Frontal Anatomical Correlates of Cognitive and Speech Motor Deficits in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

The goal of this study was to identify neurostructural frontal lobe correlates of cognitive and speaking rate changes in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). 17 patients diagnosed with ALS and 12 matched controls underwent clinical, bulbar, and neuropsychological assessment and structural neuroimaging. Neuropsychological testing was performed via a novel computerized frontal battery (ALS-CFB), based on a validated theoretical model of frontal lobe functions, and focused on testing energization, executive function, emotion processing, theory of mind, and behavioral inhibition via antisaccades.

Older Adults With Hearing Loss Have Reductions in Visual, Motor and Attentional Functioning.

Evidence from epidemiological, laboratory and clinical research suggests a link between age-related auditory declines and domain-general cognitive declines. Nevertheless, few studies have experimentally compared measures of non-auditory cognitive functions in younger normal hearing adults (YN), older adults with typical hearing thresholds for their age (ONHA) and older adults with clinically significant threshold hearing loss (OHL). The current study investigated the differences between these groups on measures of attentional response selection and execution to visual stimuli.

Alpha span: A measure of working memory.

In the alpha span test, short lists of words are presented and the participant's task is to mentally reorder the words and give them back in correct alphabetical order. Alpha span is the longest list of words correctly recalled; the article also describes a scoring method in which credit is given for partially correct answers. Alpha span provides a quick and easily completed measure of verbal-numerical working memory (WM), and evidence is presented to show that it is also a valid and reliable measure.

CE verbal episodic memory impairment in schizophrenia: a comparison with frontal lobe lesion patients.

Schizophrenia (SCZ)-related verbal memory impairment is hypothesized to be mediated, in part, by frontal lobe (FTL) dysfunction. However, little research has contrasted the performance of SCZ patients with that of patients exhibiting circumscribed frontal lesions. The current study compared verbal episodic memory in patients with SCZ and focal FTL lesions (left frontal, LF; right frontal, RF; and bi-frontal, BF) on a four-trial list learning task consisting of three lists of varying semantic organizational structure.

Cognitive impairments due to focal cerebellar injuries in adults.

Introduction: It has been asserted that damage to the cerebellum produces a specific pattern of cognitive deficits, but clinical studies have had ambiguous results. There remains particular uncertainty about the effects of focal cerebellar injuries on cognition in adults. Clinical reports and anatomical connectivity studies have suggested a possible functional convergence of frontal lobes and cerebellum.

Rehabilitation of executive functioning in patients with frontal lobe brain damage with goal management training.

Executive functioning deficits due to brain disease affecting frontal lobe functions cause significant real-life disability, yet solid evidence in support of executive functioning interventions is lacking. Goal Management Training (GMT), an executive functioning intervention that draws upon theories concerning goal processing and sustained attention, has received empirical support in studies of patients with traumatic brain injury, normal aging, and case studies. GMT promotes a mindful approach to complex real-life tasks that pose problems for patients with executive functioning deficits, with a main goal of periodically stopping ongoing behavior to monitor and adjust goals.

Lateralized cerebellar contributions to word generation: a phonemic and semantic fluency study.

Impairment on verbal fluency tasks has been one of the more consistently reported neuropsychological findings after cerebellar lesions, but it has not been uniformly observed and the possible underlying cognitive basis has not been investigated. We tested twenty-two patients with chronic, unilateral cerebellar lesions (12 Left, 10 Right) and thirty controls on phonemic and semantic fluency tasks. We measured total words produced, words produced in the initial 15 seconds, errors and strategy switches.

Mapping task switching in frontal cortex through neuropsychological group studies.

This paper considers evidence provided by large neuropsychological group studies and meta-analyses of functional imaging experiments on the location in frontal cortex of the subprocesses involved in the carrying out of task-switching paradigms. The function of the individual subprocesses is also considered in the light of analyses of the performance of normal subjects.

Multiple effects of prefrontal lesions on task-switching.

This study examined the performance of 41 patients with focal prefrontal cortical lesions and 38 healthy controls on a task-switching procedure. Three different conditions were evaluated: single tasks without switches and two switching tasks with the currently relevant task signalled either 1500 ms (Long Cue) or 200 ms (Short Cue) before the stimulus. Patients with Superior Medial lesions showed both a general slowing of reaction time (RT) and a significantly increased switch cost as measured by RT.

Impaired list learning is not a general property of frontal lesions.

Background: List-learning tasks are frequently used to provide measures of "executive functions" that are believed necessary for successful memory performance. Small sample sizes, confounding anomia, and incomplete representation of all frontal regions have prevented consistent demonstration of distinct regional frontal effects on this task.

Objective: To confirm specific effects of lesions in different frontal regions.

Effects of focal frontal lesions on response inhibition.

This study examined the performance of 38 normal subjects and 43 patients with focal lesions of the frontal lobes on a simple go-nogo task where the probability of the nogo stimulus was either 75% or 25%. Patients with lesions to the superior medial parts of the frontal lobes, in particular to the left superior portion of Brodmann area 6 (which includes the supplementary motor areas and the premotor areas for the right hand) had an increased number of false alarms (incorrect responses to the nogo stimulus). These results indicate that area 6 is specifically involved in the inhibition of response.

Keeping time: effects of focal frontal lesions.

This study examined the performance of 32 normal subjects and 39 patients with focal lesions of the frontal lobes on two simple timing tasks-responding in time with a tone that regularly repeated at a rate of once every 1.5s, and then maintaining the same regular response rhythm without any external stimulus. The hypothesis was that lesions to the right prefrontal cortex would disrupt timing performance.