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This study aims to investigate the effects of the Jetpul mind game, that developed by researchers, on attention deficit and hyperactivity symptoms in primary and secondary school students. Utilizing a causal-comparative research method, the study assesses the potential impacts of this game on children exhibiting ADHD symptoms and its feasibility as a complementary method in education. Methodologically, a pre-test- post-test matched control group experimental design was employed, involving a total of 100 students from primary and secondary education levels as the sample group. D2 Attention Test was used as a data collection tool in the study. The findings indicate that the Jetpul intelligence game positively influences students' attention levels, psychomotor speed, selective attention, and concentration abilities. Furthermore, this research highlights the potential of the Jetpul intelligence game as a supportive tool in the treatment of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder. In conclusion, this study emphasizes the role of intelligence and brain games in education and their positive effects on students with specific needs like ADHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The impact of cognitive functions on treatment outcomes in forensic psychiatric patients with substance use disorders is not well understood. This study investigates whether neuropsychological deficits, such as in attention, executive functions, and social-emotional cognition, are associated with impulsivity and criminal history. Methods: 109 male patients with substance use disorders at the Clinic for Forensic Psychiatry in Rostock were screened using inclusion and exclusion criteria, with 30 consenting to participate. The tests included the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) to assess cognitive functions in the areas of attention, psychomotor speed, social and emotional perception, and executive functions, with a particular focus on decision making, planning and problem solving. The Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) was used to measure impulsiveness. Results: Participants displayed significantly higher impulsivity levels on the BIS-11 compared to the general population and showed marked deficits in attention, psychomotor speed, and executive functions. There was a minimal correlation between impulsivity and cognitive performance, suggesting that impulsivity does not directly predict cognitive impairments. Notably, extensive criminal histories correlated with poorer cognitive performance, particularly in tasks requiring planning and problem-solving. Discussion: We found mixed support for the hypothesized associations between neuropsychological functions and criminal histories among patients with substance use disorders. While tasks related to planning and sustained attention showed clearer links, broader cognitive functions displayed inconsistent correlations. These findings emphasize the complexity of the relationship between cognitive deficits, impulsivity, and criminal history, highlighting the necessity for tailored assessments and rehabilitation strategies to enhance outcomes. Future research should focus on larger, longitudinal studies to validate these findings and refine therapeutic approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to analyse reaction time, psychomotor speed and concentration parameters in individuals who had previously been infected with COVID-19 and to compare these parameters with those of the control group. The study recruited 56 individuals previously diagnosed with COVID-19 with PCR and 56 healthy individuals. COVID-19-related information and sociodemographic characteristics of the participants were recorded. Light Trainer Exercises System (Model LTV2, Türkiye, 2017) was used for the evaluation of reaction time, while the d2 attention test was used for the evaluation of concentration performance. Psychomotor speed percentage (p<0.05) and achievement score percentage (p<0.05) of individuals who had COVID-19 were found to be statistically significantly lower than those of the control group. In terms of reaction time performance, when compared with the control group, upper extremity reaction time (p<0.001) and lower extremity reaction time (p<0.001) values were found to be statistically significantly longer in the COVID-19 group. The results showed that when compared with the control group with the same age group, the participants between the ages of 18 and 26 who had previously been infected with COVID-19 were negatively affected in terms of reaction time and psychomotor speed parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the neurocognitive function of active professional male footballers, determine whether deficits/impairments exist, and investigate the association between previous concussion(s) and neurocognitive function. Methods: An observational cross-sectional study conducted via electronic questionnaires. The CNS Vital Signs online testing system was used to evaluate neurocognitive function. Results: Of the 101 participants, 91 completed the neurocognitive function testing. Neurocognitive function domain deficits or impairments were unlikely in 54.5–89.1%, slight in 5.9–21.8%, moderate in 1.0–9.9%, and likely in 4.0–14.9% of participants. A history of zero concussions found a significant association between the neurocognitive index (Odds Ratio [OR] 0.6; 95% CI 0.2–0.4) and complex attention domain (OR 0.3; 95% CI 0.1–0.9), with 40% and 70% less odds, respectively, of deficit/impairment. Among the 54.5% who reported any number of concussions, there were increased odds of neurocognitive domain deficits/impairments for complex attention (CA) [3.4 times more] and simple attention (SA) [3.1 times more]. Conclusion: In the active professional male footballer, most neurocognitive functions do not have significant deficits/impairments. The odds of neurocognitive function deficit/impairment were significantly increased threefold for CA and SA in those who reported a history of any concussion(s). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IntroductionThe impact of cognitive functions on treatment outcomes in forensic psychiatric patients with substance use disorders is not well understood. This study investigates whether neuropsychological deficits, such as in attention, executive functions, and social-emotional cognition, are associated with impulsivity and criminal history.Methods109 male patients with substance use disorders at the Clinic for Forensic Psychiatry in Rostock were screened using inclusion and exclusion criteria, with 30 consenting to participate. The tests included the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) to assess cognitive functions in the areas of attention, psychomotor speed, social and emotional perception, and executive functions, with a particular focus on decision making, planning and problem solving. The Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) was used to measure impulsiveness.ResultsParticipants displayed significantly higher impulsivity levels on the BIS-11 compared to the general population and showed marked deficits in attention, psychomotor speed, and executive functions. There was a minimal correlation between impulsivity and cognitive performance, suggesting that impulsivity does not directly predict cognitive impairments. Notably, extensive criminal histories correlated with poorer cognitive performance, particularly in tasks requiring planning and problem-solving.DiscussionWe found mixed support for the hypothesized associations between neuropsychological functions and criminal histories among patients with substance use disorders. While tasks related to planning and sustained attention showed clearer links, broader cognitive functions displayed inconsistent correlations. These findings emphasize the complexity of the relationship between cognitive deficits, impulsivity, and criminal history, highlighting the necessity for tailored assessments and rehabilitation strategies to enhance outcomes. Future research should focus on larger, longitudinal studies to validate these findings and refine therapeutic approaches.

This study was conducted to analyse reaction time, psychomotor speed and concentration parameters in individuals who had previously been infected with COVID-19 and to compare these parameters with those of the control group. The study recruited 56 individuals previously diagnosed with COVID-19 with PCR and 56 healthy individuals. COVID-19-related information and sociodemographic characteristics of the participants were recorded. Light Trainer Exercises System (Model LTV2, Turkiye, 2017) was used for the evaluation of reaction time, while the d2 attention test was used for the evaluation of concentration performance. Psychomotor speed percentage (p [Med-Science 2024; 13(3.000): 751-7]

Objective: To determine the neurocognitive function of active professional male footballers, determine whether deficits/impairments exist, and investigate the association between previous concussion(s) and neurocognitive function. Methods: An observational cross-sectional study conducted via electronic questionnaires. The CNS Vital Signs online testing system was used to evaluate neurocognitive function. Results: Of the 101 participants, 91 completed the neurocognitive function testing. Neurocognitive function domain deficits or impairments were unlikely in 54.5–89.1%, slight in 5.9–21.8%, moderate in 1.0–9.9%, and likely in 4.0–14.9% of participants. A history of zero concussions found a significant association between the neurocognitive index (Odds Ratio [OR] 0.6; 95% CI 0.2–0.4) and complex attention domain (OR 0.3; 95% CI 0.1–0.9), with 40% and 70% less odds, respectively, of deficit/impairment. Among the 54.5% who reported any number of concussions, there were increased odds of neurocognitive domain deficits/impairments for complex attention (CA) [3.4 times more] and simple attention (SA) [3.1 times more]. Conclusion: In the active professional male footballer, most neurocognitive functions do not have significant deficits/impairments. The odds of neurocognitive function deficit/impairment were significantly increased threefold for CA and SA in those who reported a history of any concussion(s).

In this narrative review, we explore the differences in processing speed (PS) impairments among three epilepsy conditions; Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE), Frontal Lobe Epilepsy (FLE) and Genetic Generalized Epilepsy (GGE) with a focus on Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy (JME). Despite the large body of research focusing on cognition in epilepsy, the intricacies of PS impairments in the epilepsy syndromes have not been fully explored. We investigate the cognitive profiles with focus on PS associated with each of the three conditions, and the neuropsychological methods employed. Furthermore, we evaluate PS in epilepsy within the theoretical frameworks of PS, such as the Relative Consequence Model, the Limited Time Mechanism Model, and the Neural Noise Hypothesis. We find the main challenge of PS research in epilepsy is the inconsistency of assessment methods utilized in different studies. Furthermore, PS impairments are not isolated but rather interconnected to other cognitive domains. Thus, future studies need to standardize PS assessment tools, and incorporate innovative solutions such as technology and neuroimaging techniques to further enhance our understanding of PS impairments in epilepsy.

It remains unknown which factors influence how brain disconnectivity derived from White Matter Hyperintensity (WMH) lesions leads to psychomotor speed dysfunction, one of the earliest and most common cognitive manifestations in the cerebral Small Vessel Disease (cSVD) population. While the burden of WMH has been strongly linked to psychomotor speed performance, the effect that different locations and volumes of WMH may have on cSVD-related cognitive impairment remains unclear. Therefore, we aimed to explore (1) whether global WMH, deep WMH (DWMH), and periventricular (PVWMH) volumes display different psychomotor speed associations; (2) whether tract-specific WMH volume shows stronger cognitive associations compared with global measures of WMH volume; (3) whether specific patterns of WMH location lead to different degrees of disconnectivity. Using the BCBToolkit, we investigated which pattern of distribution and which locations of WMH lesion result in impaired psychomotor speed in a well-characterized sample (n = 195) of cSVD patients without dementia. Two key findings emerge from our study. First, global (and not tract-specific) measures of WMH volume were associated with psychomotor speed performance. Second, disconnection maps revealed the involvement of callosal tracts, association and projection fibers, and frontal and parietal cortical brain areas related to psychomotor speed, while the lesion location influenced such associations. In conclusion, psychomotor deficits are affected differently by WMH burden and topographic distribution through brain disconnection in non-demented cSVD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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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]

Objective: The current study assessed the effects of statin and CoQ10 supplement use on changes in cognitive functioning in the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention study. Methods: 1,573 subjects were administered medical histories, the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), Wechsler Memory Scale, Logical Memory subtest, and the Trail Making Test, Parts A (TMT-A) and B (TMT-B) 3-4 times over 5-10 years. Results: Linear mixed models did not yield significant effects for statin or CoQ10 supplement use on changes in mental status, learning and memory, psychomotor speed, and cognitive flexibility. Conclusions: Statin and/or CoQ10 supplement use was not associated with neuropsychological test performance in the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decades, it has been proposed that executive functions may be particularly vulnerable to weight-related issues. However, evidence on the matter is mixed, especially when the effects of sociodemographic variables are weighted. Thus, the current study aimed at further examining the relationship between executive functions and obesity. To this aim, we compared treatment-seeking overweight, obese, and morbidly obese patients with normal-weight control participants. We examined general executive functioning (Frontal Assessment Battery–15) and different executive subdomains (e.g., inhibitory control, verbal fluency, and psychomotor speed) in a clinical sample including 208 outpatients with different degrees of BMI (52 overweight, BMI 25–30, M age = 34.38; 76 obese, BMI 30–40, M age = 38.00; 80 morbidly obese, BMI > 40, M age = 36.20). Ninety-six normal-weight subjects served as controls. No difference on executive scores was detected when obese patients were compared with over- or normal-weight subjects. Morbidly obese patients reported lower performance on executive scores than obese, overweight, and normal-weight subjects. Between-group difference emerged also when relevant covariates were taken into account. Our results support the view that morbid obesity is associated with lower executive performance, also considering the critical role exerted by sociodemographic (i.e., sex, age, and education) variables. Our results support the view that executive functioning should be accounted into the management of the obese patient because of non-negligible clinical relevance in diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recent evidence suggests that a higher body weight may be linked to cognitive impairment in different domains involving executive/frontal functioning. However, challenging results are also available. Accordingly, our study was designed to verify whether (i) poor executive functions are related to a higher body weight and (ii) executive functioning could contribute to weight loss in treatment-seeking overweight and obese patients. Methods: We examined general executive functioning, inhibitory control, verbal fluency, and psychomotor speed in a sample including 104 overweight and obese patients. Forty-eight normal-weight subjects participated in the study as controls. Results: Univariate Analysis of Variance showed that obese patients obtained lower scores than overweight and normal-weight subjects in all executive measures, except for errors in the Stroop test. However, when sociodemographic variables entered the model as covariates, no between-group difference was detected. Furthermore, an adjusted multiple linear regression model highlighted no relationship between weight loss and executive scores at baseline. Conclusions: Our results provide further evidence for the lack of association between obesity and the executive domains investigated. Conflicting findings from previous literature may likely be due to the unchecked confounding effects exerted by sociodemographic variables and inclusion/exclusion criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Visual evoked potential latency was associated with psychomotor decline in multiple sclerosis. • Baseline evoked potential measures were associated with changes in information processing speed. • Visual evoked potentials can serve as prognostic measures of cognitive changes in MS. Visual evoked potentials (VEPs) can provide insight into disease activity in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). However, few studies have tracked concurrent changes in VEPs and cognitive functioning over time in MS. To address this, we examined the longitudinal relationship between VEP and cognitive performance in PwMS over a two-year period. At baseline (T1) and follow-up (T2, 2.14 years after baseline, on average), P100 peak latency and inter-ocular latency (IOL) between eyes were calculated from the VEP elicited for checkerboard pattern-reversal stimuli. Cognitive performance was assessed for seven different domains (NeuroTrax battery). The potential for VEP variables to predict the T1-to-T2 change in cognitive performance was assessed in a series of multiple linear regression models. Baseline IOL and VEP latency were significantly associated with T1-to-T2 change in information processing speed. Post-hoc analyses indicated that PwMS that had both prolonged VEP latency and elevated IOL at baseline tended to exhibit greater information processing speed decline. Increase in VEP latency from T1-to-T2 was also associated with decline in psychomotor function over time. These findings provide evidence that VEP measures can serve as valuable prognostic indicators of longitudinal cognitive change in PwMS. Visual system neurophysiology corresponds with changes in speeded cognitive performance in MS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patients with psychotic disorders often show prominent cognitive impairment. Glutamate seems to play a prominent role, but its role in deep gray matter (DGM) regions is unclear. Aims: To evaluate glutamate levels within deep gray matter structures in patients with a psychotic disorder in relation to cognitive functioning, using advanced spectroscopic acquisition, reconstruction, and post-processing techniques. Methods: A 7-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging scanner combined with a lipid suppression coil and subject-specific water suppression pulses was used to acquire high-resolution magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging data. Tissue fraction correction and registration to a standard brain were performed for group comparison in specifically delineated DGM regions. The brief assessment of cognition in schizophrenia was used to evaluate cognitive status. Results: Average glutamate levels across DGM structures (i.e. caudate, pallidum, putamen, and thalamus) in mostly medicated patients with a psychotic disorder (n = 16, age = 33, 4 females) were lower compared to healthy controls (n = 23, age = 24, 7 females; p = 0.005, d = 1.06). Stratified analyses showed lower glutamate levels in the caudate (p = 0.046, d = 0.76) and putamen p = 0.013, d = 0.94). These findings were largely explained by age differences between groups. DGM glutamate levels were positively correlated with psychomotor speed (r (30) = 0.49, p = 0.028), but not with other cognitive domains. Conclusions: We find reduced glutamate levels across DGM structures including the caudate and putamen in patients with a psychotic disorder that are linked to psychomotor speed. Despite limitations concerning age differences, these results underscore the potential role of detailed in vivo glutamate assessments to understand cognitive deficits in psychotic disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chlorogenic acid (CGA), a polyphenolic compound found in various plants, has been reported to improve cognitive function. However, it remains unclear how long it takes for CGAs to exert their effects. Here, we evaluated the short-term effects of CGAs on cognitive function. We assessed the effects of 2-week CGA intake on cognitive function. The study was carried out as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial. Twenty-six healthy Japanese participants (50–65 years of age) were randomly assigned to either the active beverage (CGAs: 270 mg) or the placebo beverage group daily for 2 weeks. After a 2-week washout period, the participants consumed the other beverages. We assessed cognitive function at baseline and following the first treatment period using the Japanese version of CNS Vital Signs. CGAs significantly improved the scores for psychomotor speed, motor speed, and right and left finger tapping compared to placebo. In addition, processing speed scores improved significantly from baseline only after CGA intake. In conclusion, CGAs were confirmed to improve cognitive function over a short period of two weeks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence suggests impairment in aspects of cognitive function in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Direct effects of raised testosterone levels associated with PCOS are a potential mechanism. We aimed to explore the relationship between testosterone levels and cognitive functioning in women. Women with a range of testosterone levels, including women with PCOS, were recruited. Depressive and anxiety symptoms were measured by self-report. Participants underwent a comprehensive battery of cognitive tests assessing psychomotor speed, visuospatial learning and memory, verbal learning and memory, and executive function. Free testosterone serum levels were assessed. All measures were completed at the same time point. Correlation analysis (Spearman's Rho) was used to explore associations between free testosterone and cognitive test variables. Eighty-one women were recruited, with 40 meeting diagnostic criteria for PCOS. Free testosterone was normally distributed, with significant overlap between women with PCOS and controls. Mean depressive and anxiety symptoms were in the mild range. Higher free testosterone levels were significantly correlated with poorer performance on measures assessing psychomotor speed and visuospatial learning. These significant correlations remained after adjusting for confounders (premorbid verbal IQ, depressive, and anxiety symptoms). Higher free testosterone levels in women were associated with poorer cognitive function, specifically psychomotor speed and visuospatial learning. Women with PCOS and raised free testosterone levels may experience impairment in these aspects of cognitive function which are not accounted for by mood or anxiety symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this narrative review, we explore the differences in processing speed (PS) impairments among three epilepsy conditions; Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE), Frontal Lobe Epilepsy (FLE) and Genetic Generalized Epilepsy (GGE) with a focus on Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy (JME). Despite the large body of research focusing on cognition in epilepsy, the intricacies of PS impairments in the epilepsy syndromes have not been fully explored. We investigate the cognitive profiles with focus on PS associated with each of the three conditions, and the neuropsychological methods employed. Furthermore, we evaluate PS in epilepsy within the theoretical frameworks of PS, such as the Relative Consequence Model, the Limited Time Mechanism Model, and the Neural Noise Hypothesis. We find the main challenge of PS research in epilepsy is the inconsistency of assessment methods utilized in different studies. Furthermore, PS impairments are not isolated but rather interconnected to other cognitive domains. Thus, future studies need to standardize PS assessment tools, and incorporate innovative solutions such as technology and neuroimaging techniques to further enhance our understanding of PS impairments in epilepsy., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Author(s).)

Study Objectives: Shift work interferes with circadian rhythms, affecting sleep quality and cognitive function. Poor sleep quality in shift worker (SW)s can impair psychomotor performance due to fatigue and sleepiness, increasing the risk of errors, accidents, and reduced productivity. Given the potential for atrophic changes in the hippocampus due to sleep disturbances, our study investigates how poor sleep quality correlates with hippocampal structural alterations and impacts psychomotor performance among SWs., Methods: We recruited 100 SWs, classifying them based on sleep quality into two groups: good sleep-SW group (n = 59) and poor sleep-SW group (n = 41). Sleep quality was assessed using both 7-day actigraphy for sleep efficiency and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. A control group of 106 non-SWs without sleep problems (non-SW group) was also included for comparison. The outcome measures were psychomotor speed and hippocampal volumes, both total and by subfield., Results: The poor sleep-SW group showed significantly smaller hippocampal volumes than both the good sleep-SW group (p < .001) and the non-SW group (p = .003). Longer shift work years correlated with greater reductions in hippocampal volume in this group (r = -0.42, p = .009), unlike in the good sleep-SW group (r = 0.08, p = .541). Furthermore, they demonstrated declines in psychomotor speed relative to the non-SW group (p = .006), which correlated with smaller hippocampal volumes (r = 0.37, p = .020)., Conclusions: SWs with poor sleep quality exhibit significant hippocampal volume reductions and psychomotor speed decline, underscoring the importance of early intervention and support for sleep issues in this population., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Sleep Research Society. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background Effects of soy foods on cerebral blood flow (CBF)—a marker of cerebrovascular function—may contribute to the beneficial effects of plant-based diets on cognitive performance. Objectives We aimed to investigate longer-term effects of soy nut consumption on CBF in older adults. Changes in 3 different domains of cognitive performance were also studied. Methods Twenty-three healthy participants (age: 60–70 y; BMI: 20–30 kg/m2) participated in a randomized, controlled, single-blinded crossover trial with an intervention (67 g/d of soy nuts providing ∼25.5 g protein and 174 mg isoflavones) and control period (no nuts) of 16 wk, separated by an 8-wk washout period. Adults followed the Dutch food-based dietary guidelines. At the end of each period, CBF was assessed with arterial spin labeling MRI. Psychomotor speed, executive function, and memory were assessed using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB). Results No serious adverse events were reported, and soy nut intake was well tolerated. Body weights remained stable during the study. Serum isoflavone concentrations increased (daidzein mean difference ± SD: 128 ± 113 ng/mL, P  < 0.001; genistein: 454 ± 256 ng/mL, P  < 0.001), indicating excellent compliance. Regional CBF increased in 4 brain clusters located in the left occipital and temporal lobes (mean ± SD increase: 11.1 ± 12.4 mL · 100 g−1 · min−1, volume: 11,296 mm3, P  < 0.001), bilateral occipital lobe (12.1 ± 15.0 mL · 100 g−1 · min−1, volume: 2632 mm3, P  = 0.002), right occipital and parietal lobes (12.7 ± 14.3 mL · 100 g−1 · min−1, volume: 2280 mm3, P  = 0.005), and left frontal lobe (12.4 ± 14.5 mL · 100 g−1 · min−1, volume: 2120 mm3, P  = 0.009) which is part of the ventral network. These 4 regions are involved in psychomotor speed performance, which improved as the movement time reduced by (mean ± SD) 20 ± 37 ms (P  = 0.005). Executive function and memory did not change. Conclusions Longer-term soy nut consumption may improve cerebrovascular function of older adults, because regional CBF increased. Effects may underlie observed improvements in psychomotor speed. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03627637. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In schizophrenia, impaired psychomotor speed is a common symptom predicting worse functional outcome. Inflammation causes changes in white matter integrity, which may lead to reduced psychomotor speed. Therefore, we wanted to investigate if peripheral inflammation assessed with cytokines affected performance on psychomotor speed in patients with a spectrum of psychotic disorders. Methods: The current study is a prospective cohort study, including participants from a pragmatic, randomised controlled trial comparing three atypical antipsychotics in patients with a spectrum of psychotic disorders. For the purposes of this sub-study, we analysed drug treatment groups collectively. Psychomotor speed was assessed at baseline, and at weeks 6, 12, 26 and 52 of follow-up, using the neuropsychological tests trail making test (TMT) A and B, and symbol coding. Serum concentration of the following cytokines were measured: interleukin (IL)-β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL12 p70, IL-17a, interferon (IFN)-γ and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α. Blood samples were collected at baseline and after 1, 3, 6, 12, 26, 39 and 52 weeks. We analysed the effect of cytokines levels on psychomotor speed over time in linear mixed effects models. Results: In our linear mixed effects models controlling for possible confounders, IFN-γ had a significant negative effect on TMT-A and symbol coding performance. None of the other tests for psychomotor speed were significantly associated with cytokines. Overall psychomotor speed performance increased significantly across the study period while cytokine levels remained stable. Conclusion: Our study indicates a negative association between IFN-γ and psychomotor speed, which might be of importance when understanding the mechanisms behind psychomotor deviations in psychotic disorders.

Hsiu-Ling Kang,1,* Vincent Chin-Hung Chen,2,3,* Wei-Lin Hung,4 Han-Pin Hsiao,2 Wei-Han Wang4,5 1Department of Nursing, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan; 2Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Medical Foundation, Chiayi Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taiwan; 3School of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan; 4Department of Psychology, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; 5Room of Clinical Neuropsychology, Department of Neurology, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan *These authors contributed equally to this work Purpose: This cross-sectional pilot study aimed to compare the effects of chemotherapy and targeted therapy on neuropsychological performance and psychiatric symptoms in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patients and methods: A total of 113 patients with NSCLC were recruited. According to their type of cancer treatment, the patients were classified into chemotherapy (n=40), targeted therapy (n=33), and untreated control (n=40) groups. All participants completed five objective tests measuring various domains of cognitive function, a subjective cognitive functioning scale (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy–Cognitive Function; FACT-cog), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) either within 6 months after diagnosis (for the untreated group) or about 18 months after treatment. Results: Overall, there were no significant intergroup differences in the proportions of patients with abnormal cognitive performance and psychiatric disturbances. Among the untreated NSCLC patients, 35% had impaired performance in at least one cognitive domain, and a comparable finding (30%–35%) was made for the other two treatment groups. The proportion of patients with impaired psychomotor speed was the highest (10%–15%) across various cognitive domains. Moreover, a significant proportion of NSCLC patients (15%–20%) exhibited HADS-defined anxiety and depression disorder. Finally, significant correlations were found between FACT-cog total scores and the HADS Depression subscale across all three groups. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that 1) a substantial proportion of NSCLC patients exhibited cognitive impairments (especially regarding psychomotor speed) and psychiatric disturbances; 2) no significant differences were observed among the three patient groups for any subjective or objective measure of cognitive deficit; and 3) perceived cognitive impairment was significantly associated with depression or anxiety. Prompt treatment of psychiatric disorders to minimize their impact is therefore recommended. Keywords: non-small-cell lung cancer, neuropsychological performance, psychomotor speed, anxiety, depression

In the last decades, it has been proposed that executive functions may be particularly vulnerable to weight-related issues. However, evidence on the matter is mixed, especially when the effects of sociodemographic variables are weighted. Thus, the current study aimed at further examining the relationship between executive functions and obesity. To this aim, we compared treatment-seeking overweight, obese, and morbidly obese patients with normal-weight control participants. We examined general executive functioning (Frontal Assessment Battery–15) and different executive subdomains (e.g., inhibitory control, verbal fluency, and psychomotor speed) in a clinical sample including 208 outpatients with different degrees of BMI (52 overweight, BMI 25–30, M age = 34.38; 76 obese, BMI 30–40, M age = 38.00; 80 morbidly obese, BMI > 40, M age = 36.20). Ninety-six normal-weight subjects served as controls. No difference on executive scores was detected when obese patients were compared with over- or normal-weight subjects. Morbidly obese patients reported lower performance on executive scores than obese, overweight, and normal-weight subjects. Between-group difference emerged also when relevant covariates were taken into account. Our results support the view that morbid obesity is associated with lower executive performance, also considering the critical role exerted by sociodemographic (i.e., sex, age, and education) variables. Our results support the view that executive functioning should be accounted into the management of the obese patient because of non-negligible clinical relevance in diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic terms.

Traditionally, neuropsychological testing has assessed processing speed and precision, closely related to the ability to perform high-order cognitive tasks. An individual making a decision under time pressure must constantly rebalance its speed to action in order to account for possible errors. A deficit in processing speed appears to be afrequent disorder caused by cerebral damage — but it can be hard to pinpoint the exact cause of the slowdown. It is therefore important to separate the perceptual-motor component of processing speed from the decision-time component. We present a technique to isolate Reaction Times (RTs): a short digital test to assess the decision-making abilities of individuals by gauging their ability to balance between speed and precision. Our hypothesis is that some subjects willaccelerate, and others slow down in the face of the difficulty. This pilot study, conducted on 83 neurotypical adult volunteers, used images stimuli. The test was designed to measure RTs and correctness. After learning release gesture, the subjects were presented with three tasks: a simple Reaction Time task, a Go/No-Go, and a complex Go/No-Go with 2 simultaneous Choices. All three tasks have in common a perceptual component and a motor response. By measuring the 3 reference points requiring attentional and executive processing, while progressively increasing the conceptual complexity of the task, we were able to compare the processing times for different tasks — thus calculating the deceleration specific to the reaction time linked to difficulty. We defined the difficulty coefficient of a task as being the ratio of the group average time of this task minus the base time/average time of the unit task minus the base time. We found that RTs can be broken down into three elementary, uncorrelated components: Reaction Time, Executive Speed, and Reaction to Difficulty (RD). We hypothesized that RD reflects how the subject reacts to difficulty by accelerating (RD < 0) or decelerating (RD > 0). Thus we provide here a first proof of concept: the ability to measure four axes of the speed-precision trade-off inherent in a subject’s fundamental decision making: perceptual-motor speed, executive speed, subject accuracy, and reaction to difficulty.

Traditionally, neuropsychological testing has assessed processing speed and precision, closely related to the ability to perform high-order cognitive tasks. An individual making a decision under time pressure must constantly rebalance its speed to action in order to account for possible errors. A deficit in processing speed appears to be afrequent disorder caused by cerebral damage — but it can be hard to pinpoint the exact cause of the slowdown. It is therefore important to separate the perceptual-motor component of processing speed from the decision-time component. We present a technique to isolate Reaction Times (RTs): a short digital test to assess the decision-making abilities of individuals by gauging their ability to balance between speed and precision. Our hypothesis is that some subjects willaccelerate, and others slow down in the face of the difficulty. This pilot study, conducted on 83 neurotypical adult volunteers, used images stimuli. The test was designed to measure RTs and correctness. After learning release gesture, the subjects were presented with three tasks: a simple Reaction Time task, a Go/No-Go, and a complex Go/No-Go with 2 simultaneous Choices. All three tasks have in common a perceptual component and a motor response. By measuring the 3 reference points requiring attentional and executive processing, while progressively increasing the conceptual complexity of the task, we were able to compare the processing times for different tasks — thus calculating the deceleration specific to the reaction time linked to difficulty. We defined the difficulty coefficient of a task as being the ratio of the group average time of this task minus the base time/average time of the unit task minus the base time. We found that RTs can be broken down into three elementary, uncorrelated components: Reaction Time, Executive Speed, and Reaction to Difficulty (RD). We hypothesized that RD reflects how the subject reacts to difficulty by accelerating (RD < 0) or decelerating (RD > 0). Thus we provide here a first proof of concept: the ability to measure four axes of the speed-precision trade-off inherent in a subject's fundamental decision making: perceptual-motor speed, executive speed, subject accuracy, and reaction to difficulty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Preclinical and clinical studies suggest that males and females may be differentially affected by cannabis use. This study evaluated the interaction of cannabis use and biological sex on cognition, and the association between observed cognitive deficits and features of cannabis use. Methods: Cognitive measures were assessed in those with regular, ongoing, cannabis use (N = 40; 22 female) and non-using peers (N = 40; 23 female). Intelligence, psychomotor speed, and verbal working memory were measured with the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, Digit Symbol Test, and Digit Span and Hopkins Verbal Learning Test, respectively. Associations between cognitive measures and cannabis use features (e.g., lifetime cannabis use, age of initiation, time since last use of cannabis, recent high-concentration tetrahydrocannabinoid exposure) were also evaluated. Results: No main effects of group were observed across measures. Significant interactions between group and biological sex were observed on measures of intelligence, psychomotor speed, and verbal learning, with greatest group differences observed between males with and without regular cannabis use. Psychomotor performance was negatively correlated with lifetime cannabis exposure. Female and male cannabis use groups did not differ in features of cannabis use. Conclusions: Findings suggest that biological sex influences the relationship between cannabis and cognition, with males potentially being more vulnerable to the neurocognitive deficits related to cannabis use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) may be associated with cognitive impairment and notably a decline in psychomotor speed, information processing speed and attention. The mechanism for this decline is uncertain. Previous studies by our group and others have demonstrated a decline in EEG-power and event-related potential amplitude in T1DM. The objectives of the present study were to explore whether 1) the association between event-related potential (N100) amplitude and psychomotor speed is different between T1DM and healthy subjects, and 2) the decline in N100 amplitude depends on duration of diabetes. Patients with T1DM (N = 204) and healthy control subjects (N = 358) were included in a cross-sectional study. Event-related brain potentials were recorded with auditory reaction tasks. Psychomotor speed was evaluated with the Grooved Pegboard test in a subset of the patients (N = 70) and the healthy control subjects (N = 89). Patients with T1DM had a decrease in the N100 amplitude that correlated with a decline in psychomotor speed, longer duration of diabetes and increasing age. In healthy controls, the N100 amplitude did not decrease with age and the association between psychomotor speed and N100 amplitude was absent. The association between psychomotor speed and N100 amplitude is likely to be a specific trait for T1DM since it was not found in healthy controls and was dependent on diabetes duration. Our findings indicate that the pathogenesis of cognitive decline in T1DM may involve a disease-related factor with a long-term influence on the N100 amplitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recent evidence suggests that a higher body weight may be linked to cognitive impairment in different domains involving executive/frontal functioning. However, challenging results are also available. Accordingly, our study was designed to verify whether (i) poor executive functions are related to a higher body weight and (ii) executive functioning could contribute to weight loss in treatment-seeking overweight and obese patients. Methods: We examined general executive functioning, inhibitory control, verbal fluency, and psychomotor speed in a sample including 104 overweight and obese patients. Forty-eight normal-weight subjects participated in the study as controls. Results: Univariate Analysis of Variance showed that obese patients obtained lower scores than overweight and normal-weight subjects in all executive measures, except for errors in the Stroop test. However, when sociodemographic variables entered the model as covariates, no between-group difference was detected. Furthermore, an adjusted multiple linear regression model highlighted no relationship between weight loss and executive scores at baseline. Conclusions: Our results provide further evidence for the lack of association between obesity and the executive domains investigated. Conflicting findings from previous literature may likely be due to the unchecked confounding effects exerted by sociodemographic variables and inclusion/exclusion criteria.

Objective: Cervical dystonia (CD) is a movement disorder characterized by involuntary muscle contractions causing sustained twisting movements and abnormal postures of the neck and head. Assumed affected neuronal regions are the cortico-striatal-thalamo-cortical circuits, which are also involved in cognitive functioning. Indeed, impairments in different cognitive domains have been found in CD patients. However, to date studies have only investigated a limited range of cognitive functions within the same sample. In particular, social cognition (SC) is often missing from study designs. Hence, we aimed to evaluate a broad range of cognitive functions including SC in CD patients., Method: In the present study 20 idiopathic CD patients and 40 age-, gender-, and IQ-matched healthy controls (HCs) were assessed with tests for non-SC (verbal memory, psychomotor speed, and executive functions) as well as for SC (emotion recognition, Theory of Mind (ToM), and empathy)., Results: CD patients scored on average significantly lower than HC on tests for non-SC, but did not show impairments on any of the tests for SC., Conclusions: The current study showed impairments in non-SC in CD, but intact social cognitive functions. These results underline the importance of recognizing non-motor symptoms in idiopathic CD patients, but emphasize a focus on identifying strengths and weaknesses in cognitive functioning as these influence daily life activities.

Previous neuroimaging studies have identified structural brain abnormalities in active professional fighters with repetitive head trauma and correlated these changes with fighters' neuropsychological impairments. However, functional brain changes in these fighters derived using neuroimaging techniques remain unclear. In this study, both static and dynamic functional connectivity alterations were investigated (1) between healthy normal control subjects (NC) and fighters and (2) between non-impaired and impaired fighters. Resting-state fMRI data were collected on 35 NC and 133 active professional fighters, including 68 impaired fighters and 65 non-impaired fighters, from the Professional Fighters Brain Health Study at our center. Impaired fighters performed worse on processing speed (PSS) tasks with visual-attention and working-memory demands. The static functional connectivity (sFC) matrix was estimated for every pair of regions of interest (ROI) using a subject-specific parcellation. The dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) was estimated using a sliding-window method, where the variability of each ROI pair across all windows represented the temporal dynamics. A linear regression model was fitted for all 168 subjects, and different t-contrast vectors were used for between-group comparisons. An association analysis was further conducted to evaluate FC changes associated with PSS task performances without creating artificial impairment group-divisions in fighters. Following corrections for multiple comparisons using network-based statistics, our study identified significantly reduced long-range frontal-temporal, frontal-occipital, temporal-occipital, and parietal-occipital sFC strengths in fighters than in NCs, corroborating with previously observed structural damages in corresponding white matter tracts in subjects experiencing repetitive head trauma. In impaired fighters, significantly decreased sFC strengths were found among key regions involved in visual-attention, executive and cognitive process, as compared to non-impaired fighters. Association analysis further reveals similar sFC deficits to worse PSS task performances in all 133 fighters. With our choice of dFC indices, we were not able to observe any significant dFC changes beyond a trend-level increased temporal variability among similar regions with weaker sFC strengths in impaired fighters. Collectively, our functional brain findings supplement previously reported structural brain abnormalities in fighters and are important to comprehensively understand brain changes in fighters with repetitive head trauma.

Chlorogenic acid (CGA), a polyphenolic compound found in various plants, has been reported to improve cognitive function. However, it remains unclear how long it takes for CGAs to exert their effects. Here, we evaluated the short-term effects of CGAs on cognitive function. We assessed the effects of 2-week CGA intake on cognitive function. The study was carried out as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial. Twenty-six healthy Japanese participants (50–65 years of age) were randomly assigned to either the active beverage (CGAs: 270 mg) or the placebo beverage group daily for 2 weeks. After a 2-week washout period, the participants consumed the other beverages. We assessed cognitive function at baseline and following the first treatment period using the Japanese version of CNS Vital Signs. CGAs significantly improved the scores for psychomotor speed, motor speed, and right and left finger tapping compared to placebo. In addition, processing speed scores improved significantly from baseline only after CGA intake. In conclusion, CGAs were confirmed to improve cognitive function over a short period of two weeks.

Background: We previously reported the enhanced effects of physical exercise when combined with music (ExM) on cognitive function in community-dwelling normal elderly people compared to exercise alone. Following that study, participants voluntarily continued the ExM classes for 5 years.Objective: To identify the effects of a 5-year ExM intervention on cognitive function in normal elderly people.Methods: Fifty-four subjects continued the ExM classes once a week for 5 years (ExM group). Thirty-three subjects retired from the ExM class during the 5 years (Retired group). Twenty-one subjects never participated in any intervention over the 5 years (No-exercise group). Cognitive function and ADLs were assessed using neuropsychological batteries and the functional independence measure (FIM), respectively. The voxel-based specific regional analysis system for Alzheimer's disease (VSRAD) was used to investigate medial temporal lobe atrophy.Results: Analyses of the raw scores after the 5-year intervention showed significant differences between the ExM and No-exercise groups in their MMSE scores, Raven's colored progressive matrices (RCPM) time, logical memory (LM)-I, as well as the total and physical exercise sub-scores of the FIM. Analysis of subjects aged 70- 79 years at the beginning of this project showed significantly quicker performance on the RCPM in the ExM compared to No-exercise groups. The correlation coefficients between the total number of ExM sessions attended and the degree of changes in physical, neuropsychological, and VSRAD scores were significant for RCPM performance time and LM-I scores.Conclusion: Long-term ExM intervention reinforces multifaceted cognitive function in normal elderly people, and is especially beneficial for psychomotor speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous neuroimaging studies have identified structural brain abnormalities in active professional fighters with repetitive head trauma and correlated these changes with fighters' neuropsychological impairments. However, functional brain changes in these fighters derived using neuroimaging techniques remain unclear. In this study, both static and dynamic functional connectivity alterations were investigated (1) between healthy normal control subjects (NC) and fighters and (2) between non-impaired and impaired fighters. Resting-state fMRI data were collected on 35 NC and 133 active professional fighters, including 68 impaired fighters and 65 non-impaired fighters, from the Professional Fighters Brain Health Study at our center. Impaired fighters performed worse on processing speed (PSS) tasks with visual-attention and working-memory demands. The static functional connectivity (sFC) matrix was estimated for every pair of regions of interest (ROI) using a subject-specific parcellation. The dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) was estimated using a sliding-window method, where the variability of each ROI pair across all windows represented the temporal dynamics. A linear regression model was fitted for all 168 subjects, and different t-contrast vectors were used for between-group comparisons. An association analysis was further conducted to evaluate FC changes associated with PSS task performances without creating artificial impairment group-divisions in fighters. Following corrections for multiple comparisons using network-based statistics, our study identified significantly reduced long-range frontal-temporal, frontal-occipital, temporal-occipital, and parietal-occipital sFC strengths in fighters than in NCs, corroborating with previously observed structural damages in corresponding white matter tracts in subjects experiencing repetitive head trauma. In impaired fighters, significantly decreased sFC strengths were found among key regions involved in visual-attention, executive and cognitive process, as compared to non-impaired fighters. Association analysis further reveals similar sFC deficits to worse PSS task performances in all 133 fighters. With our choice of dFC indices, we were not able to observe any significant dFC changes beyond a trend-level increased temporal variability among similar regions with weaker sFC strengths in impaired fighters. Collectively, our functional brain findings supplement previously reported structural brain abnormalities in fighters and are important to comprehensively understand brain changes in fighters with repetitive head trauma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Studies to reduce the heterogeneity of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have increased interest in the concept of sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT). The aim of this study was to investigate if the prevalence of two variable-number tandem repeats (VNTRs) located within the 30-untranslated region of the DAT1 gene and in exon 3 of the dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) gene differ among four groups (31 subjects with SCT but no ADHD, 146 individuals with ADHD but no SCT, 67 subjects with SCT + ADHD, and 92 healthy controls). Methods: We compared the sociodemographic profiles, neurocognitive domains, and prevalence of two VNTRs in SCT and ADHD subjects versus typically developing (TD) controls. Results: The SCT without ADHD group had a higher proportion of females and lower parental educational attainment. Subjects in this group performed worse on neuropsychological tests, except for psychomotor speed and commission errors, compared to controls. However, the ADHD without SCT group performed significantly worse on all neuropsychological domains than controls. We found that 4R homozygosity for the DRD4 gene was most prevalent in the ADHD without SCT group. The SCT without ADHD group had the highest 7R allele frequency, differing significantly from the ADHD without SCT group. Conclusion: The 7R allele of DRD4 gene was found to be significantly more prevalent in SCT cases than in ADHD cases. No substantial neuropsychological differences were found between SCT and ADHD subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To identify cognitive and health profiles of cognitively impaired older adults with the presence of prior mobility impairment, which may represent a specific pathway to the development of cognitive impairment or dementia. Retrospective longitudinal study. In adults aged ≥65 years who developed cognitive impairment or dementia, we compared cognitive and health profiles of those who did (n = 57) and did not (n = 86) experience slow gait up to 14 years before symptom onset. Measures of cognitive and biomarkers assessed longitudinally over an average of 7 years before symptom onset were compared between groups using linear mixed effects models, adjusted age, sex, race, and additionally adjusted for education for cognitive outcomes. Compared to those without prior slow gait, those with slow gait had lower Digit Symbol Substitution Test and Pegboard dominant and nondominant hand performance. The slow gait group also had greater body mass index (BMI), waist, systolic blood pressure, lower high-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein, and lower lysophosphatidylcholine 18:2, a lipid associated with mitochondrial function, and showed greater increases in 2-hour glucose levels of an oral glucose tolerance test. The slow gait group was more likely to take medication for hypertension and hypercholesterolemia. During the presymptomatic stage, cognitively impaired older persons who experience prior slow gait are more likely to have deficits in psychomotor speed and manual dexterity, an unfavorable metabolic and vascular profile, and lower lipid levels related to mitochondrial function. Older persons who exhibit mobility impairment should be evaluated for metabolic and vascular dysfunction at an early stage, and successful treatment of these conditions may slow down the progression of cognitive impairment or dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Automated and domain-specific tests are sensitive to discriminate cognitively healthy young and older adults. • Episodic memory (PAL) and working memory (SWM) tests are the most sensitive when analyzing a sample with a wide age range (older adults and young adults) and their assessment should be prioritized. • Episodic memory (PAL TEA) has a high discriminatory capacity on assessing older adults, suggesting that this test may have greater clinical potential. • Better education or to practice physical exercise are associated with greater cognitive performances, reinforcing its beneficial potential to successful cognitive trajectories in both the young and aging brain. Increased interindividual variability in cognitive performance during aging has been proposed as an indicator of cognitive reserve. To determine if interindividual variability performance in episodic memory (PAL), working memory (SWM), reaction time (RTI), and sustained attention (RVP) could differentiate clusters of differential cognitive performance in healthy young and older adults and search for cognitive tests that most contribute to these differential performances. We employed hierarchical cluster and canonical discriminant function analyses of cognitive scores using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) to identify cognitive variability in older and young adults using the coefficient of variability of cognitive performances between and within groups. We also analyzed potential influences of age, education, and physical activity. Cluster analysis distinguished groups with differential cognitive performance and correlation analysis revealed coefficient of variability and cognitive performance associations. The greater the coefficient of variability the poorer was cognitive performance in RTI but not in PAL and SWM. Older adults showed diverse trajectories of cognitive decline, and better education or higher percentage of physically active individuals exhibited better cognitive performance in both older and young adults. PAL and SWM are the most sensitive tests to investigate the wide age range encompassing older and young adults. In older adults' intragroup analysis PAL showed greater discriminatory capacity, indicating its potential for clinical applications late in life. Our data underscore the importance of studying variability as a tool for early detection of subtle cognitive declines and for interpreting results that deviate from normality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: In this study, we aimed to determine the early stage of cognitive impairment in newly diagnosed Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) patients by comparing them with the healthy control group. The cognitive functions of the people diagnosed with depression, especially attention, psychomotor speed and executive functions that may occur in the determination of the level of impairment was thought to contribute to the development of treatment programs. Method: The study group consisted of 60 patients with untreated MDD who were admitted to the psychiatry outpatient clinic at Adana Mental Health and Diseases Hospital and a control group consisting of 30 people who were not diagnosed with depression similar to age and gender. Patients who had previously been treated with a psychiatric diagnosis and who had a history of drug or psychotherapy during the last 6 months were excluded from the study. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Trail Making Test (TMT) were used as measuring instruments. Results: In the study, it was determined that the deterioration in cognitive functions was significantly higher in the untreated MDD patients than in the healthy control group. TMT scores were significantly different between the patient and the control group (p<0.005). A positive and linear relationship between the clinical severity of depression and the level of cognitive impairment was obtained (A+B time; r=0.52, p<0.01). Discussion: In the early period, cognitive impairment should be considered in patients with MDD and treatments aimed at cognitive impairment should be included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Acute methanol poisoning leads to optic neuropathy and necrotic lesions of basal ganglia (BG) and subcortical white matter. Survivors of methanol poisoning exhibit long‐term executive and memory deficits. Associations between brain volumetry parameters and cognitive sequelae of methanol poisoning are not known. The aim of our study was to identify long‐term associations between the cognitive performance of survivors of methanol poisoning and the volume of the brain structures that are selectively vulnerable to methanol. Methods: We conducted a cross‐sectional follow‐up study on a sample of patients (n = 33, age 50 ± 14 years, 82% males) who survived acute methanol poisoning during methanol mass poisoning outbreak from September 2012 till January 2013 in the Czech Republic. A battery of neuropsychological tests and brain magnetic resonance imaging were included in the clinical examination protocol. Specific brain structures (putamen, globus pallidus, nucleus caudatus, and frontal white matter) were selected as regions of interest, and their volumes were estimated using the MorphoBox prototype software. Results: In robust multiple regression models, sustained visual attention performance (as assessed by Trail Making Test and Prague Stroop Test) was positively associated with BG structures and frontal white matter volumes (Wald = 9.03 to 85.50, p < 0.01), sensitivity to interference (as assessed by Frontal Battery Assessment) was negatively associated with frontal white matter volume (Wald = 35.44 to 42.25, p < 0.001), and motor performance (as assessed by Finger Tapping Test) was positively associated with globus pallidus and frontal white matter volumes (Wald = 9.66 to 13.29, p < 0.01). Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that smaller volumes of elements of BG–thalamocortical circuitry, namely the BG and frontal white matter, relate to attention and motor performance in methanol poisoning from a long‐term perspective. Disruption of those functional circuits may underlie specific cognitive deficits observed in methanol poisoning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dementia, stroke, depression, and disability are frequent in late life and are major causes of quality of life disruption and family burden. Even though each of these disorders relies on specific pathogenic processes, a common clinical manifestation is psychomotor slowing. Objective: We assessed the relevance of a simple marker of low psychomotor speed in predicting several brain outcomes: dementia, Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), stroke, depressive symptoms, and disability in activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental ADL (IADL). Methods: PAQUID is a population-based study involving 3,777 individuals aged 65 or older prospectively followed-up with repeated clinical evaluations. After 10 years, 437 participants developed dementia, 333 developed AD, 71 developed PD, 207 reported incident stroke, 404 developed disability in ADL, 994 in IADL, and 494 developed depressive symptomology. Psychomotor speed was measured with the digit symbol substitution test (DSST). Cox proportional hazards models controlled for several confounders assessed the risk of incident outcomes. Results: Participants with low DSST performance had increased risk of incident all-type dementia (hazard ratio [HR] 3.41, p < 0.0001) and AD-type dementia (HR 3.18, p < 0.0001). Higher risk for PD (HR 2.98, p = 0.04), IADL (HR 1.82, p < 0.0001), ADL disability (HR 1.95, p = 0.001), depressive symptoms (HR 1.53, p = 0.03), and a statistical trend for stroke (HR 1.88, p = 0.09) was also found. Conclusion: Low psychomotor speed is associated with an increased risk of developing various brain outcomes: dementia, AD, PD, disability, depressive symptoms, and marginally stroke. Low psychomotor speed may be the consequence of a number of discrete cerebral abnormalities and could be considered as a marker of brain vulnerability. In clinical practice, a low score in DSST should be seen as a warning sign of possible negative evolution. [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]

Background: Major depression is a psychiatric disorder characterized neuropsychologically by poor performance in tasks of memory, attention, processing speed, and executive function. The aim of this systematic review was to examine the evidence regarding the neuropsychological profile of people with major depression and to determine which of two explanatory models—the processing speed hypothesis or the cognitive effort hypothesis—has most empirical support. Methods: We searched three relevant databases and reviewed the reference lists of the articles retrieved. The results obtained with the Trail Making Test and the Stroop Color-Word Test were reviewed for 37 studies published between 1993 and 2020. Results: The empirical evidence supports both hypotheses: cognitive effort and processing speed, suggesting that depression is not only characterized by psychomotor slowing but also involves a specific deficit in executive function. Discussion: We discuss potentially relevant variables that should be considered in future research in order to improve knowledge about the neurocognitive profile of depression. The main limitation of this study derives from the considerable heterogeneity of participants with MD, which makes it difficult to compare and integrate the data.

Background/Aims: To investigate the effect of singing training on the cognitive function in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Methods: Ten AD patients (mean age 78.1 years) participated in music therapy using singing training once a week for 6 months (music therapy group). Each session was performed with professional musicians using karaoke and a unique voice training method (the YUBA Method). Before and after the intervention period, each patient was assessed by neuropsychological batteries, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed while the patients sang familiar songs with a karaoke device. As the control group, another 10 AD patients were recruited (mean age 77.0 years), and neuropsychological assessments were performed twice with an interval of 6 months. Results: In the music therapy group, the time for completion of the Japanese Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices was significantly reduced (p = 0.026), and the results obtained from interviewing the patients' caregivers revealed a significant decrease in the Neuropsychiatric Inventory score (p = 0.042) and a prolongation of the patients' sleep time (p = 0.039). The fMRI study revealed increased activity in the right angular gyrus and the left lingual gyrus in the before-minus-after subtraction analysis of the music therapy intervention. Conclusion: Music therapy intervention using singing training may be useful for dementia patients by improving the neural efficacy of cognitive processing.

The Verbal Fluency Test is the common task not only in the school psychological services. This methodological study provides the main psychometrical parameters of the test, particularly the reliability estimates, and norms for the number of words named within one minute beginning on the sounds N, K and P (and total) on the sample of 411 pupils aged 5-12 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]