scholarly journals Striking differences in performance patterns and neuropsychological correlates within semantic and phonemic fluency tasks

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petar Gabrić ◽  
Mija Vandek
Keyword(s):  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Response Latencies ◽  
Semantic Categories ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
Phonemic Fluency ◽  
Performance Patterns ◽  
Meta Analyses

Despite both theoretical and empirical linguistics suggesting otherwise, researchers using semantic and phonemic fluency tasks have uncritically assumed that there are no category- or phoneme/letter-specific effects on verbal fluency performance. We recruited 16 young adult subjects and administered two semantic (animals, trees) and two phonemic (K, M) fluency tasks. Executive functions were assessed using the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). On the animal compared to the tree task, subjects produced significantly more legal words, had a significantly lower intrusion rate, significantly shorter first-response latencies and final silence periods, as well as significantly shorter between-cluster response latencies. These differences can at least partly be explained by differences in the category sizes, integrity of the categories’ borders, and efficiency of the functional connectivity between subcategories. Switching on the animal but clustering on the tree task were moderately and strongly, respectively, correlated with the WCST. On the K compared to the M task, subjects produced significantly more legal words and had significantly shorter between-cluster response times. Counterintuitively, a corpus analysis revealed there are more words starting with the ⟨m⟩ compared to ⟨k⟩ in the experimental language. Performances on the K and M tasks were very limitedly associated with the WCST. Our results have important implications for research utilizing verbal fluency, indicating that researchers should pay close attention to the types of semantic categories and phonemes/letters within neuropsychological assessments, as well as in the context of reviews and meta-analyses. In order to accomplish this adequately, further research on the specificities of different verbal fluency tasks is direly needed.

scholarly journals Performance on verbal fluency tasks depends on the given category/letter: Preliminary data from a multivariable analysis

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petar Gabrić ◽  
Mija Vandek
Keyword(s):  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Small Sample Size ◽  
Multivariable Analysis ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
Response Latencies ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
First Response ◽  
The Given

Verbal fluency tasks are often used in neuropsychological research and may have predictive and diagnostic utility in psychiatry and neurology. However, researchers using verbal fluency have uncritically assumed that there are no category- or phoneme-specific effects on verbal fluency performance. We recruited 16 young adult subjects and administered two semantic (animals, trees) and phonemic (K, M) fluency tasks. Because of the small sample size, results should be regarded as preliminary. On the animal compared to the tree task, subjects produced significantly more legal words, had a significantly lower intrusion rate, significantly shorter first-response latencies and final silence periods, as well as significantly shorter between-cluster response latencies. These differences may be explained by differences in the category sizes, integrity of the categories' borders, and efficiency of the functional connectivity between subcategories. On the K compared to the M task, subjects produced significantly more legal words and had significantly shorter between-cluster response times. Counterintuitively, a corpus analysis revealed there are more words starting with m compared to k in the experimental language. Our results have important implications for research utilizing verbal fluency, including decreased reproducibility, unreliability of diagnostic and predictive tools based on verbal fluency, and decreased knowledge accumulation.

scholarly journals The relationship between executive functions and fluid intelligence in Parkinson's disease

2012 ◽  
Vol 42 (11) ◽  
pp. 2445-2452 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Roca ◽  
F. Manes ◽  
A. Chade ◽  
E. Gleichgerrcht ◽  
O. Gershanik ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Group Performance ◽  
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Sorting Test ◽  
And Control

BackgroundWe recently demonstrated that decline in fluid intelligence is a substantial contributor to frontal deficits. For some classical ‘executive’ tasks, such as the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and Verbal Fluency, frontal deficits were entirely explained by fluid intelligence. However, on a second set of frontal tasks, deficits remained even after statistically controlling for this factor. These tasks included tests of theory of mind and multitasking. As frontal dysfunction is the most frequent cognitive deficit observed in early Parkinson's disease (PD), the present study aimed to determine the role of fluid intelligence in such deficits.MethodWe assessed patients with PD (n=32) and control subjects (n=22) with the aforementioned frontal tests and with a test of fluid intelligence. Group performance was compared and fluid intelligence was introduced as a covariate to determine its role in frontal deficits shown by PD patients.ResultsIn line with our previous results, scores on the WCST and Verbal Fluency were closely linked to fluid intelligence. Significant patient–control differences were eliminated or at least substantially reduced once fluid intelligence was introduced as a covariate. However, for tasks of theory of mind and multitasking, deficits remained even after fluid intelligence was statistically controlled.ConclusionsThe present results suggest that clinical assessment of neuropsychological deficits in PD should include tests of fluid intelligence, together with one or more specific tasks that allow for the assessment of residual frontal deficits associated with theory of mind and multitasking.

scholarly journals The most frequently used tests for assessing executive functions in aging

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camila de Assis Faria ◽  
Heloisa Veiga Dias Alves ◽  
Helenice Charchat-Fichman
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Neuropsychological Tests ◽  
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Educational Levels ◽  
Clock Drawing Test ◽  
Pubmed Database

There are numerous neuropsychological tests for assessing executive functions in aging, which vary according to the different domains assessed. OBJECTIVE: To present a systematic review of the most frequently used instruments for assessing executive functions in older adults with different educational levels in clinical and experimental research. METHODS: We searched for articles published in the last five years, using the PubMed database with the following terms: "neuropsychological tests", "executive functions", and "mild cognitive impairment". There was no language restriction. RESULTS: 25 articles fulfilled all the inclusion criteria. The seven neuropsychological tests most frequently used to evaluate executive functions in aging were: [1] Trail Making Test (TMT) Form B; [2] Verbal Fluency Test (VFT) - F, A and S; [3] VFT Animals category; [4] Clock Drawing Test (CDT); [5] Digits Forward and Backward subtests (WAIS-R or WAIS-III); [6] Stroop Test; and [7] Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and its variants. The domains of executive functions most frequently assessed were: mental flexibility, verbal fluency, planning, working memory, and inhibitory control. CONCLUSION: The study identified the tests and domains of executive functions most frequently used in the last five years by research groups worldwide to evaluate older adults. These results can direct future research and help build evaluation protocols for assessing executive functions, taking into account the different educational levels and socio-demographic profiles of older adults in Brazil.

scholarly journals Schizophrenia in males of cognitive performance: discriminative and diagnostic values

2002 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 743-748 ◽  
Author(s):  
Analuiza Camozzato ◽  
Márcia L F Chaves
Keyword(s):  
Sensitivity And Specificity ◽  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Neuropsychological Tests ◽  
Latent Class ◽  
Latent Class Model ◽  
Diagnostic Value ◽  
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Diagnostic Values

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the discriminative and diagnostic values of neuropsychological tests for identifying schizophrenia patients. METHODS: A cross-sectional study with 36 male schizophrenia outpatients and 72 healthy matched volunteers was carried out. Participants underwent the following neuropsychological tests: Wisconsin Card Sorting test, Verbal Fluency, Stroop test, Mini Mental State Examination, and Spatial Recognition Span. Sensitivity and specificity estimated the diagnostic value of tests with cutoffs obtained using Receiver Operating Characteristic curves. The latent class model (diagnosis of schizophrenia) was used as gold standard. RESULTS: Although patients presented lower scores in most tests, the highest canonical function for the discriminant analysis was 0.57 (Verbal Fluency M). The best sensitivity and specificity were obtained in the Verbal Fluency M test (75 and 65, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The neuropsychological tests showed moderate diagnostic value for the identification of schizophrenia patients. These findings suggested that the cognitive impairment measured by these tests might not be homogeneous among schizophrenia patients.

Do pathological gambling and obsessive-compulsive disorder overlap? a neurocognitive perspective

CNS Spectrums ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 207-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ji-Won Hur ◽  
Na young Shin ◽  
Sung Nyun Kim ◽  
Joon Hwan Jang ◽  
Jung-Seok Choi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pathological Gambling ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Spatial Organization ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Verbal Learning ◽  
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Visual Spatial

ObjectivePathological gambling (PG) is a severe and persistent pattern of problem gambling that has been aligned with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, no study has compared the neurocognitive profiles of individuals with PG and OCD.MethodsWe compared neurocognitive functioning, including executive function, verbal learning and memory, and visual–spatial organization and memory among 16 pathological gamblers, 31 drug-naïve OCD subjects, and 52 healthy controls.ResultsThe only neurocognitive marker common to both groups was increased fragmentation errors on the Rey–Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (ROCF). The PG subjects showed increased nonperseverative error on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and organization difficulties in the ROCF, whereas the OCD subjects revealed longer response times on the Stroop test and retention difficulties on the immediate recall scale of the ROCF.ConclusionsA more careful approach is required in considering whether PG is a part of the OCD spectrum, as little evidence of neurocognitive overlap between PG and OCD has been reported.

Executive Function Deficits in Patients after Cerebellar Neurosurgery

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Mak ◽  
Ernest Tyburski ◽  
Łukasz Madany ◽  
Andrzej Sokołowski ◽  
Agnieszka Samochowiec
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Regulatory Processes ◽  
Perseverative Errors

AbstractThe cerebellum has long been perceived as a structure responsible for the human motor function. According to the contemporary approach, however, it plays a significant role in complex behavior regulatory processes. The aim of this study was to describe executive functions in patients after cerebellar surgery. The study involved 30 patients with cerebellar pathology. The control group comprised 30 neurologically and mentally healthy individuals, matched for sex, age, and number of years of education. Executive functions were measured by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Stroop Color Word Test (SCWT), Trail Making Test (TMT), and working memory by the Digit Span. Compared to healthy controls, patients made more Errors and Perseverative errors in the WCST, gave more Perseverative responses, and had a lower Number of categories completed. The patients exhibited higher response times in all three parts of the SCWT and TMT A and B. No significant differences between the two groups were reported in their performance of the SCWT and TMT with regard to the measures of absolute or relative interference. The patients had lower score on the backward Digit Span. Patients with cerebellar pathology may exhibit some impairment within problem solving and working memory. Their worse performance on the SCWT and TMT could, in turn, stem from their poor motor–somatosensory control, and not necessarily executive deficits. Our results thus support the hypothesis of the cerebellum’s mediating role in the regulation of the activity of the superordinate cognitive control network in the brain. (JINS, 2016, 22, 47–57)

Performance on the Tower of London test after severe head injury

1995 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
pp. 537-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Cockburn
Keyword(s):  
Head Injury ◽  
Frontal Lobe ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ◽  
Large Individual ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Traumatic Head Injury ◽  
Tower Of London ◽  
Control Subjects

AbstractEfficient solution of the Tower of London (T of L) test (Shallice, 1982) has been hypothesized to depend on frontal lobe mediation. Performance on the test by 20 patients with severe, diffuse, traumatic head injury was compared with that of control subjects, matched on age and years of education, and, within the patient group, according to broad location of damage (frontal or nonfrontal). Scores were also compared with those obtained on two commonly used tests of frontal lobe function, Verbal Fluency, and the Wisconsin Card Sorting test (WCST). Results indicated that whereas the Verbal Fluency test and WCST discriminated well between patients and control subjects, the T of L test did not, nor did it discriminate well between patients with and without documented frontal lobe damage. However, there were large individual differences in planning and solution times across all subjects. Interpretation of results was complicated by interaction of other variables such as premorbid IQ and duration of posttraumatic amnesia. It is suggested that closer attention to the relation between planning and total times separately for correct and incorrect solutions might be informative. A need for systematic study of the relationship between test performance and everyday behavior is also identified. (JINS, 1995, 7, 537–544.)

Mild Cognitive Impairment in Parkinson’s Disease: Clustering and Switching Analyses in Verbal Fluency Test

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 511-520 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iván Galtier ◽  
Antonieta Nieto ◽  
Jesús N. Lorenzo ◽  
José Barroso
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Executive Dysfunction ◽  
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ◽  
Semantic Fluency ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Test Analysis

AbstractObjectives: Mild cognitive impairment is common in non-demented Parkinson disease patients (PD-MCI) and is considered as a risk factor for dementia. Executive dysfunction has been widely described in PD and the Verbal Fluency Tests (VFT) are often used for executive function assessment in this pathology. The Movement Disorder Society (MDS) published guidelines for PD-MCI diagnosis in 2012. However, no investigation has focused on the qualitative analysis of VFT in PD-MCI. The aim of this work was to study the clustering and switching strategies in VFT in PD-MCI patients. Moreover, these variables are considered as predictors for PD-MCI diagnosis. Methods: Forty-three PD patients and twenty normal controls were evaluated with a neuropsychological protocol and the MDS criteria for PD-MCI were applied. Clustering and switching analysis were conducted for VFT. Results: The percentage of patients diagnosed with PD-MCI was 37.2%. The Mann-Whitney U test analysis showed that PD-MCI performed poorly in different cognitive measures (digit span, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, judgment of line orientation, and comprehension test), compared to PD patients without mild cognitive impairment (PD-nMCI). Phonemic fluency analyses showed that PD-MCI patients produced fewer words and switched significantly less, compared to controls and PD-nMCI. Concerning semantic fluency, the PD-MCI group differed significantly, compared to controls and PD-nMCI, in switches. Discriminant function analyses and logistic regression analyses revealed that switches predicted PD-MCI. Conclusions: PD-MCI patients showed poor performance in VFT related to the deficient use of production strategies. The number of switches is a useful predictor for incident PD-MCI. (JINS, 2017, 23, 511–520)

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