Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of death and disability worldwide and often leads to long-lasting emotional, physical, and cognitive changes and results in reduced functioning across multiple domains. These changes often lead to strain in marital relationships as the uninjured spouse grapples with adapting to the changes in their partner. The purpose of this study was to examine the probability of marital stability after TBI at 6 and 12 months following injury (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe general aim is to identify the explanatory potential of alcohol use intentions in drinking behaviors in a sample of adolescents in Ecuador. The method consists of a descriptive, explanatory, and cross-sectional study using SEM techniques. The participants were 384 adolescents (57% male and 43% female), aged 14-18 years (M = 16.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis is an observational exploratory study assessing self-concept and its association with depression, anxiety, satisfaction with life, and quality of life 6 months after experiencing a traumatic brain injury. Participants were 33 patients who suffered a traumatic brain injury 6 months before the assessment. The measures used in this study were the Repertory Grid Technique, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, Satisfaction With Life Scale, and the Quality of Life after Brain Injury.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFto explore the emotional impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Galapagos Islands. an online survey of 369 participants, conducted on October of 2020, was used to assess levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, as well as specific behavioral and emotional reactions to the pandemic. the prevalence of anxiety was 4% and depression 3.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: One of the most marked problems in the use of screening instruments for the diagnosis of dementia or cognitive impairment in the elderly is the influence of educational level on the results of psychometric tests. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) questionnaire is one of the most widely used dementia screening instruments internationally and with greater proven validity. There is a version of this instrument called MoCA "Basic" which was developed to reduce education bias.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Recent studies support the identification of valid subtypes within schizophrenia and bipolar disorder using cluster analysis. Our aim was to identify meaningful biotypes of psychosis based on network properties of the electroencephalogram. We hypothesized that these parameters would be more altered in a subgroup of patients also characterized by more severe deficits in other clinical, cognitive, and biological measurements.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProg Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry
December 2021
Mapping of Event-Related Potentials (ERP) associated with auditory and visual odd-ball paradigms has shown consistent differences between healthy controls and schizophrenia patients. It may be hypothesized that higher task attentional/cognitive demand will result in larger differences in these paradigms, which may help understanding the substrates of cognitive deficits in this syndrome. To this aim, we performed an EEG study comparing the effects of increasing the attentional/cognitive load of an auditory N-back task on the Event-Related Potential in 50 subjects with schizophrenia (11 first episodes) and 35 healthy controls.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEcuador has been one of the most affected countries by the Corona Virus Disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic, by April 2020 this country presented the highest rates of mortality in Latin America. The purpose of the present study was to identify behaviors during confinement and sociodemographic variables associated with the mental health status of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients who were part of the epidemiological surveillance program in Ecuador that included mandatory confinement and self-isolation. A cross-sectional study was performed from March 22th to April 18th, 2020 using an online survey.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuropsychol Dev Cogn B Aging Neuropsychol Cogn
July 2021
Objective: The purpose of this study was to generate normative data for five tests of attention and executive functions (M-WCST, Stroop test, TMT, BTA, and SDMT), in a group of 322 Ecuadorian adults from Quito between the ages of 18 and 85.
Method: Multiple regression analyzes taking into account age, education, and gender were used to generate the normative data.
Results: Age and education were significantly related to test performance such that scores decreased with age and improved as a function of education.
Objective: The objective of this study was to develop norms for two neuropsychological tests of learning and memory in an Ecuadorian adult population.
Method: 322 healthy individuals, ages between 18 and 84, were enrolled in the Metropolitan District of Quito. Participants were administered a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation that included tests of learning and memory (Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test [ROCF] and Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised [HVLT-R]).
To generate normative data for verbal fluency and naming test in an Ecuadorian adult population. The sample consisted of 322 healthy adults (18-84 years old) recruited from Quito, Ecuador. The verbal fluency and Boston Naming Test (BNT) were administered as part of a larger comprehensive neuropsychological battery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study is part of a larger project to generate norms for letter verbal fluency test (VFT) in 3,284 children from nine Latin American countries. The letter VFT (letters M, R, and P) was administered and multiple linear regressions, including age, age, MPE (mean parental education), MPE, sex, and interactions were used as predictors. Results showed significant differences across countries for all scores.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo determine the prevalence of low scores on two neuropsychological tests commonly used to evaluate learning and memory in children. 6,030 healthy children from 10 countries in Latin America and Spain were administered Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF) and the Test de Aprendizaje y Memoria Verbal-Infantil (TAMV-I). Results showed that low scores are common when multiple neuropsychological outcomes (tests and/or scores) are evaluated in healthy individuals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRivastigmine (RVT) is a reversible inhibitor of cholinesterase approved worldwide for the treatment of cognitive dysfunctions, especially in Alzheimer's disease. Most previous pre-clinical studies have examined the effects of RVT treatment in a wide variety of pathological research models. Nonetheless, the effects of this drug on sensorimotor gating, memory, and learning tasks in healthy subjects remains unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a public health problem worldwide. Information regarding TBI from low- and middle-income countries is scarce. The objectives of this study are to determine the incidence, mortality and geodemographic distribution of TBI in Ecuador.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: To analyze the frequency of use of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) as a cognitive screening instrument, cross-cultural adaptation, the existence of normative data and clinical validation studies in Latin America Hispanic countries.
Subjects And Methods: The Medline, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Scopus and Scielo databases were consulted between April and June 2017 according to the PRISMA methodology. We included all studies referencing the MoCA as an instrument to evaluate cognitive deterioration conducted in Latin America and that included normative and psychometric data, as well as its clinical validation.
Objective: To generate normative data for the Stroop Word-Color Interference test in Spanish-speaking pediatric populations.
Method: The sample consisted of 4,373 healthy children from nine countries in Latin America (Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Puerto Rico) and Spain. Each participant was administered the Stroop Word-Color Interference test as part of a larger neuropsychological battery.
Objective: To generate normative data for the Shortened Version of the Token Test in Spanish-speaking pediatric populations.
Method: The sample consisted of 4,373 healthy children from nine countries in Latin America (Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Puerto Rico) and Spain. Each participant was administered the Shortened Version of the Token Test as part of a larger neuropsychological battery.
Objective: To generate normative data for the Modified Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (M-WCST) in Spanish-speaking pediatric populations.
Method: The sample consisted of 4,373 healthy children from nine countries in Latin America (Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Puerto Rico) and Spain. Each participant was administered the M-WCST as part of a larger neuropsychological battery.
Objective: To generate normative data for the phonological and semantic verbal fluency tests (VFT) in Spanish-speaking pediatric populations.
Method: The sample consisted of 4,373 healthy children from nine countries in Latin America (Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Puerto Rico) and Spain. Each participant was administered the VFT as part of a larger neuropsychological battery.
Introduction: Subclinical psychotic symptoms are associated to negative life outcomes in the general population, but their relationship with cognitive performance is still not well understood. Assessing the relationship between performance in cognitive domains and subclinical psychotic symptoms in the general population may also help understand the handicap attributed to clinical psychosis, in which these alterations are present.
Methods: Subclinical and cognitive assessments were obtained in 203 participants from the general population by means of the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences, the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia, the Wechsler Adults Intelligence Scale and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test.