Stroop Color Naming Research Articles

Neurocognitive endophenotypes in pediatric OCD probands, their unaffected parents and siblings

BackgroundLimited extant research on neurocognitive endophenotypes in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) show inconsistent results. Limitations of this body of literature include small sample sizes, strict exclusion criteria, lack of objective standard normalized test scores, and significant lack of studies utilizing pediatric probands. This study aimed to address these limitations. MethodsA large carefully screened cohort of pediatric OCD (n = 102), their unaffected siblings (n = 78), and parents (n = 164), completed a neuropsychological battery. To compare participants at different ages and developmental stages, standard scores were computed using test norms. Cluster-robust regression with sample size-adjusted sandwich estimates of variance, and interclass correlations were computed. False Discovery Rate procedures were employed to correct for multiplicity. ResultsProbands, siblings and parents demonstrated deficient task performance (Z < −0.5) on the ‘number of trials to complete first category’ on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, and on the Stroop color naming trials. Compared to test norms, the three groups exhibited medium to large effect sizes on these outcome measures. No other meaningful familial trends were found. ConclusionsOCD probands, their unaffected siblings and parents exhibited deficiencies in specific subdomains of cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control, namely, initial concept formation and proactive control, which may be valid candidate neurocognitive endophenotypes of OCD. No other meaningful familial effect has been found on other functions, including other executive function indices such as perseverations and interference control. These results highlight the need to carefully examine individual outcomes from executive function tests instead of the tendency to focus largely on major outcome measures.

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy added to usual care improves eating behaviors in patients with bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder by decreasing the cognitive load of words related to body shape, weight, and food.

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) as a complementary approach in patients with bulimia nervosa (BN) or binge eating disorder (BED), and to assess how the reduction of the cognitive load of words related to eating disorders (ED) could constitute an intermediate factor explaining its global efficacy. Eighty-eight women and men participated in clinical assessments upon inscription, prior to and following 8-week group MBCT. Mindfulness skills were assessed using the five facet mindfulness questionnaire; eating behaviors were assessed using the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ); comorbid pathologies were assessed using the beck depression index and the state-trait anxiety inventory. The cognitive load of words associated with ED was assessed through a modified version of the Stroop color naming task. Mindfulness skills improved significantly (p<.05) after group MBCT. The improvement of TFEQ scores was accompanied by reduced levels of depressive mood and trait anxiety. The positive impact of MBCT on TFEQ score was directly related to an improvement of the performance in the Stroop task. MBCT represents an interesting complementary therapy for patients with either BN or BED, at least when cognitive and behavioral domains are concerned. Such efficacy seems to be mediated by the reduction of the cognitive load associated with ED stimuli, which offers a possible explanation of how MBCT could reduce binge-eating behaviors. Other studies are needed, in independent centers, to focus more directly on core symptoms and long-term outcome.

Improved brain energetics and cognition after a 6‐month ketogenic intervention in mild cognitive impairment: Final results of the Benefic Trial

AbstractBackgroundKetones can partially substitute for glucose as a brain fuel and may be beneficial for cognition in older people. The objective of the randomized, placebo‐controlled Benefic Trial (NCT02551419) was to assess whether counteracting the brain energy (glucose) deficit with a ketogenic medium chain triglyceride (kMCT) supplement could improve cognitive performance in mild cognitive impairment (MCI).MethodsA cognitive battery was used to screen for MCI and cognitive outcomes after the intervention. Cognitive outcomes pre‐ and post‐intervention were obtained for the active arm (15 g kMCT twice/day in a lactose‐free skim milk emulsion; n=39 completers) and placebo arm (non‐ketogenic vegetable oil of equivalent energy value and formulation as for the kMCT; n=44 completers). Brain ketone and glucose PET were done before and at the end of the 6‐month intervention on a sub‐group of both arms (n=19/group).ResultsSeveral cognitive domains improved post‐intervention in the kMCT group (p≤0.01; ANCOVA; age and education as covariates). Specifically, Trial 1 of the Free and Cued Recall Test showed a +1 word improvement on kMCT (+0.5 Δ Z‐score), correct answers on the Verbal Fluency Test increased by 2 words on kMCT (+0.3 Δ Z‐score) but decreased by 1 word on placebo (‐0.1 Δ Z‐score), correct answers on the Boston Naming Test increased by 1.1 on kMCT only, time taken on the Stroop Colour Naming Test decreased by 1 sec on the kMCT (p=0.09), and errors on the Trail Making Test decreased by 0.9 on kMCT but increased by 0.8 on placebo (p=0.02). Brain ketone uptake increased in the kMCT arm only and directly as the increase in plasma ketones (r = 0.87, p&lt;0.01). Average drop‐out rate on both arms was 31% and, in completers, protocol adherence was 89% over six months.ConclusionsIn MCI, a kMCT supplement had a clinically meaningful effect on some cognitive outcomes directly related to risk of progression toward Alzheimer’s disease, and significantly improved brain energy supply. It is feasible for an MCI population to consume a kMCT supplement daily for six months. Acknowledgements: Financial support was provided by the Alzheimer Association USA, FRQS, Université de Sherbrooke and Nestlé Health Science.

White matter hyperintensities at critical crossroads for executive function and verbal abilities in small vessel disease.

The presence of white matter lesions in patients with cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is among the main causes of cognitive decline. We investigated the relation between white matter hyperintensity (WMH) locations and executive and language abilities in 442 SVD patients without dementia with varying burden of WMH. We used Stroop Word Reading, Stroop Color Naming, Stroop Color‐Word Naming, and Category Fluency as language measures with varying degrees of executive demands. The Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) was used as a control task, as it measures processing speed without requiring language use or verbal output. A voxel‐based lesion–symptom mapping (VLSM) approach was used, corrected for age, sex, education, and lesion volume. VLSM analyses revealed statistically significant clusters for tests requiring language use, but not for SDMT. Worse scores on all tests were associated with WMH in forceps minor, thalamic radiations and caudate nuclei. In conclusion, an association was found between WMH in a core frontostriatal network and executive‐verbal abilities in SVD, independent of lesion volume and processing speed. This circuitry underlying executive‐language functioning might be of potential clinical importance for elderly with SVD. More detailed language testing is required in future research to elucidate the nature of language production difficulties in SVD.

Executive function network’s white matter alterations relate to Parkinson’s disease motor phenotype

Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients with postural instability and gait disorder phenotype (PIGD) are at high risk of cognitive deficits compared to those with tremor dominant phenotype (TD). Alterations of white matter (WM) integrity can occur in patients with normal cognitive functions (PD-N). However, the alterations of WM integrity related to cognitive functions in PD-N, especially in these two motor phenotypes, remain unclear. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a non-invasive neuroimaging method to evaluate WM properties and by applying DTI tractography, one can identify WM tracts connecting functional regions. Here, we 1) compared the executive function (EF) in PIGD phenotype with normal cognitive functions (PIGD-N) and TD phenotype with normal cognitive functions (TD-N) phenotypes; 2) used DTI tractography to evaluated differences in WM alterations between these two phenotypes within a task-based functional network; and 3) examined the WM integrity alterations related to EF in a whole brain network for PD-N patients regardless of phenotypes.Thirty-four idiopathic PD-N patients were classified into two groups based on phenotypes: TD-N and PIGD-N, using an algorithm based on UPDRS part III. Neuropsychological tests were used to evaluate patients’ EF, including the Trail making test part A and B, the Stroop color naming, the Stroop word naming, the Stroop color-word interference task, as well as the FAS verbal fluency task and the animal category fluency tasks. DTI measures were calculated among WM regions associated with the verbal fluency network defined from previous task fMRI studies and compared between PIGD-N and TD-N groups. In addition, the relationship of DTI measures and verbal fluency scores were evaluated for our full cohort of PD-N patients within the whole brain network. These values were also correlated with the scores of the FAS verbal fluency task.Only the FAS verbal fluency test showed significant group differences, having lower scores in PIGD-N when compared to TD-N phenotype (p < 0.05). Compared to the TD-N, PIGD-N group exhibited significantly higher MD and RD in the tracts connecting the left superior temporal gyrus and left insula, and those connecting the right pars opercularis and right insula. Moreover, compared to TD-N, PIGD-N group had significantly higher RD in the tracts connecting right pars opercularis and right pars triangularis, and the tracts connecting right inferior temporal gyrus and right middle temporal gyrus. For the entire PD-N cohort, FAS verbal fluency scores positively correlated with MD in the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF).This study confirmed that PIGD-N phenotype has more deficits in verbal fluency task than TD-N phenotype. Additionally, our findings suggest: (1) PIGD-N shows more microstructural changes related to FAS verbal fluency task when compared to TD-N phenotype; (2) SLF plays an important role in FAS verbal fluency task in PD-N patients regardless of motor phenotypes.

Effects of HIV infection, antiretroviral therapy, and immune status on the speed of information processing and complex motor functions in adult Cameroonians

HIV-associated neurocognitive deficits include impaired speed-of-information processing (SIP) and motor functions. There is lack of Cameroonian adult norms for assessing SIP or motor functions. This study of 683 Cameroonians (320 HIV+, 363 HIV−) establishes demographically-adjusted norms for six SIP [Wechsler-Adult-Intelligence-Scale (WAIS)-III Digit Symbol (WAIS-IIIDS) and Symbol Search (WAIS-IIISS), Stroop Color-Naming, Stroop Word-Reading, Trail-Making Test-A (TMT-A), Color Trails-1 (CTT1)], and two motor function [Grooved Pegboard-dominant (GP-DH) and non-dominant (GP-NDH) hands] tests. We assessed viral effects on SIP and motor functions. HIV-infected persons had significantly lower (worse) T scores on GP-DH, WAIS-IIIDS, Stroop Word-Reading, TMT-A; lower motor and SIP summary T scores. Significantly higher proportion of cases (20.7%) than controls (10.3%) had impaired SIP. Male cases had better T scores than female cases on GP-NDH, WAIS-IIIDS, WAIS-IIISS, TMT-A, CTT1; better SIP summary T scores. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) was associated with significantly better T scores on GP-NDH, WAIS-IIIDS, Stroop Color-Naming; better motor and SIP summary T scores. Cases with higher CD4 had better T scores on WAIS-IIIDS, TMT-A, CTT1; better SIP summary T scores. Overall, we demonstrate that HIV infection in Cameroon is associated with deficits in SIP and motor functions; ART and higher CD4 are associated with better cognitive performance. We provide SIP and psychomotor functions normative standards, which will be useful for neurobehavioral studies in Cameroon of diseases affecting the brain.

The consequences of processing goal-irrelevant information during the Stroop task.

Recent evidence indicates that older adults' decreased ability to inhibit irrelevant information may lead to increased processing and greater memory for distractor information compared with younger adults. The present experiments examine the generality of this finding in a series of Stroop studies. In Experiment 1, participants studied a list of words then received a Stroop color naming task, with to-be-remembered words embedded within the Stroop task. Although there was evidence of a disproportionate age-related Stroop effect, there was no evidence of an age difference in episodic recognition memory for words from the Stroop task. Experiment 2 extended this paradigm to a more implicit demasking task. Again, there was evidence of an age-related disproportionate Stroop effect, however, there were no differences in memory for unattended words in demasking performance. Experiment 3 was a direct replication of a previous study which reported age differences in the influence of unattended words, via implicit priming in a general knowledge test. The results did not replicate the original study such that younger adults showed slightly more priming from distractors than older adults. The results provide converging evidence that although older adults have more difficulty inhibiting irrelevant information in the Stroop task, distractor information does not seem to disproportionately influence later memory for older adults compared with younger adults. These studies suggest that it is critical to consider the locus of memory encoding in distractor tasks to better understand the relationship between inhibitory processes during the distractor task and later memory performance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Validation Study of a German Cognitive Battery for Huntington's Disease: Relationship Between Cognitive Performance, Functional Decline, and Disease Burden.

ObjectiveCognitive decline is a key characteristic of Huntington’s disease (HD). This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of a cognitive battery with six tests used by most HD research centers to assess cognitive impairment in HD.MethodIn total, 106 HD patients in different disease stages with more (HD-CD, N = 30) and less cognitive impairments (HD-NC, N = 70) and 100 healthy controls (NC) were matched by age, sex, and education and were examined using a standardized protocol including cognitive, motor, and functional assessments.ResultsOne-way between-groups analysis of variance showed that controls performed significantly better than HD patients and that HD-NC significantly outperformed HD-CD patients in all cognitive tests (NC > HD-NC > HD-CD), with all Games-Howell post-hoc tests p < .001. Analyses using area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC) disclosed the diagnostic accuracy of all tests included in the battery to discriminate between NC and HD patients with AUC ranging from 0.809 to 0.862 (all p < .001) and between HD-CD and HD-NC patients with AUC ranging from 0.833 to 0.899 (all p < .001). In both analysis, Stroop Color Naming Test showed the highest discriminative potential. Additional analyses showed that cognitive deficits in all domains progressed with disease duration. Moreover, cognitive performance correlated with the severity of motor and functional impairment (all p < .001) and with the Disease Burden Score regardless of disease duration and age.ConclusionOur results indicate that the cognitive battery is a suitable tool for assessing cognitive impairment in HD.

Cognitive and Motor Norms for Huntington's Disease.

The progression of Huntington's disease (HD) for gene-expanded carriers is well-studied. Natural aging effects, however, are not often considered in the evaluation of HD progression. To examine the effects of natural aging for healthy controls and to develop normative curves by age, sex, and education from the distribution of observed scores for the Symbol Digit Modalities Test, Stroop Word Reading Test, Stroop Color Naming Test, Stroop Interference Test, Total Motor Score, and Total Functional Capacity (TFC) from the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) along with a composite score. After combining longitudinal REGISTRY and Enroll-HD data, we used quantile regression and natural cubic splines for age to fit models for healthy controls (N=3,394; N observations=8,619). Normative curves were estimated for the 0.05, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 0.95 quantiles. Two types of reference curves were considered: unconditional curves were dependent on age alone, whereas conditional curves were dependent on age and other covariates, namely sex and education. Conditioning on education was necessary for the Symbol Digit, Stroop Word, Stroop Color, Stroop Interference, and composite UHDRS. Unconditional curves were sufficient for the Total Motor Score. TFC was unique in that the curve was constant over age with its intercept at the maximum score (TFC=13). For all measures, sex effects were minimal, so conditioning on sex was unwarranted. Extreme quantile estimates for each measure can be considered as boundaries for natural aging and scores falling beyond these thresholds are likely the result of disease progression. Normative curves and tables are developed and can serve as references for clinical characterization in HD.

Severity of misophonia symptoms is associated with worse cognitive control when exposed to misophonia trigger sounds

The present study aimed to investigate the extent to which the severity of misophonia symptoms is linked with cognitive control under misophonia symptom-provocation circumstances in the general population sample. Participants (N = 79) completed a measure of cognitive control–a Stroop color naming task, which consists of congruent and incongruent stimuli, and requires inhibition of a prepotent response (reading a word) in the service of a less predominant response (naming a color), while listening to misophonia symptom-provocation or universally unpleasant sounds. Participants’ misophonia sound sensitivity, and emotional behaviors towards trigger sounds were assessed using the Misophonia Questionnaire. Stronger emotional behavioral reactions to misophonia trigger sounds were significantly associated with the larger Stroop effect when participants were exposed to the misophonia trigger sounds, but not when they were exposed to the universally unpleasant sounds. This effect held when controlling for the personality trait of Neuroticism and for baseline levels of anxiety. Both elevated misophonia sound sensitivity and emotional behaviors towards trigger sounds significantly correlated with higher self-reported anxiety when performing the Stroop task. However, only elevated emotional behaviors towards trigger sounds were linked with higher anxiety levels at baseline, suggesting that people who experience stronger emotions and behavioral reactions to misophonia trigger sounds may have higher anxiety at a trait level. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

NCOG-10. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COGNITIVE FUNCTION, MOOD, AND FUNCTIONING IN GLIOMA SURVIVORS

Abstract Ensuring optimal quality of life and functioning is a clinical priority in treating glioma survivors. Cognitive function and mood symptoms are prevalent in this population after treatment and it’s reasonable to consider these as significant contributors to patients’ functioning at work and in daily life. However, it’s unclear the degree to which these symptoms contribute to such outcomes. To address this question, we examined the relationships between cognitive tests (i.e., a neuropsychological battery) and mood measures (i.e., the Beck Depression Inventory-II, and the Beck Anxiety Inventory) and work and daily functioning (i.e., Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire). Partial correlation of cognitive tests and regression models also included age and IQ (i.e., Test of Premorbid Functioning). Of the 11 participants who were currently working, worse work productivity was significantly associated with worse processing speed (Stroop color naming r=-.74,p=.03, Stroop color word r=-.78,p=.02). Similarly, worse ability in daily activities was also associated with worse processing speed and executive function (Stroop color naming, r=-.52,p=.04; Stroop color word, r=-.55,p=.03; Trails B, r=-.53,p=.03). Greater depression symptoms were strongly correlated with both worse work productivity (r=.83,p=.002), and worse ability in daily activities (r=.55,p=.01). Depression symptoms were generally uncorrelated with cognitive scores. In linear regression models that included both depression symptoms and cognitive scores, only depression emerged as a significant predictor of work productivity and ability to conduct daily activities. In sum, glioma survivors face multiple threats to work and daily functioning by way of tumor and treatment related symptoms. Our analyses suggest that both cognitive function and mood symptoms are important to consider in optimizing functioning, but depression appears to vastly outweigh cognitive function in this regard. These preliminary findings highlight the importance of careful attention to these symptoms in survivorship and point to future research directions elaborating on these relationships.

C-20 Cardiorespiratory Fitness Predicts Processing Speed Performance in Urban Latin Americans

Abstract Objective There is evidence that cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) protects against age-related declines in processing speed (PS), but studies investigating older adults living in low and middle-income countries are lacking. We used data from the Epidemiology and Development of Alzheimer’s Disease (EDAD) study to investigate the role of CRF on PS in older Costa Rican adults. Method 306 community dwelling older adults (mean age = 69) were recruited for a study on cognition and physical fitness. We used a regression model to test the association between CRF and a composite measure of PS (Digit Symbol, Trails A, Block Design, and Stroop Color Naming). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with full information maximum likelihood was conducted in a nested multi-step process on subtest scores. We also compared the strength of the relationship between two measures of CRF: Maximal oxygen uptake (V02 peak) and a latent variable comprised of distance achieved during the 6-minute Walk Test and change in heart rate before and after walking (Modified 6-Minute Walk). Results Higher CRF was significantly associated with PS, and the association remained significant after controlling for age and sex (B = 0.21; p &lt; .001). The strength of the relationship between two measures of CRF was very high, suggesting equivalence of these indices. Conclusions CRF and PS are clinically meaningful therapeutic targets for future prevention trials in Latin America. The modified 6-Minute Walk is an efficient approximation of the gold standard CRF measurement. The cognitive benefits of CRF should be compared to other lifestyle interventions (e.g., diet) to determine the active components of cognitive improvement.

Incidental memory for colour word associates processed in colour naming and reading aloud tasks: is a blue ocean more memorable than a yellow one?

ABSTRACTCongruency effects for colour word associates (e.g., ocean) have been reported in Stroop colour naming tasks. However, incidental memory for such words after word reading and colour naming tasks has not been examined. In the current study, participants incidentally recalled colour word associates (e.g., ocean) and neutral words (e.g., lawyer) immediately after naming their font colour (Experiment 1a) or reading them aloud (Experiment 1b). In both tasks, recall was better for congruent colour word associates (e.g., ocean appearing in blue) than incongruent colour word associates (e.g., ocean appearing in green) or neutral items (lawyer appearing in blue).This outcome is consistent with the idea that co-activation of a semantic colour code and a lexical representation strengthens the episodic memory representation and makes it more accessible.

Huntington's Disease and Employment: The Relative Contributions of Cognitive and Motor Decline to the Decision to Leave Work.

Huntington's disease (HD) presents with motor, cognitive, and behavioral symptoms that impair functional capacity and the ability to maintain employment. The relative contribution of cognitive decline to work disability remains controversial. To evaluate the association of cognitive decline, compared with motor decline, with the decision to leave work. Data from the Enroll-HD observational study were analyzed. The correlation of age of cognitive symptom onset and age of motor symptom onset with age at leaving work was assessed. The association of the Stroop Color Naming Test (SCNT) cognitive assessment and the Total Motor Score (TMS) assessment (reverse scored) with the Total Functional Capacity (TFC) assessment was also assessed. For every year delay in cognitive symptom onset, there was a 0.806 year increase in age at leaving work (SE = 0.030, p < 0.001, adj-R2 = 0.628). For every year delay of motor symptom onset, there was a 0.814 year increase in age at leaving work (SE = 0.031, p < 0.001, adj-R2 = 0.603). For every additional correct SCNT response given and for every unit increase in TMS, there was a 0.105 unit increase (SE = 0.006, p < 0.001, adj-R2 = 0.315) and a 0.104 unit decrease in TFC (SE = 0.003, p < 0.001, adj-R2 = 0.640), respectively. Cognitive symptoms have a significant association, comparable to that of motor symptoms, with occupational functioning and the decision to leave work, suggesting that development of therapies for both cognitive and motor decline would be important for allowing people with HD to remain in the workforce longer.

Differences in cognitive inhibition between persons with high and low creativity: Evidences from behavioral and physiological studies

<p id="C3">Creativity has been previously defined as a behavior or product that is both novel and appropriately useful. It is a complex concept with many different processes, indicating that some of these processes require heavy executive processing. Executive function is the basic ability of cognitive processes to control one’s thoughts and behaviors, which is related to the prefrontal cortex, and it is mainly composed of three components: mental set transformation, inhibitory control, and working memory updating. Previous studies examining the relationship between cognitive inhibition and creative thinking have obtained inconsistent results. The following three hypotheses can be formulated regarding the relationship between cognitive inhibition and creative thinking. Creative thought has been variably associated with focused attention and effective inhibition control, disinhibition, and defocused attention or a flexible adaption of inhibition control. <p id="C90">The aim of present study was to investigate the relationship between cognitive inhibition and creative thinking using behavioral and physiological indexes, and the effects of time pressure on the relationship between cognitive inhibition and creative thinking. In this study, undergraduate students with different divergent thinking levels were asked to perform the Stroop task. In Experiment 1, a Stroop color naming task was carried out to test participants’ cognitive inhibitory ability. In Experiment 2, a more flexible Stroop word-color naming task was adopted and the physiological data was recorded to further investigate the relationship between cognitive inhibition and creative thinking, and time pressure situation was applied concerning reaction time. When participants responded after more than 550 ms, feedback of “too late” appeared on the display. <p id="C91">The results found that in Experiment 1, the highly creative persons showed smaller interference effect than did less creative persons; in Experiment 2, there was a significant time pressure condition × group × stimulus congruence interaction. The interference effect between the condition of time pressure and no time pressure of the highly creative persons was smaller than that of the less creative persons. Moreover, the time pressure condition × group interaction reached significance; the less creative persons showed significantly greater increases in skin conductance responses (SCRs) under the time pressure condition than in the no time pressure condition, but there was no significant difference for SCRs between the condition of time pressure and no time pressure of the highly creative persons. Furthermore, the highly creative persons exhibited significantly greater increases in SCRs under the incongruent condition in color naming task than in the congruent condition; however, they showed no significance between the congruent and incongruent conditions in the word naming task. There was no significant difference in SCRs between the congruent and incongruent in word and color naming tasks of the less creative persons. <p id="C92">The above results indicated that highly creative persons showed stronger cognitive inhibitory ability than did less creative persons; they could effectively suppress dominant but irrelevant response tendencies. Moreover, time pressure played a moderate role in the relationship between cognitive inhibition and creative thinking. Highly creative persons could focus on task-related information and inhibit task-unrelated information, adjust their attention to adapt to different time pressure task situations, and inhibit the interference characteristics. The highly creative persons showed variability in autonomic arousal levels in different conditions; the less creative were essentially fixed in a state of cognitive inhibition. The results agree with the hypothesis of adaptive cognitive inhibition of creative thinking.

Focused ultrasound thalamotomy in Parkinson disease: Nonmotor outcomes and quality of life.

To examine nonmotor outcomes and correlates of quality of life (QoL) 3 and 12 months after unilateral focused ultrasound thalamotomy in tremor-dominant Parkinson disease (TDPD). Twenty-seven patients with TDPD in a double-blind, sham-controlled, randomized clinical trial underwent comprehensive neuropsychological evaluations. These included assessment of mood, behavior, and QoL at baseline, 3 months, 3 months post crossover in the sham group, and 12 months after active treatment. We used Mann-Whitney U tests to assess differences between the active (n = 20) and sham (n = 7) groups at 3 months and Friedman tests to assess within-group changes after active treatment. We assessed correlations between disease variables and postoperative QoL using Kendall tau-b tests. There were no differences in cognition, mood, or behavior between the active and sham groups at 3-month blinded assessment. After active treatment, there were no differences in mood or behavior. Only declines in Stroop Color Naming and phonemic fluency were observed. Patients experienced postoperative improvements in QoL and activities of daily living (ADL). Mood and behavioral symptoms, aspects of cognitive functioning, ADL, and overall motor symptom severity, but not tremor severity specifically, were associated with QoL. In TDPD, unilateral focused ultrasound thalamotomy appears safe from a cognitive, mood, and behavioral perspective. QoL and ADL significantly improved following surgery. Nonmotor symptoms and ADL were more closely associated with QoL than tremor severity. This study provides Class II evidence that for patients with TDPD, unilateral focused ultrasound thalamotomy did not adversely change cognition, mood, or behavior at 3 months.

Switching between spoken language-production tasks: the role of attentional inhibition and enhancement

ABSTRACTSince Pillsbury [1908. Attention. London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co], the issue of whether attention operates through inhibition or enhancement has been on the scientific agenda. We examined whether overcoming previous attentional inhibition or enhancement is the source of asymmetrical switch costs in spoken noun-phrase production and colour-word Stroop tasks. In Experiment 1, using bivalent stimuli, we found asymmetrical costs in response times for switching between long and short phrases and between Stroop colour naming and reading. However, in Experiment 2, using bivalent stimuli for the weaker tasks (long phrases, colour naming) and univalent stimuli for the stronger tasks (short phrases, word reading), we obtained an asymmetrical switch cost for phrase production, but a symmetrical cost for Stroop. The switch cost evidence was quantified using Bayesian statistical analyses. Our findings suggest that switching between phrase types involves inhibition, whereas switching between colour naming and reading involves enhancement. Thus, the attentional mechanism depends on the language-production task involved. The results challenge theories of task switching that assume only one attentional mechanism, inhibition or enhancement, rather than both mechanisms.

Cognitive Performance After a One-Year Multidisciplinary Intensive Rehabilitation Program for Huntington's Disease: An Observational Study.

Background:Studies of physical therapy and multidisciplinary rehabilitation programs for Huntington’s disease (HD) have shown improvements in gait function, balance, and physical quality of life. There is a gap in the literature on effects of cognitive interventions and the potential to improve cognitive performance.Objective:To assess changes in cognitive performance among patients with early to middle stage HD as secondary analyses from a one-year multidisciplinary rehabilitation program. The program included cognitive stimulation as a non-specific cognitive intervention in addition to physical interventions.Methods:A one-year rehabilitation program that included comprehensive neuropsychological assessments was completed by 31 out 37 participants with early to middle stages of HD. Socio-demographic and clinical information was recorded. A battery of neuropsychological tests was used to measure cognitive functions before and after the intervention. Descriptive statistics was used for sample characteristics. Paired sample t-tests and nonparametric Wilcoxon Signed ranked tests were used to compare cognitive measures at both time points.Results:Scores on the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) were significantly lower post intervention. There were no significant differences in all other measures. Scores on the Stroop color naming and California Verbal Learning Test-II (CVLT-II) long-term delayed recall tasks showed tendencies towards lower scores post intervention.Conclusions:An intensive multidisciplinary rehabilitation program for patients with HD was generally well tolerated and feasible, with no indication of negative effects on cognition. Neuropsychological measures overall remained stable following an intensive multidisciplinary rehabilitation program, however continued progression of cognitive impairment was evident on the SDMT, suggesting that disease progression is not halted. Randomized controlled trials are needed to verify these findings.

Evaluation of Stroop and Trail-Making Tests performance in university students with internet addiction

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of internet addiction (IA), and the relationship between (IA) and cognitive functions like selective and sustained attention, inhibitory control, set shifting by using Stroop and Trail Making Tests. Methods: Two hundred and twenty-one university students participated in the re-search. At first step, the participants were filled Sociodemographic Form and Internet Addiction Scale (IAS). At the second step, 30 participants with IA whom score was above the threshold (≥81 for IAS) and 29 participants without IA whom score was under the threshold for IAS were recruited. Stroop Test (ST), Trail Making Tests (TMT) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were applied to individuals with and without IA at the second step of the study. Results: Prevalence of IA was 15.3% (n=34) in all participants. Four of participants who had IA did not accept to participate the second step. IAS score was positively correlated with Stroop phonemic time, Stroop color naming time, Stroop interference time, TMT-B form time and TMT-B form false number (respectively; r=0.31, r=0.50, r=0.46, r=0.39, and r=0.66). Conclusion: Our results have shown that attention-related problems and inability of behavioral control may be related to IA.

Mora or more? The phonological unit of Japanese word production in the Stroop color naming task.

In English, Dutch, and other European languages, it is well established that the fundamental phonological unit in word production is the phoneme; in contrast, recent studies have shown that in Chinese it is the (atonal) syllable and in Japanese the mora. The present study investigated whether this cross-language variation in the size of the unit of word production is due to the type of script used in the language (i.e., alphabetic, morphosyllabic, or moraic). Capitalizing on the multiscriptal nature of Japanese, and using the Stroop color naming task, we show that the overlap in the initial mora between the color name and the written distractor facilitates color naming independent of script type. These results confirm the mora as the phonological unit of word production in Japanese, and establish the Stroop color naming task as a useful task for investigating the fundamental (or "proximate") phonological unit used in speech production.