Neuropsychology Review最新文献

The first 6 years of life are when 90% of brain development occurs, setting the foundation for lifelong neurodevelopment. The field of infant and early childhood neurodevelopment has made marginal advancements since introduced in 1988. There remains a gap in knowledge around early neurodevelopmental domains and trajectories given that there are few established assessment procedures for infants and young children and controversies around reserving assessments until school age. Throughout this systematic review, we (1) identified neurodevelopmental assessment measures employed in the literature by domain and age of assessment, (2) compiled a repository of 608 domain-specific neurodevelopmental assessment measures, and (3) established a preliminary conceptual framework for cross-domain neurodevelopmental assessments across infancy and early childhood. This review adhered to PRISMA guidelines and spanned three databases (PsycINFO, MEDLINE, PubMed). Articles were reviewed for (1) infancy and early childhood (0–6 years), (2) neurodevelopmental measures, and (3) English language. This systematic review spanned 795 articles from 1978 to 2020 with international representation. Advancements in assessment methods (e.g. measures, domains, frameworks) are essential for the evaluation of early neurodevelopmental profiles to inform early interventions, thus harnessing the neuroplasticity and dynamic development notable during early childhood. We hope this work catalyzes future research and clinical guidelines around early assessments methods.

Hormonal treatments (HT) for prostate cancer (e.g., androgen deprivation therapy) yield clinical and survival benefits, yet adverse cognitive changes may be a side effect. Since psychosocial factors are largely modifiable, interventions targeting these factors may help mitigate these adverse cognitive effects. This systematic review aimed to identify a range of psychosocial factors associated with cognitive function in individuals with prostate cancer undergoing HT and to determine whether these factors mitigate or exacerbate this effect. Applying PRISMA guidelines, a comprehensive search of relevant databases conducted in September 2023 using terms related to prostate cancer, hormone therapy, and cognitive outcomes was undertaken. The search yielded 694 unique abstracts, with 11 studies included for analysis examining the relationship between cognitive function and the following psychosocial factors: psychological distress, fatigue, insomnia, and coping processes. Findings were mixed with only two studies reporting significant associations between cognitive performance with fatigue and depression. Three studies that included measures of perceived cognitive function identified associations with depression, anxiety, fatigue, insomnia, illness threat appraisals, and coping styles. However, no studies found evidence for an association between self-reported and objective measures of cognitive functioning. Evidence regarding the association of interpersonal factors is lacking. Moreover, whether these factors mitigate or exacerbate the effect of HT on cognitive function still needs to be determined. Overall, the research exploring the association between psychosocial factors and cognitive function in prostate cancer survivors undergoing HT is still in its infancy. Further research is required to optimize the implementation of neuropsychological interventions for prostate cancer survivors.

Reading difficulties are amongst the most commonly reported problems in individuals with homonymous visual field defects (HVFDs). To be able to provide guidance for healthcare professionals considering offering reading training, researchers in this field and interested individuals with HVFDs, this systematic review aims to (1) provide an overview of the contextual and intervention characteristics of all published HVFD interventions and (2) generate insights into the different reading outcome measures that these studies adopted. A search on PsycINFO, MEDLINE and Web of Science was conducted up to February 2, 2023. All intervention studies for HVFD in which reading was measured were included. Data was collected about the intervention type, session duration, number of sessions, the intensity, duration, circumstance of the interventions, country in which the intervention was studied and reading measures. Sixty records are included, describing 70 interventions in total of which 21 are specifically reading interventions. Overall, adjusted saccadic behaviour interventions occur most in the literature. A wide range within all intervention characteristics was observed. Forty-nine records reported task-performance reading measures, and 33 records reported self-reported reading measures. The majority of task-performance measures are based on self-developed paragraph reading tasks with a time-based outcome measure (e.g. words per minute). Future research could benefit from making use of validated reading tests, approaching the measurement of reading mixed-methods and providing participants the possibility to supply outcomes relevant to them.

Meta-analyses often present flexibility regarding their inclusion criteria, outcomes of interest, statistical analyses, and assessments of the primary studies. For this reason, it is necessary to transparently report all the information that could impact the results. In this meta-review, we aimed to assess the transparency of meta-analyses that examined the benefits of cognitive training, given the ongoing controversy that exists in this field. Ninety-seven meta-analytic reviews were included, which examined a wide range of populations with different clinical conditions and ages. Regarding the reporting, information about the search of the studies, screening procedure, or data collection was detailed by most reviews. However, authors usually failed to report other aspects such as the specific meta-analytic parameters, the formula used to compute the effect sizes, or the data from primary studies that were used to compute the effect sizes. Although some of these practices have improved over the years, others remained the same. Moreover, examining the eligibility criteria of the reviews revealed a great heterogeneity in aspects such as the training duration, age cut-offs, or study designs that were considered. Preregistered meta-analyses often specified poorly how they would deal with the multiplicity of data or assess publication bias in their protocols, and some contained non-disclosed deviations in their eligibility criteria or outcomes of interests. The findings shown here, although they do not question the benefits of cognitive training, illustrate important aspects that future reviews must consider.

It is increasingly recognized that cognitive symptoms are a common sequelae of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis and are associated with adverse functional consequences. However, estimates of cognitive impairment (CIm) prevalence vary widely. This study aimed to determine the pooled prevalence of CIm among adults with RRMS and investigate moderators of prevalence rates. Following prospective registration (PROSPERO; CRD42021281815), electronic databases (Embase, Scopus, Medline, and PsycINFO) were searched from inception until March 2023. Eligible studies reported the prevalence of CIm among adults with RRMS, as determined through standardized neuropsychological testing and defined as evidence of reduced performance across at least two cognitive domains (e.g., processing speed, attention) relative to normative samples, healthy controls, or premorbid estimates. The electronic database search yielded 8695 unique records, of which 50 met selection criteria. The pooled prevalence of cognitive impairment was 32.5% (95% confidence interval 29.3–36.0%) across 5859 participants. Mean disease duration and age were significant predictors of cognitive impairment prevalence, with samples with longer disease durations and older age reporting higher prevalence rates. Studies which administered more extensive test batteries also reported significantly higher cognitive impairment prevalence. Approximately one third of adults with RRMS experience clinical levels of CIm. This finding supports the use of routine cognitive testing to enable early detection of CIm, and to identify individuals who may benefit from additional cognitive and functional support during treatment planning.

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) was designed to assess decision-making under conditions of complexity and uncertainty; it is currently one of the most widely used tests to assess decision-making in both experimental and clinical settings. In the original version of the task, participants are given a loan of play money and four decks of cards and are asked to maximize profits. Although any single card unpredictably yields wins/losses, variations in frequency and size of gains/losses ultimately make two decks more advantageous in the long term. Several studies have previously suggested that there may be a sex-related difference in IGT performance. Thus, the present study aimed to explore and quantify sex differences in IGT performance by pooling the results of 110 studies. The meta-analysis revealed that males tend to perform better than females on the classic 100-trial IGT (UMD = 3.381; p < 0.001). Furthermore, the significant heterogeneity observed suggests high variability in the results obtained by individual studies. Results were not affected by publication bias or other moderators. Factors that may contribute to differences in male and female performance are discussed, such as functional sex-related asymmetries in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and amygdala, as well as differences in sensitivity to wins/losses.

Disability arising from post-stroke cognitive impairment is a likely contributor to the poor quality of life (QoL) stroke survivors and their carers frequently experience, but this has not been summarily quantified. A systematic literature review and meta-analysis was completed examining the association between general and domain-specific post-stroke cognitive functioning and adult stroke survivor QoL, caregiver QoL, and caregiver burden. Five databases were systematically searched, and eligibility for inclusion, data extraction, and study quality were evaluated by two reviewers using a standardised protocol. Effects sizes (r) were estimated using a random effects model. Thirty-eight studies were identified, generating a sample of 7365 stroke survivors (median age 63.02 years, range 25–93) followed for 3 to 132 months post-stroke. Overall cognition (all domains combined) demonstrated a significant small to medium association with QoL, r = 0.23 (95% CI 0.18–0.28), p < 0.001. The cognitive domains of speed, attention, visuospatial, memory, and executive skills, but not language, also demonstrated a significant relationship with QoL. Regarding caregiver outcomes, 15 studies were identified resulting in a sample of 2421 caregivers (median age 58.12 years, range 18–82) followed for 3 to 84 months post-stroke. Stroke survivor overall cognitive ability again demonstrated a significant small to medium association with caregiver outcomes (QoL and burden combined), r = 0.17 (95% CI 0.10–0.24), p < 0.001. In conclusion, lower post-stroke cognitive performance is associated with significant reductions in stroke survivor QoL and poorer caregiver outcomes. Cognitive assessment is recommended early to identify those at risk and implement timely interventions to support both stroke survivors and their caregivers.

Researchers and clinicians have long used meaningful intransitive (i.e., not tool-related; MFI) gestures to assess apraxia-a complex and frequent motor-cognitive disorder. Nevertheless, the neurocognitive bases of these gestures remain incompletely understood. Models of apraxia have assumed that meaningful intransitive gestures depend on either long-term memory (i.e., semantic memory and action lexicons) stored in the left hemisphere, or social cognition and the right hemisphere. This meta-analysis of 42 studies reports the performance of 2659 patients with either left or right hemisphere damage in tests of meaningful intransitive gestures, as compared to other gestures (i.e., MFT or meaningful transitive and MLI or meaningless intransitive) and cognitive tests. The key findings are as follows: (1) deficits of meaningful intransitive gestures are more frequent and severe after left than right hemisphere lesions, but they have been reported in both groups; (2) we found a transitivity effect in patients with lesions of the left hemisphere (i.e., meaningful transitive gestures more difficult than meaningful intransitive gestures) but a "reverse" transitivity effect in patients with lesions of the right hemisphere (i.e., meaningful transitive gestures easier than meaningful intransitive gestures); (3) there is a strong association between meaningful intransitive and transitive (but not meaningless) gestures; (4) isolated deficits of meaningful intransitive gestures are more frequent in cases with right than left hemisphere lesions; (5) these deficits may occur in the absence of language and semantic memory impairments; (6) meaningful intransitive gesture performance seems to vary according to the emotional content of gestures (i.e., body-centered gestures and emotional valence-intensity). These findings are partially consistent with the social cognition hypothesis. Methodological recommendations are given for future studies.

Growing evidence points to a spectrum of non-motor symptoms, including cognitive difficulties that have a greater impact on functional outcomes and quality of life than motor symptoms in cervical dystonia (CD). Some cognitive impairments have been reported; however, findings are inconsistent, and described across mixed groups of dystonia. The current review aimed to examine the evidence for cognitive impairments in CD. MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychINFO and Web of Science databases were searched. Studies were included if they met the following criteria (i) cross-sectional or longitudinal studies of adults with CD, (ii) where the results of standardised measures of cognitive or neuropsychological function in any form were assessed and reported, (iii) results compared to a control group or normative data, and (iv) were published in English. Results are presented in a narrative synthesis. Twenty studies were included. Subtle difficulties with general intellectual functioning, processing speed, verbal memory, visual memory, visuospatial function, executive function, and social cognition were identified while language, and attention and working memory appear to be relatively spared. Several methodological limitations were identified that should be considered when interpreting the evidence to describe a specific profile of cognitive impairment in CD. Clinical and research implications are discussed.

Olfactory training (OT), or smell training,consists of repeated exposure to odorants over time with the intended neuroplastic effect of improving or remediating olfactory functioning. Declines in olfaction parallel declines in cognition in various pathological conditions and aging. Research suggests a dynamic neural connection exists between olfaction and cognition. Thus, if OT can improve olfaction, could OT also improve cognition and support brain function? To answer this question, we conducted a systematic review of the literature to determine whether there is evidence that OT translates to improved cognition or altered brain morphology and connectivity that supports cognition. Across three databases (MEDLINE, Scopus, & Embase), 18 articles were identified in this systematic review. Overall, the reviewed studies provided emerging evidence that OT is associated with improved global cognition, and in particular, verbal fluency and verbal learning/memory. OT is also associated with increases in the volume/size of olfactory-related brain regions, including the olfactory bulb and hippocampus, and altered functional connectivity. Interestingly, these positive effects were not limited to patients with smell loss (i.e., hyposmia & anosmia) but normosmic (i.e., normal ability to smell) participants benefitted as well. Implications for practice and research are provided.