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Frontiers in Psychology 2023Binge drinking (BD) is a common health-risk behavior among young people. Due to the incomplete maturation of the adolescent brain, BD can lead to structural and...
INTRODUCTION
Binge drinking (BD) is a common health-risk behavior among young people. Due to the incomplete maturation of the adolescent brain, BD can lead to structural and functional changes that impact neurocognitive processes, particularly executive functioning and verbal memory. This study aimed to investigate the influence of executive components, such as mnemonic strategies and error avoidance, on performance in a verbal memory test and the potential effects of BD on this performance.
METHODS
A sample of 160 college students (51.55% female) with a mean age of 18.12 ± 0.32 years completed assessments for alcohol use disorders using the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT), as well as psychopathological (Symptom Checklist-90-R) and neuropsychological evaluations (Verbal Learning Test Spain-Complutense and WMS-III Logical Memory). The Intensive Drinking Evaluation Instrument (IECI) was utilized to gather detailed information about binge drinking habits, including the calculation of the highest blood alcohol concentration (BAC) during an episode of intake.
RESULTS
Correlation and clustering analyses revealed a negative association between BAC values and verbal memory performance, as well as the use of memory strategies. The high BAC group (BD) exhibited negative values in verbal memory variables, higher accuracy errors, and less efficient strategy usage, while the low BAC group (No BD) demonstrated better memory test performance, fewer precision errors, and superior use of memory strategies.
DISCUSSION
These findings support the hypothesis that, when solving tests requiring verbal memory, adolescents reporting a BD consumption pattern show fewer executive skills in their resolution and, therefore, achieved poorer performance than non-binge drinkers. Addressing excessive alcohol consumption in young individuals is crucial for safeguarding their cognitive development and overall well-being.
PubMed: 37936573
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1239716 -
Bipolar Disorders Mar 2024Cognitive impairments are common in bipolar disorder (BD), but the long-term course remains understudied. Longitudinal data on cognitive functioning from the start of...
INTRODUCTION
Cognitive impairments are common in bipolar disorder (BD), but the long-term course remains understudied. Longitudinal data on cognitive functioning from the start of the first treatment could help clarify pathophysiological processes that shape the illness outcome. We here aim to investigate the 10-year cognitive course in BD compared to healthy controls (HC) and the effects of clinical symptoms on cognitive trajectories.
METHODS
Fifty-six BD participants recruited within their first year of treatment and 108 HC completed clinical and cognitive assessments at baseline and 10-year follow-up. We derived eight cognitive domain scores and a cognitive composite score, which were further investigated using linear mixed model analyses. Correlation analyses were used to assess associations between the composite score and depressive, manic and psychotic symptoms.
RESULTS
BD participants performed poorer than HCs in all domains except mental speed and verbal fluency. Verbal learning and memory, verbal fluency and the composite score improved over time in both BD participants and HC, while short-term memory, mental speed, psychomotor speed and working memory were stable. We found no significant correlations between cognition and symptom level at either time point in BD participants.
CONCLUSIONS
We found evidence of long-term cognitive stability or improvement in BD participants from first treatment to 10-year follow-up. Though the BD group was impaired in all domains except mental speed and verbal fluency, the change in cognitive functioning was parallel to that of HCs. These findings are not consistent with the notion of neuroprogression in BD.
Topics: Humans; Bipolar Disorder; Follow-Up Studies; Neuropsychological Tests; Cognition; Psychotic Disorders
PubMed: 37356974
DOI: 10.1111/bdi.13364 -
Journal of the International... Nov 2023Stroke can cause cognitive impairment, which can lead to challenges returning to day-to-day activities. Knowing what factors are associated with cognitive impairment...
OBJECTIVE
Stroke can cause cognitive impairment, which can lead to challenges returning to day-to-day activities. Knowing what factors are associated with cognitive impairment post-stroke can be useful for predicting outcomes and guiding rehabilitation. One such factor is gender: previous studies are inconclusive as to whether gender influences cognitive outcomes post-stroke. Accounting for key variables, we examined whether there are gender differences in cognitive outcomes after stroke.
METHOD
We analyzed data from neuropsychological assessments of 237 individuals tested in the chronic epoch (≥ 3 months) following ischemic stroke. Using ANCOVA and linear mixed modeling, we examined gender as a predictor of cognition as measured by general cognitive ability (g), Full-Scale IQ, and 18 cognitive tests, controlling for age at stroke onset, education, premorbid intelligence, and lesion volume.
RESULTS
There were no significant gender differences in overall cognitive outcomes as measured by g ( = .887) or Full-Scale IQ ( = .801). There were some significant gender differences on specific cognitive tests, with women outperforming men on scores from the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test ( < .01) and men outperforming women on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Arithmetic and Information subtests ( < .01).
CONCLUSIONS
Our findings indicate that men and women have similar overall cognitive outcomes after stroke, when demographic and lesion factors are accounted for. Although men and women differed in their performance on some individual cognitive tests, neither gender performed systematically better or worse. However, for learning, working memory, and verbal knowledge/comprehension, gender may be an important predictor of outcome post-stroke.
Topics: Male; Adult; Humans; Female; Cognition Disorders; Stroke; Neuropsychological Tests; Intelligence Tests; Cognition
PubMed: 36781414
DOI: 10.1017/S1355617723000036 -
Neuropsychology, Development, and... 2023Alzheimer's disease is primarily known for deficits in learning and retaining new information. This has long been associated with pathological changes in the mesial...
Alzheimer's disease is primarily known for deficits in learning and retaining new information. This has long been associated with pathological changes in the mesial temporal lobes. The role of the frontal lobes in memory in Alzheimer's disease is less well understood. In this study, we examined the role of the frontal lobes in learning, recognition, and retention of new verbal information, as well as the presence of specific errors (i.e., intrusions and false-positive errors). Participants included one hundred sixty-seven patients clinically diagnosed with amnestic mild cognitive impairment or suspected Alzheimer's disease dementia who were administered the California Verbal Learning Test and completed high-resolution MRI. We confirmed the role of the mesial temporal lobes in learning and retention, including the volumes of the hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, and parahippocampal gyrus. In addition, false-positive errors were associated with all volumes of the mesial temporal lobes and widespread areas within the frontal lobes. Errors of intrusion were related to the supplementary motor cortex and hippocampus. Most importantly, the mesial temporal lobes interacted with the frontal lobes for learning, recognition, and memory errors. Lower volumes in both regions explained more performance variance than any single structure. This study supports the interaction of the frontal lobes with the temporal lobes in many aspects of memory in Alzheimer's disease.
Topics: Humans; Alzheimer Disease; Temporal Lobe; Recognition, Psychology; Hippocampus; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Frontal Lobe; Verbal Learning; Neuropsychological Tests
PubMed: 36367308
DOI: 10.1080/13825585.2022.2144618 -
Neurology(R) Neuroimmunology &... Jan 2024Identifying optimal methods for evaluation and monitoring of cognitive outcomes in AE is important for clinical care and research. This scoping review aimed to evaluate... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Identifying optimal methods for evaluation and monitoring of cognitive outcomes in AE is important for clinical care and research. This scoping review aimed to evaluate neuropsychological tests (NPT) that are most frequently impaired in AE cohorts to provide recommendations for a standardized NPT battery for AE outcome.
METHODS
PubMed search for studies examining NPT in patients with AE was conducted on June 9, 2023. Studies were screened for inclusion/exclusion criteria as follows: at least 1 NPT, individual NPT test scores with comparison with healthy controls or normative data and neural-IgG status, total sample size ≥5, and English manuscript available.
RESULTS
The search yielded 5,393 studies, of which 3,359 were screened, 107 were full text reviewed, and 32 met inclusion/exclusion criteria, anti-NMDA-R (k = 18), anti-LGI1 (k = 10), anti-GABA-R (k = 2), anti-GAD-65 (k = 4), and anti-CASPR2 (k = 3). The cognitive domains most frequently impaired were visual and verbal episodic memory, attention/working memory, processing speed, and aspects of executive functions.
DISCUSSION
Given the dearth of literature examining NPT in AE in combination with small sample sizes and methodological differences, more research in this area is needed. However, we provide recommendations for a test battery to be used in future studies, with the aim of standardizing research in this area. Based on the available literature, we recommend the use of comprehensive NPT batteries, spanning all cognitive domains. The highest yield measures may include the tests of (1) visual and verbal learning/memory, (2) basic and sustained attention, (3) processing speed, and (4) executive functions.
Topics: Humans; Cognition Disorders; Cognition; Neuropsychological Tests; Autoimmune Diseases of the Nervous System
PubMed: 37949665
DOI: 10.1212/NXI.0000000000200179 -
Journal of Neuro-oncology Jul 2023We systematically reviewed the current landscape of hippocampal-avoidance radiotherapy, focusing specifically on rates of hippocampal tumor recurrence and changes in... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
PURPOSE
We systematically reviewed the current landscape of hippocampal-avoidance radiotherapy, focusing specifically on rates of hippocampal tumor recurrence and changes in neurocognitive function.
METHODS
PubMed was queried for studies involving hippocampal-avoidance radiation therapy and results were screened using PRISMA guidelines. Results were analyzed for median overall survival, progression-free survival, hippocampal relapse rates, and neurocognitive function testing.
RESULTS
Of 3709 search results, 19 articles were included and a total of 1611 patients analyzed. Of these studies, 7 were randomized controlled trials, 4 prospective cohort studies, and 8 retrospective cohort studies. All studies evaluated hippocampal-avoidance whole brain radiation treatment (WBRT) and/or prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) in patients with brain metastases. Hippocampal relapse rates were low (overall effect size = 0.04; 95% confidence interval [0.03, 0.05]) and there was no significant difference in risk of relapse between the five studies that compared HA-WBRT/HA-PCI and WBRT/PCI groups (risk difference = 0.01; 95% confidence interval [- 0.02, 0.03]; p = 0.63). 11 out of 19 studies included neurocognitive function testing. Significant differences were reported in overall cognitive function and memory and verbal learning 3-24 months post-RT. Differences in executive function were reported by one study, Brown et al., at 4 months. No studies reported differences in verbal fluency, visual learning, concentration, processing speed, and psychomotor speed at any timepoint.
CONCLUSION
Current studies in HA-WBRT/HA-PCI showed low hippocampal relapse or metastasis rates. Significant differences in neurocognitive testing were most prominent in overall cognitive function, memory, and verbal learning. Studies were hampered by loss to follow-up.
Topics: Humans; Prospective Studies; Retrospective Studies; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; Cranial Irradiation; Brain Neoplasms; Hippocampus
PubMed: 37395975
DOI: 10.1007/s11060-023-04384-6 -
Journal of the International... Dec 2023Word list-learning tasks are commonly used to evaluate auditory-verbal learning and memory. However, different frequencies of word usage, subtle meaning nuances, unique...
OBJECTIVE
Word list-learning tasks are commonly used to evaluate auditory-verbal learning and memory. However, different frequencies of word usage, subtle meaning nuances, unique word phonology, and different preexisting associations among words make translation across languages difficult. We administered lists of consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) nonword trigrams to independent American and Italian young adult samples. We evaluated whether an auditory list-learning task using CVC nonword trigrams instead of words could be applied cross-culturally to evaluate similar learning and associative memory processes.
PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS
Seventy-five native English-speaking (USA) and 104 native Italian-speaking (Italy) university students were administered 15-item lists of CVC trigrams using the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test paradigm with five study-test trials, an interference trial, and short- and long-term delayed recall. Bayesian tests and mixed-design ANOVAs contrasted the primary learning indexes across the two samples and biological sex.
RESULTS
Performance was comparable between nationalities on all primary memory indices except the interference trial (List B), where the Italian group recalled approximately one item more than the American sample. For both nationalities, recall increased across the five learning trials and declined significantly on the postinterference trial, demonstrating susceptibility to retroactive interference. No effects of sex, age, vocabulary, or depressive symptoms were observed.
CONCLUSIONS
Using lists of unfamiliar nonword CVC trigrams, Italian and American younger adults showed a similar performance pattern across immediate and delayed recall trials. Whereas word list-learning performance is typically affected by cultural, demographic, mood, and cognitive factors, this trigram list-learning task does not show such effects, demonstrating its utility for cross-cultural memory assessment.
Topics: Young Adult; Humans; Bayes Theorem; Cross-Cultural Comparison; Learning; Memory; Verbal Learning; Mental Recall
PubMed: 37989558
DOI: 10.1017/S1355617723000656 -
Brain, Behavior, and Immunity May 2024Recent findings link cognitive impairment and inflammatory-immune dysregulation in schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar (BD) spectrum disorders. However, heterogeneity and...
Recent findings link cognitive impairment and inflammatory-immune dysregulation in schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar (BD) spectrum disorders. However, heterogeneity and translation between the periphery and central (blood-to-brain) mechanisms remains a challenge. Starting with a large SZ, BD and healthy control cohort (n = 1235), we aimed to i) identify candidate peripheral markers (n = 25) associated with cognitive domains (n = 9) and elucidate heterogenous immune-cognitive patterns, ii) evaluate the regulation of candidate markers using human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived astrocytes and neural progenitor cells (n = 10), and iii) evaluate candidate marker messenger RNA expression in leukocytes using microarray in available data from a subsample of the main cohort (n = 776), and in available RNA-sequencing deconvolution analysis of postmortem brain samples (n = 474) from the CommonMind Consortium (CMC). We identified transdiagnostic subgroups based on covariance between cognitive domains (measures of speed and verbal learning) and peripheral markers reflecting inflammatory response (CRP, sTNFR1, YKL-40), innate immune activation (MIF) and extracellular matrix remodelling (YKL-40, CatS). Of the candidate markers there was considerable variance in secretion of YKL-40 in iPSC-derived astrocytes and neural progenitor cells in SZ compared to HC. Further, we provide evidence of dysregulated RNA expression of genes encoding YKL-40 and related signalling pathways in a high neuroinflammatory subgroup in the postmortem brain samples. Our findings suggest a relationship between peripheral inflammatory-immune activity and cognitive impairment, and highlight YKL-40 as a potential marker of cognitive functioning in a subgroup of individuals with severe mental illness.
Topics: Humans; Chitinase-3-Like Protein 1; Bipolar Disorder; Neuropsychological Tests; Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells; Brain; Cognition; RNA
PubMed: 38461955
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2024.03.014 -
Journal of Medical Internet Research Dec 2023Dementia has become a major public health concern due to its heavy disease burden. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a transitional stage between healthy aging and...
BACKGROUND
Dementia has become a major public health concern due to its heavy disease burden. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a transitional stage between healthy aging and dementia. Early identification of MCI is an essential step in dementia prevention.
OBJECTIVE
Based on machine learning (ML) methods, this study aimed to develop and validate a stable and scalable panel of cognitive tests for the early detection of MCI and dementia based on the Chinese Neuropsychological Consensus Battery (CNCB) in the Chinese Neuropsychological Normative Project (CN-NORM) cohort.
METHODS
CN-NORM was a nationwide, multicenter study conducted in China with 871 participants, including an MCI group (n=327, 37.5%), a dementia group (n=186, 21.4%), and a cognitively normal (CN) group (n=358, 41.1%). We used the following 4 algorithms to select candidate variables: the F-score according to the SelectKBest method, the area under the curve (AUC) from logistic regression (LR), P values from the logit method, and backward stepwise elimination. Different models were constructed after considering the administration duration and complexity of combinations of various tests. Receiver operating characteristic curve and AUC metrics were used to evaluate the discriminative ability of the models via stratified sampling cross-validation and LR and support vector classification (SVC) algorithms. This model was further validated in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative phase 3 (ADNI-3) cohort (N=743), which included 416 (56%) CN subjects, 237 (31.9%) patients with MCI, and 90 (12.1%) patients with dementia.
RESULTS
Except for social cognition, all other domains in the CNCB differed between the MCI and CN groups (P<.008). In feature selection results regarding discrimination between the MCI and CN groups, the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-5 minutes Recall had the best performance, with the highest mean AUC of up to 0.80 (SD 0.02) and an F-score of up to 258.70. The scalability of model 5 (Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-5 minutes Recall and Trail Making Test-B) was the lowest. Model 5 achieved a higher level of discrimination than the Hong Kong Brief Cognitive test score in distinguishing between the MCI and CN groups (P<.05). Model 5 also provided the highest sensitivity of up to 0.82 (range 0.72-0.92) and 0.83 (range 0.75-0.91) according to LR and SVC, respectively. This model yielded a similar robust discriminative performance in the ADNI-3 cohort regarding differentiation between the MCI and CN groups, with a mean AUC of up to 0.81 (SD 0) according to both LR and SVC algorithms.
CONCLUSIONS
We developed a stable and scalable composite neurocognitive test based on ML that could differentiate not only between patients with MCI and controls but also between patients with different stages of cognitive impairment. This composite neurocognitive test is a feasible and practical digital biomarker that can potentially be used in large-scale cognitive screening and intervention studies.
Topics: Humans; Alzheimer Disease; Cognitive Dysfunction; Mental Status and Dementia Tests; Neuropsychological Tests; Machine Learning
PubMed: 38039074
DOI: 10.2196/49147 -
Developmental Science Jul 2023How do children succeed in learning a word? Research has shown robustly that, in ambiguous labeling situations, young children assume novel labels to refer to unfamiliar...
How do children succeed in learning a word? Research has shown robustly that, in ambiguous labeling situations, young children assume novel labels to refer to unfamiliar rather than familiar objects. However, ongoing debates center on the underlying mechanism: Is this behavior based on lexical constraints, guided by pragmatic reasoning, or simply driven by children's attraction to novelty? Additionally, recent research has questioned whether children's disambiguation leads to long-term learning or rather indicates an attentional shift in the moment of the conversation. Thus, we conducted a pre-registered online study with 2- and 3-year-olds and adults. Participants were presented with unknown objects as potential referents for a novel word. Across conditions, we manipulated whether the only difference between both objects was their relative novelty to the participant or whether, in addition, participants were provided with pragmatic information that indicated which object the speaker referred to. We tested participants' immediate referent selection and their retention after 5 min. Results revealed that when given common ground information both age groups inferred the correct referent with high success and enhanced behavioral certainty. Without this information, object novelty alone did not guide their selection. After 5 min, adults remembered their previous selections above chance in both conditions, while children only showed reliable learning in the pragmatic condition. The pattern of results indicates how pragmatics may aid referent disambiguation and learning in both adults and young children. From early ontogeny on, children's social-cognitive understanding may guide their communicative interactions and support their language acquisition. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: We tested how 2-3-year-olds and adults resolve referential ambiguity without any lexical cues. In the pragmatic context both age groups disambiguated novel word-object-mappings, while object novelty alone did not guide their referent selection. In the pragmatic context, children also showed increased certainty in disambiguation and retained new word-object-mappings over time. These findings contribute to the ongoing debate on whether children learn words on the basis of domain-specific constraints, lower-level associative mechanisms, or pragmatic inferences.
Topics: Humans; Child; Adult; Child, Preschool; Vocabulary; Verbal Learning; Language Development; Learning; Problem Solving
PubMed: 36598874
DOI: 10.1111/desc.13363