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The American Journal of Drug and... Jul 2014Both individuals with marijuana use and depressive disorders exhibit verbal learning and memory decrements. (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
BACKGROUND
Both individuals with marijuana use and depressive disorders exhibit verbal learning and memory decrements.
OBJECTIVES
This study investigated the interaction between marijuana dependence and depression on learning and memory performance.
METHODS
The California Verbal Learning Test-Second Edition (CVLT-II) was administered to depressed (n = 71) and non-depressed (n = 131) near-daily marijuana users. The severity of depressive symptoms was measured by the self-rated Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) and the clinician-rated Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D). Multivariate analyses of covariance statistics (MANCOVA) were employed to analyze group differences in cognitive performance. Pearson's correlation coefficients were calculated to examine the relative associations between marijuana use, depression and CVLT-II performance. Findings from each group were compared to published normative data.
RESULTS
Although both groups exhibited decreased CVLT-II performance relative to the test's normative sample (p < 0.05), marijuana-dependent subjects with a depressive disorder did not perform differently than marijuana-dependent subjects without a depressive disorder (p > 0.05). Further, poorer CVLT-II performance was modestly associated with increased self-reported daily amount of marijuana use (corrected p < 0.002), but was not significantly associated with increased scores on measures of depressive symptoms (corrected p > 0.002).
CONCLUSION
These findings suggest an inverse association between marijuana use and verbal learning function, but not between depression and verbal learning function in regular marijuana users.
Topics: Adult; Depressive Disorder; Female; Humans; Male; Marijuana Abuse; Marijuana Smoking; Middle Aged; Neuropsychological Tests; Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 24918839
DOI: 10.3109/00952990.2013.875551 -
Neurological Sciences : Official... Feb 2023The COVID-19 pandemic has forced significant changes in clinical practice. Psychologists and neuropsychologists had to modify their settings to assess patients'...
INTRODUCTION
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced significant changes in clinical practice. Psychologists and neuropsychologists had to modify their settings to assess patients' abilities, switching from an in-person modality to a remote setting by using video calling platforms. Consequently, this change brought about the need for new normative data tailored to remote settings.
AIM AND METHODS
The study aimed to develop normative data for the online assessment of neuropsychological memory tests and to compare it with the published norms obtained in standard settings. Two hundred and four healthy Italian volunteers performed three verbal memory tests through the Google Meet platform: the Digit Span (Backward and Forward), the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning, and the Verbal Paired Associated Learning Test.
RESULTS
This research provides specific norms that consider the influence of demographic characteristics. Their comparison with published norms shows a medium to high agreement between systems. The present study provides a reference for the clinical use of neuropsychological instruments to assess verbal memory in a remote setting and offers specific recommendations.
Topics: Humans; Pandemics; COVID-19; Memory; Neuropsychological Tests; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 36197578
DOI: 10.1007/s10072-022-06426-9 -
Neuron Sep 2010The last decade has produced an explosion in neuroscience research examining young children's early processing of language. Noninvasive, safe functional brain... (Review)
Review
The last decade has produced an explosion in neuroscience research examining young children's early processing of language. Noninvasive, safe functional brain measurements have now been proven feasible for use with children starting at birth. The phonetic level of language is especially accessible to experimental studies that document the innate state and the effect of learning on the brain. The neural signatures of learning at the phonetic level can be documented at a remarkably early point in development. Continuity in linguistic development from infants' earliest brain responses to phonetic stimuli is reflected in their language and prereading abilities in the second, third, and fifth year of life, a finding with theoretical and clinical impact. There is evidence that early mastery of the phonetic units of language requires learning in a social context. Neuroscience on early language learning is beginning to reveal the multiple brain systems that underlie the human language faculty.
Topics: Brain; Cognition; Computer Simulation; Critical Period, Psychological; Evoked Potentials; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Language; Language Development; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 20826304
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2010.08.038 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... Dec 2009Little is known about the brain mechanisms involved in word learning during infancy and in second language acquisition and about the way these new words become stable... (Review)
Review
Little is known about the brain mechanisms involved in word learning during infancy and in second language acquisition and about the way these new words become stable representations that sustain language processing. In several studies we have adopted the human simulation perspective, studying the effects of brain-lesions and combining different neuroimaging techniques such as event-related potentials and functional magnetic resonance imaging in order to examine the language learning (LL) process. In the present article, we review this evidence focusing on how different brain signatures relate to (i) the extraction of words from speech, (ii) the discovery of their embedded grammatical structure, and (iii) how meaning derived from verbal contexts can inform us about the cognitive mechanisms underlying the learning process. We compile these findings and frame them into an integrative neurophysiological model that tries to delineate the major neural networks that might be involved in the initial stages of LL. Finally, we propose that LL simulations can help us to understand natural language processing and how the recovery from language disorders in infants and adults can be accomplished.
Topics: Adult; Brain; Cognition; Evoked Potentials; Humans; Infant; Language Development; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Neuroanatomy; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 19933142
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2009.0130 -
Journal of the Neurological Sciences May 2019The Brief International Cognitive Assessment for Multiple Sclerosis (BICAMS) is a common cognitive screening tool. However, administration and scoring can be... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
Brief and cost-effective tool for assessing verbal learning in multiple sclerosis: Comparison of the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) to the California Verbal Learning Test - II (CVLT-II).
BACKGROUND
The Brief International Cognitive Assessment for Multiple Sclerosis (BICAMS) is a common cognitive screening tool. However, administration and scoring can be time-consuming, and its use of proprietary subtests like the California Verbal Learning Test - II (CVLT-II) is financially limiting. Use of the non-proprietary Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) may be provide a valid alternative.
OBJECTIVES
To compare the RAVLT and CVLT-II in terms of diagnostic accuracy for detecting cognitive impairment, and to determine optimal cut-scores for the RAVLT.
METHODS
100 participants with MS completed the five learning trials from the RAVLT and CVLT-II. Receiver operating characteristic analyses were used to compare the measures' sensitivities, specificities, positive predictive values (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV), and to identify optimal cut-scores.
RESULTS
Using a criterion of 1.5 SD below the normative sample mean, the RAVLT showed fair to good (κs = 0.21-0.41) agreement with the CVLT-II. A cut-score of 12 on Trials 1 + 2 of the RAVLT showed fair sensitivity (75%) and specificity (76%) and did not differ significantly from the CVLT-II (p > .05).
CONCLUSIONS
Performance on initial learning trials of the RAVLT may provide a brief, valid, and cost-effective alternative to the CVLT-II for screening verbal learning impairments in MS.
Topics: Adult; Aged; Cognitive Dysfunction; Cost-Benefit Analysis; Female; Humans; Male; Memory and Learning Tests; Middle Aged; Multiple Sclerosis; Neuropsychological Tests; Verbal Learning; Young Adult
PubMed: 30913522
DOI: 10.1016/j.jns.2019.03.016 -
Epilepsia Jun 2009To evaluate the effects of anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) on individual and group spatial and verbal learning and memory abilities as a function of side of surgery...
PURPOSE
To evaluate the effects of anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) on individual and group spatial and verbal learning and memory abilities as a function of side of surgery and seizure control outcome.
METHODS
We evaluated pre- and postsurgical learning and memory abilities of 75 left-hemisphere language dominant individuals who underwent ATL (33 left, 42 right) using the 8-trial Nonverbal Selective Reminding test and the 12-trial Verbal Selective Reminding test.
RESULTS
Reliable change index methods indicated that 40.5% of individuals who underwent right-ATL had a clinically significant decline in spatial memory, and 62.5% of individuals who underwent left-ATL had a significant reduction in verbal memory. Growth curve analyses indicated that both side of surgery and poor seizure outcome independently affected the learning slope in the best fitting models. Left-ATL reduced the slope, but did not affect the overall shape, of verbal learning across trials. On the other hand, poor seizure control outcome affected the slope of spatial learning regardless of the side of surgery.
DISCUSSION
Results demonstrate both individual and group declines in spatial memory and learning after ATL. Results suggest that individuals who undergo right-ATL should be counseled regarding the likelihood of a decline in spatial memory and learning abilities after ATL. Results also suggest that individuals with poor seizure control after ATL should be referred for rehabilitation services given the significant declines in spatial and verbal memory that occurred in our sample regardless of side of surgery.
Topics: Adult; Analysis of Variance; Anterior Temporal Lobectomy; Chi-Square Distribution; Functional Laterality; Humans; Language; Memory; Neuropsychological Tests; Retrospective Studies; Seizures; Space Perception; Verbal Learning; Young Adult
PubMed: 18657174
DOI: 10.1111/j.1528-1167.2008.01730.x -
Cognition Jun 2019Our ability to learn unfamiliar routes declines in typical and atypical ageing. The reasons for this decline, however, are not well understood. Here we used eye-tracking...
Our ability to learn unfamiliar routes declines in typical and atypical ageing. The reasons for this decline, however, are not well understood. Here we used eye-tracking to investigate how ageing affects people's ability to attend to navigationally relevant information and to select unique objects as landmarks. We created short routes through a virtual environment, each comprised of four intersections with two objects each, and we systematically manipulated the saliency and uniqueness of these objects. While salient objects might be easier to memorise than non-salient objects, they cannot be used as reliable landmarks if they appear more than once along the route. As cognitive ageing affects executive functions and control of attention, we hypothesised that the process of selecting navigationally relevant objects as landmarks might be affected as well. The behavioural data showed that younger participants outperformed the older participants and the eye-movement data revealed some systematic differences between age groups. Specifically, older adults spent less time looking at the unique, and therefore navigationally relevant, landmark objects. Both young and older participants, however, effectively directed gaze towards the unique and away from the non-unique objects, even if these were more salient. These findings highlight specific age-related differences in the control of attention that could contribute to declining route learning abilities in older age. Interestingly, route-learning performance in the older age group was more variable than in the young age group with some older adults showing performance similar to the young group. These individual differences in route learning performance were strongly associated with verbal and episodic memory abilities.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Attention; Eye Movement Measurements; Female; Humans; Male; Memory, Episodic; Spatial Learning; Spatial Navigation; Verbal Learning; Young Adult
PubMed: 30826535
DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2019.02.012 -
Psychological Bulletin Jan 2009Verbal working memory (WM) tasks typically involve the language production architecture for recall; however, language production processes have had a minimal role in... (Review)
Review
Verbal working memory (WM) tasks typically involve the language production architecture for recall; however, language production processes have had a minimal role in theorizing about WM. A framework for understanding verbal WM results is presented here. In this framework, domain-specific mechanisms for serial ordering in verbal WM are provided by the language production architecture, in which positional, lexical, and phonological similarity constraints are highly similar to those identified in the WM literature. These behavioral similarities are paralleled in computational modeling of serial ordering in both fields. The role of long-term learning in serial ordering performance is emphasized, in contrast to some models of verbal WM. Classic WM findings are discussed in terms of the language production architecture. The integration of principles from both fields illuminates the maintenance and ordering mechanisms for verbal information.
Topics: Adult; Brain; Brain Mapping; Comprehension; Humans; Memory, Short-Term; Models, Theoretical; Phonetics; Semantics; Serial Learning; Speech; Speech Acoustics; Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation; Verbal Learning; Vocabulary
PubMed: 19210053
DOI: 10.1037/a0014411 -
PloS One 2019Successful communication often involves comprehension of both spoken language and observed actions with and without objects. Even very young infants can learn... (Clinical Trial)
Clinical Trial
Successful communication often involves comprehension of both spoken language and observed actions with and without objects. Even very young infants can learn associations between actions and objects as well as between words and objects. However, in daily life, children are usually confronted with both kinds of input simultaneously. Choosing the critical information to attend to in such situations might help children structure the input, and thereby, allow for successful learning. In the current study, we therefore, investigated the developmental time course of children's and adults' word and action learning when given the opportunity to learn both word-object and action-object associations for the same object. All participants went through a learning phase and a test phase. In the learning phase, they were presented with two novel objects which were associated with a distinct novel name (e.g., "Look, a Tanu") and a distinct novel action (e.g., moving up and down while tilting sideways). In the test phase, participants were presented with both objects on screen in a baseline phase, then either heard one of the two labels or saw one of the two actions in a prime phase, and then saw the two objects again on screen in a recognition phase. Throughout the trial, participants' target looking was recorded to investigate whether participants looked at the target object upon hearing its label or seeing its action, and thus, would show learning of the word-object and action-object associations. Growth curve analyses revealed that 12-month-olds showed modest learning of action-object associations, 36-month-olds learned word-object associations, and adults learned word-object and action-object associations. These results highlight how children attend to the different information types from the two modalities through which communication is addressed to them. Over time, with increased exposure to systematic word-object mappings, children attend less to action-object mappings, with the latter potentially being mediated by word-object learning even in adulthood. Thus, choosing between different kinds of input that may be more relevant in their rich environment encompassing different modalities might help learning at different points in development.
Topics: Adult; Association Learning; Child, Preschool; Comprehension; Female; Humans; Infant; Language Development; Male; Speech Perception; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 31393901
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0220317 -
Scientific Reports Dec 2020Memory performance results from plasticity, the ability to change with experience. We show that benefit from practice over a few trials, learning slope, is predictive of...
Memory performance results from plasticity, the ability to change with experience. We show that benefit from practice over a few trials, learning slope, is predictive of long-term recall and hippocampal volume across a broad age range and a long period of time, relates to memory training benefit, and is heritable. First, in a healthy lifespan sample (n = 1825, age 4-93 years), comprising 3483 occasions of combined magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and memory tests over a period of up to 11 years, learning slope across 5 trials was uniquely related to performance on a delayed free recall test, as well as hippocampal volume, independent from first trial memory or total memory performance across the five learning trials. Second, learning slope was predictive of benefit from memory training across ten weeks in an experimental subsample of adults (n = 155). Finally, in an independent sample of male twins (n = 1240, age 51-50 years), learning slope showed significant heritability. Within-session learning slope may be a useful marker beyond performance per se, being heritable and having unique predictive value for long-term memory function, hippocampal volume and training benefit across the human lifespan.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; Hippocampus; Humans; Inheritance Patterns; Learning; Longevity; Male; Mental Recall; Middle Aged; Organ Size; Verbal Learning; Young Adult
PubMed: 33273630
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-78225-1