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Temporal orientation in 235 normal elderly subjects was examined and compared with previous results from a young adult population. Orientation for time in the elderly remains reasonably intact; the major exception to this was inaccurate recall of the date, which was most pronounced among women in the older group studied (71 +). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sixteen patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease were selected who were all showing severe fluctuations in motor function ("on-off" phenomenon). Measures of cognitive function and of subjective affect/arousal state were taken on two occasions, once when "on" and once when "off". Twenty-five matched normal controls were also assessed on the same measures. Results revealed, on the average, a drop in cognitive function plus an adverse swing in affect/arousal state, in the patient group in the "off" condition, compared to the levels when "on". Analysis of the data suggested that the main factor associated with cognitive function when "off" was not the severity of disability but the level of affect/arousal. The fluctuations in cognitive function found tended to be mild relative to the severe changes in motor ability, and were present in only a proportion of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this report are described seven patients assessed clinically and neuropsychologically in whom mirror movements affecting predominantly the hands occurred as a congenital disorder. These mirror movements, representing a specific type of abnormal synkinesia, may arise as a hereditary condition, in the presence of a recognisable underlying neurological abnormality, and sporadically, and the seven patients provide more or less satisfactory examples of each of these three groups. Despite the apparent uniformity of the disorder, the heterogeneity and variability may be marked, examples in some of our patients including the pronounced increase in tone that developed with arm movement, and the capacity for modulation of the associated movement by alteration of neck position and bio-feedback. Various possible mechanisms are considered; these include impaired cerebral inhibition of unwanted movements, and functioning of abnormal motor pathways. Emphasis has been placed on the putative role of the direct, crossed corticomotoneurone pathways and on the unilateral and bilateral cerebral events that precede movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The case of a 57 year old man with cognitive impairment, hypertension and insulin dependent diabetes mellitus caused by phaeochromocytoma is reported. One year after removal of the tumour there was a significant improvement with the full scale IQ increasing by 15 points, normotension and minimal glucose intolerance. Possible mechanisms accounting for reversible cognitive impairment in such a situation are discussed. No previous reports of this association have been discovered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Importance: Flare is a term commonly used in atopic dermatitis (AD) care settings and clinical research, but little consensus exists on what it means. Meanwhile, flare management is an important unmet research and treatment need. Understanding how various therapies might comparatively improve AD flares as a measure of treatment effectiveness may facilitate shared decision-making and enable assessment of effectiveness within and outside clinical settings., Objective: To identify patient-reported attributes associated with an AD flare to develop a patient-centered, consensus-based working definition., Design, Setting, and Participants: This consensus survey study used a modified eDelphi method involving consensus-building focus groups and a survey conducted from January 10 through October 24, 2023. Focus groups were conducted virtually, and the online survey was advertised to National Eczema Association members. US adults aged 18 years or older with AD were recruited via convenience sampling., Exposure: Lived experience of AD., Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcome was consensus on which attributes of AD to include in a patient-centric definition of flare. Using a rating scale (range, 1-9), consensus for the modified eDelphi statement rating was defined as at least 70% of participants rating a statement as 7 to 9 (critical to a flare definition) and less than 15% rating it as 1 to 3 (not important)., Results: Twenty-six participants with AD who completed focus group activities (24 aged 18-44 years [92.3%] and 2 aged 45-64 years [7.7%]; 18 women [69.2%]) and 631 participants with AD (mean [SD] age, 45.5 [18.1] years; 533 women [84.5%]) who completed the survey were included in the analysis. Fifteen statements reached consensus from the focus groups, and of those, 12 reached consensus from survey participants. More than half (334 of 631 [52.9%]) of survey participants reported alignment with their health care practitioner on what a flare is, and most (478 of 616 [77.6%]) reported that a patient-centered definition would be useful when communicating with their health care practitioner about their condition., Conclusions and Relevance: In this study, participants with AD reached consensus on what an AD flare means from the patient perspective. This understanding may improve research and care by addressing this key patient-centered aspect of evaluating treatment effectiveness.

Background: The term 'flare' is used across multiple diseases, including atopic dermatitis (AD), to describe increased disease activity. While several definitions of an AD flare have been proposed, no single definition of AD flare is widely accepted and it is unclear what the term 'AD flare' means from the patient perspective., Objectives: To understand AD flares from the adult patient perspective and to explore how adults with AD define an AD flare., Methods: Participants were adults with AD recruited from the National Eczema Association Ambassadors programme, a volunteer patient-engagement programme. They participated in online focus groups to discuss how they describe AD flares from their perspective, how they define its start and stop, and how they relate to existing definitions of flare. Using a grounded theory approach, transcripts were analysed and coded using an iterative process to identify concepts to support a patient-centred conceptual framework of 'flare'., Results: Six 90-min focus groups of 3-8 participants each were conducted with 29 US adults (≥ 18 years of age) with AD who had at least one self-reported AD flare in the past year. When participants were presented with examples of previously published definitions of AD flare, participants found them problematic and unrelatable. Specifically, they felt that flare is hard to quantify or put on a numerical scale, definitions cannot solely be about skin symptoms and clinical verbiage does not resonate with patients' lived experiences. Concepts identified by patients as important to a definition of flare were changes from patient's baseline/patient's normal, mental/emotional/social consequences, physical changes in skin, attention needed/all-consuming focus, itch-scratch-burn cycle and control/loss of control/quality of life. Figuring out the trigger that initiated a flare was an underlying concept of the experience of flare but was not considered a contributor to the definition., Conclusions: The results highlight the complexity and diversity of AD flare experiences from the adult patient perspective. Previously published definitions of AD flares did not resonate with patients, suggesting a need for a patient-centred flare definition to support care conversations and AD management., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest W.S.B. reports sponsorship from Sanofi/Regeneron paid to her institution during the conduct of the study; advisory board honoraria paid to her institution from Pfizer and Amgen; and research grants from Pfizer. A.M.D. has received compensation from the British Journal of Dermatology (reviewer and Section Editor), American Academy of Dermatology (guidelines writer), National Eczema Association (NEA; grant reviewer), Canadian Dermatology Today (manuscript writer) and Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health ­(consultant). He has received research grants to his institution from the NEA, the Eczema Society of Canada, the Canadian Dermatology Foundation, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, the US National Institutes of Health and the Physicians Services Incorporated Foundation. K.N.D. and A.M.D. received research funding paid to their institutions from the NEA for the conduct of the research reported in this manuscript. I.J.C.T., K.A. and M.W. declare no conflicts of interest., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of British Association of Dermatologists.)

Evidence was reported earlier from a single case that chromatic-lexical (CL) synaesthesia was a genuine phenomenon. A study is presented in which nine subjects were tested who also reported having coloured hearing. The following questions were addressed: (a) were these cases also genuine (ie consistent over time), (b) were they truly lexical, or rather variants of this condition, such as chromatic-graphemic (CG) or chromatic-phonemic (CP) synaesthesia, (c) did the experimental subjects show any commonalities between them, and (d) were they able to give information on a standard questionnaire about the phenomenology and ontogenesis of the condition? Subjects were asked to describe the colour sensation experienced on hearing items from a list of 130 words, phrases, and letters. The experimental group were not informed of any retest, but were retested more than one year later. A control group (n = 9), matched for IQ, memory, age, and gender, were read the same list and asked to associate a colour with each list item. They were informed at the time of testing that they would be retested on a sample of items from the list a week later. 92.3% of the responses of the experimental group when retested one year later were identical to those given in the original test, compared with only 37.6% of the control subjects' responses (retested one week later). This confirmed the genuinneess of these nine cases. All nine experimental subjects showed CG synaesthesia, none showing either CL or CP synaesthesia. Among the experimental group, some consistency was found in the colours evoked by hearing specific letters, suggesting the condition has a neurological basis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

A new scale for the repeated, rapid assessment of mental function in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage is described. Its reproducibility is evaluated and early experience with its use in the intended clinical setting is reported. The test (Maudsley Mentation Test) proved to be more sensitive to fluctuations in cerebral functioning than existing measures of conscious level, and the results were reproducible among observers with different backgrounds (surgeons, nurses, and psychologists). The results suggest a relationship between performance on mentation testing and quality of outcome. The Maudsley Mentation Test is thought to offer a suitable measure with which to monitor patients during the acute phase of their illness to supplement clinical assessment and provide evidence of deterioration at an early stage. It is also potentially useful as an end point in acute protection and treatment studies.

A randomized single-blind study was designed to compare the performance on memory tests requiring recall of information relevant to everyday life of two groups of hypertensive patients. One group of 13 patients were taking a beta-adrenoceptor blocker (atenolol) and the other group of 12 patients received the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (enalapril). The results suggested that when compared with placebo the group of patients treated with enalapril showed no changes in memory function, whilst there was a mild, but consistent deficit in the group taking atenolol.

This investigation examined the effects of different localizing cues on the precision with which subjects can recall the position of a target in space. The availability of the cues--vision, kinesthesis, or both--was varied during both learning and recall. Subjects (age range 26 to 58 yr.) placed the stimulus or watched it being placed. The stimulus was removed, and subjects replaced or indicated its replacement location. Results show a striking similarity of performance for all subjects and significant performance differences relative to the different cues. The results provide information about intramodal and intermodal visual and kinesthetic transfer effects and about the effects of unimodal and multimodal input in such transfer. Results confirm a dominance of vision over kinesthesis, i.e., "kinesthetic memory" does not provide as accurate localizing information as does "visual memory."

Multiple or sequential finger tapping is preferential to the dominant right hand with respect to speed. However, in more complex movement, variables other than speed become important. The present investigation uses a sequential finger-tapping task which permits assessment of between-hands differences with respect to rate and control of movement, with and without vision. 36 right-handed normal adults rapidly tapped their fingers in sequential order on a block (2.54 cm. sq.), trying not to move the block. Analyses of variance (mode x hand) performed for taps and shift of the block show the right hand to be faster than the left hand with and without vision, adding further to the notion that the left hemisphere predominates in increases in rapid movement and in sequencing aspects of motor activity. However, while both hands were steadier with vision than without, there were no between-hand differences with regard to control, suggesting equivalency of cerebral function for factors of manual sequencing other than speed.