Daily executive functioning in adults with pediatric hemispherectomy.

Background And Aims: For young children with intractable epilepsy caused by congenital abnormalities or acquired cortical lesions, pediatric hemispherectomy surgery (pHS) may offer the only path to seizure remediation. Although some sensory and motor outcomes of pHS are highly predictable, the long-term cognitive and functional sequelae of pHS are far more variable. With the aim of identifying potential post-pHS intervention targets, the current study examined daily executive functioning and self-awareness in adults with pHS and broadly intact cognitive outcomes (indicated by average or above performance on intelligence tests).

Adaptive behavior in primary agenesis of the corpus callosum.

Background And Aims: Primary agenesis of the corpus callosum (ACC) is a congenital neurological disorder characterized by the absence, either partial or complete, of the corpus callosum in individuals who do not have intellectual disability and are otherwise neurologically asymptomatic. While mild to moderate neurocognitive deficits have been observed in individuals with primary ACC using neuropsychological assessments, the impact of this syndrome on adaptive behavior remains insufficiently understood.

Methods: This study used self- and informant-ratings on the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System, Second Edition (ABAS-II) to evaluate adaptive behavior in 35 adults diagnosed with primary ACC.

Disrupted brain functional connectivity as early signature in cognitively healthy individuals with pathological CSF amyloid/tau.

Alterations in functional connectivity (FC) have been observed in individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) with elevated amyloid (Aβ) and tau. However, it is not yet known whether directed FC is already influenced by Aβ and tau load in cognitively healthy (CH) individuals. A 21-channel electroencephalogram (EEG) was used from 46 CHs classified based on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Aβ tau ratio: pathological (CH-PAT) or normal (CH-NAT).

Imaginative elaboration in agenesis of the corpus callosum: topic modeling and perplexity.

Objective: Previous studies have found deficits in imaginative elaboration and social inference to be associated with agenesis of the corpus callosum (ACC; Renteria-Vasquez et al., 2022; Turk et al., 2009).

Resting heart rate (variability) and cognition relationships reveal cognitively healthy individuals with pathological amyloid/tau ratio.

Introduction: Resting heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) have been linked with cognition in the general population and in older individuals. The knowledge of this aspect of heart-brain relationship is relatively absent in older individuals with early Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. This study explores relationships of the HR, HRV, and cognition in cognitively healthy individuals with pathological amyloid/tau ratio (CH-PATs) in cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) compared to those with normal ratio (CH-NATs).

Everyday Executive Function and Self-Awareness in Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum.

Objective: Agenesis of the corpus callosum (AgCC) is associated with a range of cognitive deficits, including mild to moderate problems in higher order executive functions evident in neuropsychological assessments. Previous research has also suggested a lack of self-awareness in persons with AgCC.

Method: We investigated daily executive functioning and self-awareness in 36 individuals with AgCC by analyzing self-ratings on the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult Version (BRIEF-A), as well as ratings on the same instrument from close relatives.

Threshold score for the self-report Pediatric Distress Thermometer Rating Scale in childhood cancer patients.

Objective: Although there is enthusiasm for identifying and treating psychosocial problems in childhood cancer patients, there are few validated instruments to help providers identify at-risk children for further assessment. The study objective was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the self-report pediatric Distress Thermometer Rating Scale (Peds DTRS) in childhood cancer survivors and identify a threshold score to help providers classify pediatric patients.

Methods: We evaluated 54 children 7-17 years old using 178 Peds DTRS longitudinal data points from the cohort that was used for the original pediatric adaptation of the DTRS.

Adaptation of an Intervention to Reduce Disparities in School HRQOL for Latino Childhood Cancer Survivors.

Objective: Survivors of childhood leukemia, especially those from low socioeconomic status households, often experience persistent neurocognitive and academic impairment. This study adapted an existing parent training intervention to improve outcomes for low-acculturated, Spanish-speaking Latino parents of children with leukemia and pilot tested that intervention for feasibility.

Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted with a focus group of 20 Latino parents of children treated for leukemia.

Heart Rate Variability as an Index of Resilience.

Introduction: Resilience is the ability to maintain or quickly return to a stable physical and psychological equilibrium despite experiencing stressful events. Flexibility of the autonomic nervous system is particularly important for adaptive stress responses and may contribute to individual differences in resilience. Power spectrum analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) allows measurement of sympathovagal balance, which helps to evaluate autonomic flexibility.

Virtual Reality Assessment of Classroom - Related Attention: An Ecologically Relevant Approach to Evaluating the Effectiveness of Working Memory Training.

Computerized cognitive interventions to improve working memory also purport to improve ADHD-related inattention and off task behavior. Such interventions have been shown to improve working memory, executive functioning, and fluid reasoning on standardized neuropsychological measures. However, debate continues as to whether such programs lead to improvement on ecologically relevant outcomes, such as classroom behavior.