The study focused on the role of traditional and computer-administered visual attention and executive measures in the prediction of driving competence in older individuals with early-stage cognitive decline. A group of 23 patients with questionable dementia by Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR=0.5) was evaluated with a group of 23 age-matched controls. For the patient group, correlational analyses revealed that road-test performance was significantly related to a number of executive and visual attention measures but not to other neuropsychological measures. For the control group, road-test performance was only significantly related to age. A hierarchical regression procedure was utilized to further explore the contribution of specific executive and visual attention measures and 46% of the variance in road-test performance was attributable to these measures for the patient group. A discriminant function analysis utilizing executive and visual attention measures for the entire group of participants classified those who passed and failed the road test with 80% accuracy. Neuropsychological executive and visual attention measures may play a useful role in determining competence to drive in older individuals with early-stage cognitive decline.

Hachinski and co-workers have used the term vascular cognitive impairment-no dementia (VaCIND) to represent the earliest stages of cognitive decline associated with vascular changes [Neurology 57 (4) (2001) 714]. However, the neuropsychological profile of vascular CIND remains unclear. Twenty-five healthy elders, 29 individuals at risk for cerebrovascular disease (R-CVD), 18 individuals with VaCIND, and 26 individuals with vascular dementia (VaD) were examined to determine whether patterns of neuropsychological assessment performance can assist in the differentiation of patients at varying levels of risk and severity for cerebrovascular disease and VaD. The R-CVD group performed within normal expectations on most cognitive measures as compared to the elderly control sample and published clinical norms. Relative to elderly controls, the VaCIND group demonstrated significant difficulties on measures of cognitive flexibility, verbal retrieval, and verbal recognition memory, but not on measures of confrontational naming or verbal fluency. The VaD group was impaired on all cognitive measures assessed. The current findings suggest that poor cognitive flexibility and verbal retrieval in the context of preserved function in other domains may characterize the prodromal stage of VaD.

Previous studies have demonstrated strong developmental trends of white matter using in vivo neuroimaging. However, few studies have examined white matter using diffusion tensor imaging across the lifespan. In the present study we examined fractional anisotropy and volume in the corpus callosum in four groups (children, adolescents, young adults, and elderly). Results revealed a curvilinear relationship in the analysis of the fractional anisotropy values for these four groups, with fractional anisotropy values increasing in childhood and adolescence, reaching their peak in young adulthood, followed by a non-significant decline in the elderly. Volumetric analysis of corpus callosum regions revealed a similar pattern, with an increase in volume from childhood and adolescence through young adulthood, and a non-significant decrease in volume in the elderly group. These results define the microstructural development of the white matter across the lifespan. Future studies are required to examine the neurobehavioral correlates of these neuroimaging indices.

A battery of standard neuropsychological tests examining various features of executive function, attention, and visual perception was administered to 27 subjects with questionable to mild dementia and compared to a 4-point caregiver rating scale of driving ability. Based on the results of this study, a computerized maze task, employing 10 mazes, was administered to a second sample of 40 normal elders and questionable to moderately demented drivers. Comparison was made to the same caregiver rating scale as well as to crash frequency. In the first study of neuropsychological tests, errors on Porteus Mazes emerged as the only significant predictor of driving ability in a stepwise regression analysis. In the follow-up study employing the computerized mazes, all 10 mazes were significantly related to driving ability ratings. Computerized tests of maze performance offer promise as a screening tool to identify potential driving impairment among cognitively impaired elderly and demented drivers. Keywords driving; dementia; Alzheimer's disease; neuropsychology; cognition Elderly drivers are at higher risk than all other age groups for involvement in motor vehicle accidents on a per-mile basis, 1-3 presumably due to associated medical conditions and agerelated changes in cognitive, perceptual, and motor abilities. 1,3 It is clear from numerous review articles, editorials, and investigations that moderate to severe dementia is a wellrecognized risk factor for hazardous driving. 1,3-11 While most investigators and professionals agree that persons with advanced dementia should not drive, there is no consensus on whether individuals with mild or questionable dementia should be prohibited from driving.Neuropsychological tests are a potentially reliable and economical means for identifying atrisk drivers. Despite the known utility of neuropsychological assessment in the diagnosis of early cognitive decline, however, the utility of neuropsychological measures in the determination of driving competence has not been established. Findings from the limited studies that have examined the relationship between cognitive factors and driving ability are inconsistent, likely reflecting the varied mental status and neuropsychological instruments used and the differing criterion measures of driving competence. Most studies, however,

Although cognitive deficits often accompany severe mental illness, their implications for everyday functioning remain poorly understood. In this study, an occupational therapist (OT) rated the everyday functioning of 105 adult psychiatric patients. Using demographic, clinical, and cognitive variables, the authors tested alternative models to account for the observed variability in OT ratings. Although age, education, and the presence of schizophrenia each contributed to a model that accounted for 27% of the variation in functional independence, adding terms for auditory divided attention and verbal learning increased the proportion of explained variance to 45% and decreased the beta weights for age and education--but not schizophrenia--to nonsignificant levels. These findings demonstrate the relevance of cognitive performance to everyday functioning in severe mental illness. They are discussed with respect to hypothesized determinants of psychiatric disability.

Drawings of the 'ideal person' completed by 82 children (aged 5 through 17) attending a programme for working children in Honduras were scored for content, emotional indicators and intellectual maturity. Analysis revealed that the content of street children's drawings could provide insight into their aspirations, resourcefulness and life circumstances.

This study represents a partial replication and extension of Deluty's investigations of the factors affecting suicide unacceptability [1]. Two hundred eighty-two Catholic college students evaluated scenarios which manipulated precipitating illness (i.e., severe depression, chronic physical pain, and terminal bone cancer) and gender of victim. In addition, evaluator variables (i.e., gender, mood state, and religiosity) were also considered. Results indicated that the unacceptability of suicide is a function of precipitating illness and gender of victim as well as a function of an evaluator's mood state, and religiosity. In addition, complex interactions among several of these variables were found, suggesting the complexity of decisions regarding the unacceptability of suicide.

57 immigrant Asian adolescents were compared with 44 American-born adolescents of Asian descent to investigate differences in perceived family environment and adjustment. Immigrant Asian adolescents were significantly less adjusted, perceived significantly less independence and achievement orientation and significantly more organization in their families than their American-born peers. The family environment differences, unlike adjustment differences, persisted over length of time in the host country (USA).