Neuropsychological functioning in nonmentally retarded autistic individuals.

To investigate several neurobiological theories we evaluated the neuropsychological functioning of 15 non-mentally retarded autistic adolescents and young adults and 15 controls matched on age, gender, IQ, and race. The autistic subjects were found to perform less well than controls on measures of abstraction involving cognitive flexibility, verbal reasoning, complex memory, and complex language comprehension in the absence of significant differences on measures of attention, associative memory, and the rule-learning aspects of abstraction. These findings are most consistent with a generalized abnormality in complex information processing and would not support theories purporting fundamental deficits in attention or information acquisition.     

Neurophysiological evidence of impaired attention and working memory in untreated hematologic cancer patients

ObjectiveNeuroimaging studies of hematologic cancer patients report altered activity in dorsal attention and central executive networks. To determine the consequences of these altered brain networks, we evaluated neurophysiological correlates of attention and working memory in hematologic cancer patients prior to initiating treatment.MethodsHematologic cancer patients (19–80 years) were excluded for premorbid cognitive impairment, prior non-hematologic cancer diagnosis, and prior chemotherapy. Attention was manipulated by presenting an irrelevant spatial cue prior to visual search displays. Working memory was manipulated by presenting irrelevant distractors within memory displays. Electroencephalogram was recorded during task performance.ResultsPatients (n = 28) and controls (n = 15) were balanced on age, gender, and education. Spatial cues evoked larger N2pc amplitudes, a correlate of spatial attention, in patients than controls (p < .05; Cohen’s d > 0.7). Memory distractors evoked larger contralateral delay activity amplitudes, a correlate of working memory load, in patients (p = .028; Cohen’s d = 1.1) but not controls (p = .64).ConclusionsPrior to initiating treatment, hematologic cancer patients demonstrated poor control over spatial attention and working memory, consistent with altered dorsal attention and central executive network activity.SignificanceHematologic cancer patients may be at a higher risk for selecting, processing, and storing distracting information that would compete with more immediate goal-related behaviors.     

The validity of the Brain Injury Cognitive Screen (BICS) as a neuropsychological screening assessment for traumatic and non-traumatic brain injury

Objective: The Brain Injury Cognitive Screen (BICS) was developed as an in-service cognitive assessment battery for acquired brain injury patients entering community rehabilitation. The BICS focuses on domains that are particularly compromised following TBI, and provides a broader and more detailed assessment of executive function, attention and information processing than comparable screening assessments. The BICS also includes brief assessments of perception, naming, and construction, which were predicted to be more sensitive to impairments following non-traumatic brain injury. The studies reported here examine preliminary evidence for its validity in post-acute rehabilitation. Method: In Study 1, TBI patients completed the BICS and were compared with matched controls. Patients with focal lesions and matched controls were compared in Study 2. Study 3 examined demographic effects in a sample of normative data. Results: TBI and focal lesion patients obtained significantly lower composite memory, executive function and attention and information processing BICS scores than healthy controls. Injury severity effects were also obtained. Logistic regression analyses indicated that each group of BICS memory, executive function and attention measures reliably differentiated TBI and focal lesion participants from controls. Design Recall, Prospective Memory, Verbal Fluency, and Visual Search test scores showed significant independent regression effects. Other subtest measures showed evidence of sensitivity to brain injury. Conclusions: The study provides preliminary evidence of the BICS’ sensitivity to cognitive impairment caused by acquired brain injury, and its potential clinical utility as a cognitive screen. Further validation based on a revised version of the BICS and more normative data are required.     

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Effects of hypoxia on neurological and neuropsychological measures

Abstract

Eighteen patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were administered a series of pulmonary, neurological, and neuropsychological measures to test if there was an effect of COPD on neurological and cognitive functioning. Overall, there was no evidence of general dementia in this sample. Measures of immediate and delayed memory, complex attention, and speed of information processing correlated highly with arterial carbon dioxide partial pressure and, to a lesser extent, with oxygen partial pressure. Measures of language abilities, perceptual-motor functioning, and simple attention generally were not related to arterial gas pressures. A similar pattern of findings was obtained when group differences were examined between participants classified as severely hypoxic or mildly hypoxic, although group differences were mitigated by premorbid IQ differences. Hypoxia in COPD results in a relatively focused pattern of impairment in measures of memory function and tasks requiring attention allocation. The memory dysfunction may be related to involvement of limbic memory regions necessary for explicit memory. The attentional deficits were attributed to diffuse brain involvement resulting in reduced resource allocation. Early diagnosis and treatment of the hypoxia is essential.     

Canadian mapping of autism-specific supports for postsecondary students

BackgroundMany autistic students have a variety of strengths and the desire to succeed in postsecondary education. Nonetheless, most autistic students report not receiving adequate support in postsecondary education to ensure their success. Students also report difficulty in navigating complex institutional systems. We conducted an environmental scan of autism-specific supports (e.g., website information, transition programs, peer mentoring) available to autistic students within Canada’s publicly-funded postsecondary institutions. We also examined distribution of autism-specific supports across institutional type (i.e., university, junior college, technical/vocational) and geographic region.MethodA Boolean search strategy was used to collect data from institutional websites.ResultsOf the 258 publicly-funded postsecondary institutions in Canada, only 15 institutions (6%) had at least one support. Of the 15 institutions identified, the most common autism-specific support included information on the institution’s website (67%), followed by transition to university support (47%), social group(s) (33%), peer mentoring (27%), specialist tutoring and support with daily living (20%), transition to employment support (13%), and student-led societies and autistic student advocate (7%). In general, universities and institutions in Central Canada (i.e., Ontario) had a disproportionate number of provisions.ConclusionsThere are promising advances with respect to autism-specific supports in postsecondary institutions across Canada. We recommend further research to better understand how students access these supports and more comprehensive evaluations of such supports, specifically informed by collaborations with autistic students.     

Linking the Developmental and Degenerative Theories of Schizophrenia: Association Between Infant Development and Adult Cognitive Decline

Neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative theories may be viewed as incompatible accounts that compete to explain the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. However, it is possible that neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative processes could both reflect common underlying causal mechanisms. We hypothesized that cognitive dysfunction would gradually deteriorate over time in schizophrenia and the degree of this deterioration in adulthood would be predicted by an infant measure of neurodevelopment. We aimed to examine the association between age of learning to stand in infancy and deterioration of cognitive function in adulthood. Participants were nonpsychotic control subjects (n = 76) and participants with schizophrenia (n = 36) drawn from the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort study. The schizophrenia group showed greater deterioration in abstraction with memory than controls, but there were no differences between schizophrenia and controls in rate of change of other cognitive measures. Age of learning to stand in infancy significantly inversely predicted later deterioration of abstraction with memory in adult schizophrenia (later infant development linked to greater subsequent cognitive deterioration during adulthood), possibly suggesting a link between abnormal neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative processes in schizophrenia.Key words: schizophrenia, cognition, executive function, memory, neurodevelopment     

Memory bias for health-related information in somatoform disorders

ObjectiveCognitive processes are considered to be relevant to the etiology and maintenance of somatoform disorders (SFDs). The aim of this study was to assess explicit and implicit information-processing bias for disorder-congruent information in SFDs.MethodsA clinical sample of 33 patients suffering from multiple somatoform symptoms (SSI-3/5) and 25 healthy controls performed an encoding task with computer-presented word lists (illness related, negative, positive, neutral content), subsequently followed by explicit memory tests (free recall and recognition) and an implicit test (word-stem completion).ResultsThe somatoform group showed a memory bias for illness-related stimuli in the word-stem completion task, whereas the two groups did not differ in explicit memory tests. This effect could not be explained by comorbid depression.ConclusionThese results provide some support for current theories on SFDs.     

Factor structure and psychometric properties of the Brief COPE in autistic older adolescents and adults

BackgroundAutistic adults experience high levels of stress, which may negatively affect their mental health. However, research into coping with stress in this population is limited, with no coping measures specifically validated for use in the autistic population.MethodUtilising data from two Australian longitudinal adult studies, exploratory factor analysis was conducted to determine the factor structure that best represented the use of coping strategies in a sample of autistic adults (N = 255) using the Brief COPE. Mental health and well-being measures were used to provide information on psychometric properties. To explore potential intricacies in factor structure that may be unique to autistic adults, a preliminary subjective comparison with a non-autistic adult sample (N = 165) was also conducted.ResultsA six-factor solution, with high internal reliabilities, best represented the use of coping strategies in the autistic adult sample. Good convergent and divergent validities for the conceptually relevant coping factors were also reported. Subjective comparisons raise the possibility of some similarities (e.g., support-seeking coping strategies) and differences (e.g., the use of self-distraction coping strategies) in factor structures between the autistic and non-autistic samples.ConclusionsThis study provides an initial validation of the Brief COPE in autistic adults and supports its usefulness in assessing coping strategies in response to stress in this population. Findings also have potential implications for informing intervention services for autistic individuals, given the known relationships between the coping of stress and broader outcomes, such as mental health.     

On the nature of memory disturbance in multiple sclerosis

Abstract

Thirty-seven patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) were compared to 26 normal controls of equivalent age, education, and verbal intelligence on measures of verbal learning and memory (Digit Span and Supraspan, Brown-Peterson Distractor Task, Selective Reminding Test, Story Recall, and Free Verbal Recall) and verbal fluency (Letter and Animal Fluency). The MS patients exhibited deficits on measures of secondary (long-term) memory and verbal fluency, but performed normally on measures of primary (short-term) memory, recognition memory, and rate of forgetting from secondary memory. These results suggest that the memory disturbance in MS results primarily from an impaired ability to access information from secondary memory, while encoding and storage capacity is intact. Degree of memory impairment was unrelated to length of illness, severity of disability, or self-reported depression.     

ERP correlates of selective attention and working memory capacities in children with ADHD and/or PDD-NOS

ObjectiveWe examined whether children (8–11 years) diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) showing primarily hyperactive behavior, differed in selective attention and working memory (WM) abilities.MethodsHealthy controls and children with ADHD, PDD-NOS or symptoms of both disorders (PDD/HD) (n = 15 in each group) carried out a visual selective memory search task while their EEG was recorded from which event-related potentials were derived.ResultsCompared to the control group, all patient groups made more omissions while hyperactive children also exhibited more false alarms. Regarding the process of WM-controlled search, significant group differences in ERP data were found between the control group and each of the clinical groups.ConclusionsThe results point to less efficient WM-functioning in all patient groups. Whereas the clinical groups differed from each other at the behavioral level as measured by questionnaires, no distinction between the clinical groups could be made with respect to performance or ERP measures of WM capacity and selective attention.SignificanceThe results suggest that a possible differentiation in selectivity and working memory capacities between PDD-NOS and ADHD is hard to find. This may agree with clinical practice, where differential diagnosis is a subject of discussion.     

The prospective memory of patients with idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder

BackgroundIdiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) likely represents the prodromal stage of synucleinopathy. The present study was to investigate if there was prospective memory (PM) impairment and the relationship between different PM tasks and traditional cognitive tests in patients with iRBD.MethodsA total of 28 patients with iRBD, 25 with Parkinson's disease (PD) and 21 healthy controls were included. The Cambridge Prospective Memory Test (CAMPROMPT) was used to measure the PM including time-based (TBPM) and event-based PM (EBPM). Standard cognitive tests were administered to all participants.ResultsEBPM scores were lower only in patients with iRBD, while the obvious PM abnormalities were found in patients with PD. The patients with iRBD and PD performed worse on delayed recall of the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) and copy of the Rey–Osterrieth complex figure (ROCF). The EBPM correlated with attention, executive function, and immediate memory besides working memory in patients with iRBD. The PM tasks involved in more memory functions in PD patients.ConclusionsThe patients with iRBD were impaired on both episodic memory and EBPM tasks that correlated with attention, executive function, and immediate memory. The PM abnormality was an early cognitive change in iRBD to which more attention should be paid more attention.     

Do children with ADHD and/or PDD-NOS differ in reactivity of alpha/theta ERD/ERS to manipulations of cognitive load and stimulus relevance?

ObjectiveWe examined whether the method of event-related (de-)synchronization (ERD/ERS) revealed differential effects of selective attention and working memory load in children (8–11 years) with pervasive developmental disorder – not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).MethodsFifteen healthy controls and three equally large groups of children with symptoms of PDD-NOS, ADHD or both (PDD/HD) performed a visual selective memory search task. The EEG was recorded from which occipital alpha and frontal theta were derived.ResultsThe effects of the overall task manipulations of task load, relevance and target/nontarget were clearly present in the overall analyses of alpha and theta ERD/ERS. However, no significant differences with respect to these manipulations existed between any of the subject groups.ConclusionsThe results supply no evidence for a distinction in information processing abilities of selective attention and working memory as reflected by alpha and theta ERD/ERS between children diagnosed with either ADHD, PDD-NOS or healthy controls.SignificanceAlpha and theta ERD/ERS are sensitive to manipulations of task load, relevance and target/nontarget, but supply no additional information on possible group differences in comparison to the more frequently used method of event-related potentials.     

Brief report: Attention patterns to non-social stimuli and associations with sensory features in autistic children

BackgroundAberrant attention patterns have been commonly reported in autistic children. However, few studies have examined attention to non-social stimuli varying in salience and complexity using eye-tracking technology, as well as their links to clinical sensory features.MethodForty-one children [16 with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), 10 with developmental delay (DD), and 15 neurotypical (NT)] ages 4 to 13 years were included in this cross-sectional study. Children completed a passive-viewing eye-tracking task designed to measure visual attention (e.g., fixation duration and count) to non-social stimuli with sensory qualities involving motion (spinning or non-spinning) and sound. Parents completed a clinical questionnaire about their child’s sensory behaviors. Eye-tracking metrics were compared across stimulus conditions and diagnostic groups, and their associations with parent-report sensory features were examined.ResultsOverall children showed longer fixation durations and fewer fixation counts to more complex stimuli (e.g., moving or spinning objects), but such facilitatory effects of stimulus properties tended to be less evident in DD versus ASD or NT groups. More clinical sensory features, especially hyperresponsiveness, were moderately to highly associated with quicker initial fixations and longer fixation durations across stimulus conditions in ASD, but not in DD and NT groups.ConclusionThe overall attention and initial orientation to non-social stimuli were comparable across autistic children and their non-autistic peers, with some sensory properties such as dynamic motion producing a facilitatory effect (i.e., fewer fixations of longer durations) on attention. However, sensory differences, particularly hyperresponsiveness, might underlie attention patterns as impacted by stimulus properties specifically in autism.     

INFORMATION PROCESSING SPEED OF CHILDREN WITH FRIEDREICH''S ATAXIA

Two children with Friedreich's ataxia and six controls matched for age and Verbal IQ were administered a measure of short-term memory scanning and tests of attention, memory, language and abstraction. The patients demonstrated a deficit in information processing speed, decreased sustained attention and variable memory performance. The findings suggest that a deficit in information processing speed occurs early in the clinical course of Friedreich's ataxia and progresses as neurological status deteriorates.     

Aging with elevated autistic traits: Cognitive functioning among older adults with the broad autism phenotype

BackgroundLittle is known about the impact of aging with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) on cognition. As a first step in addressing this gap in our knowledge, the current study examined cognitive functioning among older adults with elevated, but subclinical levels of autistic traits (i.e., the Broad Autism Phenotype; BAP) compared to older adults without the BAP.MethodForty older adults (aged 60–91, M = 73 years) were recruited and classified as meeting criteria for the BAP (n = 20) or not (control older adults, COA; n = 20). Different components of executive function as well as episodic memory were measured using standardized performance-based neuropsychological assessments in addition to a self-report questionnaire of executive function difficulties.ResultsDespite no differences in age, sex ratio, educational history or IQ, the BAP group demonstrated poorer performance on measures of executive function and episodic memory compared to the COA group. The BAP group also self-reported more executive function difficulties in everyday settings. Moreover, differences in working memory and attentional shifting were maintained after accounting for the influences of IQ and both depression and anxiety symptoms.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that aging with the BAP confers additional risk to cognitive function for older adults. As the BAP forms a bridge in the continuum from typical to atypical levels of autistic traits, these findings suggest that individuals with ASD might also incur cognitive costs as they age into older adulthood.     

The psycholinguistics of auditory hallucinations

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate psycholinguistic behaviour, as language processing, verbal reasoning and discourse production, in hallucinating and non-hallucinating subjects suffering from psychotic disorders. Nineteen hallucinating and 13 non-hallucinating subjects were assessed on a battery of tests of psycholinguistic functioning with complementary measures of abstraction and discourse cohesion. The experimental groups were matched with healthy controls by age, gender and education. Only a discourse score differentiated the patient groups. No tests of receptive or executive psycholinguistic functioning or abstraction distinguished the patient groups with hallucinating or non-hallucinating behaviour, thus disorders of linguistic processing in these domains are not specific to patients with auditory hallucinations. The patient groups did differ from their healthy controls on tests that required abstract processing and reasoning. There is also some evidence that both patient groups had difficulty with lexical retrieval or word generation, and with memory and comprehension. The conclusions support a concept of dysfunction of the executive system that facilitates linguistic processing in psychotic disorders. They also support further investigation of a comprehension deficit in psychosis and the use of discourse analysis as a diagnostic tool in this heterogeneous disease.     

Memory self-ratings and objective test performance in a normal elderly sample

Abstract

Self-rated decline in memory relative to estimated abilities at age 60 was investigated in a group of 88 normal elderly subjects age 60 to 90. Self-ratings of storage, retrieval, attention/concentration, remote memory, and depression formed a factor which was orthogonal to objective measures of memory function. Self-rated remote memory was also associated with objective measures of recent/remote memory, and self-rated depression was additionally related to objective measures of attention/ concentration.     

Improving the assessment of everyday cognitive functioning in patients with epilepsy by means of proxy reports

ObjectivesThe self-report of cognitive deficits by of patients with epilepsy is often poorly correlated with objective test performances but highly related to mood and personality. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether information obtained by close relatives of the patient shows higher correlations with the patients' objective test scores and thereby can be a complementary measure for ensuring a reliable basis for diagnostic decision-making.MethodsThirty-four patients and 29 relatives were asked to fill in a questionnaire about everyday cognitive deficits of the patient. All patients completed a neuropsychological test battery comprising measures of memory, attention, and executive functioning and questionnaires on anxiety, depression, and the personality trait neuroticism.ResultsCorrelations between relatives' reports and patients' test performances were highly significant across all examined domains. By contrast, self-reports of the patients significantly correlated with none of the neuropsychological measures of memory and with only a subset of the objective measures of attention and executive functioning. Regression analyses additionally revealed a strong dependency of the patients' self-assessment on depression, anxiety, and neuroticism (R² = 0.42).ConclusionsThese results point out the risk of self-reports distorting reality and additionally recommend consulting a close relative of the patient to ensure reliable information about the patient's everyday cognitive functioning.     

Relationships between measures of auditory verbal learning and executive functioning

Abstract

Relationships between performance on the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) and executive abilities were examined. In a sample of 115 neurological cases principal components factor analysis produced five theoretically and clinically meaningful CVLT factors. The five CVLT factors reflected general verbal learning (CVLT1), response discrimination (CVLT2), a proactive interference effect or “working memory” (CVLT3), serial learning strategy (CVLT4), and a retroactive interference effect (CVLT5). Canonical correlation between executive function measures and the five CVLT factor scores yielded one significant canonical variable accounting for 29 percent of the variance in the data. Two CVLT factors (CVLT1 and CVLT3), the Trail Making Test Part B, and Digit Span were significantly correlated with the canonical variate. Higher levels of memory performance were associated with better attention and mental tracking. Based on the present findings, attentional aspects of executive abilities appear to play a role in learning and working memory. Other aspects of executive abilities (abstraction, problem-solving, planning) appear to have minimal relationships with memory processes.     

Patterns of math and reading achievement in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

BackgroundThere has been an increase of autistic students without intellectual disabilities (autistic_WoID) placed in general education settings (Hussar et al., 2020), but there is a lack of understanding of how to best support classroom learning for these children. Previous research has pointed to subgroups of autistic_WoID children who display difficulty with mathematics and reading achievement (Chen et al., 2018; Estes et al., 2011; Jones et al., 2009; Wei et al., 2015). Research has primarily focused on symptomatology and communication factors related to learning in subgroups of autistic children. The current study sought to expand upon this research by assessing the validity of these previous studies and by investigating the specific contribution of domain-general cognitive abilities to differences in these subgroups.MethodSeventy-eight autistic_WoID individuals (M = 11.34 years, SD = 2.14) completed measures of mathematics and reading achievement, IQ, working memory, inferential thinking, and Theory of Mind (ToM). A hierarchical cluster analysis was performed on the math and reading measures.ResultsThe analysis revealed two unique achievement groups: one group that performed lower than expected on math and reading achievement and a second group that performed higher than expected. Groups differed significantly on IQ and working memory and were distinguished by performance on reading fluency. Groups did not differ on ToM, inferential thinking, or symptomatology.ConclusionThese findings describe a group of autistic_WoID individuals that may be more likely to experience difficulty learning, which should be accounted for in general education settings.