Factor structure of the CNS Vital Signs computerized cognitive battery in youth with neurological diagnoses

Computerized cognitive batteries, such as CNS Vital Signs (CNSVS), can provide valuable information in clinical and research settings. However, psychometric properties, especially in children and adolescents, remain relatively understudied. The aim of this study was to investigate the factor structure of CNSVS in children and adolescents with neurological diagnoses.

Participants with neurological diagnoses (N = 280) age 7–19 years were assessed as part of their clinical care at a tertiary hospital. All participants received the full CNSVS computerized cognitive battery, which contains seven subtests designed to measure attention, executive functioning, psychomotor speed, and memory. Principal components analyses were used to examine factor structure.

Scores from CNSVS subtests loaded onto a three-component solution and accounted for 46% of the variance. The three components were deemed to best represent (1) speed, (2) memory, and (3) inhibition, with subtest scores loading differently than the original 11 primary and secondary domain scores would have suggested.

Although the CNSVS program generates numerous primary and secondary domain scores, a three-component solution represents a more parsimonious approach to interpreting performance on the CNSVS in youth with neurological diagnoses. Confirmation of this factor solution in other samples is warranted.     

Terrorism and cardiovascular responses to acute stress in children.

A number of studies have considered whether background stress affects cardiovascular responses to acute stress tasks. The present study considers the effect of a potent background stressor with a clear onset, namely the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Specifically, the authors investigated differences among 9.5-year-old children tested before (N = 30) and then following (N = 20) the 9/11 attacks. In addition, a majority of these children (N = 37) were retested approximately 1 year later (i.e., before and after 9/11/2002). Children tested directly following 9/11/2001 exhibited significantly greater stroke volume and cardiac output responses to acute stress tasks compared with their responses 1 year later, and this change in reactivity differed significantly from the change in reactivity exhibited by children tested before 9/11/2001 and again 1 year later. These results suggest that a potent background stressor can temporarily heighten some children's cardiovascular responses to subsequent acute stressors.     

Effects of contextual conditioning and unconditional stimulus presentation on performance in appetitive conditioning

Four experiments with rat subjects examined the effects of contextual conditioning on conditioned appetitive performance. Experiment 1 compared the effects of contextual conditioning on performance to conditioned stimuli (CSs) with different conditioning histories. Contextual conditioning enhanced performance to the CS if the CS had first been conditioned and then extinguished, but had no effect on performance when the CS had been merely paired or unpaired with food. Experiments 2 and 3 then asked whether the effect on the extinguished CS was due to contextual conditioning acting as a cue for conditioning. In Experiment 2, extinction procedures in which extra unconditioned stimuli (USs) were presented during the intertrial intervals were found to reduce the CS's sensitivity to enhancement by contextual conditioning, but had no effect on spontaneous recovery. In Experiment 3, USs added to conditioning or extinction acquired the ability to cue the corresponding performance. Under some conditions, USs added to conditioning could suppress performance (Experiment 4). The results suggest that contextual conditioning has complex effects that can be better understood by recognizing that contextual conditioning, as well as the USs that create it,Mayacquire discriminative control over conditioned responding.