Neuropsychological Examination

Adolescence is characterized by dynamic neurodevelopment, which poses opportunities for risk and resilience. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) confer additional risk to the developing brain, where ACEs have been associated with alterations in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) BOLD signaling in brain regions underlying inhibitory control. Socioenvironmental factors like the family environment may amplify or buffer against the neurodevelopmental risks associated with ACEs. Using baseline to Year 2 follow-up data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, the current study examined how ACEs relate to fMRI BOLD signaling during successful inhibition on the Stop Signal Task in regions associated with inhibitory control and examined whether family conflict levels moderated that relationship...

Drug addiction represents a multifaceted and recurrent brain disorder that possesses the capability to create persistent and ineradicable pathological memory. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has shown a therapeutic potential for neuropsychological disorders, while the precise stimulation targets and therapeutic parameters for addiction remain deficient. Among the crucial brain regions implicated in drug addiction, the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) has been found to exert an essential role in the manifestation of addiction memory...

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition frequently associated with structural cerebellar abnormalities. Whether cerebellar grey matter volumes (GMV) are linked to verbal impairments remains controversial. Here, the association between cerebellar GMV and verbal abilities in ASD was examined across the lifespan. Lobular segmentation of the cerebellum was performed on structural MRI scans from the ABIDE I dataset in male individuals with ASD (N=144, age: 8.5-64.0 years) and neurotypical controls (N=188; age: 8...

Binge eating is characterized as eating a large amount of food and feeling a loss of control while eating. However, the neurobiological mechanisms associated with the onset and maintenance of binge eating are largely unknown. Recent neuroimaging work has suggested that increased responsivity within reward regions of the brain to the anticipation or receipt of rewards is related to binge eating; however, limited longitudinal data has precluded understanding of the role of reward responsivity in the development of binge eating...

The transition to parenthood remains an understudied window of potential neuroplasticity in the adult brain. White matter microstructural (WMM) organization, which reflects structural connectivity in the brain, has shown plasticity across the lifespan. No studies have examined how WMM organization changes from the prenatal to postpartum period in men becoming fathers. This study investigates WMM organization in men transitioning to first-time fatherhood. We performed diffusion-weighted imaging to identify differences in WMM organization, as indexed by fractional anisotropy (FA)...

OBJECTIVE: People with aphasia often experience semantic memory (SM) impairment. To improve diagnostic outcomes, SM tasks should recruit various sensory input channels (oral, written, and pictographic), permitting accessible, complete evaluation. There is a need for SM batteries for French-speaking Quebecers that use multiple input channels. The present study, therefore, describes the development of a novel French-language semantic battery: la Batterie québécoise de la mémoire sémantique (BQMS), the assessment of the BQMS's psychometric properties, and the establishment of normative data for the BQMS...

BACKGROUND: The worldwide trend of demographic aging highlights the progress made in healthcare, albeit with health challenges like Alzheimer's Disease (AD), prevalent in individuals aged 65 and above. Its early detection at the mild cognitive impairment (MCI) stage is crucial. Event-related potentials (ERPs) obtained by averaging EEG segments responded to repeated events are vital for cognitive impairment research. Consequently, examining intra-trial ERP variability is vital for comprehending fluctuations within psychophysiological processes of interest...

Current diagnostic systems for Alzheimer's disease (AD) rely upon clinical signs and symptoms, despite the fact that the multiplicity of clinical symptoms renders various neuropsychological assessments inadequate to reflect the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms. Since putative neuroimaging biomarkers play a crucial role in understanding the etiology of AD, we sought to stratify the diverse relationships between AD biomarkers and cognitive decline in the aging population and uncover risk factors contributing to the diversities in AD...

BACKGROUND: Concerns remain about the neurotoxic properties of the ubiquitous organophosphate esters (OPEs), the replacement of the toxicant polybrominated diphenyl ethers. OBJECTIVES: We examined the associations of prenatal exposure to OPEs and their mixtures with early-life neurodevelopment trajectories. METHODS: Totally 1276 mother-child pairs were recruited from the Shanghai Maternal-Child Pairs Cohort. A high-performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometer was used to measure the levels of 7 OPEs in cord serum...

OBJECTIVES: There is a paucity of population-level data on marijuana use and mental health and functioning in older adults. METHODS: We analyzed cross-sectional data (n = 910) from a well-characterized cohort, the Monongahela-Youghiogheny Healthy Aging Team (MYHAT) study. MYHAT is an age-stratified random sample of the population age 65 years and older from a small-town in the USA. Half the sample was female and half were over 75 (Mean age = 77)...

The assessment of fine motor competence plays a pivotal role in neuropsychological examinations for the identification of developmental deficits. Several tests have been proposed for the characterization of fine motor competence, with evaluation metrics primarily based on qualitative observation, limiting quantitative assessment to measures such as test durations. The Placing Bricks (PB) test evaluates fine motor competence across the lifespan, relying on the measurement of time to completion. The present study aims at instrumenting the PB test using wearable inertial sensors to complement PB standard assessment with reliable and objective process-oriented measures of performance...

OBJECTIVE: Examining the relationship between the responses of a number of different cognitive trainings on cognitive functioning in middle-aged and elderly patients with mild cognitive impairment. METHODS: Randomized controlled experimental studies published publicly from the time of inception to October 30, 2023 were searched through Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane library databases. Traditional and network meta-analyses were performed using Stata 17...

OBJECTIVE: Spatial neglect is a debilitating condition observed in patients with right-sided brain injuries in whom there is defective awareness of the contralesional space. Although classically considered a right parietal lobe deficit, there has been increasing interest in the specific white matter (WM) architecture subserving spatial neglect. Patients who have lesions associated with chronic disruptions in visuospatial networks are of significant relevance in elucidating the WM tracts associated with spatial attention...

BACKGROUND: Subjective cognitive concerns (SCCs) entail perceived difficulties in thinking or memory, often reported without substantial objective evidence of cognitive impairment. These concerns are prevalent among individuals with a history of brain injuries, neurological conditions, or chronic illnesses, contributing to both psychological distress and functional limitations. They are increasingly considered to be a risk factor for future objective decline. A considerable number of individuals reporting SCCs also exhibit mental health symptoms, such as a history of trauma, depression, or anxiety...

Children with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) have high rates of sleep disturbance and marked difficulties with executive functioning (EF). Sleep disturbance has been associated with poorer EF across development in typically developing children. The contribution of insomnia symptoms and nightmares to EF difficulties in children with PAE and FASD is unclear. The current study examined whether caregiver-reported insomnia symptoms and nightmares predicted difficulties with EF in children with PAE who were assessed at FASD diagnostic clinics...

BACKGROUND: Resting-state network (RSN) functional connectivity analyses have profoundly influenced our understanding of the pathophysiology of psychoses and their clinical high risk (CHR) states. However, conventional RSN analyses address the static nature of large-scale brain networks. In contrast, novel methodological approaches aim to assess the momentum state and temporal dynamics of brain network interactions. METHODS: Fifty CHR individuals and 33 healthy controls (HC) completed a resting-state functional MRI scan...

BACKGROUND: Individuals who have recovered from the acute stage of SARS-CoV-2 infection may be at risk of developing post-COVID-19 condition (PCC), characterized by a spectrum of persisting, non-specific, and functionally impairing symptoms across multiple organ systems. Obesity has been implicated as a risk factor for PCC, mediated by chronic systemic inflammation. The foregoing has also been separately reported to mediate cognitive dysfunction in PCC. METHODS: This is a post-hoc analysis of a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial evaluating vortioxetine treatment for cognitive impairments in persons with PCC who received vortioxetine or placebo for eight weeks...

PURPOSE: To examine hemodynamic and functional connectivity alterations and their association with neurocognitive and mental health indices in patients with chronic mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). METHODS: Resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) and neuropsychological assessment of 37 patients with chronic mTBI were performed. Intrinsic connectivity contrast (ICC) and time-shift analysis (TSA) of the rs-fMRI data allowed the assessment of regional hemodynamic and functional connectivity disturbances and their coupling (or uncoupling)...

The association between cognitive disorders and orthostatic hypotension (OH) has been empirically explored, but the results have been divergent, casting doubt on the presence and direction of the association. The objective of this meta-analysis was to systematically review and quantitatively synthesize the association of OH and cognitive function, specifically mean score on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), cognitive impairment and incident dementia. A Medline search was conducted in May 2022 with no date limit, using the MeSH terms "orthostatic hypotension" OR "orthostatic intolerance" OR "hypotension" combined with the Mesh terms "cognitive dysfunction" OR "Alzheimer disease" OR "dementia" OR "cognition disorder" OR "neurocognitive disorder" OR "cognition" OR "neuropsychological test"...

BACKGROUND: The TAND (Tuberous Sclerosis Complex [TSC]-Associated Neuropsychiatric Disorders) Checklist was developed as a clinical screener for neurodevelopmental disorders in TSC. Most studies have described patterns in older children and adults. This study sought to better understand behavioral concerns as measured by the TAND Checklist in young children with TSC. METHODS: We examined patterns of caregiver responses to the TAND Checklist in 90 toddlers with TSC (12 to 23 months n = 60; 24 to 36 months n = 30) through data collected during baseline visits across two TSC early intervention studies...