scholarly journals Evaluation of the Consonant Vowel Consonant (CVC) Test as an Assessment and Screening Instrument for Mild Cognitive Impairment

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther Vierck ◽  
Richard J. Porter ◽  
Janet K. Spittlehouse ◽  
Peter R. Joyce

<p>Objective: Traditional word learning tasks have been criticised for being affected by ceiling effects. The Consonant Vowel Consonant (CVC) test is a non-word verbal learning task designed to be more difficult and therefore have a lower risk of ceiling effects.</p><p>Method: The current study examines the psychometric properties of the CVC in 404 middle-aged persons and evaluates it as a screening instrument for mild cognitive impairment by comparing it to the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Differences between currently depressed and non-depressed participants were also examined.</p><p>Results: CVC characteristics are similar to traditional verbal memory tasks but with reduced likelihood of a ceiling effect. Using the standard cut-off on the MoCA as an indication of mild cognitive impairment, the CVC performed only moderately well in predicting this. Depressed participants scored significantly lower on the CVC compared with non-depressed individuals.</p><p>Conclusions: The CVC may be similar in psychometric properties to the traditional word learning tests but with a higher ceiling. Scores are lower in depression.</p>

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiangyi Xia ◽  
Ali Mazaheri ◽  
Katrien Segaert ◽  
David P Salmon ◽  
Danielle Harvey ◽  
...  

Abstract Reliable biomarkers of memory decline are critical for the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease. Previous work has found three EEG measures, namely the event-related brain potential P600, suppression of oscillatory activity in the alpha frequency range (∼10 Hz) and cross-frequency coupling between low theta/high delta and alpha/beta activity, each of which correlates strongly with verbal learning and memory abilities in healthy elderly and patients with mild cognitive impairment or prodromal Alzheimer’s disease. In the present study, we address the question of whether event-related or oscillatory measures, or a combination thereof, best predict the decline of verbal memory in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease. Single-trial correlation analyses show that despite a similarity in their time courses and sensitivities to word repetition, the P600 and the alpha suppression components are minimally correlated with each other on a trial-by-trial basis (generally |rs| &lt; 0.10). This suggests that they are unlikely to stem from the same neural mechanism. Furthermore, event-related brain potentials constructed from bandpass filtered (delta, theta, alpha, beta or gamma bands) single-trial data indicate that only delta band activity (1–4 Hz) is strongly correlated (r = 0.94, P &lt; 0.001) with the canonical P600 repetition effect; event-related potentials in higher frequency bands are not. Importantly, stepwise multiple regression analyses reveal that the three event-related brain potential/oscillatory measures are complementary in predicting California Verbal Learning Test scores (overall R2’s in 0.45–0.63 range). The present study highlights the importance of combining EEG event-related potential and oscillatory measures to better characterize the multiple mechanisms of memory failure in individuals with mild cognitive impairment or prodromal Alzheimer’s disease.


2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 507-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
SUVARNA ALLADI ◽  
ROBERT ARNOLD ◽  
JOANNA MITCHELL ◽  
PETER J. NESTOR ◽  
JOHN R. HODGES

Background. We explored the applicability of recently proposed research criteria for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in a memory clinic and changes in case definition related to which memory tests are used and the status of general cognitive function in MCI.Method. A total of 166 consecutive GP referrals to the Cambridge Memory Clinic underwent comprehensive neuropsychological and psychiatric evaluation.Results. Of 166 cases, 42 were excluded (significant depression 8, established dementia 29 and other disorders 5). Of 124 non-demented, non-depressed patients, 72 fulfilled Petersen's criteria for amnestic MCI based upon verbal memory performance [the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT)] and 90 met criteria if performance on verbal and/or non-verbal memory tests [the Rey figure recall or the Paired Associates Learning test (PAL)] was considered. Of the 90 broadly defined MCI cases, only 25 had pure amnesia: other subtle semantic and/or attention deficits were typically present. A further 12 were classed as non-amnestic MCI and 22 as ‘worried well’.Conclusions. Definition of MCI varies considerably dependent upon the tests used for case definition. The majority have other cognitive deficits despite normal performance on the Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE) and intact activities of daily living (ADL) and fit within multi-domain MCI. Pure amnesic MCI is rare.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Joanna Perła-Kaján ◽  
Olga Włoczkowska ◽  
Anetta Zioła-Frankowska ◽  
Marcin Frankowski ◽  
A. David Smith ◽  
...  

Background: Identification of modifiable risk factors that affect cognitive decline is important for the development of preventive and treatment strategies. Status of paraoxonase 1 (PON1), a high-density lipoprotein-associated enzyme, may play a role in the development of neurological diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease. Objective: We tested a hypothesis that PON1 status predicts cognition in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: Individuals with MCI (n = 196, 76.8-years-old, 60% women) participating in a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial (VITACOG) were assigned to receive a daily dose of folic acid (0.8 mg), vitamin B12 (0.5 mg) and B6 (20 mg) (n = 95) or placebo (n = 101) for 2 years. Cognition was analyzed by neuropsychological tests. Brain atrophy was quantified in a subset of participants (n = 168) by MRI. PON1 status, including PON1 Q192R genotype, was determined by quantifying enzymatic activity of PON1 using paraoxon and phenyl acetate as substrates. Results: In the placebo group, baseline phenylacetate hydrolase (PhAcase) activity of PON1 (but not paraoxonase activity or PON1 Q192R genotype) was significantly associated with global cognition (Mini-Mental State Examination, MMSE; Telephone Inventory for Cognitive Status-modified, TICS-m), verbal episodic memory (Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-revised: Total Recall, HVLT-TR; Delayed Recall, HVLT-DR), and attention/processing speed (Trail Making A and Symbol Digits Modalities Test, SDMT) at the end of study. In addition to PhAcase, baseline iron and triglycerides predicted MMSE, baseline fatty acids predicted SDMT, baseline anti-N-Hcy-protein autoantibodies predicted TICS-m, SDMT, Trail Making A, while BDNF V66M genotype predicted HVLT-TR and HVLT-DR scores at the end of study. B-vitamins abrogated associations of PON1 and other variables with cognition. Conclusion: PON1 is a new factor associated with impaired cognition that can be ameliorated by B-vitamins in individuals with MCI.


Author(s):  
Vahid Rashedi ◽  
Mahshid Foroughan ◽  
Negin Chehrehnegar

Introduction: The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a cognitive screening test widely used in clinical practice and suited for the detection of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). The aims were to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Persian MoCA as a screening test for mild cognitive dysfunction in Iranian older adults and to assess its accuracy as a screening test for MCI and mild Alzheimer disease (AD). Method: One hundred twenty elderly with a mean age of 73.52 ± 7.46 years participated in this study. Twenty-one subjects had mild AD (MMSE score ≤21), 40 had MCI, and 59 were cognitively healthy controls. All the participants were administered the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) to evaluate their general cognitive status. Also, a battery of comprehensive neuropsychological assessments was administered. Results: The mean score on the Persian version of the MoCA and the MMSE were 19.32 and 25.62 for MCI and 13.71 and 22.14 for AD patients, respectively. Using an optimal cutoff score of 22 the MoCA test detected 86% of MCI subjects, whereas the MMSE with a cutoff score of 26 detected 72% of MCI subjects. In AD patients with a cutoff score of 20, the MoCA had a sensitivity of 94% whereas the MMSE detected 61%. The specificity of the MoCA was 70% and 90% for MCI and AD, respectively. Discussion: The results of this study show that the Persian version of the MoCA is a reliable screening tool for detection of MCI and early stage AD. The MoCA is more sensitive than the MMSE in screening for cognitive impairment, proving it to be superior to MMSE in detecting MCI and mild AD.


2007 ◽  
Vol 65 (3a) ◽  
pp. 619-622 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcio L.F. Balthazar ◽  
José E. Martinelli ◽  
Fernando Cendes ◽  
Benito P. Damasceno

OBJECTIVE: To study lexical semantic memory in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) and normal controls. METHOD: Fifteen mild AD, 15 aMCI, and 15 normal control subjects were included. Diagnosis of AD was based on DSM-IV and NINCDS-ADRDA criteria, and that of aMCI, on the criteria of the International Working Group on Mild Cognitive Impairment, using CDR 0.5 for aMCI and CDR 1 for mild AD. All subjects underwent semantic memory tests (Boston Naming-BNT, CAMCOG Similarities item), Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE), neuropsychological tests (counterproofs), and Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia. Data analysis used Mann-Whitney test for intergroup comparisons and Pearson's coefficient for correlations between memory tests and counterproofs (statistical significance level was p<0.05). RESULTS: aMCI patients were similar to controls on BNT and Similarities, but worse on MMSE and RAVLT. Mild AD patients scored significantly worse than aMCI and controls on all tests. CONCLUSION: aMCI impairs episodic memory but tends to spare lexical semantic system, which can be affected in the early phase of AD.


2010 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 630-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Tremont ◽  
Andrea Miele ◽  
Megan M. Smith ◽  
Holly James Westervelt

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan Strange ◽  
Linda Zhang ◽  
Alba Sierra-Marcos ◽  
Eva Alfayate ◽  
Jussi Tohka ◽  
...  

Identifying measures that predict future cognitive impairment in healthy individuals is necessary to inform treatment strategies for candidate dementia-preventative and modifying interventions. Here, we derive such measures by studying converters who transitioned from cognitively normal at baseline to mild-cognitive impairment (MCI) in a longitudinal study of 1213 elderly participants. We first establish reduced grey matter density (GMD) in left entorhinal cortex (EC) as a biomarker for impending cognitive decline in healthy individuals, employing a matched sampling control for several dementia risk-factors, thereby mitigating the potential effects of bias on our statistical tests. Next, we determine the predictive performance of baseline demographic, genetic, neuropsychological and MRI measures by entering these variables into an elastic net-regularized classifier. Our trained statistical model classified converters and controls with validation Area-Under-the-Curve>0.9, identifying only delayed verbal memory and left EC GMD as relevant predictors for classification. This performance was maintained on test classification of out-of-sample converters and controls. Our results suggest a parsimonious but powerful predictive model for MCI development in the cognitively healthy elderly.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S946-S946
Author(s):  
George Mois ◽  
Bailley Collette ◽  
Lisa M Renzi-Hammond ◽  
Laura Boccanfuso ◽  
Aditi Ramachandran ◽  
...  

Abstract Cognitive training has been shown to improve neural plasticity, increase cognitive reserve and reduce the risk of dementia in older adults. Specifically, learning to play the piano has been shown to be an engaging, multimodal form of cognitive training. However, accessing this form of cognitive training can pose a challenge for older adults. Socially assistive robots present a unique opportunity to increase access to user-tailored piano learning cognitive training. The present study utilized a robot-led four-week piano lesson feasibility intervention for older adults with mild cognitive impairment (N = 11; M= 74.64 ± 6.02 years of age; 72.72% female; 90.1% White/Caucasian). Cognitive Status was assessed during screening via the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status, and after screening via the Mini-Mental State Exam and the CNS Vital Signs computerized test suite to measure cognitive domain-specific functioning. Perceptions and acceptance of the robot were measured using the Robotic Social Attributes Scale (RoSAS) and Technology Acceptance Scale. Cognitive function improved after four weeks of training in the verbal memory, executive function, reaction time and cognitive flexibility domains, and in the computed neurocognitive index score (p&lt;0.05). Survey data and qualitative interviews show that participants perceived the robot instructor as socially engaging, competent, useful, and easy to use. These results provide insight into the potential of SARs to facilitate cognitive training in the form of piano lessons, as well as recommendations for creating a suitable robot instructor for this application.


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