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Resumo: Pesquisas científicas relacionadas à avaliação neuropsicológica têm despertado interesse crescente nos últimos anos. Este estudo objetivou realizar uma revisão sistemática sobre avaliação neuropsicológica no Brasil e foi efetuado nas bases de dados SciELO, PePSIC, LILACS e BDTD, no período de setembro/2012 a novembro/2012, utilizando as palavras-chave avaliação neuropsicológica. A amostra final resultou em 241 trabalhos empíricos originais formados por artigos científicos (n=131), dissertações de mestrado (n=68) e teses de doutorado (n=42), abrangendo o período de 1993 a 2012. Os resultados evidenciaram que: a) mais de 60% da produção científica concentra-se no período de 2007 a 2012, com média de produção de 12,7% por ano; b) o número de artigos científicos soma pouco mais de 50% se comparado com o número de teses e dissertações; c) a publicação de pesquisas sobre a temática se dá majoritariamente em periódicos médicos (47,7%); d) o principal eixo temático que emprega Avaliação Neuropsicológica são distúrbios neuropsiquiátricos (49,7%); e) a Região Sudeste concentra mais de 50% da produção científica nacional. Conclui-se que esta pesquisa revela um panorama atualizado da produção científica sobre o tema, enfatizando a necessidade de mais pesquisas psicométricas e de outras revisões sistemáticas envolvendo temas de interesse da neuropsicologia, como reabilitação neuropsicológica. Palavras-chave: Neuropsicologia. Avaliação Neuropsicológica. Testes Neuropsicológicos. Produção Científica. The growth in neuropsychological assessmentin Brazil: a systematic review Abstract: Scientific researches related to the topic of Neuropsychological Assessment have attracted growing interest in recent years. This study aimed to perform a systematic review of Neuropsychological Assessment in Brazil and the research was conducted in the databases of SciELO, PePSIC, LILACS and BDTD, between September/2012 to November/2012, using the keywords neuropsychological assessment. The final sample included 241 original empirical works consisting in scientific articles (n = 131), dissertations (n = 68) and doctoral thesis (n = 42), covering the period 1993-2012. The results showed that: a) more than 60% of scientific production is concentrated in the period 2007-2012, with an average yield of 12.7% per year; b) the number of scientific articles sum slightly more than 50% compared with the number of theses and dissertations; c) the publication of researches on the subject occurs mostly in medical journals (47.7%); d) the principal thematic area that employs Neuropsychological Assessment is neuropsychiatric disorders (49,7%); e) Southeast concentrates more than 50% of national scientific production. We conclude that this research reveals an overview of current scientific literature on the subject, emphasizing the need for further research psychometric and for further systematic reviews involving topics of neuropsychology interest, like Neuropsychological Rehabilitation.

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First-degree relatives of individuals with late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) are at increased risk for developing dementia, yet the associations between family history of LOAD and cognitive dysfunction remain unclear. In this quantitative review, we provide the first meta-analysis on the cognitive profile of unaffected first-degree blood relatives of LOAD-affected individuals compared to controls without a family history of LOAD. A systematic literature search was conducted in PsycINFO, PubMed /MEDLINE, and Scopus. We fitted a three-level structural equation modeling meta-analysis to control for non-independent effect sizes. Heterogeneity and risk of publication bias were also investigated. Thirty-four studies enabled us to estimate 218 effect sizes across several cognitive domains. Overall, first-degree relatives (n = 4,086, mean age = 57.40, SD = 4.71) showed significantly inferior cognitive performance (Hedges’ g = -0.16; 95% CI, -0.25 to -0.08; p < .001) compared to controls (n = 2,388, mean age = 58.43, SD = 5.69). Specifically, controls outperformed first-degree relatives in language, visuospatial and verbal long-term memory, executive functions, verbal short-term memory, and verbal IQ. Among the first-degree relatives, APOE ɛ4 carriership was associated with more significant dysfunction in cognition (g = -0.24; 95% CI, -0.38 to -0.11; p < .001) compared to non-carriers (g = -0.14; 95% CI, -0.28 to -0.01; p = .04). Cognitive test type was significantly associated with between-group differences, accounting for 65% (R23 = .6499) of the effect size heterogeneity in the fitted regression model. No evidence of publication bias was found. The current findings provide support for mild but robust cognitive dysfunction in first-degree relatives of LOAD-affected individuals that appears to be moderated by cognitive domain, cognitive test type, and APOE ɛ4.

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RESUMOA Doença de Alzheimer (DA) e a Demência Frontotemporal (DFT) são manifestações frequentemente observadas na prática clínica em avaliação neuropsicológica no idoso. Contudo, a similaridade dessas manifestações impõe uma dificuldade para estabelecer quais são os critérios diagnósticos diferenciais. O objetivo deste artigo é descrever os principais critérios nosológicos para a DA e para a DFT. A neurofisiopatologia é um marcador evidente nessa distinção. Uma plena compreensão nosológica nos distintos quadros demências é importante para a avaliação neuropsicológica.Palavras-chave: demência; avaliação neuropsicológica; doença de Alzheimer, demência frontotemporal; neuropsicologia; idoso. ABSTRACT Título em inglêsAlzheimer's disease (AD) and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) are clinical symptoms often observed in practice in neuropsychological assessment in the elderly. However, the similarity of these events represents a difficulty to establish which would be the differential diagnostic criteria. The purpose of this article is to describe the main nosologic criteria for AD and FTD. The neuropathophysiology is a clear marker of this distinction. The nosological understanding of the different characteristics of dementia subtypes is important for neuropsychological assessment.

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Several studies indicate that the capacity for retaining visual content in long-term memory (LTM) is almost unlimited and vastly superior to the storage capacity for verbal data. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the fidelity of visual memory in adults and older adults and compare it with that of young adults. A Visual Long-Term Memory Test (VLT-MT) was developed in which the participants viewed 512 images, divided into two groups of 256 figures, and performed a subsequent forced-choice task after viewing each group. The results also indicate that the semantic category to which the stimulus belonged influenced the performance of the subjects, and that the capacity to recognize a given object diminished as the number of figures from the same category increased.