Predictors of multi-domain cognitive decline following DBS for treatment of Parkinson's disease.

Background: Statistically and clinically significant cognitive declines are observed in a small subset of individuals with Parkinson's Disease (PD) following treatment with Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS).

Objectives: We examine the association between multi-domain cognitive decline (MCD) and demographic and baseline clinical variables and the incidence of serious adverse events (SAE) arising within a six-month interval following DBS for PD.

Method: Study participants with PD who displayed MCD at 6-month follow-up evaluation after DBS (n = 18) were contrasted with individuals with PD from the same study who did not show cognitive decline after DBS (n = 146).

Neuropsychological changes following deep brain stimulation surgery for Parkinson's disease: comparisons of treatment at pallidal and subthalamic targets versus best medical therapy.

Background: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) improves motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD), but questions remain regarding neuropsychological decrements sometimes associated with this treatment, including rates of statistically and clinically meaningful change, and whether there are differences in outcome related to surgical target.

Methods: Neuropsychological functioning was assessed in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) at baseline and after 6 months in a prospective, randomised, controlled study comparing best medical therapy (BMT, n=116) and bilateral deep brain stimulation (DBS, n=164) at either the subthalamic nucleus (STN, n=84) or globus pallidus interna (GPi, n=80), using standardised neuropsychological tests. Measures of functional outcomes were also administered.

Measures of learning, memory and processing speed accurately predict smoking status in short-term abstinent treatment-seeking alcohol-dependent individuals.

Aim: Chronic cigarette smoking appears to adversely affect several domains of neurocognition in those with alcohol use disorders (AUDs). The primary goal of this study was to identify which measures commonly used to assess neurocognition in AUDs accurately predict smoking status of individuals seeking treatment of alcohol dependence.

Methods: Treatment-seeking alcohol-dependent participants (ALC; n = 92) completed a comprehensive neuropsychological battery after 33 ± 9 days of abstinence.

Effects of low-level exposure to sarin and cyclosarin during the 1991 Gulf War on brain function and brain structure in US veterans.

Background: Potentially more than 100,000 US troops may have been exposed to the organophosphate chemical warfare agents sarin (GB) and cyclosarin (GF) when a munitions dump at Khamisiyah, Iraq was destroyed during the Gulf War (GW) in 1991. Although little is known about the long-term neurobehavioral or neurophysiological effects of low-dose exposure to GB/GF in humans, recent studies of GW veterans from the Devens Cohort suggest decrements in certain cognitive domains and atrophy in brain white matter occur individuals with higher estimated levels of presumed GB/GF exposure. The goal of the current study is to determine the generalizability of these findings in another cohort of GW veterans with suspected GB/GF exposure.

The relationships of sociodemographic factors, medical, psychiatric, and substance-misuse co-morbidities to neurocognition in short-term abstinent alcohol-dependent individuals.

Co-morbidities that commonly accompany those afflicted with an alcohol use disorder (AUD) may promote variability in the pattern and magnitude of neurocognitive abnormalities demonstrated. The goal of this study was to investigate the influence of several common co-morbid medical conditions (primarily hypertension and hepatitis C), psychiatric (primarily unipolar mood and anxiety disorders), and substance use (primarily psychostimulant and cannabis) disorders, and chronic cigarette smoking on the neurocognitive functioning in short-term abstinent, treatment-seeking individuals with AUD. Seventy-five alcohol-dependent participants (ALC; 51+/-9 years of age; three females) completed comprehensive neurocognitive testing after approximately 1 month of abstinence.

Chronic cigarette smoking and heavy drinking in human immunodeficiency virus: consequences for neurocognition and brain morphology.

Alcohol use disorders (AUD) and chronic cigarette smoking are common among individuals with human immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV). Concurrent AUD in HIV is related to greater abnormalities in brain morphology and neurocognition than either condition alone. However, the potential influence of chronic smoking on brain morphology and neurocognition in those concurrently afflicted with AUD and HIV has not been examined.

Chronic smoking is associated with differential neurocognitive recovery in abstinent alcoholic patients: a preliminary investigation.

Background: Approximately 50 to 90% of individuals in North America seeking treatment for alcoholism are chronic smokers. A growing body of evidence suggests that chronic cigarette smokers show a pattern of neurocognitive dysfunction similar to that observed in alcoholic patients. However, previous studies investigating neurocognitive recovery in abstinent alcoholic patients did not specifically consider the potential effects of chronic cigarette smoking.

Neuropsychological performance following staged bilateral pallidal or subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has the potential to significantly reduce motor symptoms in advanced Parkinson's disease (PD). Controversy remains about non-motor effects of DBS and the relative advantages of treatment at two brain targets, the globus pallidus internus (GPi) and the subthalamic nucleus (STN). We investigated effects of DBS on neuropsychological functioning in 42 patients with advanced PD randomly assigned to receive staged bilateral DBS surgery of either the GPi or STN.

A comparison of neurocognitive function in nonsmoking and chronically smoking short-term abstinent alcoholics.

Approximately 70-90% of individuals in North America seeking treatment for alcoholism are chronic smokers. A growing body of evidence suggests chronic cigarette smoking alone adversely affects neurocognition in adults. However, few studies on the neurocognitive function of short-term abstinent alcoholics have specifically considered the potential effects of chronic cigarette smoking.

Brain metabolite concentrations and neurocognition during short-term recovery from alcohol dependence: Preliminary evidence of the effects of concurrent chronic cigarette smoking.

Background: Longitudinal studies of brain tissue metabolite recovery in short-term abstinent alcoholics have primarily investigated the frontal lobes and cerebellum with variable results. Preliminary proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (1H MRSI) suggested that chronic cigarette smoking exacerbates alcohol-induced brain injury in 1-week abstinent alcoholics. However, the potential effects of chronic cigarette smoking on the recovery of alcohol-induced brain injury have not been studied.

Heavy alcohol consumption in individuals with HIV infection: effects on neuropsychological performance.

Higher rates of alcohol use have been reported in HIV+ individuals compared to the general population. Both heavy alcohol use and HIV infection are associated with increased risk of neuropsychological (NP) impairment. We examined effects of heavy active alcohol use and HIV on NP functioning in a large sample of community-residing HIV+ individuals and HIV- controls.

Abnormal contingent negative variation in HIV patients receiving antiretroviral therapy.

The contingent negative variation, an event-related potential related to neural activity in the frontal lobe and basal ganglia, neuropsychological tests and structural MRI were used to examine CNS function and structure in HIV-positive patients receiving antiretroviral therapy. Relative to controls, HIV patients had smaller thalamic volume and reduced late contingent negative variation amplitude that correlated with caudal atrophy. Behaviorally, viremic patients were more impaired than virally suppressed patients and controls on neuropsychological measures of psychomotor speed, selective attention and mental flexibility.

Abnormal CNV in chronic heavy drinkers.

Objective: We used the contingent negative variation (CNV), a slow negative shift in the human electroencephalogram, to investigate the effects of heavy chronic alcohol use on frontal lobe function.

Methods: Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 30 heavy drinkers (HD) and 30 age-, sex-, and education-matched light or non-drinkers (LD), using a classical two-stimulus reaction time (RT) paradigm. Structural magnetic resonance images and neuropsychological tests were also administered.