Attention and memory in children with brain tumors.

The Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test was utilized to examine attention, learning, and memory abilities in 42 children with cerebellar (N = 18) and third ventricle tumors (N = 24). Children with cerebellar tumors exhibited significant auditory attentional impairments and displayed adequate encoding and retrieval across subsequent learning and memory trials. In contrast, children with third ventricle tumors exhibited average auditory attentional abilities, but they displayed mild encoding deficits across trials 2-5. Furthermore, the third ventricle group's compromised performance on the delayed recall trial and average performance on the delayed recognition trial is suggestive of underlying retrieval deficits.     

Risk for injury in preschoolers: relationship to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Parental ratings of preschoolers' risk for injury, direct assessment of preschoolers' behavior thought related to risk for injury (e.g., Inattention, impulsivity) and number of documented injuries were examined in preschoolers with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and their non-ADHD peers (Control). Of preschoolers with ADHD, 58.3% exhibited behavior which placed them at-risk for physical injury (0% Control), and their performance was significantly poorer on clinic-based tests. Nonetheless, preschoolers with ADHD did not actually sustain significantly more injuries which warranted medical treatment in an emergency department. Although preschoolers with ADHD may be at increased risk for minor injuries, further research is needed to determine whether they more frequently sustain more serious injuries.     

Caregiver- and Clinician-Reported Adaptive Functioning in Rett Syndrome: a Systematic Review and Evaluation of Measurement Strategies

Neuropsychology Review - Rett syndrome is the second most common cause of intellectual disability in females worldwide. The severity of many individuals’ impairment limits the effectiveness...     

Televised social interaction and object learning in 14- and 18-month-old infants

We examined object learning in infants who viewed a televised adult speaking about a novel toy in videos that varied in the social cues provided. Novelty preference in following test trials differed as a function of televised social cues in 18-month-old, but not 14-month-old infants.     

A Cognitive-Behavioral Mindfulness Group Therapy Intervention for the Treatment of Binge Eating in Bariatric Surgery Patients

Binge eating is a negative indicator of post-surgical weight loss and health outcome in bariatric surgery patients (Hsu, Bentancourt, Sullivan, 1996). Cognitive-behavioral techniques and mindfulness-based practices have been shown to successfully treat binge eating (Agras, Telch, Arnow, Eldredge, & Marnell, 1997; Kristeller & Hallett, 1999). This report describes the development and implementation of a 10-week cognitive-behavioral mindfulness-based group intervention designed to reduce binge eating and address the specific needs of bariatric surgery patients. Posttreatment data showed improvement in binge eating symptoms, depressive symptomatology, and emotion regulation skills and increased motivation to change maladaptive eating behavior.     

The development of emotional face and eye gaze processing

Recent research has demonstrated that infants' attention towards novel objects is affected by an adult's emotional expression and eye gaze toward the object. The current event-related potential (ERP) study investigated how infants at 3, 6, and 9 months of age process fearful compared to neutral faces looking toward objects or averting gaze away from objects. Furthermore, we examined how the processing of novel objects is affected by gaze direction and emotional expression. We hypothesized that an adult's fearful expression should be particularly salient when it is directed toward a referent in the environment. Furthermore, responses to objects should be increased if the face previously expressed fear toward the object. Three-month-olds did not show differential neural responses to fearful vs. neutral faces regardless of gaze direction. Six-month-olds showed an enhanced negative central (Nc) component for fearful relative to neutral faces looking toward objects, but not when eye gaze was averted away from the objects. Furthermore, 6-month-olds showed an enhanced Nc for objects that had been gaze-cued by a fearful compared to a neutral face. Nine-month-olds showed an enhanced Nc for fearful relative to neutral faces in both eye gaze conditions and showed an enhanced Nc for objects that had been gaze-cued by a neutral face. The findings are discussed in the context of social cognitive and brain development.     

Verbal memory abilities of children with brain tumors.

Several critical neuroanatomical structures and pathways for memory performance are located in the third ventricle region. This led us to predict that verbal memory abilities would be more impaired in children treated for third ventricle tumors compared to those treated for cerebellar tumors. Archival data was obtained from 24 pediatric patients with third ventricle region tumors and 18 pediatric patients with cerebellar tumors. Neuroradiological verifications of tumor involvement and hydrocephalus severity (i.e., Evans Index) on preoperative scans and MRIs proximal to the time of the neuropsychological evaluation were conducted. The potential confounds of hydrocephalus severity, seizure medication, age, radiation treatment, and chemotherapy were addressed. Verbal IQ was comparable between tumor groups and in the Average range. The third ventricle region group performed significantly worse on list learning and delayed list recall compared to the cerebellar group. Their mean performance was in the clinically impaired range on both trials. The third ventricle region tumor group performed better than the cerebellar tumor group on Digit Span, a basic repetition, attention span task. These findings support the hypothesis that pediatric patients with third ventricle region brain tumors are more likely to be impaired on verbal recall tasks compared to pediatric patients with cerebellar brain tumors. In contrast, patients who were treated for cerebellar tumors were more impaired on the basic repetition, attention span task compared to patients who were treated for third ventricle tumors. Future studies should examine the specific neuroanatomical structures and pathways that are damaged and may influence differential cognitive impairments in children.     

A randomized trial comparing the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy for bulimia nervosa delivered via telemedicine versus face-to-face

OBJECTIVE: A major problem in the delivery of mental health services is the lack of availability of empirically supported treatment, particularly in rural areas. To date no studies have evaluated the administration of an empirically supported manual-based psychotherapy for a psychiatric condition via telemedicine. The aim of this study was to compare the relative efficacy and acceptability of a manual-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for bulimia nervosa (BN) delivered in person to a comparable therapy delivered via telemedicine. METHOD: One hundred twenty-eight adults meeting DSM-IV criteria for BN or eating disorder-not otherwise specified with binge eating or purging at least once per week were recruited through referrals from clinicians and media advertisements in the targeted geographical areas. Participants were randomly assigned to receive 20 sessions of manual-based, CBT for BN over 16 weeks delivered either face-to-face (FTF-CBT) or via telemedicine (TV-CBT) by trained therapists. The primary outcome measures were binge eating and purging frequency as assessed by interview at the end of treatment, and again at 3- and 12-month follow-ups. Secondary outcome measures included other bulimic symptoms and changes in mood. RESULTS: Retention in treatment was comparable for TV-CBT and FTF-CBT. Abstinence rates at end-of-treatment were generally slightly higher for FTF-CBT compared with TV-CBT, but differences were not statistically significant. FTF-CBT patients also experienced significantly greater reductions in eating disordered cognitions and interview-assessed depression. However, the differences overall were few in number and of marginal clinical significance. CONCLUSIONS: CBT for BN delivered via telemedicine was both acceptable to participants and roughly equivalent in outcome to therapy delivered in person.     

Influence of vocal cues on learning about objects in joint attention contexts

An experimenter taught infants about a novel toy in two joint attention conditions, one with and one without vocal cues. In test trials, infants viewed the familiar toy and a novel toy. Infants in the Joint Attention plus Voice condition looked significantly longer to the novel toy.