Theory-driven assessment of cognitive flexibility in bulimia nervosa: a preliminary study.

Background: Cognitive flexibility (CF) is defined as the ability to switch efficiently between different concepts or tasks. Empirical evidence of CF in individuals with bulimia nervosa (BN), offers conflicting conclusions, attributed to how CF is conceptualized and operationalized. The aims of the current study were to compare CF performance of women with BN to healthy controls, utilising a CF model that includes three subtypes termed: task switching, switching sets and stimulus-response mapping.

Aging Processes of Working Memory in Different Modalities.

: Working memory (WM) involves temporarily storing and manipulating information. Research on the impact of aging on WM has shown inconsistent results regarding the decline in visual and verbal WM, with a lack of studies on tactile WM. This study aimed to assess the effects of aging on WM across verbal, visuospatial, and tactile modalities using span tasks of forward (storage) and backward (manipulation) stages.

Forward versus backward recall: Modality testing.

Objectives: One of the most frequently applied paradigms in the clinical and experimental fields for assessing working memory is the simple span task, composed of forward and backward recall conditions. However, the utility of the simple span measures and their relation to working memory modalities has yet to be elucidated. The current study aimed to address which of the span measures is more sensitive to the differentiation between forward and backward recall in the tactile, verbal, and visuo-spatial modalities, and to test if working memory modalities differ in the disparity between the two conditions.

Disentangling cognitive flexibility: a model-based assessment of women with anorexia nervosa.

Cognitive flexibility (CF) has been proposed as a potential trait marker in anorexia nervosa (AN), although findings have been inconsistent. To address this inconsistency, we applied a model that distinguishes between three subtypes of CF: task switching, switching sets, and stimulus-response mapping, which we then assessed using a paradigm-based task battery. The aim of the study was to investigate how AN is associated with these three CF subtypes.

Aging's Effect on Working Memory-Modality Comparison.

Research exploring the impact of development and aging on working memory (WM) has primarily concentrated on visual and verbal domains, with limited attention paid to the tactile modality. The current study sought to evaluate WM encompassing storage and manipulation across these three modalities, spanning from childhood to old age. The study included 134 participants, divided into four age groups: 7-8, 11-12, 25-35, and 60-69.

Cognitive flexibility in women who recovered from anorexia nervosa - a model-based approach.

Research findings on cognitive flexibility (CF) functioning in women who recovered from anorexia nervosa (RAN) were found to be inconsistent. This was attributed to the multiple definitions of CF and the diverse measuring tools used to assess it. Applying a deductive approach to explore CF function may address these inconsistencies; thus, we used a model that divides CF into three subtypes, namely, stimulus-response mapping, switching sets and task switching.

Matching patients with therapists in culturally diverse rehabilitation services during civil unrest.

A primary consideration in rehabilitation is the compatibility between clinicians and patients, where cultural diversity is a defining feature for both. The intricacies of cultural considerations in patient-clinician matching are heightened in areas of conflict and civil unrest. This paper presents three perspectives of the significance of cultural considerations in such assignments: patient-centred approach - prioritizing patients' preferences; professional-centred approach - clinicians' safety, social-emotional, and training needs; and utilitarian approach - what is best for the majority.

Working Memory for Faces among Individuals with Congenital Deafness.

Background:  Studies examining face processing among individuals with congenital deafness show inconsistent results that are often accounted for by sign language skill. However, working memory for faces as an aspect of face processing has not yet been examined in congenital deafness.

Purpose:  To explore working memory for faces among individuals with congenital deafness who are skilled in sign language.

Determinants of Quality of Life in Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury Using Structural Equation Modeling.

Objective: The objective of this study is to examine the interdependent associations between International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) domains and their relationship with environmental factors with regard to quality of life (QoL) in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Design: Survey, cross-sectional study, and model testing using structural equation modeling.

Setting: Two inpatient and outpatient SCI rehabilitation units, Sheba Medical Center and Loewenstein Hospital, Israel.

Working memory in intact modalities among individuals with sensory deprivation.

The sensory compensation hypothesis posits that sensory deficits in one modality can lead to enhanced performance of cognitive tasks relying on another, intact modality. Most studies in this area have explored the visual and auditory senses, with inconsistent findings. Meanwhile, the tactile modality has rarely been examined in this context.

Working memory development in different modalities in children and young adults.

Research on working memory (WM) development is concentrated largely on the verbal and visuospatial domains, whereas the tactile modality has received much less attention. The current study aimed to compare the development of storage and manipulation in the tactile sense with other modalities in children and young adults. A total of 96 typically developed individuals were divided into three equally numbered age groups in the ranges of 7 and 8, 11 and 12, and 20 to 29 years.

Deductive Reasoning and Working Memory Skills in Individuals with Blindness.

Deductive reasoning and working memory are integral parts of executive functioning and are important skills for blind people in everyday life. Despite the importance of these skills, the influence of visual experience on reasoning and working memory skills, as well as on the relationship between these, is unknown. In this study, fifteen participants with congenital blindness (CB), fifteen with late blindness (LB), fifteen sighted blindfolded controls (SbfC), and fifteen sighted participants performed two tasks of deductive reasoning and two of working memory.

Visuospatial and Tactile Working Memory in Individuals with Congenital Deafness.

Studies examining visuospatial working memory (WM) in individuals with congenital deafness have yielded inconsistent results, and tactile WM has rarely been examined. The current study examined WM span tasks in the two modalities among 20 individuals with congenital deafness and 20 participants with typical hearing. The congenital deafness group had longer forward and backward spans than typical hearing participants in a computerized Corsi block-tapping test (Visuospatial Span), whereas no such difference was found in the Tactual Span (tactile WM).

Does lack of brain injury mean lack of cognitive impairment in traumatic spinal cord injury?

Objective: Traumatic spinal cord injury (tSCI) has implications in many areas, including cognitive functioning. Findings regarding cognitive problems in people with SCI are inconsistent, presumably due to multiple variables than can affect performance, among them emotional variables. The purpose of the current study was to elucidate cognitive sequalae in some individuals with tSCI with no medical record of brain injury, while taking emotional variables into consideration.

Introducing the Tactual Span: A New Task for Assessing Working Memory in the Teactile Modality.

The span paradigm is commonly used to assess working memory (WM), predominantly through the visual and auditory routes and less often through the tactile modality. The current study aimed to validate the "Tactual Span", a new task developed to evaluate WM in the tactile modality. Participants were 140 healthy young adults, who performed the Tactual Span alongside span tasks in three additional modalities (auditory, visual, and visuospatial), as well as a selective attention task and a semantic verbal fluency task.

Assessment of the unmediated relationship between neurological impairment and health-related quality of life following spinal cord injury.

To assess the unmediated association between neurological impairment and quality of life (QoL) among persons with spinal cord injury (SCI), in the context of both early post-acute and long-term rehabilitation settings. An observational prospective cross-sectional study. Two neurological rehabilitation centers, specializing in spinal cord injury, within a university hospital.

Executive functioning and spatial processing in anorexia nervosa: an experimental study and its significance for the allocentric lock theory.

Purpose: The allocentric lock theory (ALT) suggests that people with eating disorders have difficulties in multisensory integration in two reference frames-egocentric and allocentric, whereby the egocentric, but not allocentric, is impaired. This leads to a distorted body image that contributes to the development and maintenance of the disorder. The current study aimed to explore a facet of the ALT, namely, the visuo-spatial aspect, and its relation to cognitive flexibility in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN).

Cognitive functions and disability progression in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: A longitudinal study.

Longitudinal studies have shown inconsistent findings regarding the association between cognition, demographic characteristics, and clinical decline in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Our objective was to further explore these relations, over time, while also considering age and sex. A total of 183 patients with RRMS were assessed at two time points, using a neuropsychological battery and the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS).

Verbal Versus Figural Fluency Tests in Currently Ill and Weight Restored Anorexia Nervosa Patients.

Fluency tests allow domain-specific assessment of verbal and non-verbal executive functions (EF) comparison and also enable utilizing of both quantitative and qualitative scoring methods. Thirty-five currently ill anorexia nervosa patients (PANs), 33 weight-restored patients (WRAN) and 47 healthy controls (HCs) were administered the word fluency test and the five-point test. Results show that WRANs tended to perseverate more than HCs in the verbal-fluency test.

Employing executive functions of perceptual and memory abilities in underweight and weight-restored anorexia nervosa patients.

Purpose: Executive functions (EF) have been widely investigated in anorexia nervosa (AN) revealing difficulties in various aspects. We aimed at testing the effects of EF on stimuli perception and its representations in memory.

Methods: Thirty AN underweight patients, 30 weight-restored AN patients, and 44 control participants, were recruited.

The sorting test of the D-KEFS in current and weight restored anorexia nervosa patients.

Objective: Efforts have been made to characterize executive functions (EF) in anorexia nervosa (AN) both in the acute stage of the illness and after weight gain, yet many questions remain. The question of verbal versus visuo-perceptual stimuli in this regard has not been adequately addressed. The aim of this study is to further examine EF in women with past and present AN and to compare their performances in verbal and visual modalities with women who have never suffered from an eating disorder.

Persistent extreme regressive behavior in severe traumatic brain injury patients: a rare neurological phenomenon.

Regressive behavior is a known sequela after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, prolonged "infantile-like" behavior has received little attention in the literature, suggesting that this is a rare phenomenon. It is typically characterized by long-lasting childish, extremely dependent, and sometimes aggressive behavior, which is distinguished from the expected recovery process.

The Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System Sorting Test as an evaluative tool for executive functions after severe traumatic brain injury: a comparative study.

Neuropsychological tests are often used to evaluate executive function (EF) deficits in patients suffering traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). This study compared the sensitivity of three such tests--namely, the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System Sorting Test (D-KEFS ST), the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), and the Trail Making Test (TMT)--in differentiating between severe TBI patients and healthy controls. The differences between the two groups were significant for 5/5 variables evaluated through the D-KEFS ST, for 4/6 variables evaluated through the WCST, and for 2/2 variables evaluated through the TMT.