year-old individuals.

Method: A total of 800 participants completed telephone-administered word list learning task that yielded immediate and delayed recall measures. We compared these to corresponding measures from in-person neuropsychological assessment and tested differences between cognitively normal individuals and those with cognitive impairment or neurodegenerative disease. Furthermore, we studied the associations of age, sex, education, and genetic risk of AD with telephone-administered memory measures.

Results: Telephone-administered three-trial word list learning task yielded normally distributed immediate and delayed recall measures that performed like corresponding measures from in-person assessment. Having cognitive impairment or AD-but not genetic risk of AD-were related to poorer memory performance. Younger age, being female, and having secondary education were related to better memory performance.

Conclusion: Our study supports the validity of telephone-administered word list task with multiple learning trials. Remote assessment of memory can be used as an alternative to inviting people to in-person assessment and is also easily accessible for people living in remote areas and for those with physical disabilities or during restrictions related to in-person contact. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Familial longevity, educational attainment, and engagement in cognitively stimulating activities are independently protective for cognitive aging, yet little is known about how these factors relate with one another. We explored the interplay between familial longevity, life exposures that confer cognitive resilience, and cognitive function in the Long Life Family Study.

Method: A series of Bayesian hierarchical regression models was used to examine the associations among familial longevity, educational attainment, participation in cognitively stimulating activities, and neuropsychological test performance in several cognitive domains in an ancillary observational study of Long Life Family Study family members and a referent cohort (N = 314, M = 75.7, SD = 14.6 years). Models were adjusted by age, sex, and upstream variables along the regression pathway (i.e., cognitive activity, education, and familial longevity), and incorporated a random intercept for family relatedness.

Results: Referents had greater engagement in cognitive activities, and in turn, those with higher levels of education and cognitive activity exhibited better neuropsychological performance. Greater cognitive activity was specifically associated with better executive functioning, episodic memory, and language scores. Although Long Life Family Study family members engaged in cognitive activities less often than referents, they performed better on tests of episodic memory, and matched performance on tests of executive function, language, and visuoconstruction.

Conclusions: These results suggest that familial longevity and engagement in cognitively stimulating activities represent two distinct pathways that contribute to preserved cognition in older adulthood, though these findings should be replicated in more diverse samples. Furthermore, these unique pathways differ across tests and cognitive domains. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: This article aimed to examine the psychometric properties of a measure of youth fear-avoidance of concussive symptoms.

Method: Fear-avoidance is thought to be a risk factor for prolonged concussion recovery; however, current measures of fear-avoidance focus on pain rather than broader symptoms. We adapted the Fear of Pain Questionnaire to be relevant to concussion symptoms with a new version called the Fear of Concussive Symptoms Questionnaire (FOCSQ). We assessed the psychometrics of this scale with a sample of N = 115 youth with persistent postconcussive symptoms (M_age = 15.1 years, 58% female, 70% non-Hispanic White, 15% Hispanic, M = 79.2 days since injury), including reliability, construct validity, and cross-informant reliability.

Results: Exploratory factor analysis suggested a two-factor model was a good fit for youth report (fear and avoidance) and a three-factor model for parent proxy (fear, school/social avoidance, and movement avoidance). Reliability was excellent, with Cronbach's α for both youth report and parent proxy of 0.93 (95% CI [0.91, 0.95]). Construct validity indicated moderate correlation between youth-report FOCSQ and concussive symptoms 0.55 (95% CI [0.41, 0.66]), headache severity 0.37 (95% CI [0.19, 0.53]), depression 0.62 (95% CI [0.49, 0.72]), and anxiety 0.64 (95% CI [0.51, 0.73]). Criterion-related validity was supported by an inverse correlation between FOCSQ and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory: -0.64 (95% CI [-0.74, -0.52]). Youth report and parent proxy were moderately correlated, with Pearson's correlation coefficient r = 0.60 (95% CI [0.47, 0.71]).

Conclusions: The FOCSQ is a reliable and valid measure of fear-avoidance in youth with concussion, and future research might explore whether this measure could be used to identify youth at risk for prolonged recovery. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Declines in everyday cognitive functioning are a common occurrence in late life. The present study sought to understand how informant-rated everyday cognitive abilities related to memory, language, spatial skills, planning, organization, and divided attention-as measured by the Everyday Cognition (ECog) scale-change over time in a diverse sample of older adults.

Method: Participants (N = 891) from the University of California Davis Alzheimer's Disease Research Center longitudinal cohort (M_age = 76.1, SD_age = 7.4) were followed for an average of 4.4 years with annual ECog assessments. Multilevel beta regression was used to model ECog scores as a function of time, cognitive domain, diagnosis change, and-in a neuroimaging subsample (N = 264)-cross-sectional and longitudinal total gray matter and hippocampus volume.

Results: ECog domains changed at different rates when modeled as a function of diagnosis change; differences in domain were most apparent in the stable mild cognitive impairment (MCI)-to-MCI and MCI-to-dementia conversion groups. By contrast, ECog domains changed at the same rate when modeled as a function of baseline gray matter volume and longitudinal gray matter volume change, corresponding to other research suggesting that cognitive domains change at relatively uniform rates over time. In separate models, total gray matter and hippocampus atrophy were salient predictors of ECog score changes. At baseline, hippocampus volume was the strongest predictor of ECog intercepts.

Conclusions: Although some caution is warranted interpreting score changes due to floor and ceiling effects, the ECog appears sensitive to underlying gray matter atrophy and change in clinical disease severity when used longitudinally. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Literature concerning the structural brain correlates of verbal memory in aging with multiple sclerosis (MS) is scarce. This study addressed this gap by examining the impact of white matter microstructure and macrostructure on verbal memory in older adults with and without MS.

Method: Participants were 64 older adults with MS (OAMS; age M [SD] = 64.19 [3.82]) and 72 controls (age M [SD] = 69.78 [6.99]). Verbal memory was measured using the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised (HVLT-R), and white matter fractional anisotropy and lesion volume were extracted from diffusion tensor and fluid-attenuated inversion-recovery magnetic resonance imaging. Statistical models examined whether white matter measures moderated the association between the presence of MS and HVLT-R performance.

Results: Adjusted moderation models revealed that OAMS showed lower HVLT-R total immediate recall compared to controls in the presence of higher lesion volume in the bilateral fornices, left uncinate fasciculus, and right ventral cingulum, and lower HVLT-R delayed recall in the presence of lower fractional anisotropy in the right ventral cingulum and higher lesion volume in the left uncinate fasciculus and right ventral cingulum, with small effect sizes (interaction term ΔR²s = .03-.06, ps < .05).

Conclusions: Recall was lower in OAMS when limbic tract white matter had lower integrity and higher lesion load. Findings suggest that the influence of MS on verbal memory in older adults is related, in part, to underlying white matter disruptions in tracts implicated in memory. While the sample was generally representative of the U.S. MS population (majority White women), generalizability is limited and warrants further research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).