Brown-Peterson Test Research Articles

Working memory assessment: Construct validity of the Brown-Peterson Test.

Working memory assessment: Construct validity of the Brown-Peterson Test.

Supplemental Material for Working Memory Assessment: Construct Validity of the Brown-Peterson Test

Supplemental Material for Working Memory Assessment: Construct Validity of the Brown-Peterson Test

Aging well: Processing speed inhibition and working memory related to balance and aerobic endurance.

The present study explored whether certain physical performance measures could be linked to specific cognitive domains in healthy older adults. A total of 50 adults (mean age 69.5 years, SD 8.1) were evaluated on physical performance using measures of balance (Fullerton Advanced Balance Scale), functional mobility (8-ft up-and-go), lower body strength (30-s chair stand), gait (30-ft walk velocity) and aerobic endurance (6-min walk). Cognitive measures included Stroop Color-Word Test, Digit Span Backward, Trail Making Tests, Everyday Problems Test, Digit Symbol Substitution and a Brown-Peterson test. Principal component analyses reduced cognition to domains of processing speed, inhibition and working memory. Hierarchical regression analyses were carried out with age and each physical measure as potential predictors of the three cognitive domains. The balance scale and 6-min walk were specifically associated with processing speed, inhibition and working memory. Better dynamic balance and aerobic endurance predicted enhanced processing speed, inhibition and working memory in older adults, with these last two domains considered components of executive function. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 108-115.

Normative Data for a Computer-Assisted Version of the Auditory Three-Consonant Brown-Peterson Paradigm in the Elderly French-Quebec Population

The Brown-Peterson task is used to assess verbal short-term memory as well as divided attention. In its auditory three-consonant version, trigrams are presented to participants who must recall the items in correct order after variable delays, during which an interference task is performed. The present study aimed to establish normative data for this test in the elderly French-Quebec population based on cross-sectional data from a retrospective, multi-center convenience sample. A total of 595 elderly native French-speakers from the province of Quebec performed the Memoria version of the auditory three-consonant Brown-Peterson test. For both series and item-by-item scoring methods, age, education, and, in most cases, recall after a 0-second interval were found to be significantly associated with recall performance after 10-second, 20-second, and 30-second interference intervals. Based on regression model results, equations to calculate Z scores are presented for the 10-second, 20-second and 30-second intervals and for each scoring method to allow estimation of expected performance based on participants’ individual characteristics. As an important ceiling effect was observed at the 0-second interval, norms for this interference interval are presented in percentiles.

Effects of acute exercise on executive processing, short-term and long-term memory

In the present study, we evaluated the effects of a brief bout of exercise on executive function, short-term memory, and long-term memory tests. Eighteen young adults (mean age 22.2 years, s = 1.6) performed a set-switching test, a Brown-Peterson test, and a free-recall memory test before and after 40 min of moderate aerobic exercise on a cycle ergometer, and two control conditions. Exercise did not facilitate set switching or short-term memory, which suggests that exercise-induced arousal does not influence executive function processes involved in the reconfiguration of information in working memory. Exercise did alter specific aspects of delayed long-term memory. Free recall of items in the primacy and recency portions of the word list declined following the rest and non-exercise conditions, but was maintained after exercise, which suggests that exercise-induced arousal may facilitate the consolidation of information into long-term memory.

Short-Term Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Executive Processing, Memory, and Emotion

1875 Short-term aerobic exercise is known to enhance information processing speed. It is not known if exercise bouts differentially influence select components of cognition (executive processes and memory) and associated emotional states. PURPOSE: To determine whether a submaximal aerobic exercise bouts affects mental processes that influence both speed of processing and learning. METHODS: Twenty-two healthy college students (12 men, age = 21.8 ± 1.7 yrs; 10 women, age = 21.3 ± 2.06 yrs) performed a test of executive processing (Task-Switching test, TS) and short-term memory (Brown-Peterson test, BP) before and after exercise or rest. The exercise consisted of 30 min of cycling at 60%V.O2max with a 5-min warm-up and cool-down. Emotional reactivity to the mental demands of the two cognitive tests was assessed via the NASA-Task Load Index. RESULTS: Response times during the TS decreased significantly following both exercise and rest interventions (p<0.01). The number of items recalled during the BP memory test was not influenced by exercise. The workload associated with the BP was significantly higher than with the TS (p<0.01). Emotional reactivity to the BP memory test declined following both exercise and rest (p<0.05). Compared to TS, BP was perceived as more mentally demanding (p<0.001), temporally demanding (p<0.05), frustrating (p<0.05), and required more effort to perform, (p<0.001). Participants rated both the BP and the TS to be less frustrating following exercise, but not after rest (p<0.05). Women's ratings of their perceived level of performance during both cognitive tests were significantly lower than were men's ratings (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: A single bout of aerobic exercise and a rest period resulted in comparable facilitation of information processing speed; whereas, neither treatment influenced short-term memory processes. Exercise and rest periods differentially affected emotional reactivity. Supported by the Office of Research Development & Outreach, College of Education, University of Georgia.

Short-Term Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Executive Processing, Memory, and Emotion

1875 Short-term aerobic exercise is known to enhance information processing speed. It is not known if exercise bouts differentially influence select components of cognition (executive processes and memory) and associated emotional states. PURPOSE: To determine whether a submaximal aerobic exercise bouts affects mental processes that influence both speed of processing and learning. METHODS: Twenty-two healthy college students (12 men, age = 21.8 ± 1.7 yrs; 10 women, age = 21.3 ± 2.06 yrs) performed a test of executive processing (Task-Switching test, TS) and short-term memory (Brown-Peterson test, BP) before and after exercise or rest. The exercise consisted of 30 min of cycling at 60%V.O2max with a 5-min warm-up and cool-down. Emotional reactivity to the mental demands of the two cognitive tests was assessed via the NASA-Task Load Index. RESULTS: Response times during the TS decreased significantly following both exercise and rest interventions (p<0.01). The number of items recalled during the BP memory test was not influenced by exercise. The workload associated with the BP was significantly higher than with the TS (p<0.01). Emotional reactivity to the BP memory test declined following both exercise and rest (p<0.05). Compared to TS, BP was perceived as more mentally demanding (p<0.001), temporally demanding (p<0.05), frustrating (p<0.05), and required more effort to perform, (p<0.001). Participants rated both the BP and the TS to be less frustrating following exercise, but not after rest (p<0.05). Women's ratings of their perceived level of performance during both cognitive tests were significantly lower than were men's ratings (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: A single bout of aerobic exercise and a rest period resulted in comparable facilitation of information processing speed; whereas, neither treatment influenced short-term memory processes. Exercise and rest periods differentially affected emotional reactivity. Supported by the Office of Research Development & Outreach, College of Education, University of Georgia.

Working memory and executive functions in transient global amnesia.

Transient global amnesia (TGA) is usually considered to produce a profound impairment of long-term episodic memory, while at the same time sparing working memory. However, this neuropsychological dissociation has rarely been examined in detail. While a few studies have assessed some components of working memory in TGA, the results that have been obtained are far from conclusive. To clarify this issue, we carried out a comprehensive investigation of working memory in 10 patients during a TGA attack. In the first study, we report the results from three patients examined with a battery of neuropsychological tests designed to assess each of the three subcomponents of Baddeley's model of working memory. In a second study, seven different patients underwent neuropsychological investigations that focused specifically on the central executive system, using a protocol derived from a study by Miyake and colleagues. Our findings showed that subcomponents of working memory, such as the phonological loop and visuo-spatial sketch pad, were spared in TGA patients. Specific executive functions that entailed inhibitory control, dual task performance, updating and shifting mechanisms were also found to be normal. However, we found significantly impaired performance for the Brown-Peterson test, and that TGA patients were significantly impaired in the recollection of their episodic memories. They also made reduced numbers of 'remember' compared with 'know' judgments in the episodic memory test several days after TGA. On the basis of our findings, it would appear that the episodic memory deficit during TGA is not related to elementary aspects of executive functioning. Our data also highlight the nature of the cognitive mechanisms involved in the Brown-Peterson task, which may well depend on long-term memory (such as the process of semantic encoding). Lastly, the selective deficit in recollective episodic memories observed in TGA may be principally related to medial temporal lobe abnormalities that have been reported in this syndrome.

Neuropsychological Function in Older Subjects with Non‐insulin‐dependent Diabetes Mellitus

Neuropsychological function was compared in three well-matched groups of subjects: Group 1, 20 diabetic patients with hypertension, mean age 69.1 +/- 4.8 years, 14 males and 6 females; Group 2, 20 normotensive diabetic patients, mean age 69.0 +/- 6.2 years, 14 males and 6 females; Group 3, 20 healthy community controls, mean age 68.1 +/- 4.5 years, 13 males and 7 females. There were no significant differences between the groups in education or estimated IQ using the NART (National Adult Reading Test). Groups 1 and 2 did not differ significantly in duration of diabetes (mean 10.6 and 9.5 years, respectively), or mean glycosylated haemoglobin, HbA1 (mean 9.8 and 10.6%, respectively), or mean blood glucose before and after testing. On a battery neuropsychological tests, sensitive to cognitive impairment in older subjects, analysis of covariance using estimated IQ as the covariate showed no significant differences between the groups on tests of recall, with (Brown-Peterson Test) and without (Kendrick Object Learning Test) interference, forward and backward digit span, concentration (serial subtraction), verbal fluency, immediate and delayed prose recall, digit symbol substitution or psychomotor speed (Kendrick Digit Copying Test). These results provide no support for an association between cognitive deficits and Type 2 diabetes mellitus in older subjects or for the view that such deficits may also be mediated by hypertension.

Working memory impairment among persons with chronic progressive multiple sclerosis.

We examined short-term memory (STM) among a group of 23 definite, chronic progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, all of whom had experienced recent significant disease activity, and a control group matched closely on age and education. MS patients were impaired, relative to controls, on the majority of the measures used. Although there were no significant differences between groups on the Mini Mental State Examination, patients performed more poorly on digits forward and backward, the Brown-Peterson test, and the logical memory scale of the Revised Wechsler Memory Scale (both immediate and delayed). Performance on tests sensitive to central processing capacity was significantly correlated with measures of STM. Working memory was significantly impaired in this sample of chronic progressive MS patients. In conjunction with previous research showing deficient information processing and prefrontal dysfunction among this population, the findings suggest that an impairment of central information processing may be a fundamental aspect of the mnestic and cognitive decline observed in many chronic progressive MS patients.

The Role of Cirrhosis in Memory Functioning of Alcoholics

The effects of alcoholism and liver disease on memory functioning in alcoholics were studied by comparing four groups: normal healthy controls, alcoholics without liver disease, alcoholics with biopsy-confirmed cirrhosis, and nonalcoholics with postnecrotic cirrhosis. Memory capacity was evaluated employing the Benton Visual Retention Test (BVRT), the Rey-Osterreith Complex Figure Test, Digit Span, and the Brown Peterson four-word short-term memory test. A 2 x 2 ANOVA revealed significant main effects for both alcohol and cirrhosis on Digits Forward and the total score on the Brown Peterson test. Additionally, there were significant main effects for cirrhosis on the BVRT. The Brown Peterson test was analyzed using a repeated measures 2 x 2 ANOVA. Significant effects for cirrhosis were observed at all three interpolation periods. The effects for alcohol approached significance at the 30-sec (most difficult) interpolation period. Analysis of error patterns on the Brown Peterson test indicated that overall omission errors were most commonly made among all groups. Significant effects were found for alcohol on omissions and intrusion, while the cirrhosis factor yielded significant effects for phonemic, perseverative, and omission errors. This study demonstrates the importance of liver disease underlying the etiology of memory impairments in alcoholics. The results confirm our earlier findings that neuropsychologic deficits seen in alcoholics may be the result of the combination of alcohol abuse and liver disease.

Comparison of three tests of attention and rapid information processing across six age groups

Abstract The purpose of this study was to compare three tests reported sensitive to attentional disorder or limitations in information-processing capacity after closed-head injury, and to provide some normative data on these three tests. The Trail Making Test (TMT), the Brown-Peterson test of memory of three consonants (CCC) under conditions of interference, and the Paced Auditory Serial-Addition Test (PASAT) were compared across six age groups for two separate test administrations. The possible influences of gender and years of education were also analyzed. There was a practice effect for all tests. Age appeared to be a factor primarily for the TMT, the older subjects being slower. Years of education correlated with PASAT findings and to a lesser degree with the TMT. Sex did not have a significant effect on any of the test results. The CCC was least affected by any of the moderator variables used in this study. Although these three tests appear comparable in measuring attention or information-processing ...

Rates of forgetting in Alzheimer-type dementia and Korsakoff's syndrome

After initial learning had been equated as closely as possible, 16 Alzheimer-type dementing patients showed the same rate of forgetting on a picture recognition test administered at intervals over the course of a week as 16 Korsakoff patients and 16 healthy controls. This suggested that the anterograde amnesic deficit in both Alzheimer's disease and Korsakoff's syndrome is primarily an acquisition or learning deficit. The Alzheimer patients differed from both the Korsakoff patients and the healthy controls in showing diminished digit span and severely impaired performance at the Brown-Peterson test, implicating a deficit of short-term (or working) memory. The variability of performance within groups on the principal tests employed was also examined; and the Alzheimer results are discussed with respect to the underlying neurophatology, and the implication for pharmacotherapy.