Derived Trail Making Test indices: demographics and cognitive background variables across the adult life span

We examined the contribution of demographics and cognitive background variables (processing speed, visuospatial skill, working memory, and interference control) on derived Trail Making Test (TMT) scores in a large sample of Greek healthy participants. We included 775 participants and administered the TMT (TMT-A and TMT-B) and the Wechsler Intelligence Adult Scale (WAIS). Direct (TMT-A & TMT-B time-to-completion) and derived [difference TMT-(B ? A) & ratio TMT-(B/A)] scores were calculated. Demographics (age, age², education, and gender) and WAIS Full Intelligence Quotient significantly predicted the direct TMT-A (R² = 0.426) and TMT-B (R² = 0.593) scores and to a lesser extent, the derived TMT-(B ? A) (R² = 0.343) and TMT-(B/A) (R² = 0.088) scores. In a subsample of 537 healthy participants who also completed the Stroop Neuropsychological Screening Test (SNST), demographics (age and education), WAIS Digit Symbol, Block Design, Arithmetic, and SNST accounted for 44.8% and 59.7% of the variance on TMT-A and TMT-B, and 32.5% and 9.6% of the variance on TMT-(B ? A) and TMT-(B/A), respectively. We found minimal influence of Block Design and Arithmetic on TMT-(B ? A) and an absence of significant influence of any cognitive variable on TMT-(B/A) score. Concluding, derived TMT scores are suggested as indices to detect impairment in cognitive flexibility across the adult life span, since they minimize the effect of demographics and other cognitive background variables.     

White Matter Hyperintensities and Working Memory: An Explorative Study

ABSTRACT

White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are commonly observed in elderly people and may have the most profound effect on executive functions, including working memory. Surprisingly, the Digit Span backward, a frequently employed working memory task, reveals no association with WMH. In the present study, it was investigated whether more detailed analyses of WMH variables and study sample selection are important when establishing a possible relationship between the Digit Span backward and WMH. To accomplish this, the Digit Span backward and additional working memory tests, WMH subscores, and cardiovascular risk factors were examined. The results revealed that performance on the Digit Span backward test is unrelated to WMH, whereas a relationship between other working memory tests and WMH was confirmed. Furthermore, a division between several white matter regions seems important; hyperintensities in the frontal deep white matter regions were the strongest predictor of working memory performance.     

Students' perception of school moral atmosphere: From moral culture to social competence. A generalizability study

The School Moral Atmosphere Questionnaire (SMAQ) was constructed to measure differences in students' perception of school moral atmosphere between schools. The instrument is based upon the constructs defined by the Just Community Approach that focused on students' shared perspective and portrayed ideal types of school moral culture. This study presents reliability estimates of the SMAQ based on a generalizability study. A total of 1280 students from 32 normal secondary schools participated in the study. The design of the study includes the factors: type of school varying in educational level; school; grade level; class; and student. Variance components and reliabilities are estimated for two models. In Model 1 grade level is a fixed effect, in Model 2 grade level is a random effect. The results indicate that moral atmosphere in school can be measured reliably, although in Model 2 a considerable number of observations may be needed. Because score levels for some subscales depend on the school type, reliabilities are higher for the entire population than for populations consisting of one particular school type. It is concluded that students' perception of moral atmosphere in normal secondary schools have a strong individual flavour. Perceived moral atmosphere should not be regarded primarily as a shared perspective among students within a school like a moral school culture, but as an instance of the social competence of the individual student.     

Theory of mind and its relationship with behavioural inhibition in Chilean preschools / Teoría de la mente y su relación con inhibición conductual en pre-escolares chilenos

Abstract

This study’s main objective was to determine whether the five-step theory of mind scale is associated with responses to behavioural inhibition tasks. The data collected for this were the responses to the scale given by 65 Chilean children aged three to five from medium-low socioeconomic levels, and were derived from the changing locations, happy-sad Stroop, day-night and Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) tasks they carried out. Results showed that there was a significant association between the five-step theory of mind scale and behavioural inhibition (r = .28) and behavioural inhibition with the false belief task (r = .31), controlling for age, sex and language. These data support the emergence model as the best model to describe the relationship between theory of mind and behavioural inhibition. Finally, the results are discussed and future lines of study in this subject are put forward.     

Scent-evoked nostalgia

Declarative and non-declarative memories are thought be supported by two distinct memory systems that are often posited not to interact. However, Wagner, Maril, and Schacter (2000a) reported that at the time priming was assessed, greater behavioural and neural priming was associated with lower levels of subsequent recognition memory, demonstrating an interaction between declarative and non-declarative memory. We examined this finding using a similar paradigm, in which participants made the same or different semantic word judgements following a short or long lag and subsequent memory test. We found a similar overall pattern of results, with greater behavioural priming associated with a decrease in recognition and recall performance. However, neither various within-participant nor various between-participant analyses revealed significant correlations between priming and subsequent memory performance. These data suggest that both lag and task have effects on priming and declarative memory performance, but that they are largely independent and occur in parallel.     

Distinct and shared cognitive functions mediate event- and time-based prospective memory impairment in normal ageing

Prospective memory (PM) is the ability to remember to perform an action at a specific point in the future. Regarded as multidimensional, PM involves several cognitive functions that are known to be impaired in normal ageing. In the present study we set out to investigate the cognitive correlates of PM impairment in normal ageing. Manipulating cognitive load, we assessed event- and time-based PM, as well as several cognitive functions, including executive functions, working memory, and retrospective episodic memory, in healthy participants covering the entire adulthood. We found that normal ageing was characterised by PM decline in all conditions and that event-based PM was more sensitive to the effects of ageing than time-based PM. Whatever the conditions, PM was linked to inhibition and processing speed. However, while event-based PM was mainly mediated by binding and retrospective memory processes, time-based PM was mainly related to inhibition. The only distinction between high- and low-load PM cognitive correlates lies in an additional, but marginal, correlation between updating and the high-load PM condition. The association of distinct cognitive functions, as well as shared mechanisms with event- and time-based PM, confirm that each type of PM relies on a different set of processes.     

The Vigilance,Orienting, and Executive Attention Networks in 4-Year-Old Children

The present study examined the development of lower and higher order forms of attention during the preschool years. Lower forms of attention were assessed with tasks that primarily engaged the attention functions of vigilance and orienting. Higher, executive forms of attention were assessed with tasks that involved inhibition and working memory. The findings revealed that performance improved significantly with age on measures of inhibition and orienting. Results are discussed in the context of the development of attentional networks.     

Serial Neuropsychological Assessment and Evidence of Shunt Malfunction in Spina Bifida: A Longitudinal Case Study

Myelomeningocele is often accompanied by hydrocephalus (MMH), making it a potentially unstable neurological condition requiring shunt placement and possible revisions. Serial neuropsychological assessment is an important tool in monitoring children with MMH, as cognitive changes can indicate shunt malfunction and hydrocephalus. We present the case of a girl with MMH who had five neuropsychological assessments (ages 5, 7, 11, 12, and 14). Despite a lack of overt neurological symptoms or report of behavioral decline, testing at age 11 revealed decline in multiple neurobehavioral domains, and imaging at that time showed increased hydrocephalus, requiring shunt revision. Subsequent neuropsychological assessment conducted after a 2-year period of medical stability showed improvement and/or a return to baseline levels in some skill areas (i.e., working memory, verbal memory, visuomotor integration, and sustained attention), yet more lasting impairments in others (i.e., Verbal IQ, processing speed, organization, and response inhibition). These lasting cognitive deficits potentially impact independent completion of complex medical self-care tasks. This pattern of recovery highlights vulnerability of brain systems supporting executive functions in children with hydrocephalus and shunt failure.