Verbal Learning and Memory Deficits across Neurological and Neuropsychiatric Disorders: Insights from an ENIGMA Mega Analysis.

Deficits in memory performance have been linked to a wide range of neurological and neuropsychiatric conditions. While many studies have assessed the memory impacts of individual conditions, this study considers a broader perspective by evaluating how memory recall is differentially associated with nine common neuropsychiatric conditions using data drawn from 55 international studies, aggregating 15,883 unique participants aged 15-90. The effects of dementia, mild cognitive impairment, Parkinson's disease, traumatic brain injury, stroke, depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder on immediate, short-, and long-delay verbal learning and memory (VLM) scores were estimated relative to matched healthy individuals.

The neural substrates of social cognition deficits in newly diagnosed multiple sclerosis patients.

Objective: Cognitive and affective symptoms in multiple sclerosis (MS) can be independently impaired and have different pathways of progression. Cognitive alterations have been described since the earliest MS stages; by contrast, the social cognition (SC) domain has never been investigated in the first year from MS diagnosis. We aimed to evaluate SC and unravel its neural bases in newly diagnosed MS patients.

Accelerated Aging after Traumatic Brain Injury: An ENIGMA Multi-Cohort Mega-Analysis.

Objective: The long-term consequences of traumatic brain injury (TBI) on brain structure remain uncertain. Given evidence that a single significant brain injury event increases the risk of dementia, brain-age estimation could provide a novel and efficient indexing of the long-term consequences of TBI. Brain-age procedures use predictive modeling to calculate brain-age scores for an individual using structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data.

A Combined Interventional Approach to Train Interview Skills in Autistic Transition-Age Youth.

Background: The job interview can be challenging for autistic adolescents considering the required social communication skills. Further, having decreased awareness of personal strengths may make it difficult to advocate for oneself to a future employer. The purpose of the current pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) is to examine the preliminary efficacy and feasibility of a combined interventional approach using: the Virtual Interview Tool for Autistic Transition-Age Youth (VIT-TAY) and Kessler Foundation Strength Identification and Expression (KF-STRIDE).

An Examination of Positive and Negative Outcomes During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Persons With Multiple Sclerosis.

Importance: This study provides information to clinicians about how persons with MS coped in both positive and negative ways during a potentially traumatic experience (the coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19] pandemic), which will help clinicians to provide better services to this population in the face of stressful events.

Objective: To describe both positive and negative outcomes among persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) and to examine whether resilience and social support were related to positive and negative outcomes during the peak of the pandemic.

Design: An online survey administered during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Evaluating the effects of brain injury, disease and tasks on cognitive fatigue.

Because cognitive fatigue (CF) is common and debilitating following brain injury or disease we investigated the relationships among CF, behavioral performance, and cerebral activation within and across populations by combining the data from two cross-sectional studies. Individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) were included to model CF resulting from neurological disease; individuals who had sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) were included to model CF resulting from neurological insult; both groups were compared with a control group (Controls). CF was induced while neuroimaging data was acquired using two different tasks.

Development and Psychometric Properties of Self-Reported Job Interview Skills and Job Interview Anxiety for Autistic Transition-Age Youth.

Background: The study of job interview training is an emerging area among transition-age autistic youth who face significant challenges when navigating job interviews. The autism field has limited measures that have undergone rigorous psychometric evaluation.

Objective: We sought to evaluate the psychometric properties of adapted self-report measures assessing job interview skills and job interview anxiety.

Associations between smartphone keystroke dynamics and cognition in MS.

Objective: Examine the associations between smartphone keystroke dynamics and cognitive functioning among persons with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Methods: Sixteen persons with MS with no self-reported upper extremity or typing difficulties and 10 healthy controls (HCs) completed six weeks of remote monitoring of their keystroke dynamics (i.e.

Fatigue Across the Lifespan in Men and Women: State vs. Trait.

Objective: Fatigue is commonly thought to worsen with age, but the literature is mixed: some studies show that older individuals experience more fatigue, others report the reverse. Some inconsistencies in the literature may be related to gender differences in fatigue while others may be due to differences in the instruments used to study fatigue, since the correlation between state (in the moment) and trait (over an extended period of time) measures of fatigue has been shown to be weak. The purpose of the current study was to examine both state and trait fatigue across age and gender using neuroimaging and self-report data.

Improving mental health in Multiple Sclerosis with an interpersonal emotion regulation intervention: A prospective, randomized controlled trial.

Background: Over a third of people with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS) struggle with poor mental health, which exacerbates physical symptoms and complicates clinical treatment. To address this, we tested the efficacy of an interpersonal emotion regulation intervention: this intervention seeks to improve mental health by teaching participants to use emotion regulation strategies which leverage social support (e.g.

Signal Detection Theory as a Novel Tool to Understand Cognitive Fatigue in Individuals With Multiple Sclerosis.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) affects 2.8 million persons worldwide. One of the most persistent, pervasive, and debilitating symptoms of MS is cognitive fatigue.

Character Strengths Across Disabilities: An International Exploratory Study and Implications for Positive Psychiatry and Psychology.

The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in character strengths for people with disabilities by using an international dataset by the VIA Institiute on Character. Specifically, we aimed to explore (a) the top and bottom five character strengths reported by different disability groups and all people with disabilities more broadly, and (b) group differences in each character strength and total character strengths. The investigator contacted the VIA Institute on Character (http://www.

Aquatic exercise for persons with MS: Patient-reported preferences, obstacles and recommendations.

Background: Many persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) have difficulties engaging in traditional land-based physical activity due to heat sensitivity and physical disability. Aquatic exercise may be a suitable alternative for these individuals, preventing overheating and enabling a range of movements that were otherwise difficult on land. The objective of the current study was to understand why some persons with MS prefer aquatic exercise while others prefer non-aquatic exercise, which will inform recommendations.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on engagement in activities of daily living in persons with acquired brain injury.

Primary Objectives: This study examined (a) the impact of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on engagement in activity participation in persons with acquired brain injury (ABI); and (b) whether changes in activity participation during the pandemic were associated participants' health-related quality of life (HRQoL).

Research Design: Exploratory online survey study.

Methods: Eighty-seven respondents with ABI and 98 healthy adults (HA) participated in this study.

Relationships between changes in daily occupations and health-related quality of life in persons with multiple sclerosis during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique opportunity to explore the impact of the mandated lockdown and social distancing policies on engagement in daily occupations for individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) and able bodied (i.e. healthy) adults.

Emotional processing intervention (EMOPRINT): A blinded randomized control trial to treat facial affect recognition deficits in multiple sclerosis.

Objective: Facial affect recognition deficits have been noted in persons with MS, however there is no treatment for these impairments. We investigated the efficacy of the Emotional Processing Intervention (EMOPRINT), a 12-session behavioral intervention teaching facial affect recognition skills and mimicry to improve facial affect recognition abilities in persons with MS.

Methods: This double blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial with two time points (pre-treatment; post-treatment) included 36 participants with clinically definite MS, 21 in the treatment group and 15 in the placebo control group.

Healthcare Disruptions and Use of Telehealth Services Among People With Multiple Sclerosis During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective: The current study examined health care disruptions and use of telehealth services among people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Setting: General community.

Differential Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Health Care Utilization Disruption for Community-Dwelling Individuals With and Without Acquired Brain Injury.

Objective: To delineate health care disruption for individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI) during the peak of the pandemic and to understand the impact of health care disruption on health-related quality of life (HRQoL).

Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Setting: General community.

Effects of walking exercise training on learning and memory and hippocampal neuroimaging outcomes in MS: A targeted, pilot randomized controlled trial.

Purpose: The current pilot study involved a single-blind, randomized controlled trial (RCT) on the effects of treadmill walking exercise training compared with an active control condition on learning and memory (L/M) and hippocampal neuroimaging outcomes in 11 fully-ambulatory persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) who demonstrated impairments in new learning.

Methods: The study protocol is registered at clinicaltrials.gov: NCT03319771 (February 2018).

The effect of severe traumatic brain injury on social cognition, emotion regulation, and mood.

This chapter provides a review of the emotional and psychosocial consequences of moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Many of the disorders affecting socioemotional function arise from damage to frontotemporal systems, exacerbated by white matter injury. They include disorders of social cognition, such as the ability to recognize emotions in others, the ability to attribute mental states to others, and the ability to experience empathy.

Social Cognition in Multiple Sclerosis: A 3-Year Follow-Up MRI and Behavioral Study.

Social cognition (SC) has become a topic of widespread interest in the last decade. SC deficits were described in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, in association with amygdala lesions, even in those without formal cognitive impairment. In this 3-year follow-up study, we aimed at longitudinally investigating the evolution of SC deficits and amygdala damage in a group of cognitive-normal MS patients, and the association between SC and psychological well-being.

Cognitive Fatigue Is Associated with Altered Functional Connectivity in Interoceptive and Reward Pathways in Multiple Sclerosis.

Cognitive fatigue is common and debilitating among persons with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). Neural mechanisms underlying fatigue are not well understood, which results in lack of adequate treatment. The current study examined cognitive fatigue-related functional connectivity among 26 pwMS and 14 demographically matched healthy controls (HCs).