scholarly journals Cognitive Reserve Proxies Do Not Differentially Account for Cognitive Performance in Patients with Focal Frontal and Non-Frontal Lesions

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 739-748 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah E. MacPherson ◽  
Michael Allerhand ◽  
Sarah Gharooni ◽  
Daniela Smirni ◽  
Tim Shallice ◽  
...  

AbstractObjective:Cognitive reserve (CR) suggests that premorbid efficacy, aptitude, and flexibility of cognitive processing can aid the brain’s ability to cope with change or damage. Our previous work has shown that age and literacy attainment predict the cognitive performance of frontal patients on frontal-executive tests. However, it remains unknown whether CR also predicts the cognitive performance of non-frontal patients.Method:We investigated the independent effect of a CR proxy, National Adult Reading Test (NART) IQ, as well as age and lesion group (frontal vs. non-frontal) on measures of executive function, intelligence, processing speed, and naming in 166 patients with focal, unilateral frontal lesions; 91 patients with focal, unilateral non-frontal lesions; and 136 healthy controls.Results:Fitting multiple linear regression models for each cognitive measure revealed that NART IQ predicted executive, intelligence, and naming performance. Age also significantly predicted performance on the executive and processing speed tests. Finally, belonging to the frontal group predicted executive and naming performance, while membership of the non-frontal group predicted intelligence.Conclusions:These findings suggest that age, lesion group, and literacy attainment play independent roles in predicting cognitive performance following stroke or brain tumour. However, the relationship between CR and focal brain damage does not differ in the context of frontal and non-frontal lesions.

2017 ◽  
Vol 96 ◽  
pp. 19-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah E. MacPherson ◽  
Colm Healy ◽  
Michael Allerhand ◽  
Barbara Spanò ◽  
Carina Tudor-Sfetea ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 190-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Ihle ◽  
Michel Oris ◽  
Julia Sauter ◽  
Ulrike Rimmele ◽  
Matthias Kliegel

Aims: The present study set out to investigate the relation of psychological stress to cognitive performance and its interplay with key life course markers of cognitive reserve and social capital in a large sample of older adults. Methods: We assessed cognitive performance (verbal abilities and processing speed) and psychological stress in 2,812 older adults. The Participants reported information on education, occupation, leisure activities, family, and close friends. Results: Greater psychological stress was significantly related to lower performance in verbal abilities and processing speed. Moderation analyses suggested that the relations of psychological stress to cognitive performance were reduced in individuals with higher education, a higher cognitive level of the first profession practiced after education, a larger number of midlife leisure activities, a larger number of significant family members, and a larger number of close friends. Conclusion: Cognitive reserve and social capital accrued in early and midlife may reduce the detrimental influences of psychological stress on cognitive functioning in old age.


2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (10) ◽  
pp. 1385-1393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shumita Roy ◽  
Seth Frndak ◽  
Allison S Drake ◽  
Lauren Irwin ◽  
Robert Zivadinov ◽  
...  

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients are impaired in motor and cognitive performance, but the extent to which these deficits are magnified by aging is unknown. In one prior study, differences in cognitive processing speed between MS patients and healthy individuals were of similar magnitude across the lifespan. Here, we have improved on this work by expanding assessment to multiple cognitive domains and motor functioning. Objective: To determine whether the degree of cognitive and motor dysfunction in MS is magnified with increasing age. Methods: In all, 698 MS patients (aged 29–71 years) and 226 healthy controls (HCs; aged 18–72 years) completed neuroperformance tests covering ambulation, upper extremity function, information processing speed, and memory. Results: Linear regression models predicting cognitive and motor function revealed main effects of MS/HC diagnosis, age, and education across all measures. There was also an interaction between age and diagnosis on measures of motor function, but not on cognitive outcomes. Conclusion: The progression of motor decline is amplified by aging in MS. However, the degree of cognitive impairment does not vary across the lifespan. Thus, evidence of accelerated cognitive impairment in older adults with MS may signal the presence of other age-related cognitive pathologies.


2014 ◽  
Vol 94 (6) ◽  
pp. 757-766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth L. Stegemöller ◽  
Jonathan P. Wilson ◽  
Audrey Hazamy ◽  
Mack C. Shelley ◽  
Michael S. Okun ◽  
...  

Background Cognitive impairments in Parkinson disease (PD) manifest as deficits in speed of processing, working memory, and executive function and attention abilities. The gait impairment in PD is well documented to include reduced speed, shortened step lengths, and increased step-to-step variability. However, there is a paucity of research examining the relationship between overground walking and cognitive performance in people with PD. Objective This study sought to examine the relationship between both the mean and variability of gait spatiotemporal parameters and cognitive performance across a broad range of cognitive domains. Design A cross-sectional design was used. Methods Thirty-five participants with no dementia and diagnosed with idiopathic PD completed a battery of 12 cognitive tests that yielded 3 orthogonal factors: processing speed, working memory, and executive function and attention. Participants completed 10 trials of overground walking (single-task walking) and 5 trials of overground walking while counting backward by 3's (dual-task walking). Results All gait measures were impaired by the dual task. Cognitive processing speed correlated with stride length and walking speed. Executive function correlated with step width variability. There were no significant associations with working memory. Regression models relating speed of processing to gait spatiotemporal variables revealed that including dual-task costs in the model significantly improved the fit of the model. Limitations Participants with PD were tested only in the on-medication state. Conclusions Different characteristics of gait are related to distinct types of cognitive processing, which may be differentially affected by dual-task walking due to the pathology of PD.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald A Cohen

Background/Objectives: Severe obesity is associated with cognitive deficits in adults without current or past neurological brain disturbances. This study examined the relationship between specific metabolic and vascular risk factors and cognitive performance on a computerized neurocognitive assessment battery in adults with BMI > 35. Subjects/Methods: 123 adults with Class II or III obesity, ages 20-75, were enrolled in a study of the cognitive and brain effects of reduced BMI and improved diabetes mellitus (DM) following bariatric surgery. Baseline clinical/cognitive assessments were conducted with the NIH Toolbox (NIH-TB) cognitive module prior to surgery, and in severely obese controls recruited from the community. Global, Fluid and Crystallized indices were derived from performance across nine tasks. Hierarchical regression analyses examined six obesity-associated clinical factors (BMI, HbA1c, and DM, hypertension, sleep apnea, and osteoarthritis diagnoses) relative to NIH-TB performance. Results: Fluid Cognition deficits were observed, greatest on attention-executive and cognitive processing speed tasks (Flanker and Pattern Comparison). DM diagnosis was most strongly associated with weaker cognitive performance (Global and Fluid Cognition), and with poorer performance on the Flanker, Pattern Comparison, Picture Sequencing, Verbal Learning, and Symbol Coding tasks. Elevated HbA1c was associated with weaker Card Sorting and Symbol Coding performance, hypertension with poorer Fluid Cognition, and osteoarthritis with lower List Sorting performance. Elevated BMI was only associated with Flanker performance, though DM was more strongly associated with this measure. Conclusion: Deficits of fluid cognitive functions (attention-executive, processing speed) exist among adults with Class II and III obesity. DM was most consistently associated with weaker NIH-TB performance. BMI was not as strongly associated with NIH-TB performance, perhaps reflecting the elevated BMI of the entire sample. That cognitive deficits were linked to specific obesity-associated comorbidities support the validity and potential clinical utility of the NIH-TB for the assessment and management of adults with severe obesity.


Author(s):  
Kristīne Šneidere ◽  
Sonia Montemurro ◽  
Sara Mondini ◽  
Jelena Harlamova ◽  
Zane Ulmane ◽  
...  

In the next 30 years, a significant increase of the population aged over 65 is expected (WHO, 2015). Ageing can often be associated with cognitive decline; however, recent research indicates that symptoms of age-related cognitive impairment are modulated by Cognitive Reserve (CR), which derives from level of education, working activity, and social activity (Tucker & Stern, 2011). The role of CR in neurodegenerative disease has been extensively researched, but little is known about its contribution to normal ageing. Fifty-four healthy Latvian seniors were recruited for the study. We assessed simple and complex reaction times, associative memory, memory retrieval, attention, working memory. Furthermore, we quantified their CR. We analysed the relationship between CR and reaction times with two separate logistic regressions. Then, four linear regression models were built to analyse the relationship between CR and the scores on the cognitive tasks. CR was not related to the cognitive performance of healthy Latvian seniors. Such results indicate that CR resources may be mostly required when high-demanding tasks have to be performed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 91 (6) ◽  
pp. 532-534
Author(s):  
Nicola Mammarella

INTRODUCTION: In recent decades, there has been investigation into the effects of microgravity and microgravity-like environments on cognition and emotion separately. Here we highlight the need of focusing on emotion-cognition interactions as a framework for explaining cognitive performance in space. In particular, by referring to the affective cognition hypothesis, the significant interplay between emotional variables and cognitive processing in space is briefly analyzed. Altogether, this approach shows an interesting pattern of data pointing to a dynamic relation that may be sensitive to microgravity. The importance of examining interactions between emotion and cognition for space performance remains fundamental (e.g., stress-related disorders) and deserves further attention. This approach is ultimately interesting considering the potential effects that microgravity may play on human performance during long-term space missions and on return to Earth.Mammarella N. Towards the affective cognition approach to human performance in space. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2020; 91(6):532–534.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 285-285
Author(s):  
Monica Nelson ◽  
Ross Andel ◽  
Julie Martinkova ◽  
Kateřina Čechová ◽  
Hana Marková ◽  
...  

Abstract Dementia is arguably the most devastating condition of older adulthood with treatment options still elusive. Alzheimer’s is the most prevalent form of dementia where cognitive deficits relate strongly to underlying brain pathology. However, there exist cases in which cognitive performance does not match the corresponding level of neuropathology. Attempts to explain this phenomenon often include the concept of cognitive reserve (CR), whereby greater CR (e.g., more education or higher occupational position) presumably results in less impairment relative to the extent of pathology early in disease progression but also greater impairment once cognitive symptoms manifest. We examined the influence of CR proxy variables (education and occupation) on the relationship between hippocampal volume and cognitive performance on tests of executive control and memory using data from the Czech Brain Aging Study (CBAS). Participants were cognitively normal/with subjective cognitive decline but without actual impairment (CN; n=115; M(age)=66.43; M(education)=15.90; 37 men) or had amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI; n=165; M(age)=71.37; M(education)=14.92; 85 men). We found that hippocampal volume was significantly related to executive control (b=-.0001, p=.03) and memory (b=.0002, p<.001) for participants with aMCI, but only memory (b=.0002, p=.03) for CN participants. Occupational position moderated the association between memory and hippocampal volume in aMCI, with the result approaching significance (p=.07), whereby a greater link between memory problems and hippocampal atrophy was present in those previously in high occupational positions. No other moderations for occupational position or education emerged (ps>.25). We found evidence for the concept of CR using occupational position as proxy.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Kimberly H. Wood ◽  
Adeel A. Memon ◽  
Raima A. Memon ◽  
Allen Joop ◽  
Jennifer Pilkington ◽  
...  

Background: Cognitive and sleep dysfunction are common non-motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Objective: Determine the relationship between slow wave sleep (SWS) and cognitive performance in PD. Methods: Thirty-two PD participants were evaluated with polysomnography and a comprehensive level II neurocognitive battery, as defined by the Movement Disorders Society Task Force for diagnosis of PD-mild cognitive impairment. Raw scores for each test were transformed into z-scores using normative data. Z-scores were averaged to obtain domain scores, and domain scores were averaged to determine the Composite Cognitive Score (CCS), the primary outcome. Participants were grouped by percent of SWS into High SWS and Low SWS groups and compared on CCS and other outcomes using 2-sided t-tests or Mann-Whitney U. Correlations of cognitive outcomes with sleep architecture and EEG spectral power were performed. Results: Participants in the High SWS group demonstrated better global cognitive function (CCS) (p = 0.01, effect size: r = 0.45). In exploratory analyses, the High SWS group showed better performance in domains of executive function (effect size: Cohen’s d = 1.05), language (d = 0.95), and processing speed (d = 1.12). Percentage of SWS was correlated with global cognition and executive function, language, and processing speed. Frontal EEG delta power during N3 was correlated with the CCS and executive function. Cognition was not correlated with subjective sleep quality. Conclusion: Increased SWS and higher delta spectral power are associated with better cognitive performance in PD. This demonstrates the significant relationship between sleep and cognitive function and suggests that interventions to improve sleep might improve cognition in individuals with PD.


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