scholarly journals A community-based case–control study of prevalence and pattern of cognitive impairments in patients with epilepsy residing in South-Eastern Nigeria

2016 ◽  
Vol 07 (03) ◽  
pp. 405-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene O. Arinzechi ◽  
Olubunmi A. Ogunrin ◽  
Cosmas M. Nwosu ◽  
Paul O. Nwani ◽  
Kelechi O. Enwereji ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Prevalence Rate ◽  
Cognitive Impairments ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Cognitive Test ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Community Screening ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Patients With Epilepsy

ABSTRACT Background: Epilepsy is the commonest neurological disorder encountered in Sub-Saharan Africa. The quality of life of patients with epilepsy (PWEs) is adversely affected by cognitive impairments. Aim: This study investigated the prevalence and pattern of cognitive impairments in PWE in Ukpo community located in a South-Eastern state in Nigeria using Community Screening Interview for Dementia (CSID) and a computer-assisted cognitive test battery (FePsy). Methods and Patients: Fifty-one PWEs were studied and compared with 51 age-, sex-and level of education-matched healthy controls. Diagnosis of epilepsy was confirmed clinically with eye-witness corroboration. Sociodemographic data and information on epilepsy variables were obtained with the aid of a questionnaire. Cognitive domains assessed include language, memory, orientation, attention, psychomotor speed and constructional praxis. Results: The prevalence rate of cognitive impairment using total CSID score was 19.6%. Analysis of CSID scores revealed significant impairment in language (17.6%), memory (29.4%), orientation (15.7%), attention (7.8%) and constructional praxis (15.7%) compared to healthy controls. A similar pattern was observed with FePsy but with better sensitivity indices for detecting cognitive impairment. Conclusion: This study indicated significant prevalence rate of cognitive impairment among treatment-naïve PWE with profound affectation of memory, mental speed and language. In addition, the FePsy was found to be more sensitive and specific in assessment of cognitive function in PWE.

scholarly journals Walking to Music and Metronome at Various Tempi in Persons With Multiple Sclerosis: A Basis for Rehabilitation

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 464-475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lousin Moumdjian ◽  
Bart Moens ◽  
Pieter-Jan Maes ◽  
Johan Van Nieuwenhoven ◽  
Bart Van Wijmeersch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Cognitive Impairments ◽  
Auditory Stimuli ◽  
Experimental Session ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Functional Training ◽  
Training Strategy ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Auditory Cueing

Background. Mobility dysfunctions are prevalent in persons with multiple sclerosis (PwMS), thus novel rehabilitation mechanisms are needed toward functional training. The effect of auditory cueing is well-known in Parkinson’s disease, yet the application of different types of auditory stimuli at different tempi has not been investigated yet. Objectives. Investigating if PwMS, compared with healthy controls (HC), can synchronize their gait to music and metronomes at different tempi during walking and the effects of the stimuli on perceived fatigue and gait. Additionally, exploring if cognitive impairment would be a factor on the results. Methods. The experimental session consisted of 2 blocks, music and metronomes. Per block, participants walked 3 minutes per tempi, with instructions to synchronize their steps to the beat. The tempi were 0%, +2%, +4% +6%, +8%, +10% of preferred walking cadence (PWC). Results. A total of 28 PwMS and 29 HC participated. On average, participants were able to synchronize at all tempi to music and metronome. Higher synchronization was obtained for metronomes compared with music. The highest synchronization for music was found between +2% and +8% of PWC yet pwMS perceived less physical and cognitive fatigue walking to music compared with metronomes. Cognitive impaired PwMS (n = 9) were not able to synchronize at tempi higher than +6%. Conclusion. Auditory-motor coupling and synchronization was feasible in HC and PwMS with motor and cognitive impairments. PwMS walked at higher tempi than their preferred walking cadence, and lower fatigue perception with music. Coupling walking to music could be a promising functional walking training strategy.

Determinants of the Higher Prevalence and Severity of Subjective Cognitive Impairment in Cancer Patients Compared to Healthy Subjects: Fatigue and Stress

2020 ◽  
pp. 105477382095747
Author(s):  
Hee-Ju Kim ◽  
Ivo Abraham
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Sleep Disturbance ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Prevalence Rate ◽  
Healthy Subjects ◽  
Major Determinant ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Subjective Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Fatigue Stress

This study examined whether (a) cancer patients in two cohorts reported greater subjective cognitive impairment (SCI) in prevalence and severity than noncancer healthy controls; and (b) selected psychoneurological factors (fatigue, stress, and sleep disturbance) contribute to such differences. Data from 60 prechemotherapy cancer patients, 81 active-chemotherapy cancer patients, and 116 noncancer healthy controls were analyzed using hierarchical regressions. The prevalence rate of SCI was higher in the prechemotherapy cancer cohort (41.6%) and in the active-chemotherapy cancer cohort (46.9%) than in healthy controls (21.5%; p < .001). SCI severity was also higher in two cancer cohorts than noncancer controls ( p < .001). The two cancer cohorts were similar to each other in severity and prevalence of SCI. The two cancer cohorts experienced higher fatigue, stress, and sleep disturbance than healthy controls. After controlling for psychoneurological factors, however, the two cancer cohorts did not differ from healthy controls in experiencing SCI in prevalence and severity. Psychoneurological factors may be a major determinant of the higher prevalence and severity of SCI in cancer patients.

scholarly journals Dual-task tests discriminate between dementia, mild cognitive impairment, subjective cognitive impairment, and healthy controls – a cross-sectional cohort study

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanna B. Åhman ◽  
Ylva Cedervall ◽  
Lena Kilander ◽  
Vilmantas Giedraitis ◽  
Lars Berglund ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Cognitive Test ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Timed Up And Go ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Single Task ◽  
Subjective Cognitive Impairment

Abstract Background Discrimination between early-stage dementia and other cognitive impairment diagnoses is central to enable appropriate interventions. Previous studies indicate that dual-task testing may be useful in such differentiation. The objective of this study was to investigate whether dual-task test outcomes discriminate between groups of individuals with dementia disorder, mild cognitive impairment, subjective cognitive impairment, and healthy controls. Methods A total of 464 individuals (mean age 71 years, 47% women) were included in the study, of which 298 were patients undergoing memory assessment and 166 were cognitively healthy controls. Patients were grouped according to the diagnosis received: dementia disorder, mild cognitive impairment, or subjective cognitive impairment. Data collection included participants’ demographic characteristics. The patients’ cognitive test results and diagnoses were collected from their medical records. Healthy controls underwent the same cognitive tests as the patients. The mobility test Timed Up-and-Go (TUG single-task) and two dual-task tests including TUG (TUGdt) were carried out: TUGdt naming animals and TUGdt months backwards. The outcomes registered were: time scores for TUG single-task and both TUGdt tests, TUGdt costs (relative time difference between TUG single-task and TUGdt), number of different animals named, number of months recited in correct order, number of animals per 10 s, and number of months per 10 s. Logistic regression models examined associations between TUG outcomes pairwise between groups. Results The TUGdt outcomes “animals/10 s” and “months/10 s” discriminated significantly (p < 0.001) between individuals with an early-stage dementia diagnosis, mild cognitive impairment, subjective cognitive impairment, and healthy controls. The TUGdt outcome “animals/10 s” showed an odds ratio of 3.3 (95% confidence interval 2.0–5.4) for the groups dementia disorders vs. mild cognitive impairment. TUGdt cost outcomes, however, did not discriminate between any of the groups. Conclusions The novel TUGdt outcomes “words per time unit”, i.e. “animals/10 s” and “months/10 s”, demonstrate high levels of discrimination between all investigated groups. Thus, the TUGdt tests in the current study could be useful as complementary tools in diagnostic assessments. Future studies will be focused on the predictive value of TUGdt outcomes concerning dementia risk for individuals with mild cognitive impairment or subjective cognitive impairment.

scholarly journals Automatic Detection of Cognitive Impairments through Acoustic Analysis of Speech

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryosuke Nagumo ◽  
Yaming Zhang ◽  
Yuki Ogawa ◽  
Mitsuharu Hosokawa ◽  
Kengo Abe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Cognitive Impairments ◽  
Learning Model ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Acoustic Features ◽  
Machine Learning Model

Background: Early detection of mild cognitive impairment is crucial in the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease. The aim of the present study was to identify whether acoustic features can help differentiate older, independent community-dwelling individuals with cognitive impairment from healthy controls. Methods: A total of 8779 participants (mean age 74.2 ± 5.7 in the range of 65-96, 3907 males and 4872 females) with different cognitive profiles, namely healthy controls, mild cognitive impairment, global cognitive impairment (defined as a Mini Mental State Examination score of 20-23), and mild cognitive impairment with global cognitive impairment (a combined status of mild cognitive impairment and global cognitive impairment), were evaluated in short-sentence reading tasks, and their acoustic features, including temporal features (such as duration of utterance, number and length of pauses) and spectral features (F0, F1, and F2), were used to build a machine learning model to predict their cognitive impairments. Results: The classification metrics from the healthy controls were evaluated through the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve and were found to be 0.61, 0.67, and 0.77 for mild cognitive impairment, global cognitive impairment, and mild cognitive impairment with global cognitive impairment, respectively. Conclusion: Our machine learning model revealed that individuals’ acoustic features can be employed to discriminate between healthy controls and those with mild cognitive impairment with global cognitive impairment, which is a more severe form of cognitive impairment compared with mild cognitive impairment or global cognitive impairment alone. It is suggested that language impairment increases in severity with cognitive impairment.

scholarly journals Cognitive impairments in sporadic cerebral small vessel disease (SVD): a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohorts with stroke, dementia and non-clinical presentations of SVD

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivia KL Hamilton ◽  
Ellen V Backhouse ◽  
Esther Janssen ◽  
Angela CC Jochems ◽  
Caragh Maher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Cognitive Impairments ◽  
Clinical Manifestations ◽  
Cognitive Test ◽  
Visuospatial Ability ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Cognitive Domains ◽  
Clinical Presentations ◽  
And Control

AbstractBackgroundCognitive impairment is a key clinical feature of cerebral small vessel disease (SVD), but the full range of SVD-related cognitive impairments is unclear, and little is known about how they might vary across clinical and non-clinical manifestations of SVD.MethodsIn systematic searches of OVID MEDLINE, Embase, and PsychINFO from 1st January 1985 to 6th October 2019, we identified studies reporting cognitive test results for study participants with SVD and control participants without SVD. Using standardised group-level cognitive test data, we performed random effects meta-analyses in seven cognitive domains to test whether cognitive test scores differed between SVD and control groups. We conducted meta-regression analyses to test whether differences in age, education, or vascular risk factors between SVD and control groups, or whether different clinical manifestations of SVD (e.g. stroke, cognitive impairment, or non-clinical presentations) accounted for cognitive effect sizes.FindingsOf 8562 studies identified, we included 69 studies from six continents, published in four languages. These studies included 3229 participants with SVD and 3679 controls. Meta-analyses demonstrated that on average, control groups outperformed SVD cohorts on cognitive tests in all cognitive domains examined: executive function (estimate: -0.928; 95%CI: -1.08, -0.78); processing speed (-0.885; -1.17, -0.60); delayed memory (-0.898; -1.10, -0.69); language (-0.808; -1.01, -0.60); visuospatial ability (-0.720; -0.96, -0.48); reasoning (-0.634; -0.93, -0.34); and attention (-0.622; -0.94, -0.31; all p≤0.001). Meta-regression analyses suggested that differences in years of education between SVD and control groups may account for a proportion of the differences in performance on tests of executive function, visuospatial ability and language, and that cohorts with cognitive impairments performed more poorly on tests of executive function, delayed memory and visuospatial ability than cohorts with stroke or non-clinical presentations of SVD.InterpretationParticipants with SVD demonstrated poorer cognitive performance relative to control groups in all cognitive domains we examined. This effect was present for all presentations of SVD, reinforcing the need to test a range of cognitive domains in both clinical and research settings. Lower levels of education in SVD versus control participants may contribute to these effects, highlighting the need to account for educational level in the assessment of SVD-related cognitive impairment.FundingNone.

scholarly journals Effect of computer-assisted-learning and simulation clinics on dental students’ cognitive and performance skills: panoramic image errors related to patient’s head position

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (7) ◽  
pp. 20200154
Author(s):  
Ann Wenzel ◽  
Louise Hauge Matzen ◽  
Rubens Spin-Neto ◽  
Lars Schropp
Keyword(s):  
Test Scores ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Dental Students ◽  
Head Position ◽  
Cognitive Test ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Patient Exposure ◽  
Performance Skills ◽  
Positioning Errors ◽  
And Performance

Objectives: To assess dental students’ ability to recognize head positioning errors in panoramic (PAN) images after individual learning via computer-assisted-learning (CAL) and in a simulation clinic (SIM). Both cognitive skills and performance in patient examination were assessed. Methods and materials: 60 students (mean age 23.25 years) participated in lectures on the relation between PAN-image errors and patient’s head position. Immediately after they took a test, based on which they were randomized to three groups: control (CON) group, CAL group, and SIM group (both CAL and training in a simulation clinic with a phantom). 4–5 weeks after intervention/no intervention, all students individually examined a patient with PAN-exposure. A blinded rater, not knowing group allocation, supervised patient exposure and assessed student’s performance (correct/incorrect head position in three planes). 1–2 weeks after, the students scored positioning errors in 40 PAN-images. Differences in cognitive test scores between groups were evaluated by ANOVA and in patient examination by χ2 tests, and within-group differences by sign-tests. Results: No statistically significant difference in cognitive test scores was seen between the SIM and CAL group, while the CON group scored lower (p < 0.003). In all groups, several students positioned the patient incorrectly in the Frankfort horizontal plane. All students performed well in the sagittal plane. Students in SIM group positioned the patient more correctly in the coronal plane. Conclusions: Training with CAL increased students’ cognitive skills compared with a control group. Simulated patient exposure with a phantom increased to some extent their performance skills in examination of patients.

Cognitive profiles of children with autism spectrum disorder with parent-reported extraordinary talents and personal strengths

Autism ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 136236132110206
Author(s):  
Vanessa H Bal ◽  
Ellen Wilkinson ◽  
Megan Fok
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
General Population ◽  
Standardized Tests ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Cognitive Test ◽  
Cognitive Profiles ◽  
Personal Strengths ◽  
Simons Simplex Collection ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Relationship

It is essential to recognize the strengths and talents of autistic individuals. Previous studies of extraordinary talents (i.e. skills that stand out relative to the general population) have combined individuals with different skills (e.g. calendrical calculation, drawing) into one group. There has been limited investigation of talents in specific areas and even less consideration of personal strengths (i.e. skills that stand out relative to that person’s other abilities, but not the general population). We extend this literature by examining the relationship between parent-reported talents and strengths and performance on standardized cognitive tests in 1470 children (4–18 years) from the Simons Simplex Collection with autism and IQ above 70. Almost half (46%) had at least one parent-reported talent and an additional 23% without extraordinary talents had at least one personal strength. Children with parent-reported talents and strengths had different cognitive profiles than children with no reported skill in visuospatial, drawing, computation, or music. Those highlighted for their memory abilities had somewhat more even verbal and nonverbal abilities, relative to children whose memory was not emphasized as a special skill. These results emphasize the importance of exploring strengths separately by domain and a need for more research in this area. Lay abstract Previous research has suggested that focusing on impairments can be detrimental to the well-being of autistic individuals, yet little research has focused on strengths and positive qualities in autism. Some studies explored “savant skills” (herein referred to as “extraordinary talents”), that is, skills that stand out compared to the general population. These often group everyone who has a specific talent, rather than exploring subgroups with strengths in specific areas. There has been even less research focused on personal strengths (i.e. skills that stand out relative to the individual’s other abilities, but not the general population). To expand this research, we use a sample of 1470 children (ages 4–18 years) from the Simons Simplex Collection without cognitive impairment to examine the relationship between having a parent-reported skill in a specific area and performance on a standardized cognitive test. Almost half (46%) had at least one parent-reported talent and an additional 23% without extraordinary talents had at least one personal strength. Children with these parent-reported skills had different patterns of performance on these standardized tests than children without skills in that area (i.e. visuospatial, drawing, computation, reading, and memory). Specific skills in computation or reading were associated with higher overall performance on the standardized tests. These results emphasize the importance of considering strengths separately by area, rather than combining individuals with different types of strengths. The high number of children with skills in this study underscores the need for more research in this area, particularly using instruments focused on understanding the nuances of these strengths. It is important for future studies to consider these skills in children with cognitive impairment.

scholarly journals Effects of neuroactive metabolites of the tryptophan pathway on working memory and cortical thickness in schizophrenia

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Junchao Huang ◽  
Jinghui Tong ◽  
Ping Zhang ◽  
Yanfang Zhou ◽  
Yimin Cui ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Cortical Thickness ◽  
Serum Levels ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Tryptophan Pathway ◽  
Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass ◽  
Therapeutic Development ◽  
Tryptophan Metabolites ◽  
Insight Into

AbstractA number of tryptophan metabolites known to be neuroactive have been examined for their potential associations with cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. Among these metabolites, kynurenic acid (KYNA), 5-hydroxyindole (5-HI), and quinolinic acid (QUIN) are documented in their diverse effects on α-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7nAChR) and/or N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR), two of the receptor types thought to contribute to cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. In this study, serum levels of KYNA, 5-HI, and QUIN were measured in 195 patients with schizophrenia and in 70 healthy controls using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry; cognitive performance in MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery and cortical thickness measured by magnetic resonance imaging were obtained. Patients with schizophrenia had significantly lower serum KYNA (p < 0.001) and QUIN (p = 0.02) levels, and increased 5-HI/KYNA (p < 0.001) and QUIN/KYNA ratios (p < 0.001) compared with healthy controls. Multiple linear regression showed that working memory was positively correlated with serum 5-HI levels (t = 2.10, p = 0.04), but inversely correlated with KYNA concentrations (t = −2.01, p = 0.05) in patients. Patients with high 5-HI and low KYNA had better working memory than other subgroups (p = 0.01). Higher 5-HI levels were associated with thicker left lateral orbitofrontal cortex (t = 3.71, p = 2.94 × 10−4) in patients. The different effects of 5-HI and KYNA on working memory may appear consistent with their opposite receptor level mechanisms. Our findings appear to provide a new insight into the dynamic roles of tryptophan pathway metabolites on cognition, which may benefit novel therapeutic development that targets cognitive impairment in schizophrenia.

Assessment of the neuronal underpinnings of cognitive impairment in bipolar disorder with a picture encoding paradigm and methodological lessons learnt

2021 ◽  
pp. 026988112110085
Author(s):  
JZ Petersen ◽  
J Macoveanu ◽  
HL Kjærstad ◽  
GM Knudsen ◽  
LV Kessing ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Disorder ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Cognitive Impairments ◽  
Hierarchical Cluster ◽  
Small Region ◽  
Middle Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Recall Accuracy ◽  
Fmri Study

Background: Mood disorders are often associated with persistent cognitive impairments. However, pro-cognitive treatments are essentially lacking. This is partially because of poor insight into the neurocircuitry abnormalities underlying these deficits and their change with illness progression. Aims: This functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study investigates the neuronal underpinnings of cognitive impairments and neuronal change after mood episodes in remitted patients with bipolar disorder (BD) using a hippocampus-based picture encoding paradigm. Methods: Remitted patients with BD ( n=153) and healthy controls ( n=52) were assessed with neuropsychological tests and underwent fMRI while performing a strategic picture encoding task. A subgroup of patients ( n=43) were rescanned after 16 months. We conducted data-driven hierarchical cluster analysis of patients’ neuropsychological data and compared encoding-related neuronal activity between the resulting neurocognitive subgroups. For patients with follow-up data, effects of mood episodes were assessed by comparing encoding-related neuronal activity change in BD patients with and without episode(s). Results: Two neurocognitive subgroups were revealed: 91 patients displayed cognitive impairments while 62 patients were cognitively normal. No neuronal activity differences were observed between neurocognitive subgroups within the dorsal cognitive control network or hippocampus. However, exploratory whole-brain analysis revealed lower activity within a small region of middle temporal gyrus in impaired patients, which significantly correlated with poorer neuropsychological performance. No changes were observed in encoding-related neuronal activity or picture recall accuracy with the occurrence of mood episode(s) during the follow-up period. Conclusion: Memory encoding fMRI paradigms may not capture the neuronal underpinnings of cognitive impairment or effects of mood episodes.

Development of standardized regression-based formulas to assess meaningful cognitive change in early Parkinson’s disease

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah L Combs ◽  
Kate A Wyman-Chick ◽  
Lauren O Erickson ◽  
Michele K York
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Cognitive Change ◽  
Cognitive Test ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Change Over Time ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Objective Longitudinal assessment of cognitive and emotional functioning in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) is helpful in tracking progression of the disease, developing treatment plans, evaluating outcomes, and educating patients and families. Determining whether change over time is meaningful in neurodegenerative conditions, such as PD, can be difficult as repeat assessment of neuropsychological functioning is impacted by factors outside of cognitive change. Regression-based prediction formulas are one method by which clinicians and researchers can determine whether an observed change is meaningful. The purpose of the current study was to develop and validate regression-based prediction models of cognitive and emotional test scores for participants with early-stage idiopathic PD and healthy controls (HC) enrolled in the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI). Methods Participants with de novo PD and HC were identified retrospectively from the PPMI archival database. Data from baseline testing and 12-month follow-up were utilized in this study. In total, 688 total participants were included in the present study (NPD = 508; NHC = 185). Subjects from both groups were randomly divided into development (70%) and validation (30%) subsets. Results Early-stage idiopathic PD patients and healthy controls were similar at baseline. Regression-based models were developed for all cognitive and self-report mood measures within both populations. Within the validation subset, the predicted and observed cognitive test scores did not significantly differ, except for semantic fluency. Conclusions The prediction models can serve as useful tools for researchers and clinicians to study clinically meaningful cognitive and mood change over time in PD.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document