Clinical validation of an aggregate learning ratio from the neuropsychological assessment battery.

Quantifying learning deficits provides valuable information in identifying and diagnosing mild cognitive impairment and dementia. Previous research has found that a learning ratio (LR) metric, derived from the list learning test from the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (NAB), was able to distinguish between those with normal cognition versus memory impairment. The current study furthers the NAB LR research by validating a NAB story LR, as well as an aggregate LR.

Novel learning ratio from the NAB list learning test distinguishes between clinical groups: clinical validation and sex-related differences.

List-learning tasks provide a wealth of information about an individual's cognitive abilities: attention, encoding, storage, retrieval, recognition. A more recently developed metric, the Learning Ratio (LR), supplements information about cognitive ability and can assist the clinician in determining whether an individual has cognitive impairment. The LR is calculated by taking the difference between the individuals' raw score on the first learning trial and their raw score on the last learning trial, which is then divided by the number of words left to be learned after the first learning trial.

Focusing on Comorbidity-A Novel Meta-Analytic Approach and Protocol to Disentangle the Specific Neuroanatomy of Co-occurring Mental Disorders.

Background: In mental health, comorbidities are the norm rather than the exception. However, current meta-analytic methods for summarizing the neural correlates of mental disorders do not consider comorbidities, reducing them to a source of noise and bias rather than benefitting from their valuable information.

Objectives: We describe and validate a novel neuroimaging meta-analytic approach that focuses on comorbidities.

Neuropsychological Assessment and Screening in Heart Failure: a Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review.

A variety of neuropsychological changes secondary to heart failure have been documented in the literature. However, what remains unclear are which neuropsychological abilities are the most impacted by heart failure and what tests have the sensitivity to measure that impact. Eight databases were searched for articles that examined the neuropsychological functioning of patients with heart failure.

Neuropsychological functioning in opioid use disorder: A research synthesis and meta-analysis.

Background: Research has demonstrated that patients with opioid use disorders (OUD; including both opioid abuse and/or dependence) have poorer neuropsychological functioning compared to healthy controls; however, the pattern and robustness of the findings remain unknown.

Objectives: This study meta-analyzed the results from previous research examining the neuropsychological deficits associated with opioids across 14 neurocognitive domains.

Method: Articles comparing patients with OUD to healthy controls were selected based on detailed inclusion/exclusion criteria and variables of interest were coded.

Neuropsychological comparisons of cocaine versus methamphetamine users: A research synthesis and meta-analysis.

Background: Previous meta-analytical research examining cocaine and methamphetamine separately suggests potentially different neuropsychological profiles associated with each drug. In addition, neuroimaging studies point to distinct structural changes that might underlie differences in neuropsychological functioning.

Objectives: This meta-analysis compared the effect sizes identified in cocaine versus methamphetamine studies across 15 neuropsychological domains.

Gray matter abnormalities in opioid-dependent patients: A neuroimaging meta-analysis.

Background: Prior research utilizing whole-brain neuroimaging techniques has identified structural differences in gray matter in opioid-dependent individuals. However, the results have been inconsistent.

Objectives: The current study meta-analytically examines the neuroimaging findings of studies published before 2016 comparing opioid-dependent individuals to drug-naïve controls.

Meta-analyses of clinical neuropsychological tests of executive dysfunction and impulsivity in alcohol use disorder.

Background: Promising models for cognitive rehabilitation in alcohol treatment rest on a more nuanced understanding of the associated impairments in the multifaceted domains of executive functioning (EF) and impulsivity.

Objectives: This meta-analysis examined the effects of alcohol on the individual subcomponents of EF and impulsivity in recently detoxified participants, including 1) Inhibition & Self-Regulation, 2) Flexibility & Set Shifting, 3) Planning & Problem Solving, 4) Reasoning & Abstraction, and 5) Verbal Fluency. Impulsivity was further examined through an analysis of motor, cognitive, and decisional subcategories.

Age-related parieto-occipital and other gray matter changes in borderline personality disorder: A meta-analysis of cortical and subcortical structures.

Previous research suggests that core borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptoms vary in severity with advancing age. While structural neuroimaging studies show smaller limbic and prefrontal gray matter volumes (GMV) in primarily adult and adolescent BPD patients, respectively, findings are inconsistent. Using the effect-size signed differential mapping (ES-SDM) meta-analytic method, we investigated the relationship between advancing age and GMV abnormalities in BPD patients.

Gray matter abnormalities in cocaine versus methamphetamine-dependent patients: a neuroimaging meta-analysis.

Background: Voxel-based morphometry has been used to explore gray matter alterations in cocaine and methamphetamine dependence. However, the results of this research are inconsistent.

Objectives: The current study meta-analytically examined neuroimaging findings of all studies published before 2014 using the Anisotropic Effect-Size Signed Differential Mapping (ES-SDM).

White matter abnormalities in long-term heroin users: a preliminary neuroimaging meta-analysis.

Background: Diffusion tensor imaging has been used to explore white matter changes in heroin-dependent patients; however, results have been inconsistent.

Objectives: The current study meta-analytically examines the neuroimaging findings of all studies published before 2014 using the novel technique of Effect Size Signed Differential Mapping (ES-SDM).

Methods: Two independent investigators searched three databases for whole-brain voxel-based fractional anisotropy morphometric studies involving heroin use without comorbid polysubstance abuse.