Central Executive Network and Executive Function in Patients With Alzheimer's Disease and Healthy Individuals: Meta-Analysis of Structural and Functional MRI.

Objective: The neural architecture of executive function is of interest given its utility as a transdiagnostic predictor of adaptive functioning. However, a gap exists in the meta-analytic literature assessing this relationship in neuropsychiatric populations, concordance between structural and functional architecture, and the relationship with neuropsychological assessment of executive function. Given the importance of the central executive network (CEN) in Alzheimer's disease, this population may be useful in understanding this relationship in Alzheimer's disease pathology.

Factors in the neurodevelopment of negative urgency: Findings from a community-dwelling sample.

This study investigated neuroanatomic, genetic, cognitive, sociodemographic and emotional underpinnings of the Negative Urgency subscale of the Urgency, Premeditation, Perseverance, Sensation-Seeking and Positive Urgency Impulsive Behavior Scale in a healthy developmental sample. The goal of the investigation is to contribute to the harmonisation of behavioural, brain and neurogenetic aspects of behavioural self-control. Three domains - (1) Demographic, developmental, psychiatric and cognitive ability; (2) Regional brain volumes (neurobiological); and (3) Genetic variability (single nucleotide polymorphisms) - were examined, and models with relevant predictor variables were selected.

The central executive network and executive function in healthy and persons with schizophrenia groups: a meta-analysis of structural and functional MRI.

This meta-analysis evaluated the extent to which executive function can be understood with structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging. Studies included structural in schizophrenia (k = 8; n = 241) and healthy controls (k = 12; n = 1660), and functional in schizophrenia (k = 4; n = 104) and healthy controls (k = 12; n = 712). Results revealed a positive association in the brain behavior relationship when pooled across schizophrenia and control samples for structural (pr = 0.

Age-dependent relationship of cardiorespiratory fitness and white matter integrity.

Growing evidence has linked cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) to more conserved white matter (WM) microstructure. Additional research is needed to determine which WM tracts are most strongly related to CRF and if the neuroprotective effects of CRF are age-dependent. Participants were community-dwelling adults (N = 499; ages 20-85) from the open-access Nathan Kline Institute - Rockland Sample (NKI-RS) with CRF (bike test) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data.

White matter connectometry among individuals with self-reported family history of drug and alcohol use disorders.

Heredity is an important risk factor for alcoholism. Several studies have been conducted on small groups of alcohol naïve adolescents which show lowered fractional anisotropy of frontal white matter in individuals with a family history of alcohol and substance use disorder (FH+). We compare large adult FH+ and FH- groups using white matter connectometry, different from the previously used global tractography method, as it is more sensitive to regional variability.

Components of executive function model regional prefrontal volumes.

Objective: Designed to measure a diversity of executive functioning (EF) through classical neuropsychological tests, the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function Scale (D-KEFS) allows for the investigation of the neural architecture of EF. We examined how the D-KEFS Tower, Verbal Fluency, Design Fluency, Color-Word Interference, and Trail Making Test tasks related to frontal lobe volumes, quantifying the regional specificity of EF components.

Method: Adults from the Nathan Kline Institute-Rockland Sample (NKI-RS), an open-access community study of brain development, with complete MRI (3T scanner) and D-KEFS data were selected for analysis (N = 478; ages 20-85).

Cognitive, Neuroanatomical, and Genetic Predictors of Executive Function in Healthy Children and Adolescents.

The Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) is a measure of cognitive flexibility for children, which requires rule-use and shifting. Demographic, cognitive, regional cortical thickness, and genetic variables, including those related to language and executive function, were used to build predictive models of DCCS scores in 556 healthy pediatric participants. Gender, age, frontal, and temporal lobe regions of interest, and measures of sustained attention, inhibition, and word reading were selected as the best predictors of DCCS performance.

Identifying errors in Freesurfer automated skull stripping and the incremental utility of manual intervention.

Quality assurance (QA) is vital for ensuring the integrity of processed neuroimaging data for use in clinical neurosciences research. Manual QA (visual inspection) of processed brains for cortical surface reconstruction errors is resource-intensive, particularly with large datasets. Several semi-automated QA tools use quantitative detection of subjects for editing based on outlier brain regions.

On the impact of interhemispheric white matter: Age, executive functioning, and dedifferentiation in the frontal lobes.

Introduction: In middle age, declines in executive functioning (EF) are associated with decrements in the quality and/or quantity of white and grey matter. Recruitment of homologous regions has been identified as a compensatory mechanism for cognitive decline in later middle age; however, research into neural substrates of EF has yet to be guided by dedifferentiation models. We hypothesized that frontal-parietal grey matter volume, interhemispheric white matter, and intrahemispheric white matter fractional anisotropy will be predictive of EF.

Assessment of Patient Self-awareness and Related Neural Correlates in Frontotemporal Dementia and Corticobasal Syndrome.

Objective: We compared two different methods of assessing self-awareness (clinician-rated vs. self- and caregiver report) in participants with neurodegenerative conditions. Additionally, we examined the contribution of memory dysfunction to assessment of self-awareness.

The use of neuropsychological tests to assess intelligence.

Objective: We sought to derive a 'neuropsychological intelligence quotient' (NIQ) to replace IQ testing in some routine assessments.

Method: We administered neuropsychological testing and a seven-subtest short form of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale to a community sample of 394 adults aged 18-96 years. We regressed Wechsler Full Scale IQs (W-FSIQ) on 23 neuropsychological scores and derived an NIQ from 9 measures that explained significant variance in W-FSIQ.

Relationship of mindful awareness to neural processing of angry faces and impact of mindfulness training: A pilot investigation.

Mindfulness is paying attention, non-judgmentally, to experience in the moment. Mindfulness training reduces depression and anxiety and influences neural processes in midline self-referential and lateralized somatosensory and executive networks. Although mindfulness benefits emotion regulation, less is known about its relationship to anger and the corresponding neural correlates.

Therapeutic relationship in the treatment of geriatric depression with executive dysfunction.

Background: The effects of therapeutic relationship (TR) in elder mental health are understudied. A greater understanding of TR in geriatric psychotherapy is particularly needed for treating late-life depression with executive dysfunction, which predicts poor response to antidepressant medication and presents unique clinical challenges.

Methods: Participants were older patients (N = 220) with major depression and executive dysfunction who received 12 weeks of problem-solving therapy or supportive therapy in a randomized control trial.

Assessing the dysexecutive syndrome in dementia.

Objective: We compared performance on tests of dysexecutive behaviour (DB) and executive function (EF) in patients with behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), primary progressive aphasia (PPA) and corticobasal syndrome (CBS).

Methods: Patients diagnosed with bvFTD (n=124), PPA (n=34) and CBS (n=85) were recruited. EF was measured with the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (DKEFS: performance based), and DB was measured with the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale (FrSBe: caregiver-report based).

Role of Executive Dysfunction and Dysexecutive Behavior in Late-Life Depression and Disability.

Objective: Both executive dysfunction (ED), measured by performance-based tasks, and dysexecutive behavior (DB), measured by behavioral rating scales, contribute to late-life depression and comorbid disability. There is a modest positive association of ED and DB, but less is known about their relative contributions to core aspects of neuropsychiatric conditions and whether they provide unique or redundant information.

Methods: Latent variable analyses were applied to ED, DB, depression, and disability data from 220 older patients with major depression and ED who had been enrolled in a psychosocial treatment study of depression.

Social cognition deficits and associations with drinking history in alcoholic men and women.

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated the presence of a social cognition factor as an element of general cognition in healthy control and clinical populations. Recently developed measures of social cognition include the social perception and faces subtests of the Wechsler Advanced Clinical Solutions (ACS) Social Cognition module. While these measures have been validated on various clinical samples, they have not been studied in alcoholics.

Cognitive estimation and its assessment.

Purpose: We evaluated the internal consistency and construct and criterion validity of a 10-item revision of the Cognitive Estimation Task (CET-R) developed by Shallice and Evans to assess problem-solving hypothesis generation.

Method: The CET-R was administered to 216 healthy adults from the Aging, Brain Imaging, and Cognition study and 57 adult outpatients with schizophrenia.

Results: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (EFA and CFA) of the healthy sample revealed that seven of the 10 CET-R items constitute a more internally consistent scale (CET-R-7).

The neural correlates of the dominance dimension of emotion.

Emotion has been conceptualized as a dimensional construct, while the number of dimensions - two or three - has been debated. Research has consistently identified two dimensions - valence and arousal - though ample evidence exists that three dimensions are necessary to describe emotion. One proposed third dimension, identified as dominance, is relevant in clinical syndromes, personality and consumer psychology.

Functional anatomic dissociation of description and picture naming in the left temporal lobe.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used in a non-patient experimental sample to assess the neuroanatomical dissociation of picture and description naming (PN and DN) in temporal lobe (TL). The purpose was to determine the generalizability of findings in semantic organization in the epilepsy patient population to the broader population. It was hypothesized that, akin to patient derived findings, DN would uniquely activate left TL regions anterior to those associated with PN, while overlapping in middle and posterior left TL.

Convergence and divergence of neuroanatomic correlates and executive task performance in healthy controls and psychiatric participants.

The associations between brain matter volume in the cerebral cortex and set shifting and attentional control as operationalized by the Wisconsin Card Sort Test (WCST) and Condition Three of the Delis-Kaplan version of the Color Word Interference Test (CWIT) were investigated in 15 healthy controls and 16 heterogeneously diagnosed psychiatric patients with self-control problems using voxel based morphometry. Both groups underwent standardized magnetic resonance imaging and neuropsychological assessment. WCST and CWIT variables, and a composite, were regressed across the whole brain.

Dorsal/ventral parcellation of the amygdala: relevance to impulsivity and aggression.

Investigations into the specific association of amygdala volume, a critical aspect of the fronto-limbic emotional circuitry, and aggression have produced results broadly consistent with the 'larger is more powerful' doctrine. However, recent reports suggest that the ventral and dorsal aspects of the amygdala play functionally specific roles, respectively, in the activation and control of behavior. Therefore, parceling amygdala volume into dorsal and ventral components might prove productive in testing hypotheses regarding volumetric association to aggression, and impulsivity, a related aspect of self-control.

Hierarchical organization of cortical morphology of decision-making when deconstructing Iowa Gambling Task performance in healthy adults.

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is a measure of decision-making, in which alternative metrics have greater construct validity than conventional metrics. No large scale study has examined the neural correlates in healthy adults. We administered the IGT and structural MRI to 124 healthy participants.

Does the iowa gambling task measure executive function?

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is assumed to measure executive functioning, but this has not been empirically tested by means of both convergent and discriminant validity. We used structural equation modeling (SEM) to test whether the IGT is an executive function (EF) task (convergent validity) and whether it is not related to other neuropsychological domains (discriminant validity). Healthy community-dwelling participants (N = 214) completed a comprehensive neuropsychological battery.

Comparing alternative metrics to assess performance on the Iowa Gambling Task.

This study was conducted in response to calls to develop Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) metrics reflecting more homogeneous aspects of decision making, as well as to add to the literature on reliability and validity of the instrument. The conventional IGT metric, advantageous minus disadvantageous deck selections, was compared to alternatives in which Decks B and C or the first 40 selections were eliminated. We correlated these alternative metrics with performance on other neuropsychological tests in 214 healthy adults, and we compared participant subgroups stratified by health status (214 healthy and 43 unhealthy participants).

Cortical morphology of visual creativity.

Background And Objective: The volume of cortical tissue devoted to a function often influences the quality of a person's ability to perform that function. Up to now only white matter correlates of creativity have been reported, and we wanted to learn if the creative visuospatial performance on the figural Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) is associated with measurements of cerebral gray matter volume in the regions of the brain that are thought to be important in divergent reasoning and visuospatial processing.

Methods: Eighteen healthy college educated men (mean age=40.