Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Semantic Fluency (semantic + fluency)
Selected AbstractsIdentifying functional impairment with scores from the repeatable battery for the assessment of neuropsychological status (RBANS)INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 5 2010Valerie L. Hobson Abstract Objective To examine the link between RBANS scores and functional impairment. Functional status was evaluated through informant report using the clinical dementia rating (CDR) scale. Methods Archival data were reviewed from records of 99 patients in a memory disorder clinic (MDC) research database. Consensus-based diagnoses were Alzheimer's disease (AD; n,=,48), mild cognitive impairment (MCI; n,=,48), AD with vascular components; (n,=,2) and dementia due to psychiatric conditions (n,=,1). Results The RBANS language index score was significantly related to CDR domain scores of community affairs (p,<,.01), home and hobbies (p,<,.01), personal care (p,<,.05), memory (p,<,0.01), and judgment (p,<,0.01). RBANS immediate memory index scores were significantly related to (p,<,0.05) the CDR Memory and judgment and problem solving domains. Based on these findings, follow-up regressions were conducted. Semantic fluency was significantly related to CDR memory (p,<,0.01), judgment (p,<,0.05), community affairs (p,<,0.05), home/hobbies (p,<,0.05), and personal care (p,<,0.05) functional domains. Picture naming was significantly related to the CDR personal care domain (p,<,0.05). List learning was significantly related to CDR memory functional domain (p,<,0.01) and judgment (p,<,0.05). Lastly, story memory was significantly related to the CDR judgment domain (p,<,0.05). Conclusions The RBANS may be an indicator of functional impairment as well as a neuropsychological testing tool. The use of the RBANS could reduce the amount of testing that is administered to the patient, or can provide a way to compare other measurements of functional impairment to assess accuracy of findings. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Neurocognitive functions in euthymic bipolar patientsACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 5 2009K. Jamrozinski Objective:, Meta-analytic findings support the hypothesis of specific neurocognitive deficits for bipolar patients in the domains of attention, processing speed, memory and executive functions. This study aims to show neurocognitive impairment in euthymic patients with bipolar I disorder compared with healthy controls while detailing the impact of medication side-effects or illness characteristics on neuropsychological test performance. Method:, Forty euthymic patients with bipolar I disorder were compared with 40 healthy controls in a cross-sectional design. Clinical features and neuropsychological measures of IQ, psychomotor speed, verbal fluency, learning and memory, executive functions and attention were assessed. Results:, Patients without antipsychotic drug use did not differ significantly from healthy controls in any neuropsychological measure. Yet patients treated with antipsychotics showed significant underperformance in the domains of semantic fluency, verbal learning and recognition memory as well as executive functions related to planning abilities, even when clinical features were controlled for. Conclusion:, The impact of antipsychotic medication needs to be further clarified for euthymic bipolar patients and should be considered when neuropsychological test performance is interpreted. [source] Clustering and switching in semantic fluency: predictors of the development of Alzheimer's diseaseINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 10 2008Ana B. Fagundo Abstract Objective The aims of the study are twofold: (1) to compare semantic fluency, clustering and switching performance among subjects with memory complaints, patients with Alzheimer Disease (AD), and healthy controls; and (2) to examine the clinical utility of the clustering/switching scoring system in the prediction of incident AD in subjects with memory complaints. Methods A semantic fluency task was used to compare thirty eight subjects with memory complaints, forty two AD patients and twenty five healthy controls on the total number of words generated, clustering and switching performance. Subjects with memory complaints were followed-up for a maximum period of two years and re-evaluated. They remained in the memory complaints group (twenty eight subjects) or were defined as probable AD (ten subjects). Results AD patients generated fewer correct words (p,<,0.001) and showed a reduction in clustering (p,=,0.008) and switching (p,<,0.001). Subjects with memory complaints showed a significant reduction in correct words (p,<,0.001) and clustering performance (p,=,0.008) compare to controls. In the first evaluation, the subgroup of patients who converted to AD at follow up produced less correct words (p,<,0.01) and smaller clusters (p,=,0.007) than the subgroup who did not become demented. There were no differences in switching between these two subgroups. AD development was better predicted by cluster size than by the total number of words generated or by switching. Conclusions Subjects with memory complaints and AD patients have an alteration in both qualitative and quantitative aspects of semantic fluency. A clustering analysis could enhance the reliability of early AD diagnosis. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||