Search

To test the hypothesis that hot flashes specifically relate to verbal memory performance by examining the relationship between objective hot flashes and cognitive test performance in women with moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms.In an observational study, 29 midlife women (mean age, 53 y) with moderate to severe hot flashes provided measures of objective hot flashes with an ambulatory hot flash monitor, subjective hot flashes with a diary and questionnaire, and objective measures of verbal memory and other cognitive functions with standardized neuropsychological tests.The mean number of objective hot flashes was 19.5 per day (range, 6 to 35), including 15.3 (range, 6 to 35) during waking hours and 4.2 (range, 0 to 9) during sleep. The mean sensitivity (ie, subjective detection of objectively measured hot flashes) was 60%. Regression analyses revealed that total number of objective hot flashes, sleep duration, and verbal knowledge were significant predictors of delayed verbal memory. Verbal fluency correlated positively with objective daytime hot flashes. Hot flashes did not predict performance on any of the other secondary cognitive measures (ie, attention, working memory, visual memory), although poor sleep predicted worse performance on several outcome measures.Highly symptomatic women underreport the number of objective hot flashes that they experience by 43%. Verbal memory performance relates significantly to the objective number of hot flashes women experience but not to the number of hot flashes that they report. These findings suggest that physiological factors related to hot flashes, rather than psychological factors, predict poorer verbal memory function.

Surgical or pharmacological suppression of ovarian hormones leads to declines in verbal memory, and estrogen treatment reverses these deficits. In the current study, we investigated the effects of menstrual cycle phase and oral contraceptives on verbal memory, as measured by the California Verbal Learning Test, in two groups of premenopausal women - 16 naturally cycling women and 20 current users of estrogen-based oral contraceptives (OCs). Naturally cycling women were assessed twice - once during the early follicular phase (Days 2-4) and once during the midluteal phase (Days 20-22) of the menstrual cycle. OC users were tested on the same cycle days, corresponding to inactive and active pill phases, respectively. We predicted that naturally cycling women would show improved verbal memory during the midluteal phase, when estradiol levels are high, compared with the follicular phase, when estradiol levels are low. We also predicted that OC users, who show no change in endogenous estradiol across the cycle, would show no change in verbal memory. Contrary to predictions, naturally cycling women showed no changes in verbal memory across the cycle, whereas OC users showed enhanced memory during the active pill phase (p

Missing data are a major problem in the behavioral neurosciences, particularly when data collection is costly. Often researchers exclude cases with missing data, which can result in biased estimates and reduced power. Trying to avoid the deletion of a case because of a missing data point can be conducted, but implementing a naïve missing data method can result in distorted estimates and incorrect conclusions. New approaches for handling missing data have been developed but these techniques are not typically included in undergraduate research methods texts. The topic of missing data techniques would be useful for teaching research methods and for helping students with their research projects. This paper aimed to illustrate that estimating missing data is often more efficacious than complete case analysis, otherwise known as listwise deletion. Longitudinal data was obtained from an experiment examining the effects of an anorectic drug on food consumption in a small sample (n=17) of rats. The complete dataset was degraded by removing a percentage of datapoints (1–5%, 10%). Four missing data techniques: listwise deletion, mean substitution, regression, and expectation-maximization (EM) were applied to all six datasets to ensure that each approach was applied to the same missing data points. P-values, effect sizes, and Bayes factors were computed. Results demonstrated listwise deletion was the least effective method. EM and regression imputation were the preferred methods when more than 5% of the data were missing. Based on these findings it is recommended that researchers avoid using listwise deletion and consider alternative missing data techniques.

Objective: To evaluate C-C chemokine receptor type 2 (CCR2) on monocyte subsets as a prognostic peripheral blood biomarker of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). Methods: We characterized monocyte populations in HIV-infected individuals with and without HAND from 2 cohorts and assessed their transmigration across an in vitro model of the human blood-brain barrier (BBB). We examined CCR2 expression among the monocyte populations as a prognostic/predictive biomarker of HAND and its functional consequences in facilitating monocyte diapedesis. Results: We determined that CCR2 was significantly increased on CD14 + CD16 + monocytes in individuals with HAND compared to infected people with normal cognition. CCR2 remained elevated irrespective of the severity of cognitive impairment, combined antiretroviral therapy status, viral load, and current or nadir CD4 T-cell count. There was no association between CCR2 on other monocyte populations and HAND. There was a functional consequence to the increase in CCR2, as CD14 + CD16 + monocytes from individuals with HAND transmigrated across our model of the human BBB in significantly higher numbers in response to its ligand chemokine (C-C) motif ligand 2 (CCL2) compared to the cell migration that occurred in people with no cognitive deficits. It should be noted that our study had the limitation of a smaller sample size of unimpaired individuals. In contrast, there was no difference in the transmigration of other monocyte subsets across the BBB in response to CCL2 in seropositive individuals with or without HAND. Conclusions: Our findings indicate CCR2 on CD14 + CD16 + monocytes is a novel peripheral blood biomarker of HAND.

The cerebellar vermis (lobules VI-VII) has been implicated in both postmortem and neuroimaging studies of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This region maintains the consistent accuracy of saccadic eye movements and plays an especially important role in correcting systematic errors in saccade amplitudes such as those induced by adaptation paradigms. Saccade adaptation paradigms have not yet been used to study ASD. Fifty-six individuals with ASD and 53 age-matched healthy controls performed an intrasaccadic target displacement task known to elicit saccadic adaptation reflected in an amplitude reduction. The rate of amplitude reduction and the variability of saccade amplitude across 180 adaptation trials were examined. Individuals with ASD adapted slower than healthy controls, and demonstrated more variability of their saccade amplitudes across trials prior to, during and after adaptation. Thirty percent of individuals with ASD did not significantly adapt, whereas only 6% of healthy controls failed to adapt. Adaptation rate and amplitude variability impairments were related to performance on a traditional neuropsychological test of manual motor control. The profile of impaired adaptation and reduced consistency of saccade accuracy indicates reduced neural plasticity within learning circuits of the oculomotor vermis that impedes the fine-tuning of motor behavior in ASD. These data provide functional evidence of abnormality in the cerebellar vermis that converges with previous reports of cellular and gross anatomic dysmorphology of this brain region in ASD.

Rationale/statement of the problem : Acute and chronic stress is commonly reported by HIV-seropositive (HIV + ) individuals and may contribute to cognitive dysfunction that interferes with treatment adherence and daily functioning. Here we present data from two studies aimed at characterizing the effects of stress and stress hormones on cognition in HIV+ women. Methods : Six hundred and forty-five HIV+ and 345 at risk HIV-, predominantly African-American participants of the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS), completed the 10 item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) and a comprehensive neurocognitive test battery including measures of verbal learning and memory, verbal fluency, psychomotor speed, executive function, fine motor skills, working memory, attention, and concentration. High stress was defined by scores in the top quartile. Salivary cortisol levels were assessed concurrently with the neurocognitive battery and PSS-10 in 25 HIV+ women as a pilot at the Chicago WIHS. Results : After adjusting for relevant demographic and behavioral characteristics, HIV+ women performed worse than HIV- women on measures of verbal learning, memory and attention (p's