Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Executive Cognitive Function (executive + cognitive_function)
Selected AbstractsRecreational ecstasy use and the neurotoxic potential of MDMA: current status of the controversy and methodological issuesDRUG AND ALCOHOL REVIEW, Issue 3 2006MICHAEL LYVERS Abstract The controversy over possible MDMA-induced serotonergic neurotoxicity in human recreational ecstasy users is examined critically in light of recent research findings. Although the designs of such studies have improved considerably since the 1990s, the evidence to date remains equivocal for a number of reasons, including (1) inconsistent findings on the existence and reversibility of persistent ecstasy-related serotonergic and cognitive deficits; (2) lack of clear association between changes in brain imaging measures and functional deficits attributed to MDMA-induced neurotoxicity; (3) the contribution of concomitant cannabis or other drug use to both brain imaging abnormalities and cognitive deficits; (4) methodological shortcomings such as failure to adequately match samples of ecstasy users and controls; (5) the questionable relevance of animal models of MDMA-induced neurotoxicity to typical human patterns of ecstasy use; and (6) the potential role of inherent pre-drug deficits in serotonergic systems, impulse control and executive cognitive function that may predispose to excessive use of drugs including ecstasy. Given the retrospective nature of nearly all studies of ecstasy users to date, the controversy over whether MDMA has ever caused neurotoxicity or cognitive deficit in human ecstasy users is likely to continue for some time without resolution. [source] Functional cognitive assessment scale (FUCAS): a new scale to assess executive cognitive function in daily life activities in patients with dementia and mild cognitive impairmentHUMAN PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY: CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL, Issue 5 2006Fotini Kounti Abstract Background Several tests have been developed to examine performance of demented patients in daily life activities. However, most of them are based either on the subjective evaluation of performance by the patient him/herself, or on the reports of relatives. Functional Cognitive Assessment Scale (FUCAS) is a new reliable (,,>,0.89,,,0.92) cognitive-behavioral scale that assesses executive function in daily life activities directly in patients with dementia. Aims This study aimed at testing FUCAS' internal consistency of items, criterion-related validity, interrater reliability, discriminative ability, and effect of age, sex, and education on FUCAS scores. Results Criterion-related validity was supported by significant correlations between FUCAS, CAMCOG, MMSE, and FRSSD. The interrater reliability of FUCAS' total score for two raters was r 0.997 and we found no significant effect of age, sex, or education on FUCAS' total performance. Discriminant analysis has identified that FUCAS was able to sufficiently discriminate the patients with MCI from those with moderate-severe dementia. Conclusion FUCAS is a useful and reliable diagnostic tool for MCI. Cognitive-behavioral assessment such as that provided by FUCAS can provide objective information that can serve to enhance the quality of clinical decision-making. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Cognitive correlates of brain MRI subcortical signal hyperintensities in non-demented elderlyINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 1 2006Gad A. Marshall Abstract Objective To investigate the relationship between magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) subcortical gray and capsular (SGCH) and white matter hyperintensities (WMH) and cognitive functions in non-demented community dwelling elderly. Methods The severity of SGCH and WMH on proton density and T2 MR images in 16 subjects was scored using the semi-quantitative rating scale of Scheltens et al. (1993). A limited series of cognitive tests selected a priori were then correlated with severity of SGCH and WMH. Results Analysis demonstrated that severity of SGCH was inversely related to performance on the Digit Span (R,=,,0.64, p,<,0.01) and the Stroop Color Word Tests (R,=,,0.64, p,<,0.01). Severity of WMH was related to worsening performance on the Trail Making Test (R,=,0.67, p,<,0.005). Conclusions These findings indicate that severity of WMH is negatively related to more pure executive cognitive functions, specifically set shifting, while severity of SGCH is inversely related to more basic functions of attention and working memory. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Executive cognitive functioning and aggression: Is it an issue of impulsivity?AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, Issue 1 2003Peter N.S. Hoaken Abstract A large body of research has documented a relation between the executive cognitive functions (ECFs) and interpersonal aggressive behavior. A predominant theory proposes that individuals with poor ECFs are more aggressive because they are unable to inhibit impulsive behaviors. However, evidence for this relationship is typically indirect. In this study, 46 healthy men and women completed measures of ECF, the Taylor Aggression Paradigm, and the Go/No-Go discrimination task, a behavioral measure of impulsivity. Also, impulsiveness of participant responses during the aggression task was directly assessed by measuring latency of responses to provocation ("set-time"). It was hypothesized that low-quartile,scoring ECF men and women would perform more aggressively and more impulsively than high-quartile peers. Consistent with expectations, results indicated that ECF was related to aggression and to impulsivity on the Go/No-Go task. However, low-ECF men and women did not have shorter set-times; in fact, on this task, low-ECF participants' behavioral decisions seemed slightly slower than those of high-ECF participants. In light of these results, the authors speculate that a social information-processing problem may mediate the ECF aggression relationship rather than altered impulsivity per se. Aggr. Behav. 29:15,30, 2003. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] | |||||||||||||