Extended Interval Dosing Natalizumab and impact on neuropsychological deficits in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis.

Cognitive impairment and neuropsychiatric symptoms are frequently reported in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS). Natalizumab (NTZ) is usually administered on a 4-weekly Standard Interval Dosing (SID) schedule. However, Extended Interval Dosing (EID) at 6-8 weekly intervals has been proven non-inferior regarding relapse risk, with a lower risk of Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML).

An evaluation of treatment integrity in a randomized trial of behavioural therapy for low mood in stroke patients with aphasia.

Objective: To assess the treatment integrity of behavioural therapy for low mood in stroke patients with aphasia.

Design: Participants were recruited to a multicentre randomized controlled trial (Communication and Low Mood; CALM trial) comparing behavioural therapy with a usual care control group.

Subjects: Of the 51 participants randomly allocated to receive behavioural therapy, 44 participants completed treatment.

Executive functioning in chronic alcoholism and Korsakoff syndrome.

Korsakoff syndrome (KS) is characterized by dense anterograde and retrograde amnesia. There is often a temporal gradient to the retrograde amnesia, with earlier memories more readily recalled than recent memories. Executive functioning has also been found to be impaired in KS.

Communication and Low Mood (CALM): a randomized controlled trial of behavioural therapy for stroke patients with aphasia.

Objective: The aim was to evaluate behavioural therapy as a treatment for low mood in people with aphasia.

Design: A randomized controlled trial comparing behavioural therapy plus usual care with a usual care control. Potential participants with aphasia after stroke were screened for the presence of low mood.

An interpretative phenomenological analysis of the patient experience of awake craniotomy: brain tumour diagnosis to discharge.

Objectives: Previous research exploring the patient experience of awake craniotomy (AC) has yielded contrasting accounts. The current study aimed to explore the lived experience of having undergone an AC in the United Kingdom.

Design: This was a qualitative, semi-structured interview study.

Stroop performance in multiple sclerosis: information processing, selective attention, or executive functioning?

Cognitive impairments in information processing speed, attention and executive functioning are widely reported in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Several studies have identified impaired performance on the Stroop test in people with MS, yet uncertainty remains over the cause of this phenomenon. In this study, 25 patients with MS were assessed with a neuropsychological test battery including a computerized Stroop test and a computerized test of information processing speed, the Graded Conditional Discrimination Tasks (GCDT).

A 5-year follow-up study of an atypical case of myotonic dystrophy.

This study presents 5-year follow-up data on NG, a woman with adult onset myotonic dystrophy and progressive cognitive decline who was first described by Wilson et al. The extent of the cognitive impairment is atypical of symptom-onset in adulthood and of paternal inheritance, both of which apply to this case. Together, the present and earlier studies report the results of regular neuropsychological assessments over a 16-year period.

Egocentric disorientation following bilateral parietal lobe damage.

Aguirre and D'Esposito (1999) suggested a taxonomy and theoretical framework for understanding topographical disorders. One of the problems they described involved egocentric disorientation, in which deficits are not strictly confined to the topographical sphere but are seen on a wide variety of visuo-spatial paradigms. Here, we report a neuropsychological investigation of MU, a person with egocentric disorientation.

Emotional adjustment following cognitive recovery from 'persistent vegetative state': psychological and personal perspectives.

Previously, the cognitive recovery of a 26 year old woman, Kate, who developed a severe encephalomyelopathy and was in a 'minimally conscious/persistent vegetative state' for 6 months was reported. After 6 months, Kate began to respond to her environment and, at 2 years post-illness, neuropsychological assessment indicated that Kate was functioning within the normal range on tests of general intellectual functioning, executive functioning and most memory functions (with the exception of visual recognition memory). Although Kate has a severe dysarthria necessitating the use of a communication board and severe physical disabilities that require her to use a wheelchair, she has demonstrated an almost complete cognitive recovery and is among a tiny percentage of minimally conscious patients to do so.