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The current study investigated the effects of proton pump inhibitor use and apolipoprotein ε4 carrier status on changes in neuropsychological functioning in healthy adults with familial risk factors for dementia. As part of the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention study, 1,573 subjects were administered questionnaires on their medical history, gave blood samples, and were administered neuropsychological assessments during four visits over a 10–15 year period. Linear mixed models assessed if non-users, subjects who stopped, started, or consistently used proton pump inhibitors differed in changes in working memory, verbal memory, psychomotor speed, and cognitive flexibility. The models did not yield significant main effects for proton pump inhibitor use or interaction effects between proton pump inhibitor use and apolipoprotein ε4 carrier status on a decline in memory or processing speed. An interaction effect suggested stopping a proton pump inhibitor may be protective against declines in cognitive flexibility among non-carriers. Although stopping a proton pump inhibitor use may have mild protective effects on executive functioning for non-apolipoprotein ε4 carriers, proton pump inhibitor use was not associated with memory decline in a sample of subjects with familial risk factors for dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxidative stress has been identified as a process which is detrimental to brain health, and associated with age-related cognitive declines. Few studies to-date have examined the relationship between in vivo oxidative stress biomarkers and cognitive performance within healthy elderly populations. The current study investigated the relationship between reaction time and oxidative stress, as measured by blood plasma concentrations of F2-isoprostanes using a sample of 251 healthy, non-demented, elderly volunteers (Male; 111: Female 140) aged 60–75 years from the Australian Research Council Longevity Intervention (ARCLI) study cohort. A Jensen Box was used in conjunction with the Hick paradigm in order to differentiate simple from choice reaction time (two, four and eight-choice conditions) as well as movement (MT) and decision times (DT). MT, but not DT, was found to be significantly slower for participants in the high F2-isoprostane group compared to the low F2-isoprostane group, across all stimulus choices. F2-isoprostanes, age and Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI) full scale intelligence quotient (IQ) were found to be significant predictors of average MT in the sample as a whole. These findings provide preliminary evidence to suggest that higher levels of oxidative stress may be associated with impaired psychomotor speed in the healthy elderly population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated changes in cognitive function in acute and delayed carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning groups with comprehensive neuropsychological tests at 1 month and 6 months after therapy. For this study, 11 patients with acute and 14 with delayed CO poisoning were recruited. The neuropsychological tests included psychomotor speed, visual-spatial ability, language, logical memory, working memory, and executive function. The results showed that patients with delayed neuropsychiatric syndrome (DNS) had poorer performance on neuropsychological tasks than did those with acute CO poisoning at the 1st month and reached almost the same level as the acute group on the neuropsychological tasks at the 6-month follow-up assessment. The DNS group had more significant progress on general cognitive function, psychomotor speed, and visual-spatial ability than did the acute group after continuous hyperbaric-oxygen therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Positive associations between physical activity and cognitive test performance in depressed subjects have been proposed in clinical studies. The contribution of severity and recency of depressive symptoms at the population level is not known. Aims: This study aims to examine whether regular physical activity associates with better verbal fluency and psychomotor speed in depressed subjects using a large population-based sample. Methods: Data was obtained from the population-based Finnish Health 2000 Study, gathered in 2000-2001. Depressive symptoms and depressive disorders were assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI), correspondingly. Cognitive test performance was assessed by the animal naming test and psychomotor speed with a simple and multi-choice reaction time test. Physical activity (Gothenburg scale) was self-reported. Complete data were obtained from 3658 subjects aged 30-64 years. Socio-demographic factors, health behaviours and use of antidepressants and anxiolytics were used as covariates in the linear regression models. Adjusted means were calculated using the predictive margins method. Results: Regular physical activity associated with better performance in reaction time tests and better verbal fluency among men with depressive symptoms or with a major depressive episode. Physical activity also associated with cognitive test performance among non-depressed men and women, but among them the differences between the physical activity groups were smaller. Conclusion: Regular physical activity may be a useful tool in supporting neurocognitive functioning among depressed subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction.Abnormal psychomotor behaviour in schizophrenia might be based on separate deficits. Here we studied the relationship between trajectory planning, action planning, psychomotor speed, and indices of cognitive functioning in a large group of stabilised patients with schizophrenia. Method.Sixty-one patients and 30 controls were tested. Trajectory planning was assessed in a graphic task in which sequences of single lines, gradually changing in direction, had to be drawn. Shifts to a comfortable drawing direction reflect anticipatory trajectory planning. Action planning was evaluated in a task in which figures varying in complexity and familiarity had to be copied. Psychomotor speed was measured by use of a simple line copying task. Measures of information processing speed, attention, working memory, and problem solving were derived from neuropsychological tests. Results.Patients much more often opted for the unusual bottom-to-top direction to draw the vertical lines in the drawing task. They changed the line orientation less often than the controls did. In the patient group, these trajectory planning indices did not correlate with measures of action planning, psychomotor speed, or neuropsychological test scores. Conclusion.Deviant trajectory planning strongly characterises schizophrenia, and is independent from action planning deficits and reduced psychomotor speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meta-analysis was carried out to determine the neurotoxic effects of long-term exposure to low levels of organophosphates (OPs) in occupational settings. Concern about the effects of OPs on human health has been growing as they are increasingly used throughout the world for a variety of agricultural, industrial and domestic purposes. The neurotoxic effects of acute poisoning are well established but the possibility that low-level exposure causes ill health is controversial. It is important to get a clear answer to this question as more individuals are at risk of low-level exposure than acute poisoning. Although a number of reviews on this topic have been published in the past, authors have come to conflicting conclusions. To date, none of these reviews have attempted quantitative evaluation of study findings using meta-analysis. This paper reviews the available evidence concerning the neurotoxicity of low-level occupational exposure to OPs and goes on to report the results of a meta-analysis of 14 studies which fulfilled criteria for this type of statistical analysis (means and standard deviations of dependant variables reported). Data were assimilated from more than 1600 participants. The majority of well designed studies found a significant association between low-level exposure to OPs and impaired neurobehavioral function which is consistent, small to moderate in magnitude and concerned primarily with cognitive functions such as psychomotor speed, executive function, visuospatial ability, working and visual memory. Unresolved issues in the literature which should become the focus of further studies are highlighted and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Use of neuropsychological tests to identify HIV-associated neurocognitive dysfunction must involve normative standards that are well suited to the population of interest. Norms should be based on a population of HIV-uninfected individuals as closely matched to the HIV-infected group as possible and must include examination of the potential effects of demographic factors on test performance. This is the first study to determine the normal range of scores on measures of psychomotor speed and executive function among a large group of ethnically and educationally diverse HIV-uninfected, high-risk women, as well as their HIV-infected counterparts. Participants (n = 1,653) were administered the Trail Making Test Parts A and B (Trails A and Trails B), the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), and the Wide Range Achievement Test–3 (WRAT–3). Among HIV-uninfected women, race/ethnicity accounted for almost 5% of the variance in cognitive test performance. The proportions ofvariance in cognitive test performance accounted for by age (13.8%), years of school (4.1%), and WRAT–3 score (11.5%) were each significant, but did not completely account for the effect of race (3%). HIV-infected women obtained lower scores than HIV-uninfected women on time to complete Trails A and B, SDMT total correct, and SDMT incidental recall score, but after adjustment for age, years of education, racial/ethnic classification, and reading level, only the difference on SDMT total correct remained significant. Results highlight the need to adjust for demographic variables when diagnosing cognitive impairment in HIV-infected women. Advantages of demographically adjusted regression equations developed using data from HIV-uninfected women are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of age and education on the performance of the Trail Making Test (TMT), and to provide normative data in the Greek population. The TMT was administered to 643 healthy participants. All participants satisfied the criteria excluding dementia and other medical, psychiatric, and neurological disorders. Statistical analysis revealed that, age, education, and general level of intelligence significantly influence individual performance. Performance on TMT, especially part B, decreases with increasing age and lower levels of education. Current norms of the Greek version of TMT represent a useful set of norms for clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adults infected with HIV are living longer due to pharmacological advances, resulting in an increased potential for aging. Little is known about the effects of HIV infection and aging on cognition. Therefore, this pilot study assessed cognitive differences, symptoms of depression, and other measures of HIV-negative (n = 50) and HIV-positive adults (n = 50) who were 30 years of age or older. The normal convention of 50 years and over is used in HIV research to denote older adults and was used in this study as well. Self-rated questions as well as paper and pencil questionnaires were used to assess the study variables. Disease status of HIV;positive individuals was assessed through self-reported biological indicators. Depressive symptomatology had a significant association with cognitive decline; addressing these areas in adults aging with HIV may ameliorate cognitive ability. Surprisingly, age and CD4+ lymphocyte count were not predictive of cognitive performance. Controlling for education, gender, and depressive symptomatology, the HIV-positive group performed worse than the HIV-negative group on a number of cognitive tests. At present, cognitive interventions are being used to mitigate mental declines in older adults; similar techniques may be advantageous for those aging with HIV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]