Search results for "Executive Function"

Self-awareness of cognitive functioning in schizophrenia: Patients and their relatives

2010

"Cognitive impairment has been recognized since the earliest descriptions of schizophrenia as a core feature of the illness and different programmes have been developed to remediate these deficits. In all likelihood it is important for compliance and adherence to treatment that not only the patients but also their relatives be aware of the patients; cognitive deficits. Sixty-two patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and, for each one of them, one family member and an informant from the medical staff, were recruited and administered the Schizophrenia Cognition Rating Scale (SCoRS) ratings. Patients were tested for cognitive deficits with a neuropsychological battery and their performanc…

Grey matter damage and overall cognitive impairment in primary progressive multiple sclerosis

2011

Objectives: To identify associations between cognitive impairment and imaging measures in a cross-sectional study of patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS). Methods: Neuropsychological tests were administered to 27 patients with PPMS and 31 controls. Patients underwent brain conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences, volumetric scans and magnetization transfer (MT) imaging; MT ratio (MTR) parameters, grey matter (GM) and normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) volumes, and WM T2 lesion load (T2LL) were obtained. In patients, multiple linear regression models identified the imaging measure associated with the abnormal cognitive tests independently from the ot…

Empirical examination of executive functioning, ADHD associated behaviors, and functional impairments in adults with persistent ADHD, remittent ADHD,…

2019

Abstract Background Previous studies suggest that childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may continue in adulthood, producing adverse effects. Therefore, identifying factors that help to differentiate characteristics of ADHD persistence and remission has practical implications for evaluation and treatment. The first aim of this study was to analyze differences in executive functions (shift, working memory, inhibition, and plan/organize), symptoms associated with ADHD (inattention, hyperactivity, emotional lability, and self-concept), and functional impairments in adults with persistent ADHD (ADHD-P), with remittent ADHD (ADHD-R), and without ADHD (N-ADHD). The second aim …

Understanding metaphors and idioms: A single-case neuropsychological study in a person with Down syndrome

2001

The ability of subject F.F., diagnosed with Down syndrome, to appreciate nonliteral (interpreting metaphors and idioms) and literal (vocabulary knowledge, including highly specific and unusual items) aspects of language was investigated. F.F. was impaired in understanding both metaphors and idioms, while her phonological, syntactic and lexical–semantic skills were largely preserved. By contrast, some aspects of F.F.'s executive functions and many visuospatial abilities were defective. The suggestion is made that the interpretation of metaphors and idioms is largely independent of that of literal language, preserved in F.F., and that some executive aspects of working memory and visuospatial …

Break in volition: a virtual reality study in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

2013

Research in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) produced inconsistent results in demonstrating an association between patients’ symptom severity and their cognitive impairments. The process involved in volition aspects of behavioral syndromes can be extensively analyzed using specific tests developed in virtual environments, more suitable to manipulate rules and possible breaks of the normal task execution with different, confusing or stopping instructions. The study involved thirty participants (15 OCD patients and 15 controls) during task execution and the relative interferences. At this purpose, the virtual version of Multiple Errands Test was used. Virtual reality setting, with a higher…

Age Differences in Learning from Instructional Animations

2015

Summary: The present study tests the effects of the decline of executive functions and spatial abilities with aging on the comprehension of a complex instructional animation. An animation of a piano mechanism was presented individually to 33 young adults and 31 elderly participants. Two presentation speeds of the animation (normal and slow) were compared in a 2×2 experimental design. Eye movements were recorded during the learning time. Then, four executive function tests (inhibition, shifting, updating, and processing speed) and a spatial ability test (differential aptitude test) were undertaken by each participant. Results showed that the comprehension of animations was significantly affe…

2021

The cell—cell signaling gene CDH13 is associated with a wide spectrum of neuropsychiatric disorders, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, and major depression. CDH13 regulates axonal outgrowth and synapse formation, substantiating its relevance for neurodevelopmental processes. Several studies support the influence of CDH13 on personality traits, behavior, and executive functions. However, evidence for functional effects of common gene variation in the CDH13 gene in humans is sparse. Therefore, we tested for association of a functional intronic CDH13 SNP rs2199430 with ADHD in a sample of 998 adult patients and 884 healthy controls. The Big Five personality tra…

The relationship between cortisol and cognitive function in healthy older people: The moderating role of Apolipoprotein E polymorphism.

2018

The Apolipoprotein E4 (ApoE-epsilon 4) allele has been suggested as the main risk factor for late onset Alzheimer's disease (AD), whereas the ApoE-epsilon 2 allele has been proposed as a protective factor. These proposals have increased the interest in the effect of the ApoE genotype in healthy people. Additionally, high cortisol levels have been related to negative effects on cognition. However, few studies have investigated the relationship between cognitive performance and cortisol, taking into account the different ApoE alleles. For this reason, the aim of this study was to evaluate different cognitive domains (declarative and working memory, attention, and executive function) and their…

Promises of formal and informal musical activities in advancing neurocognitive development throughout childhood

2015

Adult musicians show superior neural sound discrimination when compared to nonmusicians. However, it is unclear whether these group differences reflect the effects of experience or preexisting neural enhancement in individuals who seek out musical training. Tracking how brain function matures over time in musically trained and nontrained children can shed light on this issue. Here, we review our recent longitudinal event-related potential (ERP) studies that examine how formal musical training and less formal musical activities influence the maturation of brain responses related to sound discrimination and auditory attention. These studies found that musically trained school-aged children an…

Executive functioning in autism spectrum disorders: a case-control study in preschool children.

2019

Background: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are neurobehavioral and developmental conditions that include impairments in a triad of behavioral domains: social development, communication and repetitive behavior/obsessive interests. This case-control study aims to assess executive functioning in ASD preschoolers. Methods: A sample of 50 children participated in the study (24 males and 26 females; age ranged between 2.7 and 3.5 years). The study sample was subdivided into two groups: 25 ASD children and 25 typically developing children as a control group. All participants were administered the BRIEF-P test to assess executive functioning. Results: The two groups were counterbalanced for age an…