Alcohol use disorder and fitness to drive: Discrepancies between health professionals' evaluations and objective measures of alcohol use and cognitive functioning.

In this study, we investigated if health professionals' evaluations of driving ability corresponded with measures of severity of alcohol use and measures of cognitive functions necessary for safely driving a car. A total of 90 participants from a multicentre study were included. Participants were categorised into three groups: (1) the group judged fit to drive (FIT); (2) the group judged not fit to drive (UNFIT); and (3) the group who had lost their driver's licence due to legal sanctions (LEGAL).

SMART-goal domains and goal attainment in an individualized, goal-oriented intervention for children with acquired brain injury and their families.

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04798859.

Impaired or not impaired: The accuracy of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment in detecting cognitive impairment among patients with alcohol use disorder.

Background: Cognitive impairments are common in alcohol use disorder (AUD), but only a few studies have investigated the accuracy of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in this population. We examined the accuracy and precision of the MoCA in detecting cognitive impairment in a sample of patients with AUD. In addition, we investigated whether the MoCA predicts premature discontinuation from treatment.

The Utility of Neuromuscular Assessment to Identify ADHD Among Patients with a Complex Symptom Picture.

Objective: Diagnostic assessment of ADHD is challenging due to comorbid psychopathologies and symptoms overlapping with other psychiatric disorders. In this study, we investigate if a distinct pattern of neuromuscular dysregulation previously reported in ADHD, can help identifying ADHD in psychiatric patients with diverse and complex symptoms.

Method: We explored the impact of neuromuscular dysregulation, as measured by The Motor Function Neurologic Assessment (MFNU), on the likelihood of being diagnosed with ADHD, affective disorder, anxiety disorder, or personality disorder among adults ( = 115) referred to a psychiatric outpatient clinic.

Clinical characteristics and factors affecting disease severity in hospitalized tick-borne encephalitis patients in Norway from 2018 to 2022.

Purpose: To describe the clinical characteristics and factors associated with disease severity in a Norwegian cohort of hospitalized patients with tick-borne encephalitis (TBE).

Methods: This observational multicenter study included hospitalized patients with TBE in the endemic area in the southeastern region of Norway from 2018 to 2022. Clinical signs and findings from laboratory tests, EEG, CT and MRI scans were recorded.

Effects of auditory white noise stimulation on sustained attention and response time variability.

Introduction: "The moderate brain arousal model" claims that white noise improves attention by optimizing brain arousal. We analyze Conners' Continuous Performance Test-3 (CCPT-3) performance, expecting to find reduced reaction time variability with noise mediated by decrease under long event-rates and in later parts of the test, indicating that noise reverse fall in phasic and tonic arousal.

Methods: Sixty-five children with high or lower ADHD-symptoms from a child psychiatric unit, succeeded to complete the CCPT-3 with and without white noise.

Patterns of proactive interference in CVLT-II: evidence of a low-organized, disorganized, and highly organized learning style.

Objective: Previous studies have interpreted proactive interference (PI) either as indicating executive dysfunction or a normal process indicating deep level encoding. We investigated these competing models of PI in a large clinical sample using cluster analyses. We expected to find clusters defined by high PI but otherwise characterized by either EF impairment or of good memory performance.

Improving validity of the trail making test with alphabet support.

Objective: The Trail Making Test (TMT) is commonly used worldwide to evaluate cognitive decline and car driving ability. However, it has received critique for its dependence on the Latin alphabet and thus, the risk of misclassifying some participants. Alphabet support potentially increases test validity by avoiding misclassification of executive dysfunction in participants with dyslexia and those with insufficient automatization of the Latin alphabet.

The relationship between the brain-derived neurotrophic factor and neurocognitive response to physical exercise in individuals with schizophrenia.

Objective: Physical exercise can improve neurocognition in individuals with schizophrenia, presumably by facilitating neuroplasticity. There is, however, large inter-individual variation in response. The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been proposed to mediate these effects.

Alterations in inflammatory markers after a 12-week exercise program in individuals with schizophrenia-a randomized controlled trial.

Background: In individuals with schizophrenia, inflammation is associated with depression, somatic comorbidity and reduced quality of life. Physical exercise is known to reduce inflammation in other populations, but we have only limited knowledge in the field of schizophrenia. We assessed inflammatory markers in plasma samples from individuals with schizophrenia participating in an exercise intervention randomized controlled trial.

Neuropsychological and Symptom Predictors of Diagnostic Persistence in ADHD: A 25-Year Follow-up Study.

Background: This study extends long-term predictive research on ADHD by including both neuropsychological and symptom measures at baseline in adolescence as predictors of diagnostic persistence 25 years later.

Methods: Nineteen males with ADHD and 26 healthy controls (HC; M/F = 13/13), were assessed in adolescence and 25 years later. Measurements at baseline included a comprehensive test battery measuring eight neuropsychological domains, an IQ estimate, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), and the Global Assessment Scale of Symptoms.

High-intensity interval training may reduce depressive symptoms in individuals with schizophrenia, putatively through improved VOmax: A randomized controlled trial.

Introduction: High-intensity interval training (HIIT) may improve cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and mental health. The current observer-blinded RCT investigates the sparsely studied efficiency of HIIT in reducing psychotic and non-psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia and complements previous studies by investigating whether symptom reduction following HIIT is associated with, putatively partly mediated by, increased VOmax.

Methods: Participants (outpatients meeting diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia) were randomized to HIIT ( = 43) or a comparison group performing low-intensity active video gaming (AVG) to control for social interaction ( = 39).

The impact of comorbid spinal pain in depression on work participation and clinical remission following brief or short psychotherapy. Secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial with two-year follow-up.

Objectives: This explorative study analyses the influence of baseline comorbid long-lasting spinal pain (CSP) on improvement of long term work participation and clinical remission of mental health illness following either brief coping-focussed or short-term psychotherapy for depression. Whether type of treatment modifies outcome with or without CSP is also analysed.

Design: A secondary post hoc subgroup analysis of a pragmatic randomised controlled trial.

Feasibility and Acceptability of a Complex Telerehabilitation Intervention for Pediatric Acquired Brain Injury: The Child in Context Intervention (CICI).

The current study is a feasibility study of a randomized controlled trial (RCT): the Child in Context Intervention (CICI). The CICI study is an individualized, goal-oriented and home-based intervention conducted mainly through videoconference. It targets children with ongoing challenges (physical, cognitive, behavioral, social and/or psychological) after acquired brain injury (ABI) and their families at least one year post injury.

Rehabilitation for children with chronic acquired brain injury in the Child in Context Intervention (CICI) study: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Pediatric acquired brain injury (pABI) is associated with long-term cognitive, behavioral, social, and emotional problems, which may affect the quality of life, school, and family functioning. Yet, there is a lack of evidence-based community-centered rehabilitation programs for chronic pABI and these children do not systematically receive comprehensive rehabilitation. The Child In Context Intervention (CICI) study is a pragmatic randomized controlled trial (RCT) for children with chronic pABI, which aims to evaluate the effectiveness of an individualized and goal-oriented intervention targeting everyday functioning of the child and family.

Factor structure of the new Scandinavian WISC-V version: Support for a five-factor model.

The fifth version of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children is designed to measure five distinct aspects of intelligence, incorporating a new fluid reasoning index to the four indexes of the previous fourth version. Several factor analyses, however, have failed to support the fifth factor. The Scandinavian version is the only national version not showing clear superiority for the five-factor solution in the Manual.

Exploring low grade inflammation by soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor levels in schizophrenia: a sex-dependent association with depressive symptoms.

Background: There is evidence of increased low grade inflammation (LGI) in schizophrenia patients. However, the inter-individual variation is large and the association with demographic, somatic and psychiatric factors remains unclear. Our aim was to explore whether levels of the novel LGI marker soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) were associated with clinical factors in schizophrenia and if such associations were sex-dependent.

Following H.N. over 21 years: recency change and reduced retention predict later impairment in memory, and recency ratio may combine both effects.

The study follows an intellectually superior patient from initial subjective memory complaints to MCI and dementia over 21 years. Primary memory measures, process- and reliable change-measures from 12 assessments with the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) were analyzed as well as experimental measures of retrieval and Recency-Ratio (Rr) combining traditional recency measures with selective retrieval impairments of recency items.Recency change preceded normatively impaired memory by four years, and retention percentage by two years.

High-intensity interval training and active video gaming improve neurocognition in schizophrenia: a randomized controlled trial.

There is a need for treatments targeting neurocognitive dysfunctions in schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to investigate the neurocognitive effect of aerobic high-intensity interval training (HIIT). A comparison group performed sport simulating active video gaming (AVG).

Effect of high-intensity interval training on cardiorespiratory fitness, physical activity and body composition in people with schizophrenia: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Exercise may improve cardiorespiratory fitness in people with schizophrenia, however, possible condition-specific cardiorespiratory disadvantages, a scarcity of methodologically sound studies, and conflicting results raise questions about the effect of exercise on maximal oxygen uptake (VO) in this group. The primary aim of this study, therefore, was to investigate the effect of high-intensity interval training on VO in people with schizophrenia. Second, we sought to determine whether the intervention would have an effect on general physical activity (PA) level and body composition.

Offering alphabet support in the Trail Making Test: Increasing validity for participants with insufficient automatization of the alphabet.

Insufficient automatization of the alphabet may falsely impair performance on the Trail Making Test among persons with dyslexia or persons not accustomed to the Latin alphabet. We analyze whether writing the alphabet on top of the test sheet changes performance in these risk groups, and whether alphabet support reduces the complexity of the set-shifting task.One-hundred and seventy patients referred to neuropsychological assessment participated and were given both a TMT-version offering alphabet support and the D-KEFS TMT.

The Association Between Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Cognition Appears Neither Related to Current Physical Activity Nor Mediated by Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor in a Sample of Outpatients With Schizophrenia.

We investigated whether levels of current physical activity (PA) contribute to the established relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and cognition in schizophrenia and whether brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) or its precursor proBDNF mediates this relationship. Sixty-one outpatients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders participated. Neurocognition was assessed with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and nine subtests from the MATRICS battery comprising a neurocognitive composite score (NCS).