Money versus performance feedback: money associated with lower feelings of cognitive fatigue.

Objective: Prior research suggests that effort and reward are central to cognitive fatigue. To better understand the influence of reward on cognitive fatigue, this study examined the effect of reward type and frequency on cognitive fatigue.

Participants And Methods: In an online between-subjects study, 400 participants completed a computerized switching task and were randomly sorted into one of the five possible groups based on reward condition: [1] infrequent money, [2] frequent money, [3] infrequent performance-feedback, [4] frequent performance feedback, and [5] no-reward.

CD4 nadir and neurocognitive trajectories in people living with HIV.

Human immunodeficiency virus-associated neurocognitive disorders persist in the combination antiretroviral therapy era. CD4 nadir is a well-established predictor of cognition cross-sectionally, but its impact on longitudinal neurocognitive (NC) trajectories is unclear. The few studies on this topic examined trajectories of global cognition, rather than specific NC domains.

Education as a Moderator of Help Seeking Behavior in Subjective Cognitive Decline.

Objective: Disparities in Alzheimer disease (AD) and differences in help seeking (HS) across sociodemographic groups warrant public health concern. Research addressing such disparities must shift toward the earliest clinical manifestations of AD to optimize diagnosis, intervention and care planning. Subjective cognitive decline (SCD), a risk state for AD, provides an important context in which to examine sociodemographic-related disparities in HS.

Deconstruction of a multi-strain Bacillus-based probiotic used for poultry: an in vitro assessment of its individual components against C. perfringens.

Objective: Probiotics have been used in poultry production to improve the performance and health of chickens raised without antibiotics. The combination of different probiotic strains has been used with the hope of conferring multiple benefits to the host. However, the inclusion of several strains does not necessarily boost benefits.

Investigating the influence of an effort-reward interaction on cognitive fatigue in individuals with multiple sclerosis.

This study examined whether an alteration in the effort-reward relationship, a theoretical framework based on cognitive neuroscience, could explain cognitive fatigue. Forty persons with MS and 40 healthy age- and education-matched cognitively healthy controls (HC) participated in a computerized switching task with orthogonal high- and low-demand (effort) and reward manipulations. We used the Visual Analog Scale of Fatigue (VAS-F) to assess subjective state fatigue before and after each condition during the task.

The Relationship between Fatigue and a Clinically Accessible Measure of Switching in Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis.

Objective: We examined whether fatigue in multiple sclerosis (MS) is linked to switching processes when switching is measured by the Trail Making Test (TMT).

Method: Eighty-three participants with MS were administered a battery of standardized tests of switching, working memory, and processing speed. Ordinary least squares regression models were used to estimate the association between fatigue severity and switching above and beyond attention, working memory, and processing speed.

Quality of Life and Depressive Symptomatology in Multiple Sclerosis: A Cross-Sectional Study Between the USA and Spain.

Background: For multinational clinical trials in multiple sclerosis (MS), identifying cross-country differences on quality of life (QoL) is important for understanding patients' response variability. No study has compared QoL between Spanish and American MS samples. This study aims to: 1) compare QoL and depressive symptomatology between Spanish and American patients, and against normative data; 2) compare the interrelationship between such constructs between countries; and 3) compare sociodemographic and clinical predictors on these outcomes.

Executive function "drives" differences in simulated driving performance between young adults with and without autism spectrum disorder.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may experience greater difficulty learning to drive than peers who do not have ASD, but reasons for those differences are unclear. This study examined how diagnostic symptoms of ASD and commonly co-morbid executive dysfunction relate to differences in simulated driving performance between young, inexperienced drivers with and without ASD. Participants included 98 young adults, ages 16-26 years, half of which were diagnosed with ASD.

The Relationship Between Multiple Sclerosis Symptom Severity Measures and Performance on Driving Variability Metrics in a Virtual Reality Simulator.

Objective: Driving ability can be compromised in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS); however, the progressive nature of multiple sclerosis makes it difficult for clinicians to assess when performance on functional tasks, such as driving, has started to decline. The aim of the study was to evaluate the relationship between two measures of multiple sclerosis severity, the Expanded Disability Status Scale and the Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite, and minor driving errors in a virtual reality driving simulator.

Design: Symptom severity was measured in 31 active drivers with multiple sclerosis using the Expanded Disability Status Scale and Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite.

An examination of financial capacity and neuropsychological performance in chronic acquired brain injury (CABI).

Primary Objective: Financial Capacity (FC) is known to be impaired in the acute and subacute stages of brain injury. The current study sought to examine FC in the context of chronic, moderate to severe acquired brain injury (CABI).

Research Design: The Financial Competence Assessment Inventory (FCAI), developed in Australia, was adapted to examine the integrity of FC in an American sample.

Driving Comparisons Between Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Typical Development.

Objective: Many individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are reluctant to pursue driving because of concerns about their ability to drive safely. This study aimed to assess differences in simulated driving performance in young adults with ASD and typical development, examining relationships between driving performance and the level of experience (none, driver's permit, licensed) across increasingly difficult driving environments.

Method: Participants included 50 English-speaking young adults (16-26 years old) with ASD matched for sex, age, and licensure with 50 typically-developing (TD) peers.

Informant Report of Financial Capacity for Individuals With Chronic Acquired Brain Injury: An Assessment of Informant Accuracy.

Objective: Primarily, to investigate the association between informant report and objective performance on specific financial capacity (FC) tasks by adults with chronic, moderate to severe acquired brain injury, and to examine the nature of misestimates by the informants.

Design: Cross-sectional design.

Setting: A postacute, community-based rehabilitation center.

Driving after brain injury: Does dual-task modality matter?

Background: Virtual reality technology allows neuropsychologists to examine complex, real-world behaviors with high ecological validity and can provide an understanding of the impact of demanding dual-tasks on driving performance.

Objective: We hypothesized that a task imposing high cognitive and physical demands (coin-sorting) would result in the greatest reduction in driving maintenance performance.

Methods: Twenty participants with acquired brain injury and 28 healthy controls were included in the current study.

Driving-Related Coping Thoughts in Post-9/11 Combat Veterans With and Without Comorbid PTSD and TBI.

Veterans with a history of PTSD, TBI, and combat driving may experience driving anxiety on their return home and may benefit from using targeted coping strategies.

Selective reminding of prospective memory in Multiple Sclerosis.

Objective: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is associated with prospective memory (PM) deficits, which may increase the risk of poor functional/health outcomes such as medication non-adherence. This study examined the potential benefits of selective reminding to enhance PM functioning in persons with MS.

Method: Twenty-one participants with MS and 22 healthy adults (HA) underwent a neuropsychological battery including a Selective Reminding PM (SRPM) experimental procedure.

Neurocognitive Correlates of Young Drivers' Performance in a Driving Simulator.

Purpose: Differences in neurocognitive functioning may contribute to driving performance among young drivers. However, few studies have examined this relation. This pilot study investigated whether common neurocognitive measures were associated with driving performance among young drivers in a driving simulator.

Preliminary findings of a novel measure of driving behaviors in Veterans with comorbid TBI and PTSD.

Veterans of the military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are at an elevated risk of driving-related accidents and fatalities compared with civilians. Combat exposure, military driving training, risk-seeking, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are all factors associated with driving-related risk. However, few empirical studies have observed driving patterns in this population, and the influence of these contributing factors remains unclear.

Electrographic status epilepticus and neurobehavioral outcomes in critically ill children.

Purpose: Electrographic seizures (ESs) and electrographic status epilepticus (ESE) are common in children with acute neurologic conditions in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs), and ESE is associated with worse functional and quality-of-life outcomes. As an exploratory study, we aimed to determine if ESE was associated with worse outcomes using more detailed neurobehavioral measures.

Methods: Three hundred children with an acute neurologic condition and altered mental status underwent clinically indicated EEG monitoring and were enrolled in a prospective observational study.

Driving after traumatic brain injury: evaluation and rehabilitation interventions.

The ability to return to driving is a common goal for individuals who have sustained a traumatic brain injury. However, specific and empirically validated guidelines for clinicians who make the return-to-drive decision are sparse. In this article, we attempt to integrate previous findings on driving after brain injury and detail the cognitive, motor, and sensory factors necessary for safe driving that may be affected by brain injury.

Behavioural ratings of self-regulatory mechanisms and driving behaviour after an acquired brain injury.

Objective: To explore whether measurements of self-regulatory mechanisms and cognition predict driving behaviour after an acquired brain injury (ABI).

Design: Consecutive follow-up study.

Participants: At baseline participants included 77 persons with stroke and 32 persons with a traumatic brain injury (TBI), all of whom completed a multidisciplinary driving assessment (MDA).

Driving errors of learner teens: frequency, nature and their association with practice.

Background: Despite demonstrating basic vehicle operations skills sufficient to pass a state licensing test, novice teen drivers demonstrate several deficits in tactical driving skills during the first several months of independent driving. Improving our knowledge of the types of errors made by teen permit holders early in the learning process would assist in the development of novel approaches to driver training and resources for parent supervision.

Methods: The purpose of the current analysis was to describe driving performance errors made by teens during the permit period, and to determine if there were differences in the frequency and type of errors made by teens: (1) in comparison to licensed, safe, and experienced adult drivers; (2) by teen and parent-supervisor characteristics; and (3) by teen-reported quantity of practice driving.

Effect of the teen driving plan on the driving performance of teenagers before licensure: a randomized clinical trial.

Importance: Many studies have failed to show an effect of parent-supervised practice driving on the driving performance of teenagers; nevertheless, most Graduated Driver Licensing programs have provisions that require supervised practice.

Objective: To determine whether a web-based intervention, the Teen Driving Plan (TDP), can improve the driving performance of teenagers before licensure as measured by the Teen On-road Driving Assessment (tODA).

Design, Setting, And Participants: Randomized, single-blind, clinical trial among 217 dyads (1 parent: 1 teenaged learner's-permit holder) to test TDP effectiveness on increasing the quantity and diversity of supervised practice and improving the teenagers' prelicensed driving performance.

Driving behaviors in adults with autism spectrum disorders.

This pilot study investigated driving history and driving behaviors between adults diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) as compared to non-ASD adult drivers. Seventy-eight licensed drivers with ASD and 94 non-ASD comparison participants completed the Driver Behavior Questionnaire. Drivers with ASD endorsed significantly lower ratings of their ability to drive, and higher numbers of traffic accidents and citations relative to non-ASD drivers.

Electrographic status epilepticus and long-term outcome in critically ill children.

Objective: Electrographic seizures (ES) and electrographic status epilepticus (ESE) are common in children in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) with acute neurologic conditions. We aimed to determine whether ES or ESE was associated with worse long-term outcomes.

Methods: Three hundred children with an acute neurologic condition and encephalopathy underwent clinically indicated EEG monitoring and were enrolled in a prospective observational study.