The Cognistat is a widely used screening instrument for assessing cognitive functioning. However, the manualized scoring guidelines for one of the questions in the Judgment subtest appear insensitive to responses when examinees answer in light of current societal attitudes. Penalization of examinees is likely to lead to an underestimation of functional ability and a decrease in test validity. Suggestions for correcting this issue are presented.
The Cognistat is a widely used neurobehavioral screening instrument that addresses functioning across multiple domains. Unlike many popular neuropsychological tests, the Cognistat does not currently assess learning efficiency for verbal material. The purpose of this study was to develop a screening method for assessing verbal learning efficiency with the Cognistat, investigate the effects of two demographic variables (age and gender) on performance, and to establish cutoff scores for impairment. Participants were 253 volunteers between the ages of 18 and 96 years. Participants were classified into two age groups: 18-64 years and 65 + years. The data revealed a significant age and gender performance difference. Implications for the present findings and for future research are presented.
Objective To examine differences in blood flow perfusion, measured by single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), at baseline between individuals diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and healthy controls. Method The participants were part of an archival de-identified SPECT database. The sample (N = 160) had a Mage = 38.85, was primarily male (53.1%) and Caucasian (55%). The sample consisted of individuals diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder using DSM-IV criteria (n = 80, Mage = 36.06, SD = 15.453, 61.3% male) and no DSM-IV diagnosis (n = 80, Mage = 41.64, SD = 16.473, 45% male). Results One-way ANOVAs showed hypoperfusion in the following areas: left (F[1,158] = 19.100,p < .001) and right Limbic region (F[1,158] = 16.938,p < .001) and left (F[1,158] = 41.959,p < .001) and right Basal Ganglia region (F[1,158] = 35.768,p < .001 and hyperperfusion in the following areas: left (F[1,158] = 20.639,p < .001) and right (F[1,158] = 15.645,p < .001) Cerebellum region. Conclusion Results of this study do not support previous research which has consistently found hypoperfusion in the temporal and parietal lobes across depressive and manic episodes. Furthermore, hypoperfusion of the right Limbic region is generally seen in those experiencing a depressive episode, while hyperperfusion of the left is seen during a manic episode. It is possible that participants of this study were not experiencing a depressive or manic episode at baseline. Results may be suggestive of euthymia which is distinguishable from healthy controls. It is also possible that these results are indicative of rCBF when a manic or depressive episode ends and transition into a euthymic state begins. Overall, little is known about rCBF in euthymia and this study is limited by unknown diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder I or II.
Objective Explore the effects of aggression in adults diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) on regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). Method Participants were extracted from an archival de-identified SPECT database (n = 889,Mage = 36.73, 60.4% male, 71.6% Caucasian). Two groups were formed based on self-reported aggressive symptoms: low (below 25th percentile; n = 396) and high aggression (above 75th percentile; n = 435). Results Age was used as a covariate. One-way ANCOVA’s were conducted controlling for age (alpha = .01). Significant differences were found between groups in the left (F[1,829] = 5.755, ) and right (F[1,829] = 6.114) limbic regions, left basal ganglia (F[1,829] = 4.006, p = .046), left occipital (F[1,829] = 3.951,p = .047), and right parietal regions (F[1,829] = 4.341,p = .038). Discussion: Results revealed that individuals with ADHD and high aggression failed to have significantly different levels of rCBF in areas of the brain responsible for emotion regulation compared to those with low aggression. This study is the first to explore differences in rCBF in a sample of individuals with ADHD. It was hypothesized that higher activation in the limbic and basal ganglia areas was the process of experiencing highly emotional/distressing feelings and the process of acting upon these emotional experiences. However, SPECT failed to present as a reliable resource for identifying individuals with ADHD that have aggressive and impulsive tendencies in this study. Thus, it is suggested that clinicians use caution when using SPECT as a resource in identifying populations likely to engage in aggressive and highly dangerous acts (i.e., suicide/homicide). Further research is needed in using SPECT to identify ADHD populations which may be likely to engaged in aggressive and highly dangerous acts.
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