Treatment adherence in cognitive processing therapy for combat-related PTSD with history of mild TBI.

Objective: This retrospective study examined treatment adherence in Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) with and without history of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).

Method: Medical record review of consecutive referrals to an outpatient PTSD clinic identified veterans diagnosed with combat-related PTSD who began treatment with CPT. The sample (N = 136) was grouped according to positive (n = 44) and negative (n = 92) mTBI history.

Comparison of the traditional recall-based versus a new list-based method for computing semantic clustering on the California Verbal Learning Test: evidence from Alzheimer's disease.

For over 50 years, cognitive psychologists and neuropsychologists have relied almost exclusively on a method for computing semantic clustering on list-learning tasks (recall-based formula) that was derived from an outdated assumption about how learning occurs. A new procedure for computing semantic clustering (list-based formula) was developed for the CVLT-II to correct the shortcomings of the traditional method. In the present study we compared the clinical utility of the traditional recall-based method versus the new list-based method using results from the original CVLT administered to 87 patients with Alzheimer's disease and 86 matched normal control participants.

Clinical, cognitive, and genetic predictors of change in job status following traumatic brain injury in a military population.

Objective: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a risk associated with military duty, and residual effects from TBI may adversely affect a service member's ability to complete duties. It is, therefore, important to identify factors associated with a change in job status following TBI in an active military population. On the basis of previous research, we predicted that apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype may be 1 factor.

APOE genotype predicts depression in women with Alzheimer's disease: a retrospective study.

Objective: The association between the APOE epsilon4 allele and depression was investigated in a retrospective study of 323 AD patients.

Methods: Patients were divided into demographically comparable groups based on the presence or absence of depression.

Results: Results showed that the frequency of APOE epsilon4 allele was significantly higher in the depressed vs non-depressed AD patients (72% and 58%, respectively), and an interaction revealed that women possessing the APOE epsilon4 allele were almost four times more likely to be depressed than those without the epsilon4 allele.

Differential cross-sectional and longitudinal impact of APOE genotype on hippocampal volumes in nondemented older adults.

Background/aims: Because of conflicting findings across studies, we sought to better determine the relationship between apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype, hippocampal volume, and cognitive performance in nondemented older adults.

Methods: Two groups ofolder adults, as determined by their APOE epsilon4 allele status, received structural MRI and comprehensive neuropsychological testing on two occasions separated on average by 17 months.

Results: Cross-sectional comparisons by APOE group revealed no differences in hippocampal volumes, although longitudinal percent reduction in hippocampal volume was significantly greater for those possessing the APOE epsilon4 allele.

Apolipoprotein E and traumatic brain injury in a military population: evidence of a neuropsychological compensatory mechanism?

Objective: Although research has implicated the apolipoprotein E (APOE) epsilon-4 genotype as having a negative effect on neuropsychological outcomes following traumatic brain injury (TBI), the potentially negative role of the epsilon4 allele on TBI outcomes has recently been challenged. In light of this debate, the present study served to examine the role of APOE genotype on neuropsychological outcomes approximately 1 month following mild to moderate TBI in a military population. Because of the well documented role of the APOE-epsilon4 allele in increasing the risk of Alzheimer's disease, we predicted that persons with the APOE-epsilon4 genotype would display relatively greater deficits in cognition than their non-epsilon4 counterparts.

Heterogeneity in verbal memory: a marker of preclinical Alzheimer's disease?

Demonstrations of memory changes in those at risk for Alzheimer's disease by the presence of the APOE e4 allele have been inconsistent to date. The present study went beyond traditional analyses of central tendency (i.e.

Executive function asymmetry in older adults genetically at-risk for Alzheimer's disease: verbal versus design fluency.

Recent studies have reported cognitive asymmetries in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and in individuals with apolipoprotein E epsilon4 (APOE epsilon4) genotype who are in the preclinical phase of AD. This increased frequpncy of cognitive asymmetry, typically defined as a significant discrepancy (in either direction) between verbal and spatial abilities, often occurs despite an absence of differences on traditional measures of central tendency (i.e.

Verbal paired-associate learning by APOE genotype in non-demented older adults: fMRI evidence of a right hemispheric compensatory response.

Previous studies of episodic memory report a greater extent of blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) response in non-demented older adults with the apolipoprotein E epsilon-4 (APOE epsilon4) allele than in those without the allele. We conducted a functional MRI study to investigate whether APOE genotype is related to brain response to verbal paired-associate encoding and consolidation, particularly in the right hemisphere, among non-demented older adults. Structurally segmented volumes and BOLD response were measured in 13 non-epsilon4 and 12 epsilon4 subjects.

Identification of Alzheimer disease risk by functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Background: Functional magnetic resonance imaging plays a promising role in the preclinical characterization of Alzheimer disease (AD) for use in early diagnosis and in preventive drug trials.

Objective: To determine whether functional magnetic resonance imaging can reliably distinguish risk groups for AD among cognitively normal middle-aged adults.

Design: Cross-sectional case-control study.

Deficits in inhibition and flexibility are associated with the APOE-E4 allele in nondemented older adults.

This prospective study of nondemented older adults at genetic risk for AD and other types of dementia (i.e., APOE e4 allele) utilized a new Stroop test that includes a dual executive-function condition requiring both response inhibition and cognitive switching.

fMRI evidence of compensatory mechanisms in older adults at genetic risk for Alzheimer disease.

Objective: To determine whether APOE genotype influences brain response and whether nonverbal stimuli generate findings comparable with those of previous studies that used verbal stimuli. The relationship between APOE genotype and blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) brain response was examined during a picture-encoding task in nondemented older adults.

Methods: Twenty nondemented participants with normal episodic memory function were divided into two groups based on the presence (n = 10) or absence (n = 10) of the APOE epsilon4 allele.

Neuropsychological deficits associated with Alzheimer's disease in the very-old: discrepancies in raw vs. standardized scores.

The profiles of neuropsychological deficits associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) in Young-Old (M age and 70) and Very-Old (M age > 80) patients were compared, along with possible modifying effects of apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype on these profiles. A comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests was administered to the two AD patient groups (Young-Old: n = 33; Very-Old: n = 48) and their respective age-matched normal control (NC) groups who remained free of dementia on follow-up examinations over a 1 to 10 year period (Young-Old: n = 43; Very-Old: n = 36). AD and NC groups did not differ in education levels or gender distributions.