Cultural bias in the assessment of language: A closer look at the Boston naming test among multicultural Canadian older adults.

Objective: The Boston Naming Test (BNT) is commonly used to assess word-finding in older adults but performance may be impacted by cultural and linguistic factors. This study aimed to assess cultural bias in BNT performance among older adults, explore sources of this bias and provide clinical guidelines for its use in multicultural settings.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective chart review of 525 older adults referred for neuropsychological assessment at a large geriatric hospital in a multicultural Canadian city.

Interindividual and intraindividual variability in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) measured with an online cognitive assessment.

Introduction: Mean cognitive performance is worse in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) compared to control groups. However, studies on variability of cognitive performance in aMCI have yielded inconclusive results, with many differences in variability measures and samples from one study to another.

Methods: We examined variability in aMCI using an existing older adult sample ( = 91; 51 with aMCI, 40 with normal cognition for age), measured with an online self-administered computerized cognitive assessment (Cogniciti's Brain Health Assessment).

Considering Age-Related Hearing Loss in Neuropsychological Practice: Findings from a Feasibility Study.

ABSTRACTHearing loss is highly prevalent in older adults and can pose challenges for neuropsychologists, as assessment and intervention procedures often involve orally presented information which must be accurately heard. This project examined the hearing status of 20 clients (mean age = 71 years) in a hospital-based outpatient neuropsychology clinic, and explored whether information about hearing loss informed neuropsychologists' clinical practice. A research assistant administered a brief hearing screening test to each participant.

Correction to: The Toronto cognitive assessment (TorCA): normative data and validation to detect amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

Upon publication of this article [1], it was brought to our attention that one of the 303 participants in the normative study should have been deleted from the database.

The Toronto Cognitive Assessment (TorCA): normative data and validation to detect amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

Background: A need exists for easily administered assessment tools to detect mild cognitive changes that are more comprehensive than screening tests but shorter than a neuropsychological battery and that can be administered by physicians, as well as any health care professional or trained assistant in any medical setting. The Toronto Cognitive Assessment (TorCA) was developed to achieve these goals.

Methods: We obtained normative data on the TorCA (n = 303), determined test reliability, developed an iPad version, and validated the TorCA against neuropsychological assessment for detecting amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) (n = 50/57, aMCI/normal cognition).

Temporally graded semantic memory loss in Alzheimer's disease: cross-sectional and longitudinal studies.

Semantic knowledge of famous names and words that entered popular North American culture at different times in the 20th century was examined in 16 patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD), 12 of whom were re-tested 1 year later. All patients showed evidence of temporally graded memory loss, with names and words from the remote past being relatively better preserved than recent names and words. There was considerable between-patient variability with respect to severity of semantic impairment.