Neuropsychological Conditions Research Articles

Visual attention capacity: A review of TVA‐based patient studies

Psychophysical studies have identified two distinct limitations of visual attention capacity: processing speed and apprehension span. Using a simple test, these cognitive factors can be analyzed by Bundesen's Theory of Visual Attention (TVA). The method has strong specificity and sensitivity, and measurements are highly reliable. As the method is theoretically founded, it also has high validity. TVA-based assessment has recently been used to investigate a broad range of neuropsychological and neurological conditions. We present the method, including the experimental paradigm and practical guidelines to patient testing, and review existing TVA-based patient studies organized by lesion anatomy. Lesions in three anatomical regions affect visual capacity: The parietal lobes, frontal cortex and basal ganglia, and extrastriate cortex. Visual capacity thus depends on large, bilaterally distributed anatomical networks that include several regions outside the visual system. The two visual capacity parameters are functionally separable, but seem to rely on largely overlapping brain areas.

Adults’ perceptions of a child with autism

We investigated whether different types of information influenced adults’ attitudes about a child with autism. College students ( n = 288) were randomly assigned to view a videotape of a boy engaging in autistic or typical behaviors and to one of four vignette conditions: no information, explanatory information, neuropsychological information (related to brain–behavior relationships), or a combined (explanatory plus neuropsychological information) condition. Participants rated their attitudes about and acceptance of the boy on the Ratings of the Child Questionnaire. Analyses revealed main effects for presence of autism, message, and gender. Participants provided more favorable ratings of the boy portraying typical rather than autistic behaviors. Participants also provided higher ratings in the explanatory or neuropsychological information conditions compared to a combined information vignette or a no vignette condition. Women provided higher ratings than men. Future research should investigate adults’ reasons for preferring vignettes with either explanatory or neuropsychological information rather than the vignette combining both types of information. Research assessing adults’ attitudes and their interactions with children with autism will provide information to determine whether their attitudes are predictive of their behaviors during interactions.

Psychotherapy and Neuropsychological Conditions: Lessons Learned and Lessons to Unfold

Psychotherapy and Neuropsychological Conditions: Lessons Learned and Lessons to Unfold

Developing a generic approach to online automated analysis of writing and drawing tests in clinical patient profiling

Writing and drawing tests are widely used in the clinical environment for the diagnosis of a variety of neuropsychological conditions. Conventional assessment of these tests involves the inspection by trained assessors of the completed patient response. This article describes the development of a computer-based framework for data capture, automated feature analysis, and result reporting for a range of drawing- and writing-based test batteries. In developing this framework, we have exploited the commonality between tasks while allowing for both flexibility in configuration across condition-specific testing requirements and extensibility for future test development. Using the two example clinical conditions of visuospatial neglect and dyspraxia, we illustrate the advantages of utilizing a computer-based analysis system, describe a structured approach to system implementation, and demonstrate the generality of this implementation for different conditions of interest, which extends to feature selection and design.

Validation and reliability of the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) in Turkish

Event Abstract Back to Event Validation and reliability of the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) in Turkish Nilgün Tunçay1, 2*, G. Kayserili1, E. Erhan3, B. B. Akdede4, Y. Zorlu2 and Gorsev Yener1, 5 1 Department of Neurosciences, Dokuz Eylul University, Turkey 2 Tepecik Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Turkey 3 Department of Public Health, Celal Bayar University, Turkey 4 Department of Psychiatry, Dokuz Eylul University, Turkey 5 Department of Neurology, Dokuz Eylul University, Turkey Background: Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) is an easy test to assess frontal lobe related cognitive functions. Purpose: To study validation and reliability and to demonstrate the psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the FAB Methods: FAB is composed of 6 items that give a total possible score between 0-18. The data were based on 94 cases with diverse neuro-psychological conditions and on 92 healthy controls. Also Mini Mental State Examination, Stroop scale and a brief sociodemographic questionnaire were applied. Test retest reliability, internal consistency analysis, factor analysis, convergent validity approach, known groups and criterion validity tests and sensitivity analysis were applied. Parametric and non-parametric correlations, t tests and ANOVA analysis were used during these analyses. Results: Mean age was 61.8 years; 42.5 % of the participants were male; 41.9% were graduated from primary school; 41.4% from high school and 16.7% from university. The alpha value was sufficient (α=0,73) for FAB, but item related to environmental autonomy indicated a problem as similar to prior studies. The less years of education, the worst the FAB scores are (p<0.001) obtained; and men gave higher scores than women in a few items (mental flexibility, sensitivity to interference, and inhibitory control) of FAB. The relationship between FAB and MMSE (0.765, p<0.000) and Stroop scores indicated a satisfactory concurrent validity (the range of r= -0.252- -0.650, p<0.01). Conclusion: FAB can be considered as a reliable and valid test in a variety of neurologic conditions in Turkish population. Conference: 10th International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience, Bodrum, Turkey, 1 Sep - 5 Sep, 2008. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Neuropsychiatric Disorders Citation: Tunçay N, Kayserili G, Erhan E, Akdede BB, Zorlu Y and Yener G (2008). Validation and reliability of the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) in Turkish. Conference Abstract: 10th International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.09.2009.01.379 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: 16 Dec 2008; Published Online: 16 Dec 2008. * Correspondence: Nilgün Tunçay, Department of Neurosciences, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey, niltuncay@yahoo.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 Nilgün Tunçay G. Kayserili E. Erhan B. B Akdede Y. Zorlu Gorsev Yener Google Nilgün Tunçay G. Kayserili E. Erhan B. B Akdede Y. Zorlu Gorsev Yener Google Scholar Nilgün Tunçay G. Kayserili E. Erhan B. B Akdede Y. Zorlu Gorsev Yener PubMed Nilgün Tunçay G. Kayserili E. Erhan B. B Akdede Y. Zorlu Gorsev Yener 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.

P2-240: The neuropsychological conditions in the patients with diabetes mellitus

P2-240: The neuropsychological conditions in the patients with diabetes mellitus

Attending to space within and between objects: Implications from a patient with Balint's syndrome

Neuropsychological conditions such as Balint's syndrome have shown that perceptual organization of parts into a perceptual unit can be dissociated from the ability to localize objects relative to each other. Neural mechanisms that code the spatial structure within individual objects or words may seem to be intact, while between-object structure is compromised. Here we investigate the nature of within-object spatial processing in a patient with Balint's syndrome (RM). We suggest that within-object spatial structure can be determined (a) directly by explicit spatial processing of between-part relations, mediated by the same dorsal pathway as between-object spatial relations; or (b) indirectly by the discrimination of object identities, which may involve implicit processing of between-part relations and which is probably mediated by the ventral system. When this route is ruled out, by testing discrimination of differences in part location that do not change the identity of the object, we find no evidence of explicit within-object spatial coding in a patient without functioning parietal lobes.

Word Finding in the Damaged Brain: Probing Marshall's Caveat

Marshall (1977) constructed a plausible simulation of “anomic” speech out of the 100 most common words in the English language. He suggested that impaired access to lower frequency vocabulary might underlie anomic word finding difficulties. But he also noted that another factor, age of acquisition, may exert an influence, with anomic patients experiencing particular difficulty with later acquired vocabulary. A review of research on word-finding in aphasia and other neuropsychological conditions suggests that Marshall (1977) may have been right on both counts, and that in many patients both frequency of use and age of acquisition influence the likelihood that a given word will be able to be accessed and used. Theoretical accounts of why the age of acquisition of words might affect their retention or loss following brain injury in adulthood are considered.

Application of a neuropsychological activation probe with SPECT: the 'Tower of London' task in healthy volunteers.

Human planning is a complex mental process that may be evaluated by the 'Tower of London' (TOL) task, which includes setting up and maintaining multiple subgoals at the same time. Although positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging have provided reliable data on the recruitment of a neural network engaged in planning tasks, the experimental settings of these studies cannot be applied in clinical conditions. Hence, this study reports on the TOL task under classical neuropsychological test conditions using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) activation in 10 healthy subjects. Participants first performed a control task and then an activation task, i.e., the TOL planning task In the planning task, subjects were required to change, in the minimum number of moves possible, an initial arrangement of beads to match a goal arrangement. Subjects solved a set of eight TOL problems of increasing difficulty. A control task was designed such that it eliminates planning abilities, which is the process of interest. Planning times and accuracy were measured as performance parameters and functional imaging data were analysed with statistical parametric mapping (SPM99) to determine significant voxel-wise activations between the planning task and the control task. Both overall and for each difficulty level, measures of accuracy were within the normal range. Similar results were found for the overall thinking time and thinking times of each difficulty level. That is, performance of the healthy subjects during the TOL task replicated the typical pattern of results found with appropriate control samples in the literature. Also, activation of the right prefrontal cortex was consistent with other functional imaging results, thereby validating the use of the TOL task in a SPECT activation paradigm. Based on the present study it may be concluded that the close resemblance of the test conditions of the SPECT activation procedure with those of the TOL task in the investigation room constitutes a major advantage for future application of the SPECT activation procedure in clinical conditions.

Executive Functioning and the Frontal Lobes: The Measure of Man?

The Executive Brain is an ambitious book in which Elkhonon Goldberg attempts two feats. First, as he states, he presents “an idiosyncratic account of my own understanding of several issues of cognitive neuroscience and of the personal context that led me to write about it.” Second, he argues for the privileged position of the pre-frontal cortical area as “the most uniquely human of all the components of the human brain,” that “part of your brain that makes you who you are and defines your identity, that encapsulates your drives, your ambitions, your personality, your essence: the frontal lobes of the brain.” Goldberg more than succeeds with the former. His mastery of the literature and his skill as a teacher are readily apparent as he describes neuroanatomy and neurofunctioning using apt descriptions and telling clinical vignettes. In chapter three, for example, he introduces the frontal lobes and their associated executive functioning, using the guiding metaphor of the director, be it the CEO or orchestra leader, who coordinates the efforts of others to produce something that is greater than the sum of its parts. Chapter four provides a solid overview of neuroanatomy and the evolutionary changes resulting in the modern human brain, a structure both more cortical and more frontal than its ancestors. Chapter five continues with a skillful account of neuropsychological functioning. In addition, sprinkled throughout this book are many easily understandable accounts of such neuropsychological conditions as ADHD, Tourette’s syndrome, the dorsolateral syndrome, and the orbital frontal syndrome. But Goldberg is at his best when presenting his own highly original clinical research. Reading it, I felt in the presence of a rigorous, logical, and curious man who not only questioned accepted neuropsychological conventions but also had the power of mind to create more plausible alternatives that were remarkable in their simplicity and power of explanation. As I followed his Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, Vol. 32, No. 5, September 2003 (© 2003)

A review of symptoms commonly associated with menopause: implications for clinical neuropsychologists and other health care providers.

Menopause is a process, either naturally or medically induced, that occurs in nearly all women at some point in life. Some of the most commonly reported symptoms associated with menopause are hot flushes/flashes, fatigue, headaches, irritability, insomnia, and depression. These symptoms overlap with symptoms commonly reported in Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) as well as postconcussive syndrome. This overlap between symptoms commonly associated with menopause and neuropsychological conditions makes it necessary to have the base rates of these symptoms and conditions available. The purpose of the present review was to consolidate the clinical literature on the most commonly reported menopausal symptoms and to calculate the base rates associated with these symptoms.

Section 1: Perception and action.

A question often on the minds of Cognitive Neuroscientists these days concerns the relation between perception and action. Those who are outside the field of perception may be excused for thinking that this must have always been so. What is perception for if not to inform the organism about the external world, so as to best guide its actions in the service of survival? Well, it is not much of an exaggeration to say that, with the exception of a few persistent cranks (e.g., James Gibson, Ulrich Neisser), most of what has passed for perception research in the past century has blithely ignored the interplay between perception and action. Most perception researchers were quite content to allow action to be studied by those in the related, but largely self-contained, specialities of human movement, motor performance, and kinetics. What perception researchers studied was the way the world appeared to someone sitting in an armchair, contemplating the information available in the visual array at their leisure. Something distinctly Canadian' changed all that in 1995, with the publication of a book by David Milner (St. Andrews, Scotland) and Mel Goodale (University of Western Ontario, Canada) entitled The Visual Brain in Action. That book laid out a theory and a research program that was at the same time elegant in its simplicity, broad in its scope, and revolutionary in its impact. The elegance lay in the clear presentation of yet another dichotomy (of which psychologists are so fond), this time between the visual maps that lie in the dorsal versus ventral regions of the cortex. What made this dichotomy so compelling was that it encompassed and gave organization to a number of earlier and smaller-scale dichotomies, including that of action-perception, unconscious-conscious, preattentive-attentive, bottom up-top down, and what-where. The breadth of its scope could be seen in the way the book moved effortlessly from simple animal models of perception, to human neuropsychological conditions, to the analysis of behaviour and brain imaging in psychology's favourite normal research participant, the college undergraduate. The impact of the book can now be seen everywhere, but especially at annual conferences in psychology, vision research, neuropsychology, and brain imaging, where the modal presentation begins with a slide depicting the proposed division of labour between dorsal and ventral visual streams. The four papers in this volume representing Canadian work in Perception and Action each have strong threads linking directly to the Milner and Goodale legacy. This section begins with a paper by Flanagan, King, Wolpert, and Johansson examining the role of long-term memories in participants' adaptation to a size-weight illusion. A guiding theoretical question in this work is whether sensory information is quickly lost or overwritten when it is used for action, as Milner and Goodale contend. …

Neurologic evaluation of workers previously diagnosed with solvent-induced toxic encephalopathy.

We examined 52 railroad workers with long-term occupational solvent exposures (average 22 years duration) who had been previously diagnosed by others as having solvent-induced toxic encephalopathy. All described episodes of transient intoxication associated with occupational solvent exposure. Persistent symptoms developed, an average, 16 years after exposure onset and included impaired memory (38), altered mood (21), imbalance (18), and headache (17). Thirteen workers had mild mental status abnormalities, but none fulfilled conventional clinical criteria for encephalopathy or dementia. None had abnormal blink reflex (51) or abnormal electroencephalographic (39) studies. Eight of 47 magnetic resonance imaging studies showed evidence of scattered ischemic lesions among workers with known diabetes mellitus (2), elevated blood pressure (4), or peripheral vascular disease (2). One magnetic resonance imaging scan showed mild cortical atrophy. In stepwise multiple linear and logistic regression models, no statistically significant (P < 0.05) dose-response relationships were found between exposure duration and symptoms or signs that were suggestive of encephalopathy. However, the number of symptoms (P < 0.001) and the number of signs (P = 0.05) were associated with current use of central nervous system-active medications. Further, lower Mini-Mental Status Examination scores were associated with a history of alcohol abuse (P = 0.01) and lower educational level (P = 0.03). The number of chief symptoms involving memory, mood, balance, or headache differed significantly among workers in different geographic sites (F(3.48) = 2.94, P = 0.04), a finding that was not explained by job title or exposure duration. There also was a significant (P = 0.0001) inverse relationship between initial exposure year (r2 = 0.60) or total years of exposure through 1987 (r2 = 0.56) and interval to major neurologic symptom onset, suggesting that factors other than solvent exposure account in part for worker complaints. We found no objective neurologic evidence supportive of toxic encephalopathy or any other uniform syndrome among these individuals, and most complaints were explained by neuropsychological factors or conditions unrelated to occupational solvent exposure.

Symposia

Confabulation is sometimes defined – by Berlyne, for example – as a symptom that is seen only in one neuropsychological condition, amnesia. In this paper I argue for a somewhat more liberal – and, I contend, more productive – conception of confabulation, according to which it is seen not only in amnesia but also in other neuropsychological conditions such as delusion – and, indeed, even in healthy people. I also argue that it follows from this that in neuropsychological conditions where confabulations are seen, these are responses to abnormal experiences brought about by brain damage, but the occurrence of confabulation itself need not be seen as due to any impairment of cognitive processes due to the brain damage. It is instead a consequence of a general property of human cognition that is often referred to as “the drive for causal understanding”.

Neuropsychological significance of children's Wechsler intelligence scores.

The relationships of Wechsler test scores (WISC and WISC-R) to 6 neuropsychological conditions in one sample of children ( N = 120) were compared to those of a second sample ( N = 36). Only 6 of the 84 IQ-diagnosis correlations showed comparable relationships in both samples. These consistent correlations were: Arithmetic and Digit Span scores with auditory perceptual dysfunction; Block Design with visual perceptual dysfunction; Verbal IQ with speech and language disability and with auditory perceptual dysfunction; and Performance IQ with visual perceptual dysfunction. The notable lack of consistency of most correlations obtained across the two samples for the test scores to diagnoses of minimal brain dysfunction, hyperkinesis, and learning disability suggests that (a) these diagnoses need greater specificity and definitiveness if they are to relate meaningfully to cognitive dysfunction or that (b) the Wechsler subtests are not sufficiently sensitive to these neuro-psychological conditions to have diagnostic significance for children of average intelligence.