Verbal Test Research Articles

Assessment of psychological, cognitive parameters and sleep quality in newly diagnosed patients with Parkinson’s disease

Background: Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that occurs due to the damage of the neurons that secrete the neurotransmitter called dopamine and the cases are growing worldwide. The studies on the observation of the non-motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson’s disease are sparse in the Indian context. The estimated prevalence of Parkinson’s disease in India is 7 million. Aims and Objectives: The present study was undertaken to assess the psychological and cognitive parameters and sleep quality in newly diagnosed patients with Parkinson’s disease. Materials and Methods: A total of 30 newly diagnosed patients within the age group of 35–70 years, with Parkinson’s disease were part of the study after obtaining the informed consent. Thirty age and gender-matched healthy participants were also part of the study. Cognitive parameters were recorded using spatial and verbal memory tests. The psychological parameters were collected using the generalized anxiety disorder seven questionnaires which is a self-administered questionnaire. Sleep quality was assessed using an insomnia severity questionnaire which is a seven-item questionnaire. Results: The anxiety scores were significantly high in the patients with Parkinson’s disease when compared with the controls. The sleep quality was significantly poor in the Parkinson’s patients compared to the controls. Spatial and verbal memory scores were significantly lower in Parkinson’s patients than in the controls. Conclusion: The present study results support that the non-motor symptoms are also prominent in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Higher scores of anxiety, lower scores of spatial and verbal memory, and poor sleep quality were observed in patients with Parkinson’s disease. The study recommends further detailed studies in this area to consider these parameters also in managing Parkinson’s disease.

Gender-modulated influence of BDNF concentration and Val66Met polymorphism on cognitive outcomes in chronic limb ischemia patients.

While numerous studies have established associations between brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and cognitive functioning, limited research has delved into the role of BDNF concerning cognitive outcomes in atherosclerosis-related conditions. This study aimed to investigate the correlations between cognitive performance, serum BDNF levels, and the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism in individuals diagnosed with chronic limb ischemia (CLI). The study encompassed 159 CLI patients (52 females, 107 males) aged 59-73 years. Genetic analysis involved assessing the BDNF Val66Met single-nucleotide polymorphism using a TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assay and the ViiA™ 7 Real-Time PCR System. Serum BDNF levels were quantified. Cognitive functioning was evaluated through a computerized battery of tests, including the simple reaction test (SRT) for speed and accuracy assessment, verbal memory test (VMT) for short and long-term memory evaluation, and the GoNoGo test for cognitive control and inhibition. Gender differences in cognitive performance were observed, with women excelling in VMT, while men demonstrated superior performance in SRT and the GoNoGo test. No statistically significant differences were noted between the Met/Met or Met/Val and Val/Val subgroups. However, notable differences emerged in female Met carriers, exhibiting superior VMT scores but more incorrect Go responses in the GoNoGo test. Conversely, female Val homozygotes showed significantly more incorrect NoGo responses compared to male Val homozygotes. In men carrying the Met allele, higher BDNF concentrations correlated with improved GoNoGo test results (r = 0.248, p = 0.01). Conversely, in women with the Val/Val variant, lower BDNF concentrations were associated with better VMT scores. This study underscores the sex-specific impact of BDNF serum levels and the BDNF polymorphism on cognitive processes among CLI patients. The findings highlight the nuanced influence of BDNF in shaping cognitive functioning, emphasizing the need for further research into these sex-dependent associations.

PSYCHOMOTRICITY FOSTERING PRESCHOOL PUPILS’ LONG-TERM LEARNING

The present research analyses whether an intervention based on employing a grounded psychomotor methodology favours meaningful learning and long-term memorization of curricular content in the same way as an expository methodology would. A comparative analysis between the effects of one methodological intervention and another is performed. The study is carried out with two natural groups of preschool pupils (5-6 years old). The acquisition of content following each of the four sessions programmed for both methodologies, and its memorization in three time frames of 24 hours, 7 days, and 31 days, is evaluated. To evaluate learning and memorization of content, a verbal recognition test and a verbal memorization test are used. The study shows that during the grounded psychomotor intervention, as a methodology that uses meaningful motor skills experienced in an interdisciplinary framework, preschoolers improved their learning. The analysis of the methodological effect was significant despite having found significant differences between groups. Memorization over short (24h), medium-term (7 days) and long-term (31 days) periods of time presents similar values ​​between both methodologies, showing an important recall capacity in both methodologies. In memorization, there are also significant differences according to the group and methodology. The study considers that significant motor interventions experienced as strategic didactic elements are worth considering as a strategy to improve content learning in an educational context at the preschool stage. This study enables us to consider the need to establish mechanisms for preschoolers to control emotional intensity when using psychomotor tasks and delivering intentionally directed curriculum content. A comprehensive examination of the research allows us to contend that although the formative assessment process, which is a byproduct of the learning process itself, has contributed to high memorization results over time, teaching-learning dialogic and constructivist methodologies can be held responsible for very low levels of forgetting.

Special Series on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV Performances in Five Asian Countries: Summary of Findings, Clinical Implications, and Future Directions.

This special series of exploratory studies compared WAIS-IV performances in five Asian countries: Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, India, and Indonesia with the U.S. The studies examined cognitive profiles across age groups to develop hypotheses on how culture can impact cognition. This summary article integrates the findings from each study to determine similarities and differences across Asian countries and proposes possible underlying cultural factors impacting cognition. In each study, raw scores corresponding to a subscale score of 10 were scored with U.S. norms across all age groups. Index scores were calculated with the adjusted scale scores. The impact of education on test performances was determined by correlating WAIS-IV scores with a ratio of educational attainment for each country with the U.S. for each age group. Findings from each country were then integrated to develop hypotheses on cultural factors that impacted cognitive profiles. East Asian countries (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan) demonstrated weaker Verbal Comprehension Index scores and stronger Processing Speed Index scores than the U.S. sample, although the latter was moderated by age. East Asian countries demonstrated stronger performances on Perceptual Reasoning versus Verbal Comprehension tests. East Asians and the Java subset of the Indonesian sample demonstrated a pattern of stronger performances in younger versus older cohorts which was significantly correlated with educational attainment. Cultural factors impacting cognition were proposed. Clinical implications of the findings were discussed and directions for future studies to examine the relationship between culture and cognition were recommended.

Associations between accelerated forgetting, amyloid deposition and brain atrophy in older adults.

Accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF) is the phenomenon whereby material is retained normally over short intervals (e.g. minutes) but forgotten abnormally rapidly over longer periods (days or weeks). ALF may be an early marker of cognitive decline, but little is known about its relationships with preclinical Alzheimer's disease pathology, and how memory selectivity may influence which material is forgotten. We assessed ALF in 'Insight 46', a sub-study of the MRC National Survey of Health and Development (a population-based cohort born during one week in 1946) (n=429; 47% female; assessed aged ∼73 years). ALF assessment comprised visual and verbal memory tests: Complex Figure Drawing and the Face-Name Associative Memory Exam (FNAME). ALF scores were calculated as the percentage of material retained after 7 days, relative to 30 minutes. In 306 cognitively-normal participants, we investigated effects on ALF of β-amyloid pathology (quantified using 18F-Florbetapir-PET, classified as positive/negative) and whole-brain and hippocampal atrophy rate (quantified from serial T1-MRI over ∼2.4 years preceding the ALF assessment), as well as interactions between these pathologies. We categorized Complex Figure Drawing items as 'outline' or 'detail', to test our hypothesis that forgetting the outline of the structure would be more sensitive to the effect of brain pathologies. We also investigated associations between ALF and Subjective Cognitive Decline, measured with the MyCog questionnaire. Complex Figure 'outline' items were better retained than 'detail' items (mean retention over 7 days = 94% vs 72%). Amyloid-positive participants showed greater forgetting of the Complex Figure outline, compared to amyloid-negatives (90% vs 95%; P<0.01). There were interactions between amyloid pathology and cerebral atrophy, such that whole-brain and hippocampal atrophy predicted greater ALF on Complex Figure Drawing among amyloid-positives only (e.g. 1.9 percentage-points lower retention per ml/year of whole-brain atrophy [95% confidence intervals 0.5, 3.7]; P<0.05). Greater ALF on FNAME was associated with increased rate of hippocampal atrophy. ALF on Complex Figure Drawing also correlated with subjective cognitive decline (-0.45 percentage-points per MyCog point [-0.85, -0.05], P<0.05). These results provide evidence of associations between some measures of ALF and biomarkers of brain pathologies and subjective cognitive decline in cognitively-normal older adults. On Complex Figure Drawing, 'outline' items were better remembered than 'detail' items - illustrating the strategic role of memory selectivity - but 'outline' items were also relatively more vulnerable to ALF in individuals with amyloid pathology. Overall, our findings suggest that ALF may be a sensitive marker of cognitive changes in preclinical Alzheimer's disease.

Parietal memory network and memory encoding versus retrieval impairments in PD-MCI patients: A hippocampal volume and cortical thickness study.

The pathophysiology behind memory impairment in Parkinson's Disease Mild Cognitive Impairment (PD-MCI) is unclear. This study aims to investigate the hippocampal and cortical atrophy patterns in PD-MCI patients with different types of memory impairments, categorized as Retrieval Failure (RF) and Encoding Failure (EF). The study included 16 healthy controls (HC) and 34 PD-MCI patients, divided into RF (N = 18) and EF (N = 16) groups based on their Verbal Memory Processes Test (VMPT) scores, including spontaneous recall, recognition, and Index of Sensitivity to Cueing (ISC). Hippocampal subfields and cortical thicknesses were measured using the FreeSurfer software for automatic segmentation. Compared to the HC group, the EF group exhibited significant atrophy in the left lateral occipital region and the right caudal middle frontal, superior temporal, and inferior temporal regions (p⟨0.05). The RF group displayed significant atrophy in the left lateral occipital, middle temporal, and precentral regions, as well as the right pars orbitalis and superior frontal regions (p⟨0.05). Hippocampal subfield analysis revealed distinct volume differences between HC-EF and RF-EF groups, with significant reductions in the CA1, CA3, and CA4 subregions in the EF group, but no differences between HC and RF groups (p > 0.05). Gray matter atrophy patterns differ in PD-MCI patients with encoding and retrieval memory impairments. The significant hippocampal atrophy in the EF group, particularly in the CA subregions, highlights its potential role in disease progression and memory decline. Additionally, the convergence of atrophy in the lateral occipital cortex across both RF and EF groups suggests the involvement of the Parietal Memory Network (PMN) in PD-related memory impairment.

A pilot study of race, ethnic, gender, and parental education level differences on the Naglieri General Ability Tests: Verbal, Nonverbal, and Quantitative

AbstractThis study was conducted to examine the relationships between general intelligence test scores and race, ethnicity, gender, and parental education using the Naglieri General Ability Tests: Verbal, Nonverbal and Quantitative (Naglieri &amp; Brulles, &amp; Lansdowne, 2021) for three samples that closely match the U.S. population. Few differences were found on the preliminary versions of the Verbal (Naglieri &amp; Brulles, 2021; N = 2482), Quantitative (Naglieri &amp; Lansdowne, 2021; N = 2369), and Nonverbal (Naglieri, 2021; N = 2383) Naglieri General Ability Tests. These initial findings suggest that this approach to measuring general ability may ultimately have utility for equitable identification of students from diverse backgrounds for possible inclusion in gifted educational programs.

Comparing in-home telehealth and in-person administration of neuropsychological measures in an outpatient pediatric sample during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: Research establishing the validity of neuropsychological assessment using telehealth (teleNP) is much needed in pediatric populations. Method: Current analyses compared performances on twelve common neuropsychological measures completed at home via teleNP or in-person during the COVID-19 pandemic in 476 youth (ages 6 to 17, Mage 11.4 ± 3.0). Results: No differences were found on nine measures. In-person performances on three verbal tests were ∼1 scaled score point lower (all padjusted <.05). Post-hoc analyses showed that the in-person pandemic performances were comparable to an in-person pre-pandemic cohort (unmasked). Conclusions: Overall, teleNP was comparable to in-person assessment. Results indicate that teleNP administration does not result in substantially different performance in pediatric patients undergoing clinical evaluations.

Using Video-Reflexive Methods to Develop a Provider Down Protocol for the New South Wales Biocontainment Center.

The New South Wales Biocontainment Centre is a statewide referral facility for patients with high-consequence infectious disease (HCID). The facility collaborates with researchers to adapt existing HCID procedures such as donning and doffing of personal protective equipment (PPE). However, information on how to respond safely to collapse of a healthcare provider in full PPE within a contaminated zone is scarce. To address this gap, we adapted Nebraska Medicine's "provider down" protocol on paper and then simulated and video recorded the process, iteratively, in the facility. Clinicians analyzed the recordings collaboratively in researcher-facilitated reflexive discussions. Our primary aim was to ascertain how to maintain optimal infection prevention and control while providing urgent care for the healthcare provider. We tested participants' suggested modifications, in repeated video recorded simulations, until consensus on optimal practice was achieved. Our secondary aim was to assess the utility of video-reflexive methods to enhance clinicians' awareness and understanding of infection prevention and control in a rare and complex scenario. Six adaptations and simulations were discussed in video-reflexive sessions before consensus was reached; the final version of the protocol differed considerably from the first. Viewing footage of simulations in situ enabled participants to (1) identify infection and occupational risks not identified on paper or during verbal postsimulation debriefs and (2) test alternative perspectives on safe procedure. Video-reflexivity enables context-sensitive and consensus-building codesign of policies and procedures, critical to protocol development in a new unit. It contributes to a culture of teamwork, preparedness, and confidence before, rather than in the heat of, a crisis.

宋代书院与欧洲中世纪大学教学方式及评价比较

Seowon in the Song Dynasty of China had implemented mainly around the Script of Confucianism for the education level and it valued for cultivating ethical descipline and humanities spirits for students. For the education method, Seowon had undertaken various types of lecturing, self-discipline, discussion and so forth, and it encouraged students to think independently and assert their creativeness. In addition, Seowon checked the learning outcome of students for ordinary testing for creative writing of poetry and literature and interpretation of scripts. Although such an evaluation method is relatively isolated, it would rather measure the level of finding out and depth of understanding on the Script of Confucianism for students in effective ways. The education and test evaluation style of universities of medieval Europe has certain different characteristics. The education of universities was comprised with the contents of specialized knowledge, such as, theology, law, medicine and so forth, and for the methodology, it placed even more value on developing the logic, inference and theoretical capability. For the test evaluation, in addition to the conventional written test, comprehensive talent, skill and practical application capability were assessed of students through the types of verbal test, pleading and so on. Besides, the test of medieval Europe has close relations to the ‘degree’. Such a diversified evaluation method was effective in entirely evaluating the learning outcome and potential of students. The education method and evaluation type are main composition elements of the education process that, with respect to the education affairs, the development and changes have profound influence. The education and evaluation types of Seowon in the Song Dynasty and university of medieval Europe have certain limitations, but the series of education idea system and method among them have generality and value rather, and with respect to the contemporary education, it displays important points of implication to make references. 在宋代书院中, 教学以儒家经典为主, 注重培养学⽣的道德修养和人文精神. 教 学方法上, 书院采用讲授、自学、讨论等多种形式, ⿎励学⽣独⽴思考和创新. 考核 方面, 书院通常通过诗文创作、经典解读等方式来检验学⽣的学习成果. 虽然这种 评价方式相对单一, 但它却能有效地评估学⽣对儒家经典的掌握程度和理解深度. 欧 洲中世纪⼤学的教学及考核评价形式则呈现出不同的特点. ⼤学的教学内容以神学、 法学和医学等专业知识为主, 教学方法上更加注重逻辑推理和思辨能⼒的培养. 考核 评价方面, 除了传统的笔试外, 还引⼊了⼝试、辩论等形式, 以检验学⽣的综合素质 和实际应用能⼒. 此外, 中世纪⼤学的考核还与学位紧密相关. 这种多样化的评价方 式有助于全面评估学⽣的学习成果和潜⼒. 教学方法和评价形式是教学过程中的重 要组成部分, 它们的发展和变革对教学工作有着深远的影响. 宋代书院和欧洲中世纪 ⼤学的教学及评价形式虽然有其局限性, 但其中的一些教学思想、制度和方法却具 有普适性和价值, 对现代教育仍然具有重要的启⽰和借鉴意义.

Perception of Pitch and Duration Pattern of Vowel /a/: A Comparison across Age and Gender in 5 to 9 Years Old Children

Abstract Objectives The present study aimed to develop pitch pattern test (PPT) and duration pattern test (DPT) using vowel and investigate the temporal ordering skills among typically developing children aged 5 to 9 years across genders. The study compared the performance of children on these tests across different age groups and gender. The study also investigated the relationship between performance on the DPT and PPT tasks using the vowel /a/. Materials and Methods Two verbal stimuli tests, DPT and PPT, were developed. For DPT, the vowel /a/ was used at 246 Hz and had two different durations of 500 and 250 ms for long and short stimuli, respectively, with a 300-ms interstimulus interval. For PPT, the vowel /a/ was used at 220 Hz for “low” stimuli and 261 Hz for “high” stimuli, both lasting 500 ms, with a 300-ms interstimulus duration and a 6-second intersequence duration.A cross-sectional study design was utilized in the study. A total of 100 typically developing school children aged between 5 and 9 years were divided into five age groups, each consisting of 10 males and 10 females. All children passed a hearing screening at 25 dB HL from 250 Hz to 4,000 Hz and had an average or above-average academic performance as reported by their teacher. All the children were tested using the developed tests. The order of administration of DPT and PPT was randomized. Children were instructed to listen to the sequence of vowel presentations and hum them in the same order. Results There was no significant difference between scores of males and females across all the age groups. On both tests, there was a significant improvement in the performance of the children with increase in age. There was a strong overall correlation between scores of DPT and PPT. Conclusion Both DPT and PPT, utilizing vowels as stimuli, did not exhibit a ceiling effect. This study highlighted a robust correlation between the two tests.

The Association between Individual Food Groups, Limbic System White Matter Tracts, and Episodic Memory: Initial Data from the Aiginition Longitudinal Biomarker Investigation of Neurodegeneration (ALBION) Study.

(1) Background: Many studies link food intake with clinical cognitive outcomes, but evidence for brain biomarkers, such as memory-related limbic white matter (WM) tracts, is limited. We examined the association between food groups, limbic WM tracts integrity, and memory performance in community-dwelling individuals. (2) Methods: We included 117 non-demented individuals (ALBION study). Verbal and visual episodic memory tests were administered, and a composite z-score was calculated. Diffusion tensor imaging tractography was applied for limbic WM tracts (fornix-FX, cingulum bundle-CB, uncinate fasciculus-UF, hippocampal perforant pathway zone-hPPZ). Food intake was evaluated through four 24-h recalls. We applied linear regression models adjusted for demographics and energy intake. (3) Results: We found significant associations between (a) higher low-to-moderate alcohol intake and higher FX fractional anisotropy (FA), (b) higher full-fat dairy intake and lower hPPZ FA, and (c) higher red meat and cold cuts intake and lower hPPZ FA. None of the food groups was associated with memory performance. (4) Conclusions: Despite non-significant associations between food groups and memory, possibly due to participants' cognitive profile and/or compensatory mechanisms, the study documented a possible beneficial role of low-to-moderate alcohol and a harmful role of full-fat dairy and red meat and cold cuts on limbic WM tracts.

Correlation between studying strategies, personal and psychological factors with academic achievement and intelligence in health sciences university students: a cross-sectional study

IntroductionTo date, there are no sufficient studies aimed to determine a correlation between personal, academic, and psychological variables with academic achievement, measured with the grade point average (GPA) and intelligence in university students according to each sex.Study aimTo determine the correlation between studying strategies, personal and psychological factors with GPA and intelligence in a sample of health sciences university students.MethodsHealth Sciences university students, were invited to participate, those who accepted were cited in a computer room where they signed an informed consent and filled an electronic questionnaire with sociodemographic, behavioral, psychological variables and studying strategies (from the MLSQ instrument) afterwards they performed a verbal and non-verbal intelligence test (Shipley-2).ResultsA total of 439 students were included, from which 297 (67.7%) were women. The mean of age was 20.34 ± 2.61 years old. We found that no differences in GPA where observed between sexes. We detected a higher correlation between combined intelligence and GPA in women than in men. In addition, most studying strategies showed a higher correlation with GPA than intelligence scores in men´s sample. All these findings coincide with the fact that preparatory GPA was the most correlated variable with university GPA in both sexes. Finally, women showed higher levels of the sum of diseases, somatization, anxiety, depression and academic stress than men, and all these variables showed low significant correlations with the combined intelligence score only in women´s sample.ConclusionVerbal and non-verbal intelligence scores show a lower association to GPA in men than in women, while studying strategies showed a higher association with GPA in men than in women.

Could Accelerated Long-Term Forgetting Be a Feature of the Higher Rate of Memory Complaints Associated with Subjective Cognitive Decline? An Exploratory Study.

Recently, subjective cognitive decline (SCD) was proposed as an early risk factor for future Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study, we investigated whether accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF), assessed with extended testing intervals than those adopted in clinical practice, might be a cognitive feature of SCD. Using an explorative MRI analysis of the SCD sample, we attempted to investigate the areas most likely involved in the ALF pattern. We recruited 31 individuals with SCD from our memory clinic and subdivided them based on their rate of memory complaints into mild SCDs (n = 18) and severe SCDs (n = 13). A long-term forgetting procedure, involving the recall of verbal and visuo-spatial material at four testing delays (i.e., immediate, 30 min, 24 h, and 7 days post-encoding) was used to compare the two sub-groups of SCDs with a healthy control group (HC; n = 16). No significant between-group difference was found on the standard neuropsychological tests, nor in the immediate and 30 min recall of the experimental procedure. By contrast, on the verbal test severe SCDs forgot significantly more than HCs in the prolonged intervals (i.e., 24 h and 7 days), with the greatest decline between 30 min and 24 h. Finally, in the whole SCD sample, we found significant associations between functional connectivity values within some cortical networks involved in memory (default mode network, salience network, and fronto-parietal network) and verbal long-term measures. Our preliminary findings suggest that long-term forgetting procedures could be a sensitive neuropsychological tool for detecting memory concerns in SCDs, contributing to early AD detection.

Pattern of cognitive changes and content of cerebral neurotrophic factor in patients with chronic cerebral ischemia

Objective. To study the pattern of cognitive changes and the content of cerebral neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the blood serum of patients with chronic cerebral ischemia (CICI).Materials and methods. We examined 128 people who were divided into two groups: the main group – 82 patients (38 men and 44 women) aged 60–74 years with CICI, the control group – 46 people comparable to the patients of the main group by gender and age, but without clinical manifestations of CICM. Cognitive functions were assessed using the Mini-Mental Status Scale (MSMS) and the Battery of Tests for the Assessment of Frontal Dysfunction (FMS). Attention (Schulte test), speech fluency (speech fluency subtest BTLD, verbal association test), memory (memory subtest KSHOPS; 5 words test) and visuospatial functions (clock drawing test) were studied. The content of BDNF in the blood serum of patients was determined by the enzyme immunoassay method.Results. The pattern of cognitive impairment in CIGM was characterized by changes in the domains of executive brain functions and complex attention. The content of BDNF in the blood serum of patients with CICI was significantly lower than that of the control group; in men is lower compared to female patients. Significant correlations were revealed between the severity of cognitive disorders and the level of BDNF in the blood serum.

The native speaker model in Japan: constant and changing attitudes

ENGLISH ABSTRACT This paper describes a mixed methods study of Japanese first-year tertiary learners’ attitudes to English language learning models. It outlines the results from a survey comprised of a verbal guise test (measuring respondents’ attitudes to both linguistic and personality features) and vocabulary elicitation, which was administered to 87 participants. Following this, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 of these learners. Results of both the survey and interviews showed a strong preference for the native speaker model among participants, as well as negative views of localized Englishes. At the same time, participants were more likely to choose Japanese people as their ideal speaking models. In both cases, perceived personality, more than linguistic features, appeared to be a major factor behind participants’ attitudes. In addition, the findings showed the potential of Japanese language teachers’ use of English as a source of building student confidence, highlighting the importance of developing Japanese teachers’ confidence in their own Englishes.

Detecting accelerated long-term forgetting remotely in a community sample of people with epilepsy: Evidence from the Crimes and Four Doors tests

People with epilepsy often report experiencing memory problems though these are not always detectable using standard neuropsychological measures. One form of difficulty that may be relatively prevalent in epilepsy is termed accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF), typically described as relatively greater loss of memory over days or weeks following initial encoding. The current study used remote assessment to examine memory and forgetting over one week in a broad community sample of people with epilepsy and healthy control participants, using two recently developed tests, one verbal (the Crimes test) and one visual (the Four Doors test). These were administered as part of a short battery of cognitive measures, run remotely with participants over Zoom. Across this community-derived sample, people with epilepsy reported more memory complaints and demonstrated significantly faster forgetting on both the verbal and visual tests. This difference was not attributable to level of initial learning performance and was not detectable through delayed recall on a standard existing test. Our results suggests that ALF may be more common than suspected in people with epilepsy, leading to a potentially important source of memory problems that are currently undetected by standard memory tests.

Comparing cognition in parents with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder and their 7-year-old offspring

Individuals with schizophrenia (SZ) or bipolar disorder (BP) display cognitive impairments, while their first-degree relatives perform at an intermediate level between the patient groups and controls. However, the environmental impact of having an ill relative likely varies with the type of kinship and some studies suggest that offspring may be particularly disadvantaged. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between parent and child cognition in parents with SZ or BD and their 7-year-old offspring. A population-based cohort of 522 children (parental SZ, n = 202; parental BP, n = 120; controls, n = 200) and their parents underwent the same assessment battery covering a wide range of cognitive functions. We used Bayesian statistics to model performance. We found that performance on non-verbal tests was better in offspring than parents with SZ or BP, using the controls as reference. However, for verbal tests, there was little to no evidence for this pattern or even some evidence for the opposite in the BP group: relatively better performance in parents than offspring. The findings suggest that the offspring of parents with SZ or BP may be particularly disadvantaged in verbal abilities. Future studies will show whether this pattern persists throughout development.

Investigating a Novel Approach to Assessing Vocabulary Knowledge

This study explored an alternative approach to assessing individuals’ word knowledge by gauging the ability to recognize subtle similarities and differences among associated terms. Informed by the theoretical and empirical work on relational reasoning, the Measure of Vocabulary Knowledge through Relational Reasoning (MVKR2) was developed and validated. Participants were 338 college students who completed the MVKR2, the Test of Relational Reasoning (TORR), and released items from the SAT Verbal and Math tests. The TORR and SAT tests were administered to examine the convergent and concurrent validities of the MVKR2. Findings from item confirmatory analyses and correlations demonstrated that the MVKR2 is a reliable and valid measure of vocabulary knowledge for college-age students. In addition, fluid relational reasoning ability was associated with the performance on this novel measure, but the association with vocabulary knowledge was stronger. When examined on the scale and item levels, the contribution of fluid relational reasoning varied across scales and items within each scale. This study offered an alternative way to examine vocabulary knowledge that has implications for future empirical research and instructional practice.

Acute effects of cannabigerol on anxiety, stress, and mood: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover, field trial

Cannabigerol (CBG) is a phytocannabinoid increasing in popularity, with preclinical research indicating it has anxiolytic and antidepressant effects. However, there are no published clinical trials to corroborate these findings in humans. The primary objective of this study was to examine acute effects of CBG on anxiety, stress, and mood. Secondary objectives were to examine whether CBG produces subjective drug effects or motor and cognitive impairments. A double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over field trial was conducted with 34 healthy adult participants. Participants completed two sessions (with a one-week washout period) via Zoom. In each, they provided ratings of anxiety, stress, mood, and subjective drug effects prior to double-blind administration of 20 mg hemp-derived CBG or placebo tincture (T0). These ratings were collected again after participants ingested the product and completed an online survey (T1), the Trier Social Stress Test (T2), a verbal memory test and the DRUID impairment app (T3). Relative to placebo, there was a significant main effect of CBG on overall reductions in anxiety as well as reductions in stress at T1. CBG also enhanced verbal memory relative to placebo. There was no evidence of subjective drug effects or impairment. CBG may represent a novel option to reduce stress and anxiety in healthy adults.