Search results for "Neurocognitive"

Using tools effectively despite defective hand posture: A single-case study.

2019

Apraxia, a cognitive disorder of motor control, can severely impair transitive actions (object-related) and may lead to action errors (e.g., rubbing a hammer on a nail instead of pounding it) and hand posture errors (e.g., grasping a tool in a wrong way). Here, we report a rare observation of a left-handed patient, left-lateralized for language, who developed a severe apraxia following a right brain lesion. Interestingly the patient showed a significant number of hand posture errors, while she perfectly demonstrated the actual use of tools. This case stressed the predictions made by the current theories of tool use. According to the manipulation-based approach, the hand posture errors shoul…

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…

Neurocognitive endophenotypes in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: A systematic review of longitudinal family studies

2018

Although there is substantial evidence supporting the existence of neurocognitive impairment in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BD), few studies have explored the field from an endophenotypic perspective. The present systematic review sought to identify longitudinal family studies exploring suitable neurocognitive endophenotypes in unaffected relatives of patients with SZ and/or BD. Following the PRISMA statement, only five follow-up studies met the inclusion criteria, comprising 79 SZ patients, 159 SZ unaffected relatives of SZ, 131 BD patients, 77 unaffected relatives of BD, and 248 controls. Verbal memory, auditory attention, face memory and emotion proce…

On the Neurocognitive Co‐Evolution of Tool Behavior and Language: Insights from the Massive Redeployment Framework

2021

Understanding the link between brain evolution and the evolution of distinctive features of modern human cognition is a fundamental challenge. A still unresolved question concerns the co-evolution of tool behavior (i.e., tool use or tool making) and language. The shared neurocognitive processes hypothesis suggests that the emergence of the combinatorial component of language skills within the frontal lobe/Broca's area made possible the complexification of tool-making skills. The importance of the frontal lobe/Broca's area in tool behavior is somewhat surprising with regard to the literature on neuropsychology and cognitive neuroscience, which has instead stressed the critical role of the le…

Are drivers’ attentional lapses associated with the functioning of the neurocognitive attentional networks and with cognitive failure in everyday lif…

2013

Abstract Driver distraction and inattention are considered among the major contributing factors in road traffic crashes. One of the most widely used tools to study drivers’ attentional lapses and other types of aberrant behaviour is the Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ). In the present work, further evidence of the feasibility of the DBQ to study driver inattention is provided. The relationships between the DBQ and both a computer-based neurocognitive test on attentional performance (the Attention Network Test for Interactions and Vigilance, ANTI-V) and a self-reported measure of cognitive failure (the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire, CFQ) are analysed. Results show that attentional lap…

Clinico-Immunological Status and Neurocognitive Function of Perinatally Acquired HIV-Positive Children on cART: A Cross-Sectional Correlational Study…

2020

Despite the undisputed benefits of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), perinatally acquired human immunodeficiency virus (PHIV) children on treatment often present with a spectrum of neurological deficits known as HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment. Even higher CD4 cell count does not seem to prevent the development of neurocognitive impairment in children with PHIV. While CD4 cell count has shown to have the greatest prognostic value, its association with neurocognitive abilities remains to be clarified. This study aimed at determining the correlation between plasma CD4+ lymphocyte and neurocognitive function in children with PHIV on cART. In total, 152 purposively recruited h…

Reversibility of Central Nervous System Adverse Events in Course of Art

2022

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the frequency of central nervous system adverse events (CNS-AE) on dolutegravir (DTG) and non-DTG containing ART, and their reversibility, in the observational prospective SCOLTA cohort. Factors associated with CNS-AE were estimated using a Cox proportional-hazards model. 4939 people living with HIV (PLWH) were enrolled in DTG (n = 1179) and non-DTG (n = 3760) cohorts. Sixty-six SNC-AE leading to ART discontinuation were reported, 39/1179 (3.3%) in DTG and 27/3760 (0.7%) in non-DTG cohort. PLWH naïve to ART, with higher CD4 + T count and with psychiatric disorders were more likely to develop a CNS-AE. The risk was lower in non-DTG than DTG-cohort (aH…

Neurocognitive Developmental Disorders: A Real Challenge for Developmental Neuropsychology

2002

Technition: When Tools Come Out of the Closet

2020

People are ambivalently enthusiastic and anxious about how far technology can go. Therefore, understanding the neurocognitive bases of the human technical mind should be a major topic of the cognitive sciences. Surprisingly, however, scientists are not interested in this topic or address it only marginally in other mainstream domains (e.g., motor control, action observation, social cognition). In fact, this lack of interest may hinder our understanding of the necessary neurocognitive skills underlying our appetence for transforming our physical environment. Here, we develop the thesis that our technical mind originates in perhaps uniquely human neurocognitive skills, namely, technical-reas…

Neuronal Bioenergetics and Acute Mitochondrial Dysfunction: A Clue to Understanding the Central Nervous System Side Effects of Efavirenz

2014

Background. Neurological pathogenesis is associated with mitochondrial dysfunction and differences in neuronal/glial handling of oxygen and glucose. The main side effects attributed to efavirenz involve the CNS, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Methods. Human cell lines and rat primary cultures of neurons and astrocytes were treated with clinically relevant efavirenz concentration. Results. Efavirenz alters mitochondrial respiration, enhances reactive oxygen species generation, undermines mitochondrial membrane potential, and reduces adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels in a concentration-dependent fashion in both neurons and glial cells. However, it activates adenosine monophospha…