Semantic distance abnormalities in mild cognitive impairment: their nature and relationship to function.

Objective: The authors sought to directly examine compromises in the semantic system in mild cognitive impairment and their possible relationship to everyday functional competencies.

Method: Study participants were 25 patients who met criteria for amnestic mild cognitive impairment, 27 patients with mild or moderate Alzheimer's disease, and 70 healthy comparison subjects. The authors administered a novel semantic distance task in which participants make decisions about word or image stimuli that correspond to real-world entities that differ in physical size.

Adaptive competence impairment and cognitive deficits in acutely ill schizophrenia patients residing in nursing homes.

Objectives: The loss of long-term inpatient psychiatric hospital beds over the years has caused schizophrenia patients of all ages to be increasingly placed in nursing home environments that were traditionally reserved for elderly patients. Consequently, many nongeriatric patients with chronic schizophrenia are now residing in nursing home settings. The objective of this article is to determine whether many of these nongeriatric patients are placed in nursing homes because of chronicity of illness and severity of impairment, or because of the limited alternative viable housing options.