Thursday, February 14, 2013

Journal Alert: NEUROPSYCHOLOGY

> Journal Name: NEUROPSYCHOLOGY (ISSN: 0894-4105)
> Issue: Vol. 27 No. 1, 2013
>
>
> Title:
> Injury Versus Noninjury Factors as Predictors of Postconcussive Symptoms Following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Children
>
> Authors:
> McNally, KA; Bangert, B; Dietrich, A; Nuss, K; Rusin, J; Wright, M;
> Taylor, HG; Yeates, KO
>
> Source:
> *NEUROPSYCHOLOGY*, 27 (1):1-12; JAN 2013
>
> Abstract:
> Objective: To examine the relative contributions of injury
> characteristics and noninjury child and family factors as predictors of
> postconcussive symptoms (PCS) following mild traumatic brain injury
> (TBI) in children. Method: Participants were 8- to 15-year-old children,
> 186 with mild TBI and 99 with mild orthopedic injuries (OI). Parents and
> children rated PCS shortly after injury and at 1, 3, and 12 months
> postinjury. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to predict
> PCS from (1) demographic variables; (2) premorbid child factors (WASI
> IQ; WRAT-3 Reading; Child Behavior Checklist; ratings of preinjury PCS);
> (3) family factors (Family Assessment Device General Functioning Scale;
> Brief Symptom Inventory; and Life Stressors and Social Resources
> Inventory); and (4) injury group (OI, mild TBI with loss of
> consciousness [LOC] and associated injuries [AI], mild TBI with LOC but
> without AI, mild TBI without LOC but with AI, and mild TBI without LOC
> or AI). Results: Injury group predicted parent and child ratings of PCS
> but showed a decreasing contribution over time. Demographic variables
> consistently predicted symptom ratings across time. Premorbid child
> factors, especially retrospective ratings of premorbid symptoms,
> accounted for the most variance in symptom ratings. Family factors,
> particularly parent adjustment, consistently predicted parent, but not
> child, ratings of PCS. Conclusions: Injury characteristics predict PCS
> in the first months following mild TBI but show a decreasing
> contribution over time. In contrast, noninjury factors are more
> consistently related to persistent PCS.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 13-18 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000313757200002
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> Impairments in Real-World Executive Function Increase From Childhood to Adolescence in Autism Spectrum Disorders
>
> Authors:
> Rosenthal, M; Wallace, GL; Lawson, R; Wills, MC; Dixon, E; Yerys, BE;
> Kenworthy, L
>
> Source:
> *NEUROPSYCHOLOGY*, 27 (1):13-18; JAN 2013
>
> Abstract:
> Objective: Although several studies have investigated developmental
> trajectories of executive functioning (EF) in individuals with autism
> spectrum disorders (ASD) using lab-based tasks, no study to date has
> directly measured how EF skills in everyday settings vary at different
> ages. The current study seeks to extend prior work by evaluating
> age-related differences in parent-reported EF problems during childhood
> and adolescence in a large cross-sectional cohort of children with ASD.
> Method: Children (N = 185) with an ASD without intellectual disability
> participated in the study. Participants were divided into four groups
> based on age (5-7, 8-10, 11-13, and 14-18-year-olds). The four age
> groups did not differ in IQ, sex ratio, or autism symptoms. Results:
> There were significant age effects (i.e., worsening scores with
> increasing age) in three of G. A. Gioia, P. K. Isquith, S. Guy, and L.
> Kenworthy's (2000) BRIEF: Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive
> Function, Odessa, FL, Psychological Assessment Resources scale scores:
> Initiate (p = .007), working memory (p = .003), and organization of
> materials (p = .023). In addition, analysis of the BRIEF scale profile
> revealed that, although multiple scales were elevated, the shift scale
> showed the greatest problems in both the youngest and oldest age
> cohorts. Conclusions: Older children with ASD show greater EF problems
> compared with the normative sample than younger children with ASD.
> Specifically, there is a widening divergence from the normative sample
> in metacognitive executive abilities in children with ASD as they age.
> This, in combination with significant, albeit more stable, impairments
> in flexibility, has implications for the challenges faced by
> high-functioning individuals with ASD as they attempt to enter
> mainstream work and social environments.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 19-27 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000313757200003
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> Metamemory in Children With Autism: Exploring "Feeling-of-Knowing" in Episodic and Semantic Memory
>
> Authors:
> Wojcik, DZ; Moulin, CJA; Souchay, C
>
> Source:
> *NEUROPSYCHOLOGY*, 27 (1):19-27; JAN 2013
>
> Abstract:
> Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental
> disorder primarily affecting social function and communication.
> Recently, there has been an interest in whether people with ASD also
> show memory deficits. Studies in ASD have revealed subtle impairments on
> tasks requiring participants to learn new information (episodic memory),
> but intact performance on general knowledge tasks (semantic memory). The
> novelty of this study was to explore metamemory (i.e., awareness of
> memory performance) and to examine whether children with ASD suffer from
> a generalized metamemory deficit common to all forms of memory, or would
> only present deficits on episodic metamemory tasks. Method: To assess
> metamemory functioning we administered 2 feeling-of-knowing (FOK) tasks,
> 1 for episodic and 1 for semantic materials. In these tasks,
> participants are asked to predict the likelihood of subsequently
> recognizing currently unrecalled information. Results: It was found that
> children with autism made inaccurate FOK predictions, but only for
> episodic materials. Conclusion: A specific deficit in meta-cognition
> emerges for only one set of materials. We argue that this deficit can be
> conceived of as reflecting a deficit in recollection, stemming from an
> inability to cast the self in the past and retrieve information about
> the study episode.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 28-36 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000313757200004
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> Impaired Implicit Sequence Learning in Parkinson's Disease Patients With Freezing of Gait
>
> Authors:
> Vandenbossche, J; Deroost, N; Soetens, E; Coomans, D; Spildooren, J;
> Vercruysse, S; Nieuwboer, A; Kerckhofs, E
>
> Source:
> *NEUROPSYCHOLOGY*, 27 (1):28-36; JAN 2013
>
> Abstract:
> Objective: Freezing of gait (FOG) in Parkinson's disease (PD) may
> involve specific impairments in acquiring automaticity under
> working-memory load. This study examined whether implicit sequence
> learning, with or without a secondary task, is impaired in patients with
> FOG. Method: Fourteen freezers (FRs), 14 nonfreezers (nFRs), and 14
> matched healthy controls (HCs) performed a serial reaction time (SRT)
> task with a deterministic stimulus sequence under single-task (ST) and
> dual-task (DT) conditions. The increase in reaction times (RTs) for
> random compared with sequenced blocks was used as a measure of implicit
> sequence learning. Neuropsychological tests assessing global cognitive
> functioning and executive dysfunction were administered in order to
> investigate their relation to sequence learning. Results: nFRs and HCs
> showed significant implicit sequence learning effects (p < 0.001). FRs
> demonstrated a tendency to learn sequence-specific information in the
> SRT-ST task (p = 0.07) but not in the SRT-DT task (p = 0.69). Severity
> of FOG, however, correlated positively with SRT-DT task performance (r =
> -0.56; p < 0.05). Conclusions: The present results suggest that PD
> patients suffering from FOG pathology exhibit a specific impairment in
> the acquisition of automaticity. When working memory capacity is
> supplementarily loaded by adding a DT, sequence learning in FRs becomes
> increasingly impaired. These findings indicate that therapies should
> focus on extensive training in acquiring novel motor activities and
> reducing working memory load to improve learning in FOG.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 37-47 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000313757200005
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> Theory of Mind Deficits in Parkinson's Disease: A Product of Executive Dysfunction?
>
> Authors:
> Eddy, CM; Beck, SR; Mitchell, IJ; Praamstra, P; Pall, HS
>
> Source:
> *NEUROPSYCHOLOGY*, 27 (1):37-47; JAN 2013
>
> Abstract:
> Objective: Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) can perform poorly on
> tasks involving theory of mind (ToM): the ability to reason about mental
> states. We investigated whether patients' ToM deficits were independent
> of executive dysfunction. Method: Experiment 1 aimed to establish that
> ToM deficits were present, and 2 following experiments manipulated the
> working memory (WM) demands of the ToM task. Results: In Experiment 1,
> 15 patients with PD performed significantly more poorly than controls on
> a false belief vignette task but not on a faux pas task. Errors were
> related to poor verbal fluency. In Experiment 2, 24 patients with PD
> made fewer errors on shorter false belief vignettes than the original
> FBT, and errors on the latter were related to WM impairment. In
> Experiment 3, the FBT was presented as a comic strip visible throughout
> questioning, reducing WM demands. Patients (n = 24) made memory errors
> but no false belief errors on the comic strip. They exhibited no verbal
> fluency or WM impairments, but did exhibit deficits on a black-and-white
> Stroop task. False belief errors were not correlated with executive
> performance. Conclusions: PD patients made very few ToM errors that were
> independent of errors on memory questions, so in this sample, ToM
> deficits per se appear unlikely. However, patients still made errors on
> ToM tasks when associated incidental WM demands were considerably
> reduced, highlighting the need for future investigations of ToM in PD to
> account for the role of more general cognitive restrictions exhibited by
> even some medicated, early stage patients.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 48-59 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000313757200006
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> Visual Search and the Aging Brain: Discerning the Effects of Age-Related Brain Volume Shrinkage on Alertness, Feature Binding, and Attentional Control
>
> Authors:
> Muller-Oehring, EM; Schulte, T; Rohlfing, T; Pfefferbaum, A; Sullivan,
> EV
>
> Source:
> *NEUROPSYCHOLOGY*, 27 (1):48-59; JAN 2013
>
> Abstract:
> Objective: Decline in visuospatial abilities with advancing age has been
> attributed to a demise of bottom-up and top-down functions involving
> sensory processing, selective attention, and executive control. These
> functions may be differentially affected by age-related volume shrinkage
> of subcortical and cortical nodes subserving the dorsal and ventral
> processing streams and the corpus callosum mediating interhemispheric
> information exchange. Method: Fifty-five healthy adults (25-84 years)
> underwent structural MRI and performed a visual search task to test
> perceptual and attentional demands by combining feature-conjunction
> searches with "gestalt" grouping and attentional cueing paradigms.
> Results: Poorer conjunction, but not feature, search performance was
> related to older age and volume shrinkage of nodes in the dorsolateral
> processing stream. When displays allowed perceptual grouping through
> distractor homogeneity, poorer conjunction-search performance correlated
> with smaller ventrolateral prefrontal cortical and callosal volumes. An
> alerting cue attenuated age effects on conjunction search, and the
> alertness benefit was associated with thalamic, callosal, and temporal
> cortex volumes. Conclusion: Our results indicate that older adults can
> capitalize on early parallel stages of visual information processing,
> whereas age-related limitations arise at later serial processing stages
> requiring self-guided selective attention and executive control. These
> limitations are explained in part by age-related brain volume shrinkage
> and can be mitigated by external cues.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 60-68 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000313757200007
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> High-Level, but Not Low-Level, Motion Perception Is Impaired in Patients With Schizophrenia
>
> Authors:
> Kandil, FI; Pedersen, A; Wehnes, J; Ohrmann, P
>
> Source:
> *NEUROPSYCHOLOGY*, 27 (1):60-68; JAN 2013
>
> Abstract:
> Objective: Smooth pursuit eye movements are compromised in patients with
> schizophrenia and their first-degree relatives. Although research has
> demonstrated that the motor components of smooth pursuit eye movements
> are intact, motion perception has been shown to be impaired. In
> particular, studies have consistently revealed deficits in performance
> on tasks specific to the high-order motion area V5 (middle temporal
> area, MT) in patients with schizophrenia. In contrast, data from
> low-level motion detectors in the primary visual cortex (V1) have been
> inconsistent. Method: To differentiate between low-level and high-level
> visual motion processing, we applied a temporal-order judgment task for
> motion events and a motion-defined figure-ground segregation task using
> patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. Successful judgments
> in both tasks rely on the same low-level motion detectors in the Vi;
> however, the first task is further processed in the higher-order Motion
> area MT in the magnocellular (dorsal) pathway, whereas the second task
> requires subsequent computations in the parvocellular (ventral) pathway
> in visual area V4 and the inferotemporal cortex (IT). These latter
> structures are supposed to be intact in schizophrenia. Results: Patients
> with schizophrenia revealed a significantly impaired temporal resolution
> on the motion-based temporal-order judgment task but only mild
> impairment in the motion-based segregation task. Conclusions: These
> results imply that low-level motion detection in V1 is not, or is only
> slightly, compromised; furthermore,, our data restrain the locus of the
> well-known deficit in motion detection to areas beyond the primary
> visual cortex.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 69-78 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000313757200008
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> The Influence of Normal Aging and Alzheimer's Disease in Autobiographical Memory Highly Related to the Self
>
> Authors:
> Martinelli, P; Anssens, A; Sperduti, M; Piolino, P
>
> Source:
> *NEUROPSYCHOLOGY*, 27 (1):69-78; JAN 2013
>
> Abstract:
> Objective: Autobiographical memory (AM) comprises autobiographical
> episodes (AE) and personal semantics (PS). Self-defining memories (SDMs)
> represent peculiar memories highly relevant to personality processes and
> constitute crucial source for the self. To date, no research has
> compared normal and pathological age-related changes in the AE and PS
> aspects of AM (including SDMs) and their link with the self. Method:
> Young adults, older adults, and patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD)
> were asked to retrieve 10 AEs, 10 PSs, and 10 SDMs based on identical
> cue-words and to complete a subjective self-concept scale measuring the
> degree of certainty and the valence of the self. Memory performance was
> evaluated for specificity and for emotional valence using quantitative
> scoring based on standard neuropsychological assessments. Results:
> Compared with young adults, older adults and AD patients demonstrated a
> deficit in AE; nevertheless, the three groups performed equally for PS.
> Remarkably, older adults did not differ from young adults for SDMs
> characterized by high episodicity (SDMe), unlike AD patients. Concerning
> the self-concept scale, the valence of the self was more positive in
> healthy subjects than in AD patients, the latter showing higher scores
> for the degree of certainty. Self-concept measures were correlated with
> AM scores, especially SDMe, in young and older subjects but not in AD
> patients. Conclusion: The implication of these findings is discussed to
> portray the differences between normal aging and AD concerning the link
> between AM and the self.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 79-85 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000313757200009
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> Semantic Processing in Connected Speech at a Uniformly Early Stage of Autopsy-Confirmed Alzheimer's Disease
>
> Authors:
> Ahmed, S; de Jager, CA; Haigh, AM; Garrard, P
>
> Source:
> *NEUROPSYCHOLOGY*, 27 (1):79-85; JAN 2013
>
> Abstract:
> Objective: The aim of the present study was to quantify the semantic
> content of connected speech produced by patients at a uniformly early
> stage of pathologically proven Alzheimer's disease (AD). A secondary aim
> was to establish whether semantic units were reduced globally, or
> whether there was a disproportionate reduction of specific classes of
> information. Method: Discourse samples were obtained from 18 AD patients
> and 18 matched controls, all pathologically confirmed. Semantic unit
> identification was scored overall and for four subclasses: subjects,
> locations, objects, and actions. Idea density and efficiency were
> calculated. Results: AD transcripts showed significantly reduced units
> overall, particularly actions and subjects, as well as reduced
> efficiency. Total semantic units and a combination of subject-,
> location-, and object-related units ("noun" units) correlated with the
> Expression subscore on the Cambridge Cognitive Examination (CAMCOG).
> Subject related units correlated with the CAMCOG Abstract Thinking
> scale. Logistic regression analyses confirmed that all measures that
> were lower in AD than controls were predictive of group membership. An
> exploratory comparison between units expressed mainly using nouns and
> those mainly using verbs showed that the latter was the stronger of
> these two predictors. Conclusions: The present study adds a
> lexico-semantic dimension to the linguistic profile based on discourse
> analysis in typical AD, recently described by the same authors.
> 2012,83(11): 1056-1062). The suggestion of differential importance of
> verb and noun use in the present study may be related to the reduction
> in syntactic complexity that was reported, using the same set of
> discourse samples, in the earlier study.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 86-94 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000313757200010
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> The Apolipoprotein E Genotype Predicts Longitudinal Transitions to Mild Cognitive Impairment but Not to Alzheimer's Dementia: Findings From a Nationally Representative Study
>
> Authors:
> Brainerd, CJ; Reyna, VF; Petersen, RC; Smith, GE; Kenney, AE; Gross, CJ;
> Taub, ES; Plassman, BL; Fisher, GG
>
> Source:
> *NEUROPSYCHOLOGY*, 27 (1):86-94; JAN 2013
>
> Abstract:
> Objective: The epsilon 4 allele of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype
> is the most widely accepted genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's dementia
> (AD), but findings on whether it is a risk factor for the AD prodrome,
> mild cognitive impairment (MCI), have been inconsistent. In a
> prospective longitudinal design, we investigated (a) whether transitions
> to MCI and other forms of neurocognitive impairment without dementia
> (CIND) are more frequent among normal epsilon 4 carriers than among
> noncarriers and (b) whether subsequent transitions to AD from MCI and
> from other forms of CIND are more frequent among epsilon 4 carriers than
> among noncarriers. Method: The frequency of the epsilon 4 allele was
> studied in older adults (mean age > 70), who had participated in two or
> more waves of neuropsychological testing and diagnosis in the Aging,
> Demographics, and Memory Study (ADAMS) of the United States Department
> of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National
> Institute on Aging's Health and Retirement Study, conducted by the
> University of Michigan. The association between epsilon 4 and
> longitudinal transitions to specific types of CIND and dementia can be
> determined with this data set Results: Epsilon 4 increased the rate of
> progression from normal functioning to MCI (58% of new diagnoses were
> carriers) but not to other forms of CIND. The rate of progression to AD
> from MCI or from other forms of CIND was not increased by epsilon 4.
> Conclusions: The results support the hypothesis that epsilon 4 is a risk
> factor for transitions from normal functioning to MCI but not for
> subsequent transitions to AD. In the ADAMS sample, the reason epsilon 4
> is elevated in AD individuals is because it is already elevated in MCI
> individuals, who are the primary source of new AD diagnoses.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 95-106 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000313757200011
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> Four-Year Outcome of Mild Cognitive Impairment: The Contribution of Executive Dysfunction
>
> Authors:
> Aretouli, E; Tsilidis, KK; Brandt, J
>
> Source:
> *NEUROPSYCHOLOGY*, 27 (1):95-106; JAN 2013
>
> Abstract:
> Objective: The contribution of executive cognition (EC) to the
> prediction of incident dementia remains unclear. This prospective study
> examined the predictive value of EC for subsequent cognitive decline in
> persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) over a 4-year period.
> Method: One hundred forty-one persons with MCI (amnestic and
> nonamnestic, single- and multiple-domain) received a baseline and two
> biennial follow-up assessments. Eighteen tests, assessing six different
> aspects of EC, were administered at baseline and at 2-year follow-up,
> together with screening cognitive and daily functioning measures.
> Longitudinal logistic regression models and generalized estimating
> equations (GEE) were used to examine whether EC could predict
> progression to a Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR; C. P. Hughes, L.
> Berg, W. L. Danziger, L. A. Coben, & R. L. Martin, 1982, A new clinical
> scale for the staging of dementia, British Journal of Psychiatry, Vol.
> 140, pp. 566-572) score of 1 or more over the 4-year period, first at
> the univariate level and then in the context of demographic and clinical
> characteristics, daily functioning measures, and other neurocognitive
> factors. Results: Over the 4-year period, 56% of MCI patients remained
> stable, 35% progressed to CDR >= 1 and 8% reverted to normal (CDR = 0).
> Amnestic MCI subtypes were not associated with higher rates of
> progression to dementia, whereas subtypes with multiple impairments were
> so associated. Eight out of the 18 EC measures, including all three
> measures assessing inhibition of prepotent responses, predicted MCI
> outcome at the univariate level. However, the multivariate GEE model
> indicated that age, daily functioning, and overall cognitive functioning
> best predicted progression to dementia. Conclusion: Measures of EC
> (i.e., inhibitory control) are associated with MCI outcome. However, age
> and global measures of cognitive and functional impairment are better
> predictors of incident dementia.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 107-120 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000313757200012
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> Neuropsychological Performance and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Subtypes and Symptom Dimensions
>
> Authors:
> Nikolas, MA; Nigg, JT
>
> Source:
> *NEUROPSYCHOLOGY*, 27 (1):107-120; JAN 2013
>
> Abstract:
> Objective: Characterization of clinical heterogeneity in
> attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) remains controversial.
> Neuropsychological and cognitive studies provide one type of validation
> data, but too often have considered only a narrow range of functional
> domains. Method: The current study examined ADHD subtype and
> presentation differences across a broad range of neurocognitive domains
> in a large clinically characterized, community-recruited sample of 498
> youth (213 control, 107 ADHD-primarily inattentive [ADHD-PI], 137
> ADHD-combined [ADHD-C]), ages 6-17 years. Domains assessed included
> inhibition, working memory, arousal, processing speed, response
> variability, and temporal information processing. Results: Youth with
> ADHD-C performed worse than youth with ADHD-PI in all domains,
> consistent with a severity model. Performance among a subgroup with a
> "restrictive inattentive" presentation indicated potential deficits in
> processing speed relative to other ADHD-PI youth, but no other effects.
> When all measures were included in the same model, cognitive control
> (executive functions, working memory, and memory span), arousal, and
> response variability each provided uniquely incremental statistical
> prediction of specific symptom dimensions and of subtype/presentation,
> but temporal information processing and processing speed did not.
> Conclusion: Results suggest the potential to consolidate multiple
> neurocognitive theories of ADHD, and that such consolidation will apply
> across putative clinical subtypes or presentations.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 121-131 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000313757200013
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation Influences Syntactic Processing in Children With Developmental Language Disorders
>
> Authors:
> Przybylski, L; Bedoin, N; Krifi-Papoz, S; Herbillon, V; Roch, D;
> Leculier, L; Kotz, SA; Tillmann, B
>
> Source:
> *NEUROPSYCHOLOGY*, 27 (1):121-131; JAN 2013
>
> Abstract:
> Objective: Children with developmental language disorders have been
> shown to be impaired not only in language processing (including syntax),
> but also in rhythm and meter perception. Our study tested the influence
> of external rhythmic auditory stimulation (i.e., musical rhythm) on
> syntax processing in children with specific language impairment (SLI;
> Experiment 1A) and dyslexia (Experiment 1B). Method: Children listened
> to either regular or irregular musical prime sequences followed by
> blocks of grammatically correct and incorrect sentences. They were
> required to perform grammaticality judgments for each auditorily
> presented sentence. Results: Performance of all children (SLI, dyslexia,
> and controls) in the grammaticality judgments was better after regular
> prime sequences than after irregular prime sequences, as shown by d'
> data. The benefit of the regular prime was stronger for SLI children
> (partial eta(2) = .34) than for dyslexic children (partial eta(2) =
> .14), who reached higher performance levels. Conclusion: Together with
> previous findings on deficits in temporal processing and sequencing, as
> well as with the recent proposition of a temporal sampling (oscillatory)
> framework for developmental language disorders (U. A. Goswami, 2011,
> Temporal sampling framework for developmental dyslexia, Trends in
> Cognitive Sciences, Vol. 15, pp. 3-10), our results point to potential
> avenues in using rhythmic structures (even in nonverbal materials) to
> boost linguistic structure processing.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 132-140 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000313757200014
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> Effortful and Automatic Cognitive Inhibition in Adults With Tourette's Syndrome
>
> Authors:
> Drury, H; Stern, J; Wilkinson, V; Parikh, N; Channon, S
>
> Source:
> *NEUROPSYCHOLOGY*, 27 (1):132-140; JAN 2013
>
> Abstract:
> Objective: Inhibition has been widely investigated in Tourette's
> syndrome (TS), but some inhibitory processes have received more
> attention than others. This study examined the relatively
> underresearched construct of cognitive inhibition in adults with TS and
> no comorbidities (TS-alone), using tasks thought to tap automatic
> (without conscious intent) and effortful (with deliberate intent)
> inhibitory processes. Method: Adult participants with TS-alone (n = 20)
> and healthy controls (n = 21) were compared on a retrieval-induced
> forgetting task thought to tap automatic cognitive inhibition and a
> directed forgetting task thought to tap effortful cognitive inhibition.
> Both tasks involved effortful memory as well as the key inhibitory
> effects. Results: Both the TS-alone and control groups showed typical
> inhibitory effects on both tasks, but the TS-alone group showed
> generally poorer effortful memory on both tasks. Conclusions: The
> findings appear to indicate intact cognitive inhibition in adults with
> TS-alone, with some evidence of impairment in effortful processing. This
> highlights the importance of using tasks related to different inhibitory
> processes to explore cognitive performance in TS-alone, and suggests
> that any inhibitory impairment associated with TS-alone is mild and
> relatively circumscribed.
>

No comments: