Bender-Gestalt Research Articles

Neuropsychiatric complications after liver transplantation

Background Neuropsychiatric complications are responsible for significant mortality and morbidity after liver transplantation (LT). Objective The aim of this study was to detect the neuropsychiatric complications after LT, and to identify any possible relationship between these complications and certain perioperative risk factors. Materials and Methods The study was performed on 35 patients admitted in the National Liver Institute, Menoufiya University, who underwent LT. Patients were assessed 2 weeks preoperatively and followed up for 3 months postoperatively. Preoperatively, clinical assessment, mini mental state examination, Bender–Gestalt test, trail making test, structured clinical interview for DSM-IV axis I disorders scale, assessment using the hospital anxiety depression scale, laboratory tests for hepatic disease and comorbidities, cerebral computerized tomography and/or MRI, carotid duplex and electroencephalography were carried out. Intraoperatively, assessment of warm and cold ischemia time, operative time, and blood transfusion was carried out. Postoperatively, clinical examination, mini mental state examination, Bender–Gestalt test, trail making test, assessment with the structured clinical interview for DSM-IV axis I disorders scale and the hospital anxiety depression scale, brain imaging, electroencephalography, nerve conduction studies, and electromyogram were carried out. Results Postoperatively, neurological complications were detected in 13 (37.1%) patients in the form of central complications, such as encephalopathy, seizures, and cerebrovascular strokes, and peripheral neuropathies. However, psychiatric complications were detected in 15 (42.9%) patients in the form of cognitive disorders, maladjustment, anxiety disorders, major depressive disorders, and brief psychotic episode. Conclusion This work showed that, in adult patients undergoing living donor LT, there was a relevant variety of neurological and psychiatric complications, which represented significant causes of postoperative morbidity and should be diagnosed and managed early.

A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Oral Midazolam -N2O Versus Oral Ketamine - N2O in Pediatric Patients-An in-Vivo Study.

Most children are casual and moderately agreeable in the dental treatment environment, however some of them show practices that upset the professional and make the protected conveyance of worthy treatment extremely troublesome. For such cases dental practitioner utilizes behavior management techniques. At the point when behavioral administration procedures come up short, some type of pharmacologic sedation or anesthesia may be an important and vital option. Dental sedation is a strategy in which the utilization of a medication or drugs produce(s) a condition of depression of the central sensory system empowering treatment to be completed during which verbal contact with the patient is kept up all through the time of sedation. This study was designed to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of oral midazolam and oral ketamine in combination with N2O-O2 in children undergoing dental treatment. This study involved a sample of 30 pediatric dental patients (age range is 3-9 years), whose selection criteria included ASA I & II health status, cooperative but apprehensive behavior and a need for multiple dental extractions. The patients were assigned to receive oral midazolam on their first visit and on the follow up visit they received oral ketamine. Nitrous oxide (30%) was used during each sedation visit. Physiological parameters like Respiratory Rate (RR), pulse rate, and oxygen saturation were evaluated for each procedure, followed by the use of modified Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test to evaluate psychomotor effects. Data were analyzed using Independent sample student t -test. Analysis of the data showed statistically no significant difference (p >0.05) on comparison of effectiveness of oral midazolam-N2O with oral ketamine-N2O when pulse rate, oxygen saturation and respiratory rate were taken into consideration. Psychomotor performance was found to be marginally better with oral midazolam-N2O compared to oral ketamine-N2O. Both the drugs were effective in reducing the patient anxiety while undergoing dental extractions. Though the t-test results were not statistically significant with respect to physiological parameters. Oral midazolam-N2O showed marginally better results compared to oral ketamine-N2O with respect to psychomotor effects.

An Exploratory Study of the Bender Gestalt Test for Japanese Junior High School Students

An Exploratory Study of the Bender Gestalt Test for Japanese Junior High School Students

Top Ten Standardized Tests Used Internationally With Children and Youth by School Psychologists in 64 Countries

This article provides a 24-year update on the 10 standardized tests used most frequently with children and youth by school psychologists. Data were acquired from 64 countries through an international survey, with one respondent from each country. The informants were solicited due to their expertise in the area of assessment. The data from the current 2013 survey are described and discussed as well as contrasted with the 1989 survey data. The 2013 survey data led to the following rank order of tests based on data from the 64 countries: the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children, Ravens Progressive Matrices, Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scales of Intelligence, Child Behavior Checklist, Bender–Gestalt Test, Child and Adult Apperception Tests, Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Draw-a-Person Test, Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scales, and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales. Survey data from advanced, developing, and emerging counties also are compared and discussed. Results are discussed in the broader context of international test development and use.

AUTOMATED SYNTAX ANALYSES OF DRAWING TWO TANGENT PATTERNS IN CHILDREN WITH LOW AND AVERAGE HANDWRITING ABILITY (.).

Sequential strategies of digitized tablet drawings by 6-7-yr.-old children (N = 203) of average and below-average handwriting ability were analyzed. A Beery Visual Motor Integration (BVMI) and a Bender-Gestalt (BG) pattern, each composed of two tangential shapes, were predefined into area sectors for automatic analysis and adaptive mapping of the drawings. Girls more often began on the left side and used more strokes than boys. The below-average handwriting group showed more directional diversity and idiosyncratic strategies.

Beating the Odds: Intact Neuropsychological Functioning despite TLE

Patients with Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) frequently display cognitive comorbidity and can have widespread network abnormalities, which might affect a variety of cognitive and intellectual functions. As a result, refractory TLE seems to be associated with slow but ongoing cognitive deterioration. The case is of a 32 year old, right handed male, engineering graduate, diagnosed with TLE- right mesial, 12 years ago. A number of head injuries were caused due to the seizure present, which includes a fall from height of 12 feet in childhood. The neuropsychological tests administered were Gesell's Drawing Test, Mini Mental State Examination, PGI Memory Scale, Battery of Performance Tests of Intelligence, Verbal Adult Intelligence Scale, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test and Dysfunction Analysis Questionnaire. No impairment found on orientation; average cognitive functioning; above average attention and concentration, verbal working memory, visual and verbal memory; average practical ability, abstract ability, average verbal intellectual ability; superior ability on comprehension and average performance ability. Mild to moderate impairment on perceptuo-motor functioning and an evidence of depression were present. Patient showed high dysfunction in personal, social, vocational and cognitive areas. The study highlights that even despite chronic epilepsy, with a series of head injuries due to the seizures; an individual can still have average neuropsychological abilities. Holistic neuropsychological rehabilitation along with Vocational Retraining would go a long way in the functional independence of the patient. Neuropsychologists have a significant role in the assessment, treatment, and rehabilitation of people with epilepsy.

Impaired visual information processing in alcohol-dependent subjects: a proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study of the primary visual cortex.

Chronic alcoholism is associated with impaired cognitive abilities, with a more severe deficit in visual than in verbal functions. The visual processing deficits have classically been associated with impaired function of the visual cortex, located in the occipital lobe. The present study sought to increase current understanding of the impaired visual processing abilities in alcohol-dependent subjects and their correlation with metabolic aberrations in the occipital lobe using in vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H MRS). To that end, ¹H MRS was carried out in the primary visual cortex on 35 alcohol-dependent subjects and 35 healthy controls. Neuropsychological tests for visual processing skills were performed on all the subjects, and the deficits were reported as raw dysfunction rating scores. The alcohol-dependent subjects showed a significant increase in choline/creatine (Cho/Cr) and myo-Inositol/creatine (mI/Cr) ratios, whereas N-acetyl-aspartate/creatine (NAA/Cr) and glutamate-glutamine/creatine (Glu-Gln)/Cr ratios were significantly decreased. Reductions in NAA levels might be attributed to neuronal loss, whereas reductions in Glu-Gln levels might reflect perturbation of the Glu-Gln system in alcohol-dependent individuals, which could represent a neuroprotective adaptation. Elevations in mI levels may reflect astrocyte proliferation as well as an osmotic response to cell shrinkage, whereas a significant increase in Cho levels indicates altered cell membrane metabolism. Also, a significant inverse correlation between NAA/Cr and raw dysfunction scores (rDyS) on the Nahor-Benson (NB) test and Glu-Gln/Cr with rDyS of the NB and the Bender-Gestalt (BG) test was observed, whereas a positive correlation between rDyS of the BG and the NB test and Cho/Cr was observed. The results suggest that metabolic alterations in the primary visual cortex may contribute to the neuropsychological impairment in visual information processing observed in alcohol-dependent subjects.

대인인지에 어려움을 보이는 유아의 모래상자놀이 적용 사례연구

대인인지에 어려움을 보이는 유아의 모래상자놀이 적용 사례연구

VMI-VI and BG-II KOPPITZ-2 for Youth With HFASDs and Typical Youth

The visual-motor skills of 90 youth with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASDs) and 51 typically developing (TD) youth were assessed using the Beery–Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration, Sixth Edition (VMI-VI) and Koppitz Developmental Scoring System for the Bender–Gestalt Test–Second Edition (KOPPITZ-2). Within-group comparisons (for both samples) yielded substantive mean differences between the KOPPITZ-2 composite and VMI-VI composite, Visual Perception and Motor Coordination sections of the VMI-VI, and VMI-VI composite and either VMI-VI supplemental tests. Between-group differences were assessed in a matched subsample of 33 participants from each group. The HFASD group scored significantly lower than the TD group on test sections requiring greater motor ability (i.e., VMI-VI composite, VMI-VI Motor Coordination, KOPPITZ-2 composite, and Bender–Gestalt Visual-Motor Test–Second Edition [BG-II]). Correlations between the KOPPITZ-2 composite and VMI-VI composite were .56 for the HFASD and .36 for the TD samples.

Incremental validity for the Bender Gestalt Test Modified in beginners first grade children

Avances en Psicología Latinoamericana (APL) es una revista electrónica cuatrimestral con evaluación por pares, que publica artículos en todas las áreas de la psicología. La revista se dirige a científicos y profesionales en psicología y disciplinas afines. Incluye contribuciones empíricas y teóricas originales y excepcionalmente revisiones de literatura de alta calidad. Se publican artículos escritos en español, inglés, portugués o italiano con resumen y palabras clave (obtenidas del Thesaurus de la American Psychological Association) en español e inglés. Los artículos enviados deben seguir las normas del Manual de Estilo de Publicaciones de la American Psychological Association (Sexta edición, 2010).

Clinical profiles of dementia with Lewy bodies with and without Alzheimer's disease-like hypometabolism.

It is well known that Alzheimer's disease (AD)-type pathology is commonly present in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) brains and that the degree of AD-type pathology has an influence on the clinical characteristics of DLB. Although significant hypometabolism in the temporoparietal/precuneus on [(18)F]fluoro-d-glucose ((18)F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) scans is considered to support a diagnosis of AD, some DLB patients also exhibit this metabolic pattern. The clinical significance of the metabolic pattern on DLB remains unknown. Twenty-three DLB patients, 10 AD patients, and 11 controls underwent (18)F-FDG PET scans. According to the degree of hypometabolism in the parietal/precuneus regions, representing the AD-like metabolic pattern, 12 patients were placed in the DLB-AD(+) group and 11 patients were placed in the DLB-AD(-) group. The demographics and clinical variables were compared among the four groups. In addition to the parietal/precuneus regions, the DLB-AD(+) group exhibited significantly greater posterior cingulate hypometabolism than the DLB-AD(-) group, although occipital metabolism did not differ. The prevalence of visual hallucinations and extracampine hallucinations, and the Bender-Gestalt test score were significantly higher in the DLB-AD(+) group than the DLB-AD(-) group, although there were no differences in the demographics and other examined clinical variables between the two DLB groups. These clinical differences were absent in the DLB-AD(-) group, AD group, and controls. Parietal/precuneus hypometabolism may be associated with clinical characteristics in DLB patients. Further multiple imaging modalities that are sensitive to AD-type pathology are needed to reveal the neurobiological basis of the AD-like metabolic pattern.

Learning disabilities and visual-motor skills; comparing assessment from a hapto-virtual reality tool and Bender-Gestalt test

Previous investigations conducted on post-secondary adult students with learning disabilities (LD) suggest that deficits in visual-motor skills contribute to difficulties in written expression which impact academic achievement. Intervention strategies for individuals with LD include assistive computer-based technologies (ATs) to compensate for or maximize performance. However, research fails to assess the impact of ATs on performance, learning, and motivation of students with LD. Also, one of the limitations of ATs is that they cannot be used for assessment and training and there are very few methods to assess or train visual-motor skills in this population. The present study explores the usefulness of a hapto-visual virtual reality motor skills assessment (MSA) device for visual-motor functioning in adults with and without LD. This is a preliminary step of developing an intervention to improve impaired visual-motor skills in adults with LD. A sample of 22 male and female university students with and without LD had their visual-motor skills pretested using a standard paper-and-pencil Bender-Gestalt (BG) test and were compared according to their performance on the MSA tool. We hypothesized that our LD participants’ performance would be significantly lower than our control participants on the VR task in terms of number of errors and speed. Results showed that participants without LD performed better and more rapidly on the VR task than participants with LD. There were no correlations between the BG and MSA performance. We did not find significant differences between the groups on the Bender-Gestalt scores, previous experience with video game, arousal, and mood. Our results suggest that a novel 3D virtual reality tool such as the MSA can potentially discriminate motor function of people with and without LD; however, the difference between both may also be due to a lack of problem-solving ability in LD.

Differences in the Visual Motor Development in Children: A Cross-Cultural Study

Since existing data on school frequently show disparity between indigenous and non-native students in academic achievement this research aims to face this problem monitoring objective and measurable differences between these groups in a cross cultural perspective. 177 children from different schools in Parma and La Spezia were recruited. The sample was divided into three subgroups: Italians; Italians with foreign parents; Immigrants. Children completed the performance test Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test. The “cultural context” seems to influence the results in the BVMGT. Results suggest that immigrants are grown in contexts culturally less stimulating visual-perceptual abilities and being unable to attend preschool and primary education in this country, may have affected their performance at the test. The comparison between Italians and Italians* is not significant: children born and grown in the same cultural context faced a similar training path. Regardless of intelligence or other individual characteristics, not all components of a multicultural classroom stem from the same level of skills and competencies. A simple test such as the Bender can become a useful predictive tool to identify gaps and differences between people from different cultures in order to create focused interventions

Neurocognitive Functions in Pediatric Renal Transplant Patients

Neurocognitive dysfunction is one of the major complications of chronic renal failure (CRF). Uremic state during CRF encompasses a wide spectrum of neurobehavioral and neurological disturbances. Recent studies showed that the pathophysiology of neurocognitive dysfunction in CRF is related to plasma levels of uremic solutes. Successful renal transplantation improves renal, metabolic, and endocrine functions and the quality of life. The aim of our study was to determine the state of neurocognitive function in pediatric renal transplant recipients. We prospectively performed a neurological examination and neuropsychological test battery (Bender-Gestalt Test, Cancellation Test, and Visual and Auditory Number Assay Test) in 20 pediatric renal transplant recipients between 6 and 16 years of age. Twenty healthy children and 20 children with CRF were included in the study as the control groups. Mean age of the renal transplant recipients was 13.50 ± 3.40 years old. Mean evaluation time after transplantation was 2.0 ± 0.5 years. Bender-Gestalt Test result was abnormal in 40% of patients. The results of the Cancellation Test and the Visual and Auditory Number Assay Test showed significant decline in pediatric renal transplant patients when compared with the control. We found that neurocognitive dysfunction was frequent in pediatric renal transplantation patients. Awareness of this potential problem may be helpful for early recognition and treatment. Our findings suggest that periodic neurocognitive assessments may be indicated in transplant recipients.

Correlation between errors committed by patients with bipolar disorder in Bender-Gestalt test and their pessimism and guilty conscience

Correlation between errors committed by patients with bipolar disorder in Bender-Gestalt test and their pessimism and guilty conscience

Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test in Adolescents: Relationship between Visual-Motor Development and the Tanner Stages

Visual-motor skill is fundamental to human development and is an important component of psychological evaluations. The goal of the present study was to determine whether there is a correlation between visual-motor development, as measured by the Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test (Bender test), and sexual maturity in adolescents, based on the Tanner Stages in Adolescents. 134 adolescents from 10 to 15 years of age participated in the study. The Bender test and the Raven's Progressive Matrices Test were employed. The measures were administered individually and information on sexual maturity and the presence of developmental disorders was collected from medical charts. The results of the Bender test were not affected by gender, age, schooling, or changes stemming from puberty, but were significantly affected by having repeated a school year and by developmental disorders. An association was found with Raven's scores. The Bender test proved sensitive to developmental disorders in adolescence. No association was found between visual-motor development and sexual maturity in adolescents.

The Effects of Multisensory Method and Cognitive Skills Training on Perceptual Performance and Reading Ability among Dyslexic Students in Tehran-Iran

The purpose of this research is to examine the effects of cognitive (cognitive skills training) and developmentalintervention (sensory-perceptual skills training) on performance and reading ability of dyslexic students. In thestudy 60 dyslexic students participated and they were divided into three experimental groups including 20students as the first experimental group (E1), 20 students as the second experimental group (E2), and 20 studentsas the control group (C). The effectiveness of the 16-session intervention for both E1 and E2 groups wasmeasured by Reading and Dyslexic test (RTD) as screening test at the beginning and followed by the BenderVisual Motor Gestalt Test (BVMGT) and Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure test (ROCF). The results wereanalyzed by using analysis of variance (ANOVA) to compare mean scores among the three dyslexic groups afterintervention. Findings suggest that developmental intervention significantly improves RDT, BVMGT andmemory scale of ROCF performance of dyslexic students. However, cognitive intervention does not appear tosignificantly increase performance of the students compared to the control group.

Habilidad viso-motriz y deficiencia intelectual : estudio de validez para el Bender-SPG.

Este trabajo tuvo por objetivo establecer la evidencia de validez convergente por medio del análisis de la asociación entre el la Prueba Gestáltica Viso-Motriz de Bender-Sistema de Puntuación Gradual (B-SPG), el Dibujo de la Figura Humana-Escala Sisto (DFH) y las Matrices Progresivas Coloridas de Raven (CPM). Participaron en el estudio 397 personas, entre los seis y 24 años de edad, con deficiencia intelectual. Los datos fueron obtenidos en la escuela de los niños y de forma individual. Los resultados indicaron una correlación de magnitud moderada entre los tests, confirmando la evidencia de validez para el B-SPG. Además, al comparar los resultados con los baremos de los tres tests se verificó que el desempeño de los sujetos de esta investigación estuvo muy debajo de lo esperado, una vez que el resultado fue semejante o inferior al de niños de seis años de los baremos que aparecen en los manuales de los tests.

513 – Comparison of errors committed by psychotic patients in neuropsychological Bender_Gestalt test

Objective The purpose of this study is to compare the performance of psychotic patients in neuropsychological “Bender_Gestalt” test. Method The clinical symptoms of 97 psychotic patients (49 schizophrenics, 25 bipolar and 23 psychotics due to substance) and their performance in “Bender Gestalt” test were assessed through the administration of positive and negative symptoms scale (PANSS) and demographic data. Results One-way ANOVA between the three diagnostic groups in terms of errors committed by psychotic patients showed no significant differences. Post-hoc “Tukey’s test” also yielded the same results, thus three diagnostic groups can be placed in a match group in terms of overall errors. Conclusions The findings revealed evidence that the pattern of errors committed by patients was correlated differently with demographic and clinical variables in all three diagnostic groups. According to these findings treatment and rehabilitation of psychotic patients can be executed more precisely.

Cognitive screening of older adults: the utility of pentagon drawing

Drawing tests have a long history in neuropsychological assessment. A popular geometric figure has been the two intersecting pentagons from the Bender Gestalt test. Reproducing the pentagons is the main visuospatial task on the original Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), remaining in use in revised versions of that widely used screening test. Scoring criteria on the MMSE are binary: perfect reproduction of the figure is required, while the Modified MMSE of Teng and Chui (1987) uses a more refined ten-point scoring for the elements of the figure. Here, I report on the use of pentagon drawing from 8,702 older community-dwelling Canadians (59.3% female), with a mean age of 75.5 years (SD = 6.99) and 10.1 years of education (SD = 3.89). Mean scores for the whole sample are reported, as well as for subsamples who underwent a full clinical assessment and were diagnosed as cognitively intact, with dementia, or cognitively impaired, but without dementia. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the utility of pentagon drawing as a diagnostic tool to diagnose cognitive impairment. Binary scoring was less effective in discriminating groups than the ten-point system and showed weaker properties by other criteria. The discussion focuses on the role of simple, non-verbal tasks in the cognitive screening of older adults.