Neuropsychology最新文献

Objective: Parkinson's disease (PD) may affect not only motor functions, but also cognitive processes such as attention. While past research has examined PD impact on spatial attention, it has not addressed how the key functions of attentional orienting and alerting in PD are mediated by cueing format, an ecologically relevant parameter. We assessed how exogenous and endogenous orienting cue modes affect PD patients' visuospatial attention expressed as dorsal attention network orienting benefits, ventral attention network reorienting costs, and alerting abilities.

Method: Ninety PD patients and 72 healthy comparison participants performed a spatial attention task in an engaging game format which required selection of a target location without prior cueing, or with temporal, valid spatial, or invalid spatial exogenous or endogenous cueing.

Results: PD patients differed from healthy participants only in response time benefits in orienting under endogenous probabilistically predictive cue processing. They did not exhibit greater reorienting costs, differences in inhibition of return, or alerting deficits, irrespective of modes of cueing.

Conclusion: These results suggest that fundamental orienting and alerting functions might be intact in PD, with challenges emerging only if additional cognitive processes, including those related to motor preparation, are required to utilize cue information. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Cross-culturally comparative data on measures of executive function (EF) are essential, but the 6-8-year group remains insufficiently described. This study examined the sociodemographic predictors of EF test performance employing the Cambridge Neuropsychological Testing Automated Battery (CANTAB). It also compared developmental trends in EF among children from Uruguay, the United States, and Mexico.

Method: EFs were assessed with the Intra-dimensional/Extra-dimensional shift, Spatial Span (SSP), and Stockings of Cambridge (SOC) tests from the CANTAB. The study sample consisted of 6-8-year-old children from the Salud Ambiental Montevideo (SAM) cohort in Uruguay. Differences between cohorts were examined, and we performed generalized linear regressions to assess the association between sociodemographic factors, and each EF domain.

Results: The final sample consisted of 525 participants (mean age in months 82.5 ± 6.0). Across all ages, SAM children had significantly lower performance in the SSP and SOC tasks compared to U.S. and Mexican children. On the Intra-dimensional/Extra-dimensional shift task, SAM children had similar scores to U.S. and Mexican children. Mother's intelligence quotient (IQ; β = 0.01; 95% CI [0.005, 0.02]), child's IQ (0.02 [0.02, 0.03]), the HOME total score (0.02 [0.01, 0.03]), as well as HOME subscales of accompaniment (0.13 [0.07, 0.20]), enrichment (0.11 [0.06,0.16]), and physical environment (0.07 [0.03, 0.10]) were positively associated with the span length (SSP task). Child's IQ (0.02 [0.01,0.03]) was positively associated with the number of problems solved on the SOC test.

Conclusion: Uruguayan children perform lower in working memory and planning tests than U.S. children but similarly to Mexican children, while cognitive flexibility is consistent across all groups. Further, mother and child IQ, as well as the home environment, are important predictors of EF. These differences should be examined in the context of diverse cultural values and sociodemographic factors affecting CANTAB construct validity in this population. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Maldevelopment of the posterior corpus callosum is common in spina bifida myelomeningocele (SBM) due to hydrocephalus-related hypoplasia and congenital partial hypogenesis. This study examined the relations of macro- and microstructural integrity of the interhemispheric temporal tract in SBM and auditory interhemispheric transfer using consonant-vowel dichotic listening.

Method: We collected T₁-weighted and diffusion tensor imaging data from 46 individuals with SBM and 15 typically developing individuals. Probabilistic tractography was used to isolate the interhemispheric white matter connecting auditory processing regions in both hemispheres. Interhemispheric transfer was assessed with a dichotic listening task.

Results: Although the typically developing group and the group with SBM showed the normative right-ear advantage, fewer participants showed a right-ear advantage in the group with SBM. The absence of the right-ear advantage was largely in the subgroup with hypogenesis of the splenium or severe posterior hypoplasia. Sex, anterior commissure cross-sectional area, and number of shunt pathways visible on magnetic resonance imaging predicted right-ear superiority.

Conclusions: Interhemispheric transfer is disrupted in individuals with SBM and hypogenesis or severe hypoplasia of the posterior corpus callosum. Preservation of interhemispheric transfer is related to expected connections through the posterior corpus callosum and possibly compensatory pathways in the anterior commissure. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Numerous nonpharmacological treatments (NPTs) have been developed for older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Two forms of cognition-focused NPTs, cognitive rehabilitation (CR) and cognitive training (CT), demonstrate cognitive benefit, but limitations remain regarding the contribution of cultural and demographic factors to study outcome heterogeneity, generalizability to diverse populations, and feasibility. This article aimed to review demographic and culturally informed NPTs and provides recommendations for culturally informed clinical practice and research.

Method: We conducted a PubMed review to identify CR and CT interventions that incorporated cultural adaptations. Results from the review, combined with the authors' clinical expertise, were used to identify methodological, demographic, social, cultural, and systemic variables relevant to NPTs.

Results: Existing CR and CT studies that included cultural adaptations adopted modifications to language, measures (cognition, function), and lifestyle factors (diet, physical activity) among others. In addition, provider, patient, and group-level factors were then raised to promote inclusivity and increase NPT generalizability. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of research considering cultural and demographic factors when delivering cognition-focused NPTs. Recommendations were generated that incorporated current literature as well as the authors' clinical and research experiences.

Conclusions: Culturally informed NPTs are understudied. Social, demographic, and cultural factors may contribute to the heterogeneity of outcomes, lack of generalizability of findings to diverse groups, and application of intervention to said groups. Several tools are available and can focus on broadening collection of information regarding patients' identities, social network, adapting to literacy level and linguistic diversity needs, and responding to social and structural determinants of health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: We aimed to estimate the association of age, education, and sex/gender with semantic fluency performance as measured by the standard total number of words as well as novel item-level metrics and to descriptively compare associations across cohorts with different recruitment strategies and sample compositions.

Method: Cross-sectional data from 2,391 individuals from three cohorts were used: Washington Heights/Inwood Columbia Aging Project, a community-based cohort; Second Manifestations of ARTerial disease-Magnetic Resonance, a clinic-based cohort; and African American Alzheimer's Disease Genetics Study, a volunteer-based cohort. Total number of correct words and six item-level semantic fluency metrics were included as main outcomes: average cluster size, number of cluster switches, lexical/Zipf frequency, age of acquisition, and lexical decision response time. General linear models were run separately in each cohort to model the association between sociodemographic variables and semantic fluency metrics.

Results: Across cohorts, older age was associated with a lower total score and fewer cluster switches. Higher level of education was associated with naming more words, performing more cluster switches, and naming words with a longer lexical decision response time, lower frequency of occurrence, or later age of acquisition. Being female compared to male was associated with naming fewer words, smaller cluster sizes, naming words with a longer lexical decision response time, and lower age of acquisition. The effects varied in strength but were in a similar direction across cohorts.

Conclusions: Item-level semantic fluency metrics-similar to the standard total score-are sensitive to the effects of age, education, and sex/gender. The results suggest geographical, cultural, and cross-linguistic generalizability of these sociodemographic effects on semantic fluency performance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Emotional faces are automatically processed in the human brain through a cortical route (conscious processing based on high spatial frequencies, HSF) and a subcortical route (subliminal processing based on low spatial frequencies, LSF). How each route contributes to emotional face recognition is still debated, and little is known about this process in aging.

Method: Here, 147 younger adults (YA) and 137 older adults (OA) were passively presented with neutral, happy, and angry faces, shown as (a) unfiltered, (b) filtered at LSF, and (c) hybrid (emotional LSF superimposed to the neutral HSF of the same face). In a succeeding recognition phase, the same faces and new faces were shown as unfiltered, and participants were asked whether each face had been already presented in the encoding phase.

Results: Despite the better performance by YA compared with OA for neutral faces presented as unfiltered (cortical route), the performance of OA was better than that of YA for angry faces presented as hybrid and for happy faces presented at LSF and as hybrid.

Conclusions: We conclude that the activity of the subcortical route during the encoding phase facilitates emotional recognition in aging. Results are discussed in accordance with the dual-route model. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Executive dysfunction is characteristic of behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) but can be challenging to detect. Dispersion-based intraindividual variability (IIV-d) is hypothesized to reflect a sensitive index of executive dysfunction and has demonstrated relevance to functional decline but has not been evaluated in bvFTD.

Method: We report on 477 demographically matched participants (159 cognitively healthy [CH], 159 clinical Alzheimer's disease [AD], 159 clinical bvFTD/prodromal bvFTD) who completed the Uniform Data Set 3.0 Neuropsychological Battery. IIV-d was measured using the coefficient of variance (CoV; raw and demographically adjusted) across 12 Uniform Data Set 3.0 Neuropsychological Battery indicators and the informant-rated Functional Activities Questionnaire assessed daily functioning.

Results: Analysis of covariance showed that participants in the bvFTD/prodromal bvFTD group exhibited higher raw and demographically adjusted CoV compared to CH participants, at a very large effect size (d = 1.28-1.47). Demographically adjusted (but not raw) CoV was lower in the bvFTD/prodromal bvFTD group than the AD group, though the effect size was small (d = .38). Both CoV metrics accurately differentiated the bvFTD/prodromal bvFTD and CH groups (areas under the curve = .84), but not bvFTD/prodromal bvFTD and AD groups (areas under the curve = .59). Regression analyses in the bvFTD/prodromal bvFTD group indicated that higher IIV-d on both metrics was associated with greater daily functioning impairment, over and above covariates.

Conclusions: Compared to healthy adults, individuals with bvFTD/prodromal bvFTD show greater levels of performance variability across a battery of neuropsychological measures, which interferes with everyday functioning. These data demonstrate the clinical utility and ecological validity of IIV-d in bvFTD/prodromal bvFTD, though these findings should be replicated in more diverse samples. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: The present study examined how years of immersion in a nondominant language affect (a) the degree of bilingualism as measured by picture naming scores and (b) the bilingual disadvantage relative to monolinguals.

Method: Forty-two older Spanish-English bilinguals named pictures in an expanded rapid administration version of the Multilingual Naming Test (MINT Sprint 2.0) in both languages and completed a language history questionnaire. English-speaking monolinguals (n = 138; from Gollan et al., 2024) named pictures in just one language.

Results: Spanish-dominant bilinguals named more pictures in the nondominant language but fewer pictures in the dominant language relative to English-dominant bilinguals. Increased years of immersion in the nondominant language increased naming scores in that language but decreased naming scores in the dominant language. When controlling for differences in age and education level, monolinguals named more pictures than bilinguals even in their dominant language, a difference that was numerically smaller for English-dominant bilinguals. However, two bilinguals who stated that they prefer to be tested in English scored much higher in Spanish.

Conclusions: Older bilinguals name fewer pictures than demographically matched monolinguals even when bilinguals are tested in their dominant language and especially if they report many years of immersion in their nondominant language. The bilingual disadvantage can be magnified if self-reported language preference is used to determine the language of testing. Accurate interpretation of bilingual picture naming scores requires a thorough language history and objective assessment in both languages, which can be done in relatively little time using rapid administration procedures. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: Metacognition is disrupted in several clinical populations. One aspect of metacognition, global metacognitive bias (difference between objective and self-reported abilities), has shown to be particularly relevant to clinical functioning. However, previous studies of global metacognitive biases in populations with elevated depressive/posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms have not measured objective and self-reported abilities relative to normative samples, limiting the quantification of biases. Additionally, few studies have examined whether cognitive interventions can improve metacognitive biases or how this relates to depressive/PTSD symptom severity.

Method: A total of 84 participants with mild traumatic brain injury (77% veterans) performed PTSD and depression assessments along with self-reported and objective measures of global cognition. Age-adjusted norm-based z scores were used for self-reported and objective cognition, and bias was calculated by subtracting objective minus self-report scores. Participants then received 13 weeks of targeted cognitive training or entertainment games training (both providing performance feedback). Participants were assessed at baseline, immediately posttraining, and 3 months posttraining.

Results: We found large negative metacognitive biases in those with clinically significant severity of depressive symptoms (z score difference = -1.77), PTSD symptoms (-1.47), and depressive + PTSD symptoms (-2.29). Metacognitive biases improved after both targeted and entertainment training and was associated with reductions in depressive/PTSD symptom severity (r = -.41/-.42, respectively), led by the entertainment training group (r = -.54/-.46, respectively).

Conclusions: These findings show that clinically significant severity of depressive/PTSD symptoms is associated with substantial negative global metacognitive biases and preliminarily suggests that cognitive training may improve these biases and depressive/PTSD symptom severity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: The Memory Binding Test (MBT) shows promise in detecting early cognitive changes associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study assesses the psychometric properties (i.e., construct and criterion validity, test-retest reliability) of the MBT and its sensitivity to incipient disease and incident cognitive impairment.

Method: One hundred forty-nine cognitively unimpaired adults ages 45-85 completed the MBT and neuropsychological tests at baseline; 132 returned for 2-year follow-up. Based on neuroradiological ratings of amyloid positron emission tomography and MRI markers at baseline, they were categorized as healthy (n = 94) or having preclinical disease (n = 55, either on the AD continuum or having non-AD pathologic change). Construct validity was assessed by the associations between MBT scores, demographics, and neuropsychological scores within the healthy group. Criterion validity was assessed by testing how MBT scores correlate with AD biomarkers, differ and discriminate between groups at baseline, and predict incident cognitive impairment.

Results: MBT scores decreased with age and were strongly associated with memory and global cognition. MBT scores were largely not associated with amyloid, hippocampal volume, or AD signature cortical volume but related to white matter lesion volume in those with preclinical disease. The preclinical groups performed worse on MBT immediate free recall at baseline than the healthy group, but no scores predicted incident cognitive impairment at follow-up. Most scores demonstrated modest test-retest reliability.

Conclusions: This study demonstrates that the MBT has adequate construct validity in cognitively unimpaired adults, moderate sensitivity to preclinical disease cross-sectionally, and limited prognostic utility. Careful consideration of demographic influences on score interpretation remains necessary. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).