The C Factor: Cognitive dysfunction as a transdiagnostic dimension in psychopathology.

Research into cognitive functions across psychological disorders suggests that cognitive deficiencies may be present across multiple disorders, potentially pointing to a transdiagnostic phenomenon. More recently, a single dimension model of psychopathology, the p factor, has been proposed, in which cognitive deficits are thought to be an intrinsic construct, assumed to be transdiagnostic. However, no systematic investigation to date tested this hypothesis.

G but not g: In search of the evolutionary continuity of intelligence.

Conceptualizing intelligence in its biological context, as the expression of manifold adaptations, compels a rethinking of measuring this characteristic in humans, relying also on animal studies of analogous skills. Mental manipulation, as an extension of object manipulation, provides a continuous, biologically based concept for studying G as it pertains to individual differences in humans and other species.

Does pain take holidays? Non-attendance rates at a hospital-based pain clinic are elevated during the Jewish high-holidays.

Background: Patient non-attendance is an expensive and persistent problem worldwide with rates between 5-39% reported in the literature. The objective of the study was to assess whether there is a higher incidence of non-attendance in a hospital-based pain clinic during the period of the Jewish High Holidays (Rosh-Hashanah to Sukkot) and whether this is further compounded by other factors, such as demographic characteristics and previous visits to the clinic.

Methods: Records were taken from the Lowenstein Rehabilitation Hospital appointment scheduling system.

Empirically derived algorithm for performance validity assessment embedded in a widely used neuropsychological battery: Validation among TBI patients in litigation.

Introduction: Validity of neuropsychological assessment depends, inter alia, on the cooperation of the examinee, requiring separate assessment. Stand-alone tests devised for detecting negative response bias (NRB) are exposed to potential threats to their validity. In this study, an algorithm was developed for assessing NRB within a standardized, computerized neuropsychological battery (NeuroTrax), making it difficult to detect and circumvent.

Neuropsychological investigations in obsessive-compulsive disorder: A systematic review of methodological challenges.

The inconsistent nature of the neuropsychology literature pertaining to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has long been recognized. However, individual studies, systematic reviews, and recent meta-analytic reviews were unsuccessful in establishing a consensus regarding a disorder-specific neuropsychological profile. In an attempt to identify methodological factors that may contribute to the inconsistency that is characteristic of this body of research, a systematic review of methodological factors in studies comparing OCD patients and non-psychiatric controls on neuropsychological tests was conducted.

Response inhibition in a subclinical obsessive-compulsive sample.

Background And Objectives: Inconsistent findings across studies challenge the viability of response inhibition (RI) as an endophenotype of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Contemporary conceptualization of endophenotypes in psychiatric disorders suggests that these markers vary continuously in the general population, highlighting the importance of analogue sample research. Although neuropsychological functions have been studied in subclinical obsessive-compulsive (OC) samples, no study to date had examined RI in the context of the go/no-go paradigm.

Costeff syndrome: clinical features and natural history.

Costeff syndrome (CS) is a rare autosomal-recessive neurological disorder, which is known almost exclusively in patients of Iraqi Jewish descent, manifesting in childhood with optic atrophy, ataxia, chorea and spastic paraparesis. Our aim was to study the clinical spectrum of CS and natural history using a cross-sectional study design. Consecutive patients with CS were recruited to the study.

Correlates of physical activity with intrusive thoughts, worry and impulsivity in adults with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a cross-sectional pilot study.

Background: Physical exercise is known to produce numerous psychological beneficial effects in healthy and clinical populations. Nevertheless, little is known about the relationship between exercise and ADhD symptoms, let alone among adults with ADhD. this study examines the association between exercise and three ADhD symptoms: (1) behavioral impulsivity; (2) intrusive unwanted thoughts and (3) worry.

Executive function and falls in older adults: new findings from a five-year prospective study link fall risk to cognition.

Background: Recent findings suggest that executive function (EF) plays a critical role in the regulation of gait in older adults, especially under complex and challenging conditions, and that EF deficits may, therefore, contribute to fall risk. The objective of this study was to evaluate if reduced EF is a risk factor for future falls over the course of 5 years of follow-up. Secondary objectives were to assess whether single and dual task walking abilities, an alternative window into EF, were associated with fall risk.

Comparative neuropsychology of adult obsessive-compulsive disorder and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: implications for a novel executive overload model of OCD.

Research implicates frontostriatal pathophysiology in both attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Nevertheless, ADHD is characterized with frontostriatal hypoactivity and OCD with hyperactivity. Furthermore, both disorders seem to lie on opposite ends of a clinical impulsive-compulsive continuum.

Cerebral language reorganization in the chronic stage of recovery: a longitudinal fMRI study.

The goal of the present study was to investigate whether spontaneous functional recovery following insult to the language-dominant hemisphere continues in the so-called "chronic stage," and if so, to examine its neuro-functional correlates. We used a longitudinal functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) block design, where each young patient served as his/her own control. Specifically, we examined whether language functions differed significantly in two monitoring sessions conducted years apart, both in the chronic stage, where almost no functional changes are expected.

Neuropsychological impairments and their association with obsessive-compulsive symptom severity in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Neurobiological research in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) consistently demonstrates an association between abnormal brain activity and symptom severity. Conversely, research addressing the corresponding neuropsychological impairments in OCD and their association with symptom severity has produced inconsistent results. This study reexamines neuropsychological performance and its association with symptom severity in 30 participants with OCD while controlling for confounding variables.

Does normal fetal brain ultrasound predict normal neurodevelopmental outcome in congenital cytomegalovirus infection?

Objective: We evaluated the neuropsychological outcome of children with proven congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and normal consecutive fetal neurosonographic examinations.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed laboratory and imaging findings of children with congenital CMV infection. The study group consisted of children with a positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in amniotic fluid and virus isolation in urine in the first week of life, and normal fetal ultrasonographic (US) examination findings, including a normal multiplanar neurosonographic evaluation.

Executive control deficits as a prodrome to falls in healthy older adults: a prospective study linking thinking, walking, and falling.

Background: Executive function (EF) deficits may increase fall risk, even among older adults with no overt cognitive impairment. Indeed, the effects of dual tasking (DT) on gait, a challenge to executive control, are more exaggerated in persons with a history of falls. Prospective evidence is, however, lacking.

[The importance of prenatal neuroimaging in prediction of developmental outcome of fetuses infected with cytomegalovirus].

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is the most common viral cause of congenital infection and one of the most common contributors to neurodevelopmental disabilities in children. The physiological condition of the infants at birth is a good predictor of long-term cognitive functioning, while children who manifest clinical symptoms at birth (symptomatic) are more likely to develop future cognitive impairments. Brain imaging studies from prenatal diagnosed children are scant, focusing mainly on fetuses with brain signs of CMV infection.

[Developmental outcome of fetal macrocephaly and associated syndromes].

Macrocephaly is defined as an enlargement of the head circumference above the 98th percentile or greater than two standard deviations above the mean normalized for age and gender. The diagnosis of enlarged head circumference can be made by ultrasound, during pregnancy. This condition may be caused by enlargement of any of the head's compartments.

[Microcephaly diagnosed during pregnancy].

Microcephaly is defined postnatally as small head circumference (below the norm by more than two standard deviations (SD)). Incidence at birth: 1:6250-8500. The prenatal diagnosis of microcephaly, particularly in cases of primary microcephaly, is usually difficult before the 3rd trimester.

Cerebral reorganization as a function of linguistic recovery in children: An fMRI study.

Characterizing and mapping the relationship between neuronal reorganization and functional recovery are essential to the understanding of cerebral plasticity and the dynamic processes which occur following brain damage. The neuronal mechanisms underlying linguistic recovery following left hemisphere (LH) lesions are still unknown. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we investigated whether the extent of brain lateralization of linguistic functioning in specific regions of interest (ROIs) is correlated with the level of linguistic performance following recovery from acquired childhood aphasia.

Unwanted intrusive and worrisome thoughts in adults with Attention Deficit\Hyperactivity Disorder.

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is associated with deficient motor and cognitive inhibitory mechanisms. The aim of this article is to examine two symptoms associated with cognitive disinhibition, namely: intrusive unwanted thoughts, worrisome thoughts and their suppression. Thirty-seven college students diagnosed with ADHD and 23 healthy college students were compared on the Distressing Thoughts Questionnaire and on the Anxious Thoughts Inventory.

Dual-task decrements in gait: contributing factors among healthy older adults.

Background: The factors that contribute to the dual tasking (DT) changes in performance that occur when older adults walk while simultaneously performing other tasks are not well known. We hypothesized that cognitive and motor reserve (e.g.

Adjustment of cognitive scores with a co-normed estimate of premorbid intelligence: implementation using mindstreams computerized testing.

Neuropsychological assessment is critically dependent upon comparison to a standard normative database. While generally appropriate for individuals of near-average intelligence, high-intelligence individuals may be erroneously scored as unimpaired and low-intelligence individuals as impaired on cognitive measures. The current paper describes an approach for minimizing such misclassifications that is standardized and practical for clinical use.

A clinical construct validity study of a novel computerized battery for the diagnosis of ADHD in young adults.

The cognitive profile of adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) remains understudied despite difficulty in diagnosis. Further, no battery of neuropsychological tests has been shown valid in adult ADHD. Continuous performance tests are widely used for ADHD but provide limited information on cognitive functioning in general.

Computerized cognitive testing battery identifies mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia even in the presence of depressive symptoms.

Cognitive and depressive symptoms co-occur, complicating detection of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and early dementia. In this study, discriminant validity of a novel computerized cognitive battery for MCI detection was evaluated after covariation for depressive symptom severity. In addition to the computerized battery, participants at two sites received the 30-item self-administered Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS; n=72); those at two other centers received the observer-administered Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD; n=88).

Towards practical cognitive assessment for detection of early dementia: a 30-minute computerized battery discriminates as well as longer testing.

Early detection of cognitive decline may lead to more effective treatment. Clinical cognitive assessment is essential for early detection, but must be brief with easily interpretable results. The present study defines and evaluates a 30-minute cognitive battery consisting of a subset of tests that comprise a longer computerized battery recently validated in detecting mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Validity of the Mindstreams computerized cognitive battery for mild cognitive impairment.

The NeuroTrax Mindstreams computerized cognitive assessment system was designed for widespread clinical and research use in detecting mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, the capability of Mindstreams tests to discriminate the elderly with MCI from those who are cognitively healthy has yet to be evaluated. Moreover, the comparability between these tests and traditional neuropsychological tests in detecting MCI has not been examined.