Toward Pre-Diagnostic Detection of Dementia in Primary Care.

Background: Preventing dementia warrants the pragmatic engagement of primary care.

Objective: This study predicted conversion to dementia 12 months before diagnosis with indicators that primary care can utilize within the practical constraints of routine practice.

Methods: The study analyzed data from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (Total sample = 645, converting participants = 54).

Subjective Versus Objective Assessment of Cognitive Functioning in Primary Care.

Purpose: This study examined the clinical utility of highly efficient subjective and objective screens of cognitive impairment.

Method: Participants ( = 124, age ≥ 65, mean = 73.59, SD = 6.

Machine Learning Enhances the Efficiency of Cognitive Screenings for Primary Care.

Background: Incorporation of cognitive screening into the busy primary care will require the development of highly efficient screening tools. We report the convergence validity of a very brief, self-administered, computerized assessment protocol against one of the most extensively used, clinician-administered instruments-the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA).

Method: Two hundred six participants (mean age = 67.

Developing Cognitive Markers of Alzheimer's Disease for Primary Care: Implications for Behavioral and Global Prevention.

A comprehensive approach to the prevention of Alzheimer's disease (AD) warrants a synergy across multiple domains and procedures. Whereas the study of biological markers has mobilized major activity in the field, the development of cognitive markers is largely ignored, despite the unique advantages they may offer. Cognitive markers essentially assess the core clinical feature that biological markers intend to predict.

Stigma, social anxiety, and illness severity in bipolar disorder: Implications for treatment.

Background: Studies indicate that comorbid anxiety disorders predict a more severe course of illness in bipolar disorder (BD). The relatively high prevalence of social anxiety in BD points to the potential role that socio-cultural factors, such as stigma, play in exacerbating the progression of this disorder. Stigma creates social anxiety in affected individuals because it essentially forces them into a vulnerable social status that is marked by public disgrace.

Illness severity, trait anxiety, cognitive impairment and heart rate variability in bipolar disorder.

Numerous studies have documented a significant association between symptom severity and cognitive functioning in bipolar disorder (BD). These findings advanced speculations about a potential link between the physiological stress associated with illness severity and cognitive dysfunction. To explore this hypothesis, the current study employed heart rate variability (HRV) as a physiological measure that is sensitive to the effects of chronic stress, and a scale of trait anxiety for assessing a psychological condition that is correlated with hyper sympathetic arousal.

Neuropsychological screening as a standard of care during discharge from psychiatric hospitalization: the preliminary psychometrics of the CNS Screen.

Cost-prohibitive factors currently prevent a warranted integration of neuropsychological screenings into routine psychiatric evaluations, as a standard of care. To overcome this challenge, the current study examined the psychometric properties of a new computerized measure-the CNS Screen. One hundred and twenty six psychiatric inpatients completed the CNS Screen, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-Self Rated (QIDS-SR₁₆) on the day of hospital discharge.

Cognitive and psychosocial functioning in bipolar disorder with and without psychosis during early remission from an acute mood episode: a comparative longitudinal study.

Background: The current investigation aimed to extend previous findings, which linked psychosis in bipolar disorder (BD) to cognitive impairment during hospital discharge and readmission, by examining the recovery of patients with psychosis who were not re-hospitalized. The study compared mood, cognitive and functional outcomes in patients who had, versus had not, experienced psychosis during a recent psychiatric hospitalization. The hypothesis was that patients admitted to the hospital with psychosis would exhibit more residual symptoms, greater cognitive deficits, and lower psychosocial functioning than patients who presented to care without psychosis.

Autonomic nervous system arousal and cognitive functioning in bipolar disorder.

Objective: Previous theories about the etiology of cognitive dysfunction in bipolar disorder (BD) emphasized trait factors such as neurological impairment. State factors, other than mood symptoms, that may exacerbate functional deficits have not yet been considered. The purpose of this study was to examine autonomic nervous system (ANS) arousal following cognitive challenge.

Recovery of cognitive functioning in patients with co-occurring bipolar disorder and alcohol dependence during early remission from an acute mood episode.

Objective: This study aimed to examine cognitive recovery in patients with co-occurring bipolar disorder (BD) and alcohol dependence (AD) during remission from an acute mood disturbance.

Method: Fifty-five adult inpatients with bipolar I disorder (BD I) completed a neuropsychological battery, mood measures, and substance abuse measures upon discharge from the hospital and at a 3-month follow-up. Analyses provided group comparisons on these measures between patients who presented with co-occurring AD (n = 21) in the year prior to hospital admission and patients without a substance use disorder (SUD; n = 34).

Functional outcome in bipolar disorder: the big picture.

Previous research on functional outcome in bipolar disorder (BD) has uncovered various factors that exacerbate psychosocial disability over the course of illness, including genetics, illness severity, stress, anxiety, and cognitive impairment. This paper presents an integrated view of these findings that accounts for the precipitous decline in psychosocial functioning after illness onset. The proposed model highlights a number of reciprocal pathways among previously studied factors that trap people in a powerful cycle of ailing forces.

The characteristics of a discrete mood episode, neuro-cognitive impairment and re-hospitalization in bipolar disorder.

This longitudinal study examined characteristics of a discrete mood episode that predict re-hospitalization for bipolar disorder, highlighting associated cognitive dysfunction as a potential mechanism linking episode severity and relapse. Eighty-two inpatients meeting DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria for bipolar I disorder completed the study. Twenty-two of the patients were readmitted to the hospital within 3 months of discharge.

Cognitive impairment in bipolar disorder: an overview.

Research on cognitive impairment in bipolar disorder (BD) has prompted significant insights about the illness. New studies challenge previous notions about the episodic nature of BD, and account for psychosocial disability unrelated to mood disturbance. This article provides a conceptual overview of the growing body of research on cognitive dysfunction in BD.

Ecologically valid support for the link between cognitive and psychosocial functioning in bipolar disorder.

Prior research into the link between cognitive and psychosocial functioning in bipolar disorder has examined primarily asymptomatic patients, has measured these domains concurrently, and has failed to establish convergent validity in the assessment of psychosocial dysfunction. The present study examines the relation between cognitive and psychosocial functioning at the time of discharge from hospitalization for acute mood disturbance. We obtained measures of psychosocial functioning that were both close and distant to the time of neuropsychological testing; the former from the discharging psychiatrists, and the latter from reports of formally recognized disability status, determined by persons wholly unrelated to the present research.

Neurocognitive impairment and psychosis in bipolar I disorder during early remission from an acute episode of mood disturbance.

Objective: Recent studies have reported greater neurocognitive impairment in euthymic bipolar disorder patients with a history of psychosis relative to patients without such a history. To further explore the relation between psychosis and cognitive dysfunction in bipolar disorder, the current study examined the cognitive functioning of patients during early remission from a discrete episode of mood disturbance. The study aimed to determine whether the presence of psychosis during inpatient hospitalization was associated with greater cognitive impairment at the time of hospital discharge.

The duration of inpatient admission predicts cognitive functioning at discharge in patients with bipolar disorder.

Previous studies of cognitive functioning in bipolar disorder generally indicate that a more severe course of illness is associated with greater cognitive impairment. In particular, a history of greater number and longer duration of mood episodes predicts enduring cognitive deficits in euthymic patients. Shifting the focus of this investigation to the cognitive effects of a discrete mood episode, the current study aimed to explore whether patients who require a longer hospitalization to stabilize from an acute episode of mood disturbance present with more compromised cognitive functioning during the phase of early recovery.

Neurocognitive impairment in patients with co-occurring bipolar disorder and alcohol dependence upon discharge from inpatient care.

The current study explored the neurocognitive functioning of patients with co-occurring bipolar disorder and alcohol dependence upon discharge from inpatient care. The study compared scores of neuropsychological tests among three groups of bipolar I inpatients without a history of neurological injury or illness: 1) patients meeting DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for alcohol dependence in the past 6 months (n=13), 2) patients diagnosed with alcohol dependence in full remission (n=9), and 3) patients without a history of a substance use disorder (SUD; n=41). Analyses indicated that patients with co-occurring alcohol dependence exhibited more severe impairment on tests of executive functioning (i.

Gender differences in the motivational processing of facial beauty.

Gender may be involved in the motivational processing of facial beauty. This study applied a behavioral probe, known to activate brain motivational regions, to healthy heterosexual subjects. Matched samples of men and women were administered two tasks: (a) key pressing to change the viewing time of average or beautiful female or male facial images, and (b) rating the attractiveness of these images.

Increasing the power for detecting impairment in older adults with the Faces subtest from Wechsler Memory Scale-III: an empirical trial.

Empirical studies have questioned the validity of the Faces subtest from the WMS-III for detecting impairment in visual memory, particularly among the elderly. A recent examination of the test norms revealed a significant age related floor effect already emerging on Faces I (immediate recall), implying excessive difficulty in the acquisition phase among unimpaired older adults. The current study compared the concurrent validity of the Faces subtest with an alternative measure between 16 Alzheimer's patients and 16 controls.

Discriminating reinforcement expectancies for studying from future time perspective in the prediction of drinking problems.

In recent work, Levy and Earleywine [Addict. Behav. (2003)] have proposed an expectancy framework of choice for the study of alcohol abuse.

About the power for detecting severe impairment in older adults with the Faces test from Wechsler Memory Scale-III: simply guess and save face.

The Faces test from Wechsler Memory Scale-III is a widely used instrument for detecting impairment in visual memory. However, the degree to which this test actually achieves its purpose may be seriously hampered by error due to guessing. This problem becomes all the more pronounced among elderly clients, where impairment is most likely to be present.

Reinforcement expectancies for studying predict drinking problems among college students: approaching problem drinking from an expectancies choice perspective.

Molar behavioral choice theories point to the important role reinforcement for alternative behaviors may play in reducing problem drinking [Psychol. Addict. Behav.