Training in improvisation techniques helps reduce caregiver burden and depression: Innovative Practice.

This study measured outcomes of a novel pilot program designed to teach improvisation skills to caregivers of family members with dementia. Fifteen caregivers completed questionnaires measuring changes in their perception of burden (Zarit Burden Interview), depression (Beck Depression Inventory), their cared-for person's neuropsychiatric symptoms (Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire), and experiences related to caregiving. Caregivers' depressive symptoms and sense of burden significantly decreased after completing the six-week program.

Awareness of Psychiatric Symptoms in a Mixed Clinical Sample of Older Adults.

Objective: This study examined the neuropsychological correlates and impact on caregiver distress of reduced awareness of mood symptoms in patients with suspected neurodegenerative disease.

Method: Records from a clinical sample of older adults were examined (N = 940).

Results: More than one-third of patient and caregiver ratings of mood symptoms did not agree (comparing patient and caregiver self-report measures); 27.

Does informant-based reporting of cognitive symptoms predict amyloid positivity on positron emission tomography?

Introduction: Researchers are searching for clinical instruments to predict amyloid positivity for disease classification. Informant-based reports could detect disease status. This study compares subjective memory complaints captured by informant-based reports between positron emission tomography (PET)-positive and PET-negative patients and hypothesizes that amyloid PET positivity associates with increased informant-based cognitive complaints.

Strategy use and verbal memory in older adults: The role of intellectual functioning and the preferential impact of semantic clustering.

The relative importance of various mechanisms supporting declarative verbal memory among older adults remains uncertain. The present study examined the impact of strategy use (specifically semantic clustering) versus other variables known to impact memory performance (age, sex, education, FSIQ, processing speed, and executive functioning) on verbal memory functioning among healthy older adults. Healthy older adults from the California Verbal Learning Test, Second Edition standardization sample were selected ( = 242).

Influence of sex differences in interpreting learning and memory within a clinical sample of older adults.

Sex is an important factor to consider when evaluating memory with older adults. This present study aimed to examine sex differences in memory within a clinical sample of older adults ( = 1084). Raw learning and recall scores on the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test, Revised (HVLT-R) and Brief Visuospatial Memory Test, Revised (BVMT-R) were compared between sexes within the entire sample and cohorts stratified by age.