The Trail Making Test

The Trail Making Test (TMT) is used as an indicator of visual scanning, graphomotor speed, and executive function. The aim of this study was to examine the TMT relationships with several neuropsychological measures and to provide normative data in community-dwelling participants of 55 years and older. A population-based Spanish-speaking sample of 2,564 participants was used. The TMT, Symbol Digit Test, Stroop Color–Word Test, Digit Span Test, Verbal Fluency tests, and the MacQuarrie Test for Mechanical Ability tapping subtest were administered. Exploratory factor analyses and regression lineal models were used. Normative data for the TMT scores were obtained. A total of 1,923 participants (76.3%) participated, 52.4% were women, and the mean age was 66.5 years (Digit Span = 8.0). The Symbol Digit Test, MacQuarrie Test for Mechanical Ability tapping subtest, Stroop Color–Word Test, and Digit Span Test scores were associated in the performance of most TMT scores, but the contribution of each measure was different depending on the TMT score. Normative tables according to significant factors such as age, education level, and sex were created. Measures of visual scanning, graphomotor speed, and visuomotor processing speed were more related to the performance of the TMT-A score, while working memory and inhibition control were mainly associated with the TMT-B and derived TMT scores.

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Alteração na atenção e o tratamento da dor do câncer

Revista da Escola de Enfermagem da USP ◽

10.1590/s0080-62342008000100019 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 42 (1) ◽

pp. 143-151 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Geana Paula Kurita ◽

Cibele Andrucioli de Mattos Pimenta ◽

José Oswaldo de Oliveira Júnior ◽

Ricardo Caponeiro

Keyword(s):

Digit Span ◽

Trail Making Test ◽

Digit Span Test ◽

Span Test ◽

Trail Making

Os danos à vida diária que a alteração cognitiva pode provocar motivaram a elaboração deste estudo, cujo objetivo foi analisar o impacto do tratamento da dor com opióides sobre a atenção. Os doentes foram divididos em grupos que recebiam (n=14) e não recebiam opióides (n=12). Foram feitas três entrevistas, utilizando-se o Trail Making Test e o Digit Span Test, que avaliam a atenção. Os grupos foram homogêneos nas variáveis sociodemográficas, dor e depressão; não foram homogêneos no índice de Karnofsky e no recebimento de analgésicos adjuvantes. Os doentes sem opióides tiveram melhor desempenho no Digit Span Test - ordem inversa, na segunda avaliação (p=0,29) e não foram observadas diferenças no Trail Making Test. As alterações observadas foram limitadas, mas, enquanto novos estudos não confirmem os achados, doentes, profissionais e cuidadores devem ser alertados dos possíveis efeitos deletérios dos opióides sobre a função cognitiva.

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Free-Weight Resistance Exercise Is More Effective in Enhancing Inhibitory Control than Machine-Based Training: A Randomized, Controlled Trial

Brain Sciences ◽

10.3390/brainsci10100702 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (10) ◽

pp. 702 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jan Wilke ◽

Vanessa Stricker ◽

Susanne Usedly

Keyword(s):

Digit Span ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Stroop Test ◽

Trail Making Test ◽

Word Condition ◽

Randomized Controlled ◽

Digit Span Test ◽

Span Test ◽

Free Weight ◽

Trail Making

Resistance exercise has been demonstrated to improve brain function. However, the optimal workout characteristics are a matter of debate. This randomized, controlled trial aimed to elucidate differences between free-weight (REfree) and machine-based (REmach) training with regard to their ability to acutely enhance cognitive performance (CP). A total of n = 46 healthy individuals (27 ± 4 years, 26 men) performed a 45-min bout of REfree (military press, barbell squat, bench press) or REmach (shoulder press, leg press, chest press). Pre- and post-intervention, CP was examined using the Stroop test, Trail Making Test and Digit Span test. Mann–Whitney U tests did not reveal between-group differences for performance in the Digit Span test, Trail Making test and the color and word conditions of the Stroop test (p > 0.05). However, REfree was superior to REmach in the Stroop color-word condition (+6.3%, p = 0.02, R = 0.35). Additionally, REfree elicited pre-post changes in all parameters except for the Digit Span test and the word condition of the Stroop test while REmach only improved cognitive performance in part A of the Trail Making test. Using free weights seems to be the more effective RE method to acutely improve cognitive function (i.e., inhibitory control). The mechanisms of this finding merit further investigation.

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Regression-Based Normative Data for Independent and Cognitively Active Spanish Older Adults: Digit Span, Letters and Numbers, Trail Making Test and Symbol Digit Modalities Test

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18199958 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (19) ◽

pp. 9958

Author(s):

Clara Iñesta ◽

Javier Oltra-Cucarella ◽

Beatriz Bonete-López ◽

Eva Calderón-Rubio ◽

Esther Sitges-Maciá

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

General Population ◽

Neuropsychological Assessment ◽

Normative Data ◽

Digit Span ◽

Base Rate ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Trail Making Test ◽

Active Population ◽

Trail Making

In this work, we developed normative data for the neuropsychological assessment of independent and cognitively active Spanish older adults over 55 years of age. Method: Regression-based normative data were calculated from a sample of 103 non-depressed independent community-dwelling adults aged 55 or older (67% women). Raw data for Digit Span (DS), Letters and Numbers (LN), the Trail Making Test (TMT), and the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) were regressed on age, sex, and education. The model predicting TMT-B scores also included TMT-A scores. Z-scores for the discrepancy between observed and predicted scores were used to identify low scores. The base rate of low scores for SABIEX normative data was compared to the base rate of low scores using published normative data obtained from the general population. Results: The effects of age, sex, and education varied across neuropsychological measures. Although the proportion of low scores was similar between normative datasets, there was no agreement in the identification of cognitively impaired individuals. Conclusions: Normative data obtained from the general population might not be sensitive to identify low scores in cognitively active older adults, incorrectly classifying them as cognitively normal compared to the less-active population. We provide a friendly calculator for use in neuropsychological assessment in cognitively active Spanish people aged 55 or older.

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Structural and functional changes related to memory deficit in non-demential elderly individuals

Medicina (Ribeirao Preto Online) ◽

10.11606/issn.2176-7262.v49i6p533-548 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 49 (6) ◽

pp. 533

Author(s):

Nísea De A. Corrêa ◽

Maria P. Foss ◽

Paula R. B. Diniz

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Web Of Science ◽

Digit Span ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Memory Deficit ◽

Trail Making Test ◽

Elderly Individuals ◽

Functional Changes ◽

Wechsler Memory Scale ◽

Trail Making

Objetivo: Verificar as alterações estruturais e funcionais, evidenciadas através da imagem por ressonância magnética, relacionadas aos déficits de memória identificados em idosos normais, quando comparados a adultos jovens. Metodologia: Procedeu-se à revisão sistemática, cujo protocolo obedeceu ao fluxograma do Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA). Foram investigadas as bases de dados PubMed, Scopus, EBSCO, utilizando o gerenciador de referências JabRef, na versão 2.10, e o Web of Science, pelo website. Foram incluídos artigos de estudos quase experimentais, transversais, em coorte ou tipo caso-controle, publicados entre 2005 e 2014, em periódicos indexados nacionais e internacionais, cuja amostra incluísse idosos a partir de 60 anos, não dementes, submetidos à investigação de alterações estruturais e funcionais do sistema nervoso central, por ressonância magnética e sua associação com déficits de memória avaliados por testes neuropsicológicos. Resultados: Quanto à técnica de imagem empregada, identificaram-se dois estudos com imagem por ressonância magnética estrutural, seis estudos com utilização de imagem por ressonância magnética funcional, e quatro estudos que empregaram ambas as técnicas. Nos 12 estudos foi identificado o emprego de 38 testes neuropsicológicos distintos, com uma média de cinco testes por estudo, com variação de um a 12 testes. Dentre os testes mais usados, estiveram o WAIS Digit Span Backwards (em sete estudos), o Trail Making Test A and B (em quatro estudos) e o Wechsler Memory Scale (em quatro estudos). Conclusão: Os estudos demonstraram que no envelhecimento normal, ocorre redução do volume de substância branca para-hipocampal, do volume do hipocampo e do córtex entorrinal com redução de memória verbal, possivelmente por desmielinização das fibras; redução das vias que ligam o lobo temporal e frontal, contribuindo para a redução da memória episódica, da memória de trabalho e da fluência verbal; redução da supressão de informações irrelevantes, o que contribui para menor registro de informação; alterações das áreas frontal e parietal que comprometem a memória de reconhecimento; modificações na atividade e na conectividade do default mode network; reorganização das funções cognitivas, bem como alentecimento de resposta por provável redução de ativação do córtex pré- frontal

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A developmental viewpoint concerning the Stroop color‐word test and verbal interference

Speech Monographs ◽

10.1080/03637756909375616 ◽

1969 ◽

Vol 36 (2) ◽

pp. 114-117

Author(s):

Larry Wilder

Keyword(s):

Color Word ◽

Word Test ◽

Stroop Color Word Test

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VIDEO GAMES AND THE ELDERLY

Social Behavior and Personality An International Journal ◽

10.2224/sbp.1997.25.4.345 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 25 (4) ◽

pp. 345-352 ◽

Cited By ~ 101

Author(s):

Jeffrey Goldstein ◽

Lara Cajko ◽

Mark Oosterbroek ◽

Moniek Michielsen ◽

Oscar Van Houten ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Reaction Time ◽

Video Games ◽

Color Word ◽

Reaction Time Task ◽

Well Being ◽

The Elderly ◽

Self Report ◽

Control Group ◽

Word Test ◽

Stroop Color Word Test

This study examined the effects of playing video games (Super Tetris) on the reaction time, cognitive/perceptual adaptability, and emotional well-being of 22 noninstitutionalized elderly people aged 69 to 90. Volunteers in an elderly community in the Netherlands were randomly assigned to a videogameplaying experimental group or a nonplaying control group. The televisions of the 10 videogame players were provided with Nintendo SuperNes systems. Participants played Super Tetris 5 hours a week for 5 weeks, and maintained a log of their play. Before and after this play period, measures of reaction time (Sternberg Test; Steinberg, 1969), cognitive/perceptual adaptability (Stroop Color Word Test; Stroop, 1935), and emotional well-being (self-report questionnaire) were administered. Playing video games was related to a significant improvement in the Sternberg reaction time task, and to a relative increase in selfreported well-being. On the Stroop Color Word Test, both the experimental and control groups improved significantly, but the difference between groups was not statistically significant. The videogame-playing group had faster reaction times and felt a more positive sense of well-being compared to their nonplaying counterparts. Consistent with previous research on video games and the elderly, the present study finds the strongest effects on measures of reaction time, and the weakest effects on cognitive performance measures. Explanations and alternative interpretations of these findings are discussed.

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Detecting the significance of changes in performance on the Stroop Color-Word Test, Rey's Verbal Learning Test, and the Letter Digit Substitution Test: The regression-based change approach

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society ◽

10.1017/s1355617708080028 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 71-80 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

WIM VAN DER ELST ◽

MARTIN P.J. VAN BOXTEL ◽

GERARD J.P. VAN BREUKELEN ◽

JELLE JOLLES

Keyword(s):

Test Performance ◽

Cognitive Abilities ◽

Color Word ◽

Verbal Learning ◽

Change Score ◽

Total Recall ◽

Word Test ◽

Age Related ◽

Stroop Color Word Test ◽

Learning Test

Serial neuropsychological assessment is often conducted to monitor changes in the cognitive abilities of individuals over time. Because practice effects occur and the reliability of test scores is less than perfect, it is difficult to judge whether varying test results should be attributed to chance trends or to real changes in underlying cognitive abilities. In a large sample of adults (age range, 49–81 years), we evaluated the influence of age, gender, and education on test–retest changes in performance after 3 years on Rey's Verbal Learning Test (VLT), the Stroop Color-Word Test (SCWT), and the Letter Digit Substitution Test (LDST). A new statistical method was applied to assess the significance of changes in test performance (i.e., the regression-based change method). The results showed that test–retest changes differed as a function of age for the VLT Total recall 1–3, VLT Total recall 1–5, VLT Delayed recall, and LDST measures. An age × gender interaction was found for the SCWT Interference change score, suggesting that the age-related decline in executive functioning after 3 years was more pronounced for males than for females. A normative change table with appropriate corrections for the relevant independent variables was established. (JINS, 2008,14, 71–80.)

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