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Arquivos de Neuro-psiquiatria Jan 2022Age-related cognitive decline impacts cognitive abilities essential for driving.
BACKGROUND
Age-related cognitive decline impacts cognitive abilities essential for driving.
OBJECTIVE
We aimed to measure main cognitive functions associated with a high number of traffic violations in different driving settings.
METHODS
Thirty-four elderly individuals, aged between 65 and 90 years, were evaluated with a driving simulator in four different settings (Intersection, Overtaking, Rain, and Malfunction tasks) and underwent a battery of cognitive tests, including memory, attention, visuospatial, and cognitive screening tests. Individuals were divided into two groups: High-risk driving (HR, top 20% of penalty points) and normal-risk driving (NR). Non-parametric group comparison and regression analysis were performed.
RESULTS
The HR group showed higher total driving penalty score compared to the NR group (median=29, range= 9-44 vs. median=61, range= 47-97, p<0.001). The HR group showed higher penalty scores in the Intersection task (p<0.001) and the Overtaking and Rain tasks (p<0.05 both). The verbal learning score was significantly lower in the HR group (median=33, range=12-57) compared with the NR group (median=38, range=23-57, p<0.05), and it was observed that this score had the best predictive value for worse driving performance in the regression model. General cognitive screening tests (Mini-Mental State Examination and Addenbrooke's Cognitive Evaluation) were similar between the groups (p>0.05), with a small effect size (Cohen's d=0.3 both).
CONCLUSION
The verbal learning score may be a better predictor of driving risk than cognitive screening tests. High-risk drivers also showed significantly higher traffic driving penalty scores in the Intersection, Overtaking, and Rain tests.
Topics: Accidents, Traffic; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Attention; Cognition; Humans; Neuropsychological Tests; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 34932652
DOI: 10.1590/0004-282X-ANP-2021-0054 -
Neuropsychologia Jul 2014The role of interhemispheric interactions in the encoding, retention, and retrieval of verbal memory can be clarified by assessing individuals with complete or partial...
The role of interhemispheric interactions in the encoding, retention, and retrieval of verbal memory can be clarified by assessing individuals with complete or partial agenesis of the corpus callosum (AgCC), but who have normal intelligence. This study assessed verbal learning and memory in AgCC using the California Verbal Learning Test-Second Edition (CVLT-II). Twenty-six individuals with AgCC were compared to 24 matched controls on CVLT-II measures, as well as Donders׳ four CVLT-II factors (i.e., Attention Span, Learning Efficiency, Delayed Memory, and Inaccurate Memory). Individuals with AgCC performed significantly below healthy controls on the Delayed Memory factor, confirmed by significant deficits in short and long delayed free recall and cued recall. They also performed less well in original learning. Deficient performance by individuals with AgCC during learning trials, as well as deficits in all forms of delayed memory, suggest that the corpus callosum facilitates interhemispheric elaboration and encoding of verbal information.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Agenesis of Corpus Callosum; Attention; Female; Humans; Male; Memory Disorders; Mental Recall; Middle Aged; Neuropsychological Tests; Verbal Learning; Young Adult
PubMed: 24933663
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.06.003 -
Acta Psychologica Jun 2022Bipolar II depression (BD-II) is a subtype of bipolar disorder with recurrent depressive, manic, and frequent depressive episodes as the main clinical manifestations....
OBJECTIVES
Bipolar II depression (BD-II) is a subtype of bipolar disorder with recurrent depressive, manic, and frequent depressive episodes as the main clinical manifestations. This study aimed to compare the cognitive function of patients with BD-II with those of healthy siblings and controls to explore the internal phenotype of BD-II in the field of cognitive function.
METHODS
66 BD-II patients, 58 healthy siblings, and 55 healthy controls were assessed with the Trail Making Test (TMT), Digit Symbol Coding Test (DSCT), Category Fluency, Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised (HVLTR), Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised (BVMT-R), Wechsler Memory Scale 3rd ed. Spatial Span Subtest (WMS-III SS), Neuropsychological Assessment Battery Mazes (NABM), Continuous Performance Test, and Identical Pairs (CPT-IP).
RESULTS
Patients with BD-II showed cognitive deficits in visual learning, reasoning and problem solving, verbal learning, attention/vigilance, working memory, and speed of processing. Healthy siblings showed cognitive deficits in reasoning and problem solving, verbal learning, attention/vigilance, working memory, and speed of processing. Substantial differences were observed among the three groups in reasoning and problem solving.
CONCLUSIONS
Verbal learning, working memory, and attention/vigilance may be potential endophenotypes that can be used to identify BD-II among Han Chinese in the early stage.
Topics: Attention; Bipolar Disorder; China; Depression; Ethnicity; Humans; Memory, Short-Term; Neuropsychological Tests; Phenotype; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 35313178
DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103563 -
Journal of Speech, Language, and... Mar 2022The purpose of this study was to use an established model of working memory in children to predict an established model of word learning to determine whether working...
PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to use an established model of working memory in children to predict an established model of word learning to determine whether working memory explained word learning variance over and above the contributions of expressive vocabulary and nonverbal IQ.
METHOD
One hundred sixty-seven English-speaking second graders (7- to 8-year-olds) with typical development from two states participated. They completed a comprehensive battery of working memory assessments and six word learning tasks that assessed the creation, storage, retrieval, and production of phonological and semantic representations of novel nouns and verbs and the ability to link those representations.
RESULTS
A structural equation model with expressive vocabulary, nonverbal IQ, and three working memory factors predicting two word learning factors fit the data well. When working memory factors were entered as predictors after expressive vocabulary and nonverbal IQ, they explained 45% of the variance in the phonological word learning factor and 17% of the variance in the semantic word learning factor. Thus, working memory explained a significant amount of word learning variance over and above expressive vocabulary and nonverbal IQ.
CONCLUSION
Results show that working memory is a significant predictor of dynamic word learning over and above the contributions of expressive vocabulary and nonverbal IQ, suggesting that a comprehensive working memory assessment has the potential to identify sources of word learning difficulties and to tailor word learning interventions to a child's working memory strengths and weaknesses.
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.19125911.
Topics: Child; Humans; Memory, Short-Term; Phonetics; Semantics; Verbal Learning; Vocabulary
PubMed: 35148490
DOI: 10.1044/2021_JSLHR-21-00397 -
Revista de Neurologia Jan 2021The Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-revised (HVLT-R) was originally created with the objective of providing a short verbal memory and learning test with six alternative...
INTRODUCTION
The Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-revised (HVLT-R) was originally created with the objective of providing a short verbal memory and learning test with six alternative forms that allow the re-administration.
AIM
To obtain normative and standardized data for the HVLT-R taking into account the sociodemographic characteristics of the current Spanish population.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS
The study is part of the Normacog Project. Seven hundred participants (18 to 90 years old) were assessed. The effect of age, level of education and gender on the performance of HVLT-R were analyzed, and percentiles and scalar scores adjusted by age and level of education were created.
RESULTS
A significant effect of age and educational level on the analyzed variables of the test was observed, explaining from 15% to 29% of the variance (trial 1, total recall, trial 4, discrimination index). As expected, the older and less educated obtained lower performance in all the analyzed variables of the HVLT-R. However, sex only had a significant effect on the variables trial 1, total recall and discrimination index.
CONCLUSION
This study provides standardized and normalized data for the HVLT-R for the Spanish population, offering current norms to clinicians and researchers. The results confirm the influence of age and level of education on all the indicators of the test, so normative data are provided to correct the HVLT-R taking into account these characteristics.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Female; Humans; Language; Male; Memory, Short-Term; Middle Aged; Neuropsychological Tests; Spain; Verbal Learning; Young Adult
PubMed: 33438193
DOI: 10.33588/rn.7202.2020412 -
BMC Psychiatry Mar 2021Methamphetamine (MA) use has been shown to be associated with deficits in impulsivity, verbal learning, and working memory. Additionally, methamphetamine use disorder...
BACKGROUND
Methamphetamine (MA) use has been shown to be associated with deficits in impulsivity, verbal learning, and working memory. Additionally, methamphetamine use disorder (MUD) is related to various brain changes, especially in adolescent users who might be more vulnerable to detrimental effects on brain development. However, little is known about the relationship between adolescent MA use and cognitive impairment. This cross-sectional study aims to explore how the presence of a MUD in adolescents is related to impairments of verbal memory, inhibition, and alertness.
METHODS
N = 18 psychiatric outpatients with MUD were matched in terms of depressivity, age, and gender to n = 18 adolescents with other substance use disorders (SUDs), as well as n = 18 controls without SUDs. We compared these three groups on the Verbal Learning and Memory Task (VLMT), and the alertness and go/noGo subtests of the Test of Attentional Performance (TAP). Additionally, Spearman's rank order correlation coefficients were calculated to investigate whether cognitive functioning was directly associated with frequency of past year MA use.
RESULTS
The three groups differed significantly in their verbal learning performance (H (2) = 11.7, p = .003, η = .19), but not in short-term memory, inhibition, cued recall, or alertness. Post hoc tests revealed significant differences in verbal learning between the MA using group and the control group without a SUD (U = 56.5, p = .001, η = .31). Frequency of past year MA use correlated negatively with short-term memory (ρ = -.25, p < .01) and verbal learning (ρ = -.41, p < .01). No other cognitive variables correlated significantly with MA use frequency. Significant p-values were considered significant after Bonferroni correction.
CONCLUSIONS
Adolescent MUD outpatients with regular MA use show specific impairment in verbal learning performance, but not in other basal cognitive functions when compared to adolescents without a MUD. Verbal learning and short-term memory performance is negatively associated with the frequency of MA use. Future research should apply longitudinal designs to investigate long-term effects of methamphetamine and reversibility of these effects on cognitive functioning.
Topics: Adolescent; Cross-Sectional Studies; Humans; Learning; Methamphetamine; Neuropsychological Tests; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 33765981
DOI: 10.1186/s12888-021-03169-3 -
Journal of Communication Disorders 2019Associations between visual and verbal input allow children to form, augment, and refine their semantic representations within their mental lexicons. However, children...
PURPOSE
Associations between visual and verbal input allow children to form, augment, and refine their semantic representations within their mental lexicons. However, children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and with developmental language disorder (DLD; also known as specific language impairment) process visual and verbal information differently than their typically developing peers, which may impact how they incorporate visual and verbal features into their semantic representations. The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate how children with ASD and DLD use visually and verbally presented input to produce semantic representations of newly learned words.
METHOD
Semantic features produced by 36 school-aged children (12 with ASD, 12 with DLD, and 12 with typical language development) were extracted from previously collected novel word definitions and coded based on their initial presentation modality (either visual, verbal, or both in combination) during an extended novel word learning paradigm. These features were then analyzed to explore group differences in the use of visual and verbal input.
RESULTS
The children with ASD and DLD produced significantly more visually-presented semantic features than their typical peers in their novel word definitions. There were no differences between groups in the proportion of semantic features presented verbally or via both modalities in combination. Also, the children increased their production of semantic features presented via both modalities combined across the sessions; this same increase in production was not observed for the semantic features taught in either the visual or verbal modality alone.
CONCLUSION
Children with ASD and DLD benefit from visually presented semantic information, either in isolation or combined with verbal input, during tasks of word learning. Also, the reinforcement of combined visual-verbal input appears to enhance semantic learning over time.
Topics: Autism Spectrum Disorder; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; Humans; Language Development; Language Development Disorders; Language Tests; Male; Semantics; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 31351344
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2019.105921 -
Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental... Sep 2016Binge drinking has been linked to neurocognitive disadvantages in youth, but it is unclear whether drinking at particularly heavy levels uniquely affects neurocognitive...
BACKGROUND
Binge drinking has been linked to neurocognitive disadvantages in youth, but it is unclear whether drinking at particularly heavy levels uniquely affects neurocognitive performance. This study prospectively examined (1) whether initiating moderate, binge, or extreme-binge drinking in adolescence differentially influences subsequent learning and memory performances, and (2) whether dosage of alcohol consumption is linearly associated with changes in learning and memory over 6 years of adolescence.
METHODS
Participants, who later transitioned into drinking, were administered verbal learning and memory (VLM) assessments at project intake prior to the onset of substance use (age 12 to 16 years), and at follow-up approximately 6 years later (N = 112). Participants were grouped based on alcohol involvement at follow-up as follows: moderate (≤4 drinks per occasion), binge (5+ drinks per occasion), or extreme-binge (10+ drinks per occasion) drinkers.
RESULTS
Despite equivalent performances prior to onset of drinking, extreme-binge drinkers performed worse than moderate drinkers on verbal learning, and cued and free short delayed recall (ps < 0.05); binge drinkers did not differ from the other groups. No distinct thresholds in alcohol quantity to differentiate the 3 groups were detected, but estimated peak blood alcohol concentrations were linearly associated with verbal learning (β^ = -0.24), and immediate (β^ = -0.27), short delay free (β^ = -0.28) and cued (β^ = -0.30), and long delay free (β^ = -0.24) and cued (β^ = -0.27) recall (ps < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS
Drinking quantity during adolescence appears to adversely affect VLM in a dose-dependent manner. The acquisition of new verbal information may be particularly affected, notably for those who initiated drinking 10+ drinks in an occasion. Although classification of drinkers into categories remains critical in the study of alcohol, it is important to consider that subtle differences may exist within drinking categories.
Topics: Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior; Alcohol Drinking; Binge Drinking; Child; Ethanol; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Male; Memory; Prospective Studies; Self Report; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 27462830
DOI: 10.1111/acer.13160 -
AJNR. American Journal of Neuroradiology Oct 2022fMRI is a noninvasive tool for predicting postsurgical deficits in candidates with pharmacoresistant temporal lobe epilepsy. We aimed to test an adapted paradigm of the...
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
fMRI is a noninvasive tool for predicting postsurgical deficits in candidates with pharmacoresistant temporal lobe epilepsy. We aimed to test an adapted paradigm of the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test to evaluate differences in memory laterality indexes between patients and healthy controls and its association with neuropsychological scores.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We performed a prospective study of 50 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and 22 healthy controls. Participants underwent a block design language and memory fMRI. Laterality indexes and the hippocampal anterior-posterior index were calculated. Language and memory lateralization was organized into typical and atypical on the basis of laterality indexes. A neuropsychological assessment was performed with a median time from fMRI of 8 months and was compared with fMRI performance.
RESULTS
We studied 40 patients with left temporal lobe epilepsy and 10 with right temporal lobe epilepsy. Typical language occurred in 65.3% of patients and 90.9% of healthy controls ( = .04). The memory fMRI laterality index was obtained in all healthy controls and 92% of patients. The verbal memory laterality index was bilateral (24.3%) more frequently than the language laterality index (7.69%) in patients with left temporal lobe epilepsy. Atypical verbal memory was greater in patients with left temporal lobe epilepsy (56.8%) than in healthy controls (36.4%), and the proportion of bilateral laterality indexes (53.3%) was larger than right laterality indexes (46.7%). Atypical verbal memory might be associated with higher cognitive scores in patients. No relevant differences were seen in the hippocampal anterior-posterior index according to memory impairment.
CONCLUSIONS
The adapted Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test paradigm fMRI might support verbal memory lateralization. Temporal lobe epilepsy laterality influences hippocampal memory laterality indexes. Left temporal lobe epilepsy has shown a higher proportion of atypical verbal memory compared with language, potentially to memory functional reorganization.
Topics: Humans; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Prospective Studies; Epilepsy; Functional Laterality; Verbal Learning; Neuropsychological Tests
PubMed: 36137657
DOI: 10.3174/ajnr.A7622 -
PLoS Biology Sep 2021Memory performance is crucial across the human life, from early education to age-related decline. A new study in PLOS Biology found that verbal learning can be enhanced...
Memory performance is crucial across the human life, from early education to age-related decline. A new study in PLOS Biology found that verbal learning can be enhanced by applying repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the left prefrontal cortex.
Topics: Cognition; Humans; Prefrontal Cortex; Stereotaxic Techniques; Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 34587149
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001404