The current study verified the association between cognitive process such as attention, executive functioning, and legal capacity in patients with bipolar disorder. The sample consisted of 72 participants, assorted to episodic patients, euthymic patients, and healthy controls. We used the following neuropsychological measures: subtests of the Wechsler Abbreviated Intelligence Scale : vocabulary and matrix reasoning; Continuous Performance Test ; Five Digit Test ; and Rey–Osterrieth Complex Figure. Euthymic patients expressed slower processing speed compared to HC. They tended to make (...) more errors with slightly worse discrimination, suggesting more impulsiveness. On the contrary, episodic patients showed worse discrimination, committed more omissions, were more inconsistent with regard to response speed, showed more difficulties in organizing their actions, and were more rigid. The results suggest that bipolar patients in episode express more cognitive impairments that can compromise the quality of legal capacity. These results highlight the need for more protective support for episodic BD patients regarding legal capacity. (shrink)

Objective: To investigate the differences between patients returning to work and those who did not after brain tumor surgery.Methods: Patients were evaluated before surgery and after 3 months. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment test, Trail-Making Test, 15-word Rey–Osterrieth Word List, F-A-S tests, and Karnosfky Performance Status were used to assess cognitive status, attention, executive functions, memory, word fluency, and functional status. Patient-reported outcome measures used to evaluate emotional distress and disability were the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and World Health (...) Organization Disability Assessment Schedule. Clinical and work-related variables, PROMs, and cognitive tests were compared using chi-squared, t-test or Mann–Whitney U test.Results: Sixty patients were included. Patients returning to work were 61.3 and 31.0% among people with meningioma and glioma, respectively. They reported lower postoperative disability and lesser home-to-work travel time. Patients with meningioma also showed better preoperative and postoperative attention and executive functions, better postoperative functional and cognitive status, and lower frequency of treatments.Conclusions: These variables should be considered in a clinical context to plan interventions for people who need support during return to work and in future research to investigate preoperative and postoperative predictive factors of going back to work. (shrink)

BackgroundNeuropsychological profile of Indian Duchenne muscular dystrophy subjects remains unidentified and needs to be evaluated.MethodsA total of 69 DMD and 66 controls were subjected to detailed intelligence and neuropsychological assessment. The factor indexes were derived from various components of Malin’s Intelligence Scale for Indian Children and Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test.ResultsPoor verbal and visual memory profiles were demonstrated by DMDs, which include RAVLT-immediate recall, RAVLT-delayed recall, Rey–Osterrieth complex figure test -IR, and RCFT-DR. RAVLT-memory efficiency index demonstrated poor verbal memory (...) efficiency. Significant differences in the functioning of working memory axis [RAVLT T1, recency T1, Digit Span Backward ] were observed along with reduced performance in visuomotor coordination, visuospatial, and visual recognition abilities. Block designing efficiency index and attention fraction showed a normal performance in DMD kids.ConclusionWorking memory deficits were found to be the crucial element of cognitive functioning in DMD cases. Working memory interventions may be beneficial to improve the neuropsychological profile in DMD. (shrink)

This study investigated the characteristics of neural oscillation and functional connectivity in college students engaging in binge drinking using resting-state electroencephalography. Also, the associations of visual memory, evaluated by the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test, and neural oscillation with FC during the resting state were investigated. The BD and non-BD groups were selected based on scores of the Korean version of the Alcohol use disorders Identification Test and the Alcohol Use Questionnaire. EEG was performed for 6 min while the participants (...) rested with eyes closed. The theta, lower-alpha, and upper alpha powers did not differ between the BD and non-BD groups. Concerning FC, the BD group exhibited stronger theta coherence than that of the non-BD group, and in the lower and upper alpha bands, the BD group showed stronger coherence in some areas but weaker coherence in others compared with the non-BD group. However, these significant results were not observed after Bonferroni correction. The BD group showed significantly lower delayed recall scores on the RCFT than did the non-BD group. A positive correlation between the left prefrontal-parietal-occipital midline connection and performance on the delayed recall of the RCFT was observed in the BD group. The present results could suggest that binge drinkers have alterations in brain FC, which may be related to their visual memory deficits. (shrink)

This study investigated the neuropsychological profile of college students who engage in binge drinking using comprehensive neuropsychological tests evaluating verbal/non-verbal memory, executive functions, and attention. Groups were determined based on scores on the Korean version of the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test and Alcohol Use Questionnaire. There were 79 and 81 participants in the BD and non-BD groups, respectively. We administered the Korean version of the California Verbal Learning Test and Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test to evaluate verbal and non-verbal (...) memory, respectively, and measured executive functions using the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Trail-Making Test, Controlled Oral Word Association Test and Stroop Color-Word Test. We administered the d2 test to evaluate attention. Neuropsychological performance was analyzed by multivariate analysis of variance. The BD group showed significantly poorer performance in the long-term free recall condition of the K-CVLT and delayed recall condition of the RCFT and completed significantly fewer categories on the WCST than the non-BD group. In addition, there were significant negative associations among the AUDIT-K total score, AUQ binge score, and long-term free recall score of the K-CVLT. There were significant negative associations between the total AUDIT-K score and delayed recall RCFT score, and between the total AUDIT-K total score and numbers of completed categories on the WCST. These results indicate that college students who participate in BD have difficulties with verbal/non-verbal memory and executive functions, and further suggest that excessive alcohol use could have detrimental effects on the hippocampal-prefrontal circuit even with a relatively short period of alcohol use. (shrink)