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Journal of the International... Oct 2023To compare longitudinal verbal fluency performance among Latinx Spanish speakers who develop Alzheimer's disease to those who do not develop dementia in absolute number...
OBJECTIVE
To compare longitudinal verbal fluency performance among Latinx Spanish speakers who develop Alzheimer's disease to those who do not develop dementia in absolute number of words produced on each task and their ratio to combine both scores.
METHOD
Participants included 833 Latinx Spanish-speaking older adults from a community-based prospective cohort in Manhattan. We performed growth curve modeling to investigate the trajectories of letter and semantic fluency, and their ratio (i.e., 'semantic index'), between individuals who developed Alzheimer's disease and those who did not (i.e., controls). The semantic index quantifies the proportion of words generated for semantic fluency in relation to the total verbal fluency performance.
RESULTS
Letter fluency performance did not decline in controls; we observed a linear decline in those who developed Alzheimer's disease. Semantic fluency declined in both groups and showed an increased rate of change over time in the incident Alzheimer's disease group; in comparison, the control group had a linear and slower decline. There were no group differences in the longitudinal trajectory (intercept and slope) of the semantic index.
CONCLUSION
A decline in letter fluency and a more rapid and accelerating decline over time in semantic fluency distinguished people who developed Alzheimer's disease from controls. Using the semantic index was not a superior marker of incident Alzheimer's disease compared to examining the two fluency scores individually. Results suggest the differential decline in verbal fluency tasks, when evaluated appropriately, may be useful for early identification of Alzheimer's disease in Latinx Spanish speakers, a historically understudied population.
Topics: Aged; Humans; Alzheimer Disease; Hispanic or Latino; Neuropsychological Tests; Prospective Studies; Semantics; Verbal Behavior; Speech Disorders
PubMed: 36637058
DOI: 10.1017/S1355617722000856 -
Computer Methods and Programs in... Oct 2023Due to the depth of focus (DOF) limitations of the optical systems of microscopes, it is often difficult to achieve full clarity from microscopic biomedical images under...
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
Due to the depth of focus (DOF) limitations of the optical systems of microscopes, it is often difficult to achieve full clarity from microscopic biomedical images under high-magnification microscopy. Multifocus microscopic biomedical image fusion (MFBIF) can effectively solve this problem. Considering both information richness and visual authenticity, this paper proposes a transformer network for MFBIF called TransFusion-Net.
METHODS
TransFusion-Net consists of two modules. One module is an interlayer cross-attention module, which is used to obtain feature mappings under the long-range dependencies observed among multiple nonfocus source images. The other module is a spatial attention upsampling network (SAU-Net) module, which is used to obtain global semantic information after further spatial attention is applied. Thus, TransFusion-Net can simultaneously receive multiple input images from a nonfull-focus microscope and make full use of the strong correlations between the source images to output accurate fusion results in an end-to-end manner.
RESULTS
The fusion results were quantitatively and qualitatively compared with those of eight state-of-the-art algorithms. In the quantitative experiments, five evaluation metrics, Q, Q, Q, Q, and PSNR, were used to evaluate the performance of each method, and the proposed method achieved values of 0.6574, 8.4572, 5.6305, 0.7341, and 89.5685, respectively, which are higher than those of the current state-of-the-art algorithms. In the qualitative experiments, a differential image was used for further validation, and the near-zero residuals visually verified the adequacy of the proposed method for fusion. Furthermore, we showed some fusion results of multifocused biomedical microscopy images to verify the reliability of the proposed method, which shows high-quality fusion results.
CONCLUSION
Multifocus biomedical microscopic image fusion can be accurately and effectively achieved by devising a deep convolutional neural network with joint cross-attention and spatial attention mechanisms.
Topics: Reproducibility of Results; Algorithms; Benchmarking; Electric Power Supplies; Microscopy; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
PubMed: 37487310
DOI: 10.1016/j.cmpb.2023.107688 -
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology Aug 2023Age-related differences in working memory (WM) components were investigated by manipulating the time interval and interference effects between phonological and semantic...
Age-related differences in working memory (WM) components were investigated by manipulating the time interval and interference effects between phonological and semantic judgment tasks to identify tasks to best discriminate between younger and older groups. The 96 participants (young = 48; old = 48) prospectively performed two task types of WM, with phonological and semantic judgment tasks, which were administered while varying the three interval conditions: 1-s unfilled (UF), 5-s UF, and 5-s filled (F). The main effect for age was significant in the semantic judgment task but not in the phonological judgment task. The main effect for the interval conditions were significant in both tasks. A 5-s UF condition applied to a semantic judgment task could significantly differentiate the older group from the younger group. Differential effects of time interval manipulation in semantic and phonological processing are involved in WM resources. The older group could be differentiated by varying the task types and interval conditions, indicating that the semantic-related WM burdens may contribute to a superior differential diagnosis of aging-related WM decline.
Topics: Humans; Memory, Short-Term; Judgment; Semantics; Aging
PubMed: 36811168
DOI: 10.1111/sjop.12908 -
Assessment Dec 2023The ScreeLing is a screening instrument developed to assess post-stroke aphasia, via the linguistic levels Syntax, Phonology, and Semantics. It could also be a useful...
The ScreeLing is a screening instrument developed to assess post-stroke aphasia, via the linguistic levels Syntax, Phonology, and Semantics. It could also be a useful test for the clinical subtypes of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and Alzheimer's dementia (AD), as specific and often selective disorders are expected. Its ability to differentiate between the clinical subtypes of FTD and AD is, however, still unknown. We investigated differences in ScreeLing total and subscores, linguistic-level disorders' relationship with disease severity, and classification abilities, in patients with behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD; = 46), patients with primary progressive aphasia (PPA; = 105) (semantic variant primary progressive aphasia [svPPA], non-fluent variant primary progressive aphasia [nfvPPA], and logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia [lvPPA], AD [ = 20] and controls [ = 35]). We examined group differences in ScreeLing total and subscores, and one-, two- or three-level linguistic disorders using one-way analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs) or Quade's rank ANCOVA. We used frequency analyses to obtain the occurrence of the linguistic-level disorders. We determined sensitivity and specificity by the area under the curve by receiver-operating characteristics analyses to investigate classification abilities. The total score was lower in patients (bvFTD: 63.8 ± 8.5, svPPA: 58.8 ± 11.3, nfvPPA: 63.5 ± 8.4, lvPPA: 61.7 ± 6.6, AD: 63.8 ± 5.5) than controls (71.3 ± 1.0) ( < .001). Syntax subscores were lower in svPPA (19.4 ± 4.6; < .001) and lvPPA (20.3 ± 3.2; = .002) than controls (23.8 ± 0.4). Phonology subscores were lower in lvPPA (19.8 ± 2.6) than bvFTD (21.7 ± 2.8) ( = .010). Semantics subscores were lowest in svPPA (17.8 ± 5.0; < .002). A selective phonological disorder was most prevalent in lvPPA (34.9%). The higher the disease severity, the more linguistic-level disorders. The optimal cutoff for the total score was 70, and 23 for all three subscores. Good classification abilities were found for the Semantics (svPPA vs. bvFTD), Phonology (lvPPA vs. svPPA), and Syntax (nfvPPA vs. lvPPA) subscores. This easy to administer test gives information about language processing with the potential to improve differential diagnosis in memory clinics and in the future potentially also clinical trial planning.
Topics: Humans; Alzheimer Disease; Semantics; Frontotemporal Dementia; Linguistics; Aphasia, Primary Progressive
PubMed: 36799220
DOI: 10.1177/10731911231154512 -
Brain Impairment : a Multidisciplinary... Dec 2023To examine associations between post-stroke participation and personal factors, including demographic characteristics, self- and threat appraisals, and personality...
PURPOSE
To examine associations between post-stroke participation and personal factors, including demographic characteristics, self- and threat appraisals, and personality variables.
METHODS
An exploratory cross-sectional study with purpose-designed survey was completed online or via mail. The survey was comprised of demographic and health-related questions and multiple questionnaires, including the Stroke Impact Scale Version 3.0 (SISv3) (participation/perceived recovery), Community Integration Questionnaire (CIQ) (participation), Head Injury Semantic Differential III (pre- vs post-stroke self-concept/self-discrepancy), Appraisal of Threat and Avoidance Questionnaire (threat appraisal), Life Orientation Test - Revised (optimism) and Relationships Questionnaire (adult attachment style) that measured variables of interest. Sixty-two participants, aged 24-96 years who had experienced a stroke (one or multiple events) and had returned to community living, completed the survey. Associations were examined using correlations, and univariate and multiple linear regression analyses.
RESULTS
Regression analysis showed that greater participation, measured using the CIQ, was associated with younger age, female gender, lower self-discrepancy and higher perceived recovery, explaining 69% of the variability in CIQ participation. Further, greater participation on the SISv3 was associated with lower self-discrepancy and higher perceived recovery, explaining 64% of the variability in SISv3 participation.
CONCLUSIONS
Results indicate that personal factors, particularly self-appraisals like self-concept/self-discrepancy, in combination with perceived recovery may be important in explaining a large portion of variance in post-stroke participation. Specifically, findings highlight the interrelatedness of self-concept change, perceived recovery and post-stroke participation. Further longitudinal research is needed to clarify the directionality of these associations throughout the hospital-to-home transition.
Topics: Adult; Humans; Female; Independent Living; Cross-Sectional Studies; Stroke; Self Concept; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 38167356
DOI: 10.1017/BrImp.2022.31 -
NeuroImage Aug 2023Human neuroimaging studies have shown that the contents of episodic memories are represented in distributed patterns of neural activity. However, these studies have...
Human neuroimaging studies have shown that the contents of episodic memories are represented in distributed patterns of neural activity. However, these studies have mostly been limited to decoding simple, unidimensional properties of stimuli. Semantic encoding models, in contrast, offer a means for characterizing the rich, multidimensional information that comprises episodic memories. Here, we extensively sampled four human fMRI subjects to build semantic encoding models and then applied these models to reconstruct content from natural scene images as they were viewed and recalled from memory. First, we found that multidimensional semantic information was successfully reconstructed from activity patterns across visual and lateral parietal cortices, both when viewing scenes and when recalling them from memory. Second, whereas visual cortical reconstructions were much more accurate when images were viewed versus recalled from memory, lateral parietal reconstructions were comparably accurate across visual perception and memory. Third, by applying natural language processing methods to verbal recall data, we showed that fMRI-based reconstructions reliably matched subjects' verbal descriptions of their memories. In fact, reconstructions from ventral temporal cortex more closely matched subjects' own verbal recall than other subjects' verbal recall of the same images. Fourth, encoding models reliably transferred across subjects: memories were successfully reconstructed using encoding models trained on data from entirely independent subjects. Together, these findings provide evidence for successful reconstructions of multidimensional and idiosyncratic memory representations and highlight the differential sensitivity of visual cortical and lateral parietal regions to information derived from the external visual environment versus internally-generated memories.
Topics: Humans; Memory, Episodic; Brain Mapping; Mental Recall; Visual Perception; Parietal Lobe; Magnetic Resonance Imaging
PubMed: 37327954
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120222 -
Human Brain Mapping Feb 2024Wine tasting is a very complex process that integrates a combination of sensation, language, and memory. Taste and smell provide perceptual information that, together...
Wine tasting is a very complex process that integrates a combination of sensation, language, and memory. Taste and smell provide perceptual information that, together with the semantic narrative that converts flavor into words, seem to be processed differently between sommeliers and naïve wine consumers. We investigate whether sommeliers' wine experience shapes only chemosensory processing, as has been previously demonstrated, or if it also modulates the way in which the taste and olfactory circuits interact with the semantic network. Combining diffusion-weighted images and fMRI (activation and connectivity) we investigated whether brain response to tasting wine differs between sommeliers and nonexperts (1) in the sensory neural circuits representing flavor and/or (2) in the neural circuits for language and memory. We demonstrate that training in wine tasting shapes the microstructure of the left and right superior longitudinal fasciculus. Using mediation analysis, we showed that the experience modulates the relationship between fractional anisotropy and behavior: the higher the fractional anisotropy the higher the capacity to recognize wine complexity. In addition, we found functional differences between sommeliers and naïve consumers affecting the flavor sensory circuit, but also regions involved in semantic operations. The former reflects a capacity for differential sensory processing, while the latter reflects sommeliers' ability to attend to relevant sensory inputs and translate them into complex verbal descriptions. The enhanced synchronization between these apparently independent circuits suggests that sommeliers integrated these descriptions with previous semantic knowledge to optimize their capacity to distinguish between subtle differences in the qualitative character of the wine.
Topics: Humans; Semantics; Semantic Web; Smell; Taste Perception; Sensation; Taste
PubMed: 38339911
DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26564 -
British Journal of Psychology (London,... Aug 2023Rapidly evaluating our environment's beneficial and detrimental features is critical for our successful functioning. A classic paradigm used to investigate such fast and...
Rapidly evaluating our environment's beneficial and detrimental features is critical for our successful functioning. A classic paradigm used to investigate such fast and automatic evaluations is the affective priming (AP) paradigm, where participants classify valenced target stimuli (e.g., words) as good or bad while ignoring the valenced primes (e.g., words). We investigate the differential impact that verbs and adjectives used as primes and targets have on the AP paradigm. Based on earlier work on the Linguistic Category Model, we expect AP effect to be modulated by non-evaluative properties of the word stimuli, such as the linguistic category (e.g., if the prime is an adjective and the target is a verb versus the reverse). A reduction in the magnitude of the priming effect was predicted for adjective-verb prime-target pairs compared to verb-adjective prime-target pairs. Moreover, we implemented a modified crowdsourcing of statistical analyses implementing independently three different statistical approaches. Deriving our conclusions on the converging/diverging evidence provided by the different approaches, we show a clear deductive/inductive asymmetry in AP paradigm (exp. 1), that this asymmetry does not require a focus on the evaluative dimension to emerge (exp. 2) and that the semantic-based asymmetry weakly extends to valence (exp. 3).
Topics: Humans; Affect; Semantics; Language; Reaction Time
PubMed: 36718567
DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12634 -
International Journal of Environmental... Jul 2023The effects of a restorative environment on attention restoration and stress reduction have received much attention in societies, especially during the COVID-19...
The effects of a restorative environment on attention restoration and stress reduction have received much attention in societies, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interior materials are a crucial environmental element influencing people's perceived restorativeness at home. Nevertheless, few studies have examined the links between interior materials and the restorativeness of home environments. To address this gap, this study aimed to investigate the restorative potential of interior materials among a sample of adults in China. Cross-sectional data from 85 participants whose professional majors were related to interior design were selected. The measures of the restorative potential of each interior material were obtained by a questionnaire adapted from the semantic differential method. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare the restorative potential of interior materials. We found that glass material had the best restorative potential in home environments. Doubts were raised regarding wood material's restorativeness, and more consideration should be granted for designing a restorative home with wood material. In contrast, metal is not recommended for restorative home design. These findings contribute to the evidence of the restorative effects of home design.
Topics: Adult; Humans; Cross-Sectional Studies; Home Environment; Pandemics; COVID-19; Emotions
PubMed: 37510596
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20146364 -
Epilepsy & Behavior : E&B Jun 2024Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is typically associated with pathology of the hippocampus, a key structure involved in relational memory, including episodic, semantic, and...
OBJECTIVE
Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is typically associated with pathology of the hippocampus, a key structure involved in relational memory, including episodic, semantic, and spatial memory processes. While it is widely accepted that TLE-associated hippocampal alterations underlie memory deficits, it remains unclear whether impairments relate to a specific cognitive domain or multiple ones.
METHODS
We administered a recently validated task paradigm to evaluate episodic, semantic, and spatial memory in 24 pharmacoresistant TLE patients and 50 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. We carried out two-way analyses of variance to identify memory deficits in individuals with TLE relative to controls across different relational memory domains, and used partial least squares correlation to identify factors contributing to variations in relational memory performance across both cohorts.
RESULTS
Compared to controls, TLE patients showed marked impairments in episodic and spatial memory, with mixed findings in semantic memory. Even when additionally controlling for age, sex, and overall cognitive function, between-group differences persisted along episodic and spatial domains. Moreover, age, diagnostic group, and hippocampal volume were all associated with relational memory behavioral phenotypes.
SIGNIFICANCE
Our behavioral findings show graded deficits across relational memory domains in people with TLE, which provides further insights into the complex pattern of cognitive impairment in the condition.
Topics: Humans; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe; Male; Female; Adult; Memory Disorders; Middle Aged; Memory, Episodic; Neuropsychological Tests; Hippocampus; Young Adult; Spatial Memory; Semantics
PubMed: 38643660
DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2024.109722