Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology最新文献

Background and objective: Accurate verticality perception is essential for daily life activities, such as correctly estimating object orientation in space. This study established normative data for the subjective visual vertical (SVV) and subjective haptic vertical (SHV) using the portable and self-constructable modified Bucket test and Rotating-Column test. Additionally, the contribution of age, sex, and starting position of the line/ column on SVV and SHV accuracy were evaluated.

Method: This study, part of the PRECISE project (ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT05978596), was conducted following the STROBE guidelines. Healthy adults without visual/neurological/vestibular disorders were recruited. Subjective visual vertical and SHV accuracy were described in terms of constant errors (i.e., mean deviation from 0° [true vertical] respecting its direction), unsigned errors (i.e., mean deviation from 0° irrespective of direction), and variability (i.e., intra-individual standard deviation).

Results: Sixty participants were evaluated (mean age: 41.14 [SD = 16.74] years). Subjective visual vertical constant errors between -2.82° and 2.90°, unsigned errors up to 2.15°, and variability up to 1.61° are considered normal. Subjective haptic vertical constant errors ranged from -6.94° to 8.18°, unsigned errors up to 6.66° and variability up to 4.25°. Higher ages led to higher SVV unsigned errors and variability. SHV variability was higher in females compared to males. Certain starting positions led to higher SVV and SHV constants and SVV unsigned errors.

Discussion: Normative data are provided for affordable, self-constructable, and portable SVV and SHV tools. These norms are consistent with more sophisticated equipment and can be used to distinguish between normal and abnormal values.

Objective: Cognitive changes are heterogeneous in Parkinson's disease (PD). This study compared whether anticholinergic burden drives differences in cognitive domain performance and empirically-derived PD-cognitive phenotypes.

Method: A retrospective chart review contained participants (n = 493) who had idiopathic PD without dementia. Participants' medications were scored (0-3) and summed based on the anticholinergic cognitive burden scale (ACBS). We examined the ACBS' relationship to five cognitive domain composites (normative z-scores) and three (K-means clustering based) cognitive phenotypes: cognitively intact, low executive function (EF), and predominately impaired EF/memory. Analyses included Spearman correlations, analysis of covariance, and Pearson chi-squared test.

Results: Overall, phenotypes did not differ in anticholinergic burden, and (after false-discovery-rate corrections) no cognitive domains related. When comparing those above and below the clinically relevant ACBS cutoff (i.e., score ≥3), no significant phenotype or domain differences were found.

Conclusions: Anticholinergic medication usage did not drive cognitive performance in a large clinical sample of idiopathic PD without dementia.

Objective: This exploratory study examines the cognitive profiles of South Koreans using the WAIS-IV. It compares scores from the original U.S. version (USW) with those from the Korean version (KW) to identify potential cultural influences on performance.

Method: Raw scores corresponding to a scaled score of 10 for each subtest of the KW were used to compare the performances of South Koreans and Americans across subtests and composite indices. The impact of education was assessed through correlations with educational attainment ratios from both countries.

Results: When combined across all age groups, the scores of the South Korean sample were significantly lower than those of U.S. sample on the Similarities, Comprehension, and Picture Completion subtests, and Verbal Comprehension Index. However, younger South Koreans scored significantly higher on Block Design, Matrix Reasoning, Visual Puzzles, Figure Weights, Digit Span, Arithmetic, Letter-Number Sequencing, Symbol Search, and Coding and all composite scores except Verbal Comprehension. Older South Koreans scored significantly lower on Similarities, Vocabulary, Comprehension, Matrix Reasoning, Visual Puzzles, Picture Completion, and the composite scores of Verbal Comprehension and Perceptual Reasoning, compared to their U.S. counterparts. All subtest and composite scores were highly correlated with education.

Conclusions: The South Korean and U.S. samples demonstrated distinct cognitive profiles on the WAIS-IV when comparing relative performances on subtests and composite measures. Cultural factors including socioeconomic changes, education quality, nuances in language characteristics, and implicit differences in cognitive processing were discussed as possible contributors to the unique cognitive profile of the South Korean sample.

Objective: This study examined the relationship between culture and cognitive abilities by comparing WAIS-IV subtests, index scores, and Full-Scale Intelligence Quotient (FSIQ) scores across various age groups in the Taiwanese and U.S. populations.

Method: The Taiwanese and U.S. versions of WAIS-IV are comprehensively compared, examining subtest items, psychometrics, and sample characteristics. Scaled scores are compared by extracting raw scores with a scaled score of 10 from each subtest scale in the Taiwanese version and applying U.S. age norms to acquire U.S. scaled scores.

Results: Despite the mean FSIQ score closely aligning with the U.S. sample, notable discrepancies are evident in the Taiwanese Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI) score, potentially influenced by cultural fairness of the tests. Significant variations are observed among age cohorts in the Taiwanese sample, with younger individuals excelling in Processing Speed Index, Working Memory Index, Perceptual Reasoning Index, and FSIQ, while maintaining comparable VCI scores to their U.S. counterparts. Conversely, older cohorts demonstrate lower performance across various domains, except for visuospatial reasoning and organizational skills, compared to their U.S. counterparts. These subtest variations robustly correlate with educational disparities between the Taiwanese and U.S. samples.

Conclusions: Despite the similarity in factor structures between the Taiwanese and U.S. versions of WAIS-IV, this study reveals cultural bias in both verbal and non-verbal subtests. The study highlights the intricate interplay among cognitive processing styles, cultural influences, and educational factors contributing to performance disparities.

Introduction: This special series of exploratory studies compared WAIS-IV performances in five Asian countries: Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, India, and Indonesia with the U.S. The studies examined cognitive profiles across age groups to develop hypotheses on how culture can impact cognition. This summary article integrates the findings from each study to determine similarities and differences across Asian countries and proposes possible underlying cultural factors impacting cognition.

Methods: In each study, raw scores corresponding to a subscale score of 10 were scored with U.S. norms across all age groups. Index scores were calculated with the adjusted scale scores. The impact of education on test performances was determined by correlating WAIS-IV scores with a ratio of educational attainment for each country with the U.S. for each age group. Findings from each country were then integrated to develop hypotheses on cultural factors that impacted cognitive profiles.

Results: East Asian countries (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan) demonstrated weaker Verbal Comprehension Index scores and stronger Processing Speed Index scores than the U.S. sample, although the latter was moderated by age. East Asian countries demonstrated stronger performances on Perceptual Reasoning versus Verbal Comprehension tests. East Asians and the Java subset of the Indonesian sample demonstrated a pattern of stronger performances in younger versus older cohorts which was significantly correlated with educational attainment.

Discussion: Cultural factors impacting cognition were proposed. Clinical implications of the findings were discussed and directions for future studies to examine the relationship between culture and cognition were recommended.

Objective: This study critically examined the adaptation and normative processes of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV)India.

Method: WAIS-IV U.K. Edition Administration and Scoring Manual, WAIS-IVIndia Administration and Scoring Manual, and WAIS-IV Administration and Scoring Manual and Technical and Interpretive Manuals were used to extract test development and adaptation process data. The analyses were descriptive and qualitative.

Results: A review of the manuals showed that the normative sample were fluent English speakers with high education levels, which is not representative of India's multilingual and educational diversity. The study identified minimal cultural and linguistic adaptations in subtests, which raised concern about potential biases in the test adaptation process across cultures. The lack of clarity in item selection, demographic data, sample selection, and psychometric properties raised questions about the test's reliability and validity. Issues related to education, age, gender, and regional distribution are discussed, emphasizing the test's limitations in capturing the diverse characteristics of the heterogeneous Indian population.

Conclusions: WAIS-IV India may not adequately represent India's population. More careful consideration of socioecological and psychometric factors when adapting intelligence (IQ) tests and use of advanced data harmonization methods can provide robust cross-national statistical harmonization in the future along with more ecologically valid local test development efforts. This can allow consideration of social determinants of health and other factors that can inform a more nuanced approach to IQ test development in non-western contexts.

Objective: The present exploratory study aimed to examine the potential impact of culture on cognitive skills and intelligence by comparing the Japanese Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV (WAIS-IV) (JW) subtests, IQs, and index scores to those of the U.S. WAIS-IV (USW).

Method: JW raw scores corresponding to a scaled score of 10 for each subtest were scored with USW norms. Subtest, index, and IQ scores were then calculated for each age range. The impact of education on scores was evaluated through ratio of educational attainment for each cohort of the Japanese and US samples. Japanese and US data were compared using one-sample t-tests. Correlations between subtest, index, and IQ scores and education were calculated.

Results: The USW sample performed higher than the JW sample on verbal comprehension subtests, while the JW sample demonstrated stronger performances in processing speed and perceptual reasoning subtests. However, all scores with the exception of Block Design, Matrix Reasoning, and Figure Weights were significantly associated with differential educational attainment between the two countries. Educational differences were linearly associated with age with the higher educational attainment for younger Japanese age groups and higher attainment for the older US cohorts.

Conclusions: The present study demonstrates cognitive differences between Japan and the USA. Performance on the WAIS-IV subtest and composite measures are highly correlated with education. Cultural factors impacting the cognitive profile of the Japanese sample such as differences in worldview, customs, educational systems, and writing system, were proposed. Clinical neuropsychologists should take these aspects into account when administering and interpreting test results.

Objective: Within a sample of young athletes with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), to explore the frequency of disclosed and nondisclosed concussions, identify reasons the youth did not report a suspected concussion, and learn the frequency that the youth still practiced or played in a game after a suspected concussion.

Method: Cross-sectional surveys were completed by 448 youth athletes (ages 8-14 years) and a corresponding parent (or caregiver). As part of larger respective surveys, questions regarding ADHD status and concussion history were asked of the youth and parents. Data regarding 40 youth with ADHD were available for analyses. Due to the low frequency of concussive injuries within the total sample, descriptive statistics and qualitative techniques were used to contextualize the data.

Results: The youth with ADHD were not more likely to experience at least one diagnosed concussion or nondisclosed concussion as compared to non-ADHD controls. Three of 40 youth athletes with ADHD (8%) had been diagnosed with a concussion, whereas 5 (13%) self-reported a nondisclosed concussion. Not wanting to lose playing time and not wanting to miss a game were the two most endorsed reasons for concussion nondisclosure.

Conclusions: More research is needed to understand the present results considering other research that puts similarly aged athletes with ADHD at greater risk for concussion. Education for youth with ADHD might help reduce the number of nondisclosed concussions that have a more complex recovery trajectory in this population.

How is it that practicing forensic neuropsychologists occasionally see substandard work from other colleagues, or more fundamentally, have such disparate opinions on the same case? One answer might be that in every profession, competence varies. Another possibility has little to do with competence, but professional conduct. In this paper we discuss the process by which retainer bias may occur. Retainer bias is a form of confirmatory bias, i.e., in assessment, the tendency to seek, favor, and interpret data and make judgments and decisions that support a predetermined expectation or hypothesis, ignoring or dismissing data that challenge that hypothesis ( Nickerson, 1998). The tendency to interpret data in support of the retaining attorney's position of advocacy may be intentional - that is, within conscious awareness and explicit, or it may be unintentional, outside of one's awareness, representing implicit bias. While some practitioners accept referrals from both sides in litigation, numerous uncontrollable factors converge in such a manner that one's practice may nevertheless become associated with one side. Such imbalance is not a reliable index of bias. With brief hypothetical scenarios, in this paper we discuss contextual factors that increase risk for retainer bias and problematic practice approaches that may be used to support one side in litigation, violating ethical principles, codes of conduct and guidelines for engaging in forensic work. We also discuss debiasing techniques recommended within the empirical literature and call on the subspecialty field of forensic neuropsychology to conduct research into retainer bias and other sources of opinion variability.