Backward Digit Span Task Research Articles

Sentido numérico, memoria de trabajo y RAN: una aproximación longitudinal al desarrollo típico y atípico de niños chilenos

The present study examined the contribution of working memory and Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) to growth trajectories in number processing, measured using Curriculum-based Measurement (CBM). Participants were two groups of first grade children; one group were at risk of developing mathematics disabilities (MLD-at-risk, n=32), and the other included typically developing (non-MLD, n=32) children. Of all the cognitive measures, backward digit span (BDS) tasks and RAN-Letter made significant contributions to differentiating group performance. RAN-Letter provided differentiation of groups, and BDS provided differentiation of the growth rates of both groups in number processing skills. These results highlight the relevance of RAN and BDS for the development of number processing skills in first grade, especially for MLD-at-risk children. BDS is therefore a very important task to be measured during the early stages of mathematics instruction, because it predicts deficits in development of number skills.

Number Sense Abilities, Working Memory and RAN: A Longitudinal Approximation of Typical and Atypical Development in Chilean Children

The present study examined the contribution of working memory and Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) to growth trajectories in number processing, measured using Curriculum-based Measurement (CBM). Participants were two groups of first grade children; one group were at risk of developing mathematics disabilities (MLD-at-risk, n=32), and the other included typically developing (non-MLD, n=32) children. Of all the cognitive measures, backward digit span (BDS) tasks and RAN-Letter made significant contributions to differentiating group performance. RAN-Letter provided differentiation of groups, and BDS provided differentiation of the growth rates of both groups in number processing skills. These results highlight the relevance of RAN and BDS for the development of number processing skills in first grade, especially for MLD-at-risk children. BDS is therefore a very important task to be measured during the early stages of mathematics instruction, because it predicts deficits in development of number skills.

Temporal Aspects of Memory: A Comparison of Memory Performance, Processing Speed and Time Estimation Between Young and Older Adults.

Cognitive abilities are often reported to decline across the lifespan, particularly when assessed with working memory (WM) measures such as the auditory backward digit span and complex N-back tasks. However, some debate still exists regarding which aspects of cognition are most susceptible to the aging process and which may remain intact. Additionally, time estimation, though a complex psychological dimension, is often studied in relative isolation and is particularly neglected in traditional studies of WM, with little research from the viewpoint of retrospective temporal estimation. In particular, research seldom considers whether the ability to accurately estimate time retrospectively, is correlated with performance on traditional memory and processing speed measures in healthy populations. Thus, we chose to investigate performance of comparably educated young and older adult groups on both classical memory tasks including auditory and visual digit spans, N-back, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)-based measures of processing speed (i.e., Symbol Search [SS] and Coding [Cod]) and a temporal measure of WM with a focus on retrospective time estimation. Our sample included 66 university students (58 F, 8 M) between the ages of 18–29, and 33 university-educated healthy older adults (25 F, 8 M) between the ages of 60–81. Results indicated that older adults performed significantly worse on auditory but not the visual digit span tasks, as well as on both the SS and Cod, though performed equally well on the N = 1 back task. Results also showed that retrospective time estimation was not significantly different between young and older adults, with both groups substantially underestimating duration of a simple task. Retrospective time estimation was not significantly correlated to any memory or processing speed measure, emphasizing the need for future research into the specific cognitive domains underlying the subjective estimation of a temporal interval.

Trisensory backward digit span in middlehood

The present study was designed to investigate whether trisensory (auditory, vision and touch) presentation of backward digit span (BDS) tasks could enhance the BDS and this measurement varied in terms of increasing ages. To this end, 20 subjects with ages ranging from 47 to 53 were presented three lists of numbers containing 10 numbers each with vision, auditory and touch and instructed to recall the numbers in reverse order as these ones were presented. An assessment of the BDS tasks found 3.35 as the mean of BDS that was accepted as normal in line with the Osterweil, Mulford, Syndulko and Martin’s studies (1994) but less that of Hester, Kinsella and Ong”s studies (2004) suggesting no further enhancement in BDS. These findings were discussed in terms of age, education and physiological basis of human beings.

Of cricket chirps and car horns: The effect of nature sounds on cognitive performance.

Attention restoration theory (ART) posits that stimuli found in nature may restore directed attention functioning by reducing demands on the endogenous attention system. In the present experiment, we assessed whether nature-related cognitive benefits extended to auditory presentations of nature, a topic that has been understudied. To assess directed attention, we created a composite measure consisting of a backward digit span task and a dual n-back task. Participants completed these cognitive measures and an affective questionnaire before and after listening to and aesthetically judging either natural or urban soundscapes (between-participants). Relative to participants who were exposed to urban soundscapes, we observed significant improvements in cognitive performance for individuals exposed to nature. Urban soundscapes did not systematically affect performance either adversely or beneficially. Natural sounds did not differentially change positive or negative affect, despite these sounds being aesthetically preferred to urban sounds. These results provide initial evidence that brief experiences with natural sounds can improve directed attention functioning in a single experimental session.

Cognitive Strategies and Natural Environments Interact in Influencing Executive Function.

Exposure to natural environments and the adoption of specific cognitive strategies are each claimed to have a direct influence on executive mental functioning. Here we manipulate both factors to help determine whether they draw on common cognitive resources. Three experiments investigated links between environmental effects (nature vs. urban video tours) and strategic effects (active vs. passive instructional approaches to the task). Each experiment used a pretest-posttest design and assessed executive mental functioning using a backward digit span task and Raven's progressive matrices. Experiment 1 manipulated participants' cognitive strategy through explicit instructions in order to establish a link between cognitive strategy and executive mental functioning. Experiment 2 used a pair of 10-min video tours (urban, nature) to examine the relationship between environmental exposure and executive mental function on the same tasks, replicating previous findings with the backward digit span task and extended them to a new task (i.e., Raven's progressive matrices). In Experiment 3, these two manipulations were combined to explore the relations between them. The results showed that the nature video tour attenuated the influence of task instructions relative to the urban video tour. An interaction between environmental video exposure and cognitive strategy was found, in that effects of cognitive strategy on executive function were smaller in the nature video condition than in the urban video condition. This suggests that brief exposure to nature had a direct positive influence on executive mental functioning.

Effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on postoperative cognitive dysfunction in elderly patients undergoing general anesthesia

Objective To evaluate the effect of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy on postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) in elderly patients undergoing general anesthesia. Methods A total of 112 patients, aged 65-75 yr, of American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status Ⅱ or Ⅲ, undergoing elective non-cardiac surgery with general anesthesia, were randomly divided into control group (C group, n=54) and HBO group (n=58). Patients were exposed to hyperbaric oxygen in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber once a day from day 3 to day 12 after surgery in both groups.Pressure was slowly increased to 2 atmosphere absolute within 20 min, pure oxygen was inhaled for 35 min by mask, 5 min later pure oxygen was inhaled for another 35 min, oxygen inhalation was then stopped and pressure was slowly increased to 1 atmosphere absolute in HBO group.Patients inhaled air at 1 atmosphere absolute for 70 min in C group.Cognitive function score was assessed using Mini-Mental State Examination, language ability test, visual identification function test, digit span backwards task and Hasegawa′s Dementia Scale (HDS) at 2 days before surgery and 7 and 13 days after surgery.The development of POCD was recorded. Results Compared with the baseline at 2 days before surgery, language ability test, digit span backwards task and HDS scores were significantly decreased at 7 and 13 days after surgery in C group, and digit span backwards task scores were significantly decreased at 7 days after surgery in HBO group(P<0.05 or 0.01). The language ability test and HDS scores were significantly higher, and the incidence of POCD was lower at 7 and 13 days after surgery in HBO group than in C group (P<0.05). Conclusion HBO therapy can reduce POCD in elderly patients undergoing general anesthesia. Key words: Hyperbaric oxygen; Aged; Anesthesia, general; Cognitive disorders

Development of hot and cool executive functions in middle childhood: Three-year growth curves of decision making and working memory updating

Although middle childhood is an important period for the development of hot and cool executive functions (EFs), longitudinal studies investigating trajectories of childhood EF development are still limited and little is known about predictors for individual developmental trajectories. The current study examined the development of two typical facets of cool and hot EFs over a 3-year period during middle childhood, comparing a younger cohort (6- and 7-year-olds at the first wave [T1]; n = 621) and an older cohort (8- and 9-year-olds at T1; n = 975) of children. “Cool” working memory updating (WM) was assessed using a backward digit span task, and “hot” decision making (DM) was assessed using a child variant of the Iowa Gambling Task. Linear latent growth curve analyses revealed evidence for developmental growth as well as interindividual variance in the initial level and rate of change in both EF facets. Initial level of WM was positively associated with age (both between and within cohorts), socioeconomic status, verbal ability, and processing speed, whereas initial levels of DM were, in addition to a (potentially age-related) cohort effect, exclusively predicted by gender, with boys outperforming girls. None of the variables predicted the rate of change, that is, the developmental trajectories. However, younger children, as compared with older children, had slightly steeper WM growth curves over time, hinting at a leveling off in the development of WM during middle childhood. In sum, these data add important evidence to the understanding of hot and cool EF development during middle childhood.

Anatomical predictors of cognitive decline after subthalamic stimulation in Parkinson's disease.

We investigated whether pre-operative MRI measures of focal brain atrophy could predict cognitive decline occurring after deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). For that purpose, we prospectively collected data of 42 consecutive patients with PD who underwent bilateral STN-DBS. Normalized brain structure volumes and cortical thicknesses were measured on pre-operative T1-weighted MRI. Patients were tested for their cognitive performances before surgery and 1 year after. After controlling for age, gender, pre-operative disease severity, change in dopaminomimetic dose after surgery and contact location, we found correlations: (1) between the variation of the total Mattis dementia rating scale (MDRS) score and left lateral ventricle volume (p = 0.032), (2) between the variation of the initiation/perseveration subscore of the MDRS and the left nucleus accumbens volume (p = 0.042) and the left lateral ventricle volume (p = 0.017) and (3) between the variation of the backward digit-span task and the right and left superior frontal gyrus thickness (p = 0.004 and p = 0.007, respectively). Left nucleus accumbens atrophy was associated with decline in the initiation/perseveration subscore with the largest effect size (d = - 1.64). Pre-operative left nucleus accumbens volume strongly predicted postoperative decline in the initiation/attention subscore (AUC = 0.92, p < 0.001, 96.3% sensitivity, 80.0% specificity, 92.9% PPV and 92.9% NPV). We conclude that the morphometric measures of brain atrophy usually associated with cognitive impairment in PD can also explain or predict a part of cognitive decline after bilateral STN-DBS. In particular, the left accumbens nucleus volume could be considered as a promising marker for guiding surgical decisions.

Cognitive Profile of Individuals With Obsessive-Compulsive Tendencies

Abstract The aim of this study is to compare working memory capacity (WMC), short-term memory (STM), and attention mechanisms of executive function (including inhibition, shifting, and updating) between people with obsessive-compulsive tendencies (OCT) and controls without OCT. For this purpose, 164 undergraduate students (90 women and 74 men) were selected using the stratified random method, and they individually responded to the Maudsley Obsessional-Compulsive Inventory to measure OCT and to executive function tests including Forward Digit Span, Backward Digit Span, Stroop, Set Shifting, and Keep Track tasks. These tasks assessed STM, WMC, and inhibition of prepotent responses, mental set shifting, and information updating and monitoring, respectively. In this study, the cutoff point of the Maudsley Obsessional-Compulsive Inventory was considered to be 11. With regard to this cutoff point, 44 people in the group had OCT and 120 did not. The obtained results from the Pearson correlation coefficient and analysis of variance showed that students with OCT had significantly limited STM and WMC compared with those in the control group. Furthermore, their executive function abilities including shifting, updating, and inhibition were significantly weaker than those in the control group.

Hemodynamic responses in prefrontal cortex and personality characteristics in patients with bulimic disorders: a near-infrared spectroscopy study.

This study sought to identify the prefrontal cortex hemodynamic response that is dependent on cognitive performance in patients with bulimic disorders (BD), and investigate its association with personality characteristics. Nineteen female patients with BD and 23 healthy women were recruited. Their personality characteristics related to eating disorders were examined using a self-reporting questionnaire, namely the eating disorder inventory-2 (EDI-2). Cerebral blood flow response in the prefrontal cortex during the digit span backward task (DSBT) was measured using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Change in oxygenated hemoglobin concentration (ΔoxyHb), obtained using NIRS, were used as an index of brain activity. Further, the relationship between prefrontal cortical activity and personality characteristics was investigated in patients with BD. The cognitive performance of patients with BD was significantly lower in the DSBT compared with healthy subjects. There was no difference between the groups in ΔoxyHb during the task. Task scores of patients with BD correlated with asceticism and perfectionism. Moreover, the asceticism score was negatively correlated with ΔoxyHb of the bilateral prefrontal cortex in patients with BD. The results suggest that cognitive performance and brain activity induced during DSBT might be affected by asceticism in BD patients. III, case-controlstudy.

Enhancing Working Memory Capacity in Persian Cochlear Implanted Children: A Clinical Trial Study.

Sensory deprivations such as hearing impairment that affect sensory input have a secondary impact on cognitive functions such as working memory (WM). WM capacity is an important cognitive component that processes language-related activities. Moreover, several studies have shown a deficit in WM in children with a cochlear implant (CI). We aimed to assess the performance of children with CIs in pre- and post-training sessions and compare their scores on a battery of WM tests to investigate the efficacy of a WM training program. Twenty-five children aged 7-10 years with a CI participated in this study. To train their WM, a computer game was used. In order to examine auditory WM, a test battery including standardized digit span (forward and backward variations), non-word and sentence repetition (subtest of the Test of Language Development-Primary) were assessed in pre- and post-training test sessions at Shiraz Implant Center. There were statistically significant differences between pre- and post-training test scores on all subtests. Test score differences were statistically significant for forward digit span (P=0.003), backward digit span (P=0.001), non-word repetition (P=0.001), and sentence repetition tasks (P=0.003) before and after training sessions. Training may enhance WM capacity. With regards to the importance of WM in literacy and learning, it seems applying such intervention programs may be helpful in the rehabilitation of implanted children.

Working memory and intelligence quotient: Which best predicts on school achievement?

Working memory (WM) refers to ability to store and manipulate information for a period of time. There is evidence of a close relationship between WM and learning. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between WM, intelligence quotient (IQ) on school achievement. Individual neuropsychological assessment was conducted following a specific protocol. The study included 227 children aged 7 to 12 years (M = 9.87, SD = 1.34), of which 119 were females, from private and public schools in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. The data analysis included descriptive and inferential statistics. Academic achievement was evaluated using the Academic Performance Test (TDE), with subtests in reading, writing and arithmetic. The components of WM were evaluated using backward and forward Digit Span tasks and the backward and forward Corsi block-tapping task. The estimated IQ was assessed using tasks vocabularies and block design of the Wechsler scales. The statistical tests used were linear regression analysis (stepwise) and Pearson correlation. The results showed that the best predictors of academic performance were Digit Span Forward, Corsi Block Backward and Digit Span Backward task. The hypothesis of non-multicollinearity was tested, and it was verified that the constructs were independent (VIF &lt; 10 and Tolerance &gt; 0.20). The variance in academic performance explained by WM model was ΔR = 0.36. High and significant correlations were observed between the components of WM and the TDE. The WM score (Digit Span Backward + Corsi Block Backward) and the TDE were correlated (r = 0.54**). These results indicate that WM is a good predictor of academic achievement than IQ and are consistent with other findings showing WM as a predictor of learning or the potential for learning. This result has important implications for education, particularly with respect to intervention.

Neurocognitive Endophenotypes of Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder and Possible Associations with FKBP Variant rs3800373.

Introduction:Schizophrenia(SCZ) and Bipolar disorder (BD) are frequently occurring and impairing disorders that affect around 1% of the population. Important endophenotypes in the genetic research of SCZ and BD are cognitive functions. Core symptoms for SCZ and BD are impairments in working memory, declarative memory and attention, all of which fulfill the criteria for an endophenotype. The FK506 Binding Protein 5 (FKBP5) gene codes for a co-chaperone of the glucocorticoid receptor and has been reported to be associated with cognition.Aim:The aims of our research were to determine the degree of cognitive impairment in patients suffering from SCZ and BD and to explore the association of the FKBP5 variant rs3800373 genotype with the cognitive endophenotypes.Material and Methods:Patients and healthy controls were recruited over a period of two years from the Psychiatric Clinic, Clinical Center University of Sarajevo. Genotyping and neuropsychological assessments were performed for 263 subjects (129 SCZ, 53 BD, and 81 healthy controls [HC]). Neuropsychological assessments were performed for all patients with the Trail Making Test-A&B (TMT-A&B) and Digit-span forward&backwards tasks. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs3800373 in the FKBP5 gene was genotyped using Infinium PsychArray Bead Chips.Results and Conclusion:SCZ and BD patients performed lower than HC in the TMT-A&B and in the Digit-span backwards task, while no differences were observed between SCZ and BD patients. While SCZ patients performed lower than HC in the Digit-span forwards task, there were no differences between BD and HC or between BD and SCZ. Rs 3800373 was not associated with performance in the TMT-A&B or Digit-span forwards&backwards tasks. SCZ and BD share largely overlapping neurocognitive characteristics. Rs3800373 was not associated with performance in the neuropsychological tests. However, given the limited sample size, the results do not exclude an association with the rs3800373 variant in a larger sample. Furthermore, as the analysis was limited to one SNP, the results cannot be generalized to other genetic variants in FKBP5.

Efficacy of cognitive stimulation therapy for older adults with vascular dementia.

ABSTRACT.Background:Cognitive stimulation therapy (CST) is an evidence-based psychosocial intervention for people with mild-to-moderate dementia due to various etiological factors.Objective:The aim of the present study was to assess the efficacy of the CST program, Italian adaptation -CST-IT-, in individuals who have vascular dementia (VaD).Methods:Older adults with mild-to-moderate VaD (N = 35) were assigned to one of two programs: one group (N = 21) attended the 14 sessions of the CST-IT program, while the other, active control group (N = 14) took part in alternative activities. The following domains were examined: cognitive functioning, quality of life, mood, behavior, functional activities of daily living.Results:Compared with the active controls, the CST-IT group showed a greater improvement in general cognitive functioning after the intervention (i.e. score increase on the Mini-Mental State Examination and decrease on the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale – Cognitive subscale). A trend towards improvement was also identified in short-term/working memory – the backward digit span task- and perceived quality of life (Quality of Life – Alzheimer's Disease scale). No significant differences emerged between the two groups for the other domains considered.Conclusion:The present results support the efficacy of CST in people with vascular dementia.

The Relations between Television Exposure and Executive Function in Chinese Preschoolers: The Moderated Role of Parental Mediation Behaviors.

The present study examined the relations between preschoolers’ television exposure and executive functions (EF). One hundred and nineteen 3- to 6-year-old children and their parents participated. Parents filled in a questionnaire regarding children’s television viewing time, television content and parental mediation behaviors about their child’s television viewing. The children were asked to finish six EF tasks, including the backward digit span task, the spatial span task, the boy–girl Stroop, the Simon task, the flanker task and the Tower of Hanoi task that assessed working memory, inhibition and planning, respectively. Children’s vocabulary was tested using Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, and included as control variables in addition to socioeconomic status of the participated families. The results showed that television viewing time and child-directed educational programs were positively associated with EF. In addition, television content fully mediated the effect of television viewing time on EF and parental restrictive approach strategies moderated the effect of television viewing time on EF.

Working memory span in Persian-speaking children with speech sound disorders and normal speech development

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to compare working memory span in Persian-speaking preschool children with speech sound disorder (SSD) and their typically speaking peers. Additionally, the study aimed to examine Non-Word Repetition (NWR), Forward Digit Span (FDS) and Backward Digit Span (BDS) in four groups of children with varying severity levels of SSD. MethodsThe participants in this study comprised 35 children with SSD and 35 typically developing (TD) children -matched for age and sex-as a control group. The participants were between the age range of 48 and 72 months. Two components of working memory including phonological loop and central executive were compared between two groups. We used two tasks (NWR and FDS) to assess phonological loop component, and one task (BDS) to assess central executive component. Percentage of correct consonants (PCC) was used to calculate the severity of SSD. ResultsSignificant differences were observed between the two groups in all tasks that assess working memory (p < 0.001). In addition, the comparison of the phonological loop of working memory between the various severity groups indicated significant differences between different severities of both NWR and FDS tasks among the SSD children (p < 0.001). Nevertheless, comparison of the central executive between various severity groups, which was assessed with the BDS task, did not show any significant differences (p > 0.05). The result showed that PCC scores in TD children were associated with NWR (p < 0.001), FDS (p = 0.001), and BDS (p < 0.001). Furthermore, PCC scores in SSD children were associated with NWR and FDS (p < 0.001), but not with BDS (p > 0.05). ConclusionThe working memory skills were weaker in SSD children, in comparison to TD children. In addition, children with varying levels of severity of SSD differed in terms of NWR and FSD, but not BDS.

STOPPING OF TASK-SWITCHING IN PATIENTS WITH OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER (OCD)

Introduction Inhibition and attentional switching both play central role in theorizing about cognitive impairments in OCD. The aim of the present study was to investigate inhibition and shifting abilities within a single experimental task. A new ‘inhibition-of-switching’ task was designed with minimal memory load suitable for patients under medication. The goal of this task was to simulate a real life situation, where following consecutive successful execution of a simple algorithm, participants need to change to another algorithm in order to respond adequately to new stimuli configurations. However, a further difficulty could be if the response must be inhibited for the same stimuli configuration on the next encounter with it. We hypothesized that OCD patients along with slower switching performance, will have difficulties in inhibiting previously adequate switching responses, making more false alarm type errors. Methods Twenty-six properly diagnosed OCD patients and twenty-six healthy adults matched in age and education undertook an inhibition-of-switching task in two conditions. 1) Single task condition: two digits appeared on a computer screen, and subjects had to press the right or the left-arrow key under the bigger number, and 2) Secondary task conditions: here the participants’ primary task was identical with the single task condition, whereas their secondary task was to press the up-arrow key if the two presented digits were identical. Furthermore, participants had an inhibition rule for the secondary task, they needed to respond only on every second time encountering with identical digits. To assess the memory performance, subjects completed the Digit Span Forward and Backward Tasks and the Prospective Retrospective Memory Questionnaire (PRMQ). Statistical analyses were performed using mixed analysis of variance and two-tailed t-tests. Results We found that secondary task instruction produced significantly more cost in terms of reaction time during the execution of primary task for OCD patients compared to a healthy control group. However, there was no difference in switching cost in terms of reaction time between the two groups, suggesting that OCD patients had no difficulty with changing one stimuli-based response algorithm to another one. Additionally, OCD patients made significantly more false alarm type errors in the secondary task, and there was a significant positive correlation between the number of false alarm type errors and the prospective memory subscale scores of the PRMQ in the OCD group. Conclusion These results suggest that OCD patients experience difficulties during inhibition-of-switching task, and here we propose that these difficulties originate from over-monitoring of secondary task stimuli during execution of primary task and disinhibition of activated out-of-date responses. We argue that over-activated intentions go together with a response inhibition deficit, and these two factors together contribute to the higher rate of perseverative errors.

Effects of language impairment and bilingualism across domains

Abstract Purpose: This study examined the effects of language impairment (LI) and bilingualism across vocabulary, morphology and verbal memory in a sample of children learning Dutch. Methods: Children (MAGE = 71 months) were assigned to a monolingual group with typical development (TD) (n = 30), bilingual TD (n = 30), monolingual LI (n = 30) or bilingual LI group (n = 30). Vocabulary was measured with the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, morphology with the Taaltoets Alle Kinderen, verbal short-term (VSTM) and working memory (VWM) with forward and backward digit span tasks. Results: Language knowledge (vocabulary, morphology) was affected by LI and bilingualism. Language processing (VSTM, VWM) was influenced by LI only. When language knowledge was controlled, the bilinguals outperformed the monolinguals on VSTM and VWM when TD and LI were collapsed. Bilingualism aggravated the effects of LI for vocabulary. Conclusions: Bilingualism may create a risk for the vocabulary knowledge of children with LI, but might be beneficial for their verbal memory.

Compromised order processing in Alzheimer's dementia demonstrated by cortical thickness, DTI and rsfMRI

Event Abstract Back to Event Compromised order processing in Alzheimer's dementia demonstrated by cortical thickness, DTI and rsfMRI Maya De Belder1*, Jean-Philippe Van Dijck1, Hannelore Aerts1, Patrick Santens2, Anne Sieben2, Fabrizio Doricchi3 and Wim Fias1 1 Ghent University, Belgium 2 Ghent University Hospital, Belgium 3 Sapienza University of Rome, Italy Executive dysfunction observed in patients with Alzheimer’s dementia is commonly attributed to higher order working memory (WM) processes. The mental representation of serial order is one of the essential components represented in serial verbal WM and is crucial for smooth daily life functioning (e.g., cooking, memorising a phone number). It remains unclear to what extent these serial constructions are affected in Alzheimer’s dementia and which brain structures are essentially involved to successfully represent order. The data of 18 patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s dementia and 13 healthy elderly controls was collected. They were submitted to a neuropsychological test battery, having to perform a Backward Digit Span (BDS) task, Forward Digit span (FDS) and Corsi Block (CB) test, from which an order-measure was calculated to investigate order-specific regional alterations in the brain. The order-measure was associated with following subjects’ brain data; anatomical information by T1, white matter integrity using the fractional anisotropy (FA) maps of diffusion tensor images and connectivity measures derived from resting state networks. Overall, the results of the analyses revealed the affected brain structures demonstrating the order-specific representational problems observed in Alzheimer’s. More specifically, order-problems within WM are associated with specific alterations in the brain; mainly localised in frontal and parietal regions, fronto-parietal and fronto-temporal white matter tracts Keywords: Alzheimer Disease, working memory, serial order, DTI, RsfMRI, cortical thickness Conference: 12th National Congress of the Belgian Society for Neuroscience, Gent, Belgium, 22 May - 22 May, 2017. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Disorders of the Nervous System Citation: De Belder M, Van Dijck J, Aerts H, Santens P, Sieben A, Doricchi F and Fias W (2019). Compromised order processing in Alzheimer's dementia demonstrated by cortical thickness, DTI and rsfMRI. Front. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: 12th National Congress of the Belgian Society for Neuroscience. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2017.94.00113 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 18 Apr 2017; Published Online: 25 Jan 2019. * Correspondence: Mrs. Maya De Belder, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium, maya.debelder@gmail.com Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Maya De Belder Jean-Philippe Van Dijck Hannelore Aerts Patrick Santens Anne Sieben Fabrizio Doricchi Wim Fias Google Maya De Belder Jean-Philippe Van Dijck Hannelore Aerts Patrick Santens Anne Sieben Fabrizio Doricchi Wim Fias Google Scholar Maya De Belder Jean-Philippe Van Dijck Hannelore Aerts Patrick Santens Anne Sieben Fabrizio Doricchi Wim Fias PubMed Maya De Belder Jean-Philippe Van Dijck Hannelore Aerts Patrick Santens Anne Sieben Fabrizio Doricchi Wim Fias Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.