Performance Comparisons on the Saint Louis University Mental Status Examination Between Black and White Veterans and Education Classification in a Large Outpatient Sample from the Southern United States.

Objective: An increasing scientific literature recognizes that traditional cut-off scores for cognitive screeners may not be optimal for use in patients who differ in race/ethnicity from the screeners' normative/reference group. There is also literature on how racial/ethnic contextual factors, such as stereotype threat or perceived discrimination, may influence performance on cognitive testing. The current study examined the characteristics of SLUMS (a cognitive screening measure) performance in a large (n = 602) sample of Black (n = 229) and White (n = 373) veterans in a VA hospital located in the Southern United States.

Mismatches in resident and stranger serotonin transporter genotypes lead to escalated aggression, and the target for aggression is mediated by sex differences in male and female rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta).

A variety of studies show that the s-allele of the serotonin transporter genotype (5-HTT) is related to aggression. However, influences of sex and 5-HTT genotype of both subject and opponent have not received as much attention in aggression research. Using a nonhuman primate model, the present study explores differences in rates of aggression exhibited by 201 group-housed male and female rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta; 122 females; 79 males) exposed to an unfamiliar age- and sex-matched stranger while in the presence of other same-sex members of their social group.

Articulation time does not affect speeded cognitive performance in multiple sclerosis.

Objective And Background: Cognitive test performance by individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) may be biased because of MS-related speech problems. The purpose of this study was to compare articulation and pause durations between individuals with MS and controls on cognitive tests requiring an oral response.

Method: As part of a neuropsychological assessment, 41 patients with MS and 23 controls completed oral forms of 2 timed cognitive tests that are commonly used in MS.

Reconsidering outdoor temperature and cognition in multiple sclerosis.

Background: Research in multiple sclerosis (MS) suggests warmer weather plays a role in disease manifestation.

Objective: This work sought to replicate the finding that warmer outdoor temperatures are significantly associated with poorer cognition in MS.

Methods: Associations between outdoor temperature and cognition were examined in three studies with a total of 263 patients with MS.

Speedy eye movements in multiple sclerosis: association with performance on visual and nonvisual cognitive tests.

Objective: Eye movement difficulties in multiple sclerosis (MS) are common and may influence performance on cognitive tests. The following studies examined associations between a new measure of speedy eye movement speed and visual/nonvisual cognitive tests.

Method: In Experiment 1, MS patients (N = 71) were administered cognitive tests and the Speedy Eyes Test (SET) as a measure of purposeful speedy eye movements under timed conditions.