Quantifier comprehension in corticobasal degeneration

In this study, we investigated patients with focal neurodegenerative diseases to examine a formal linguistic distinction between classes of generalized quantifiers, like "some X" and "less than half of X." Our model of quantifier comprehension proposes that number knowledge is required to understand both first-order and higher-order quantifiers. The present results demonstrate that corticobasal degeneration (CBD) patients, who have number knowledge impairments but little evidence for a deficit understanding other aspects of language, are impaired in their comprehension of quantifiers relative to healthy seniors, Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) patients [F(3,77)=4.98; p<.005]. Moreover, our model attempts to honor a distinction in complexity between classes of quantifiers such that working memory is required to comprehend higher-order quantifiers. Our results support this distinction by demonstrating that FTD and AD patients, who have working memory limitations, have greater difficulty understanding higher-order quantifiers relative to first-order quantifiers [F(1,77)=124.29; p<.001]. An important implication of these findings is that the meaning of generalized quantifiers appears to involve two dissociable components, number knowledge and working memory, which are supported by distinct brain regions.     

A narratological methodology for identifying archetypal story patterns in autobiographical narratives

Based on Jung's definition of archetype the concept 'archetypal story pattern' is developed as well as a research method drawing on narrative analysis and biographical research to identify these archetypal story patterns in life stories. Jung pointed out that personal myths, archetypal patterns found, e.g., in mythology, can govern the life course of individuals unconsciously. In the Theory of Narrative Identity comparable concepts have been mentioned but were never fully developed. In my research I try to combine Jung's concept of the archetype with the elaborated methodology of narrative analysis. Archetypes can manifest as narratives and the identity construction of a person via narrating the life story can be influenced or even totally structured by archetypal stories which give a specific form as well as a specific meaning to the person's identity. The method of extracting an underlying archetypal pattern from an autobiographical narrative is demonstrated. The results of the research on 20 autobiographical interviews and the inherent archetypal patterns are summarized. The major aim of this paper is to describe in detail the application of a well established method of the social sciences on a key concept of Jungian psychology to show that these concepts can be integrated into recent research frameworks of academic sciences. On the other hand it shows that Jungian concepts can be investigated through established and well defined research methods in empirical research settings.     

Modeling and estimating recall processing capacity: Sensitivity and diagnostic utility in application to mild cognitive impairment

We investigate the potential for using latency-based measures of retrieval processing capacity to assess changes in performance specific to individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a reliable precursor state to Alzheimer’s Disease. Use of these capacity measures is motivated in part by exploration of the effects of atrophy on a computational model of a basic hippocampal circuit. We use this model to suggest that capacity may be a more sensitive indicator of the underlying atrophy than speed of processing, and test this hypothesis by adapting a standard behavioral measure of memory (the free and cued selective reminding test, FCSRT) to allow for the collection of cued recall latencies. Participants were drawn from five groups: college-aged, middle-aged, healthy elderly, those with a diagnosis of MCI, and a sample of MCI control participants. The measure of capacity is shown to offer increased classificatory sensitivity relative to the standard behavioral measures, and is also shown to be the behavioral measure that correlated most strongly with hippocampal volume.     

Memories defining the self in Alzheimer’s disease

ABSTRACT

There is a debate over the extent to which personal identity or the self is preserved in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Autobiographical memory deficits at early stages of AD could contribute to altering patients’ self. However, the nature of the relationship between autobiographical memory deficits and the self in AD has not been much investigated experimentally. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the integrative meaning of self-defining memories (SDMs) in early stages of AD and to analyse its relationship with the self-concept. The results showed that, when compared to the control group, AD patients less frequently extracted meaning from their SDMs and the meaning was less frequently tied to the self. Patients exhibited some altered aspects of the self-concept (i.e., complexity and strength), though some other components still persisted (i.e., valence and certainty). Correlation analyses showed that the impaired integrative meaning in the AD group was correlated with some changes in self-concept. We suggest that integrative meaning may act as a bridge between autobiographical memories and the self-concept, with reduced integration abilities appearing as a potential mechanism for the deterioration of the self-concept in AD.     

No dual-task practice effect in Alzheimer's disease

Diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) requires evidence of progressive decline in cognitive function. However, many tests used to assess cognitive function suffer from considerable practice effects, reducing their reliability. Several studies have reported that the ability to do two things at once, or dual tasking, is impaired in AD, but unaffected by healthy ageing. The apparent specificity of this impairment suggests that this assessment may be particularly useful in the early diagnosis of AD, but the reliability of this assessment remains unknown. Therefore, this study investigated simultaneous performance of digit recall and tracking tasks across six testing sessions in eight people with AD, eight healthy older adults and eight healthy younger adults. The results found that dual-task performance was unaffected by healthy ageing, but significantly impaired in AD, with no effect of repeated exposure. The absence of any improvements in performance despite increased familiarity with the task's demands suggests that not only is the dual-task assessment well suited for monitoring progression over time, but also that dual tasking involves a specific cognitive function which is impaired in the AD brain.     

阿尔茨海默病生物学标志物研究进展

阿尔茨海默病（AD）是常见的中枢神经系统变性疾病,是痴呆最常见的病因,发病率高.病理特征为老年斑及神经元纤维缠结.AD的确诊有赖病理学,临床诊断极其耗时.由于尚无准确的早期诊断方法,常使AD患者错过早期治疗的时机,这成为制约有效防控AD的瓶颈问题.因此寻找高敏感性、特异性、无创性的生物学标志物对AD的早期诊断至关重要.本文仅将目前较为广泛研究的生物学标志物及其研究现状作一概述.分别对脑脊液、血液、尿液及唾液中的AD标志物作逐一介绍.     

布氏杆菌病诊治体会

加强对布氏杆菌病流行病学资料、临床特点、诊断、治疗、预后及本病误诊误治的前因后果等方面的认识,回顾性分析潍坊医学院附属医院近两年收治的28例布氏杆菌病病例,并总结布氏杆菌病在诊断、治疗等方面的特点.经查阅国内外资料分析所得,近20余年,布氏杆菌病发病率呈上升趋势,传播途径复杂,临床表现无特异性,易误诊误治;利福平、四环素及喹诺酮药物疗效肯定,治愈率高.临床医师须加强对本病的全面认识,提高诊断率并提供规范治疗、减轻患者心理及精神负担.     

Subjective states associated with retrieval failures in Parkinson’s disease

Instances in which we cannot retrieve information immediately but know that the information might be retrieved later are subjective states that accompany retrieval failure. These are expressed in feeling-of-knowing (FOK) and Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) experiences. In Experiment 1, participants with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and older adult controls were given general questions and asked to report when they experienced a TOT state and to give related information about the missing word. The PD group experienced similar levels of TOTs but provided less correct peripheral information related to the target when in a TOT state. In Experiment 2, participants were given a Semantic (general knowledge questions) and an Episodic (word pairs) FOK task. PD patients failed to accurately predict their future memory performance (FOK) in response to both episodic and semantic cues. Results are interpreted in the context of recent frameworks of memory and metacognition.     

Sense of identity in advanced Alzheimer’s dementia: A cognitive dissociation between sameness and selfhood?

We looked at whether sense of identity persists in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and if its profile remains the same between two examinations. A specifically designed protocol was administered to 16 AD patients in the mild to severe stages of dementia and to 16 matched healthy controls, both living in the same institution. We showed that sense of identity was broadly preserved in AD patients. The patterns of their responses were similar to those of controls, and remained consistent over a two-week period. However, some qualitative characteristics of sense of identity in AD patients differed significantly from those of controls, suggesting that AD patients may not be able to update their self-knowledge, probably because of their episodic memory deficit. These results are discussed in the light of both current models of the self and philosophical concepts such as sameness and selfhood.     

Profiles of Chronic Illness Knowledge in a Community Sample of American Adults

The author identified profiles of chronic illness knowledge (i.e., heart disease, cancer, diabetes) in a community sample of American adults and examined the effect of sociodemographic influences on relations of illness knowledge to health practices and well-being. Participants were 181 women and 120 men who completed measures of illness knowledge, sociodemographics, personal health practices (e.g., diet, exercise, substance abuse, adaptive healthcare use), well-being (e.g., self-rated physical health, depression, social support), and perceived illness risk. Two-step cluster analyses performed on random subsets of the sample identified three levels of illness knowledge: low, medium, and high. Knowledge groups were differentiated on most measures of health practices, well-being and perceived illness risk. However, effects were substantially attenuated after controlling for differences in age and SES. Findings indicate that age and other sociodemographic factors are related not only to levels of illness knowledge but also to the application of knowledge in relation to health practices and well-being.