The influence of bilingualism on cognitive test performance in older adults has received limited attention in the neuropsychology literature. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of bilingualism on verbal fluency and repetition tests in older Hispanic bilinguals. Eighty-two right-handed participants (28 men and 54 women) with a mean age of 61.76 years (SD = 9.30; range = 50-84) and a mean educational level of 14.8 years (SD = 3.6; range 2-23) were selected. Forty-five of the participants were English monolinguals, 18 were Spanish monolinguals, and 19 were Spanish-English bilinguals. Verbal fluency was tested by electing a verbal description of a picture and by asking participants to generate words within phonemic and semantic categories. Repetition was tested using a sentence-repetition test. The bilinguals' test scores were compared to English monolinguals' and Spanish monolinguals' test scores. Results demonstrated equal performance of bilingual and monolingual participants in all tests except that of semantic verbal fluency. Bilinguals who learned English before age 12 performed significantly better on the English repetition test and produced a higher number of words in the description of a picture than the bilinguals who learned English after age 12. Variables such as task demands, language interference, linguistic mode, and level of bilingualism are addressed in the Discussion section.

Introduction: Stroke is currently the main cause of permanent disability in adults. The impairments are a combination of sensory, motor, cognitive and emotional changes that result in restrictions on the ability to perform basic activities of daily living (BADL). Postural control is affected and causes problems with static and dynamic balance, thus increasing the risk of falls and secondary injuries. The purpose of this review was to compile the literature to date, and assess the impact of ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) on postural control and gait in individuals who have suffered a stroke. Development:The review included randomised and controlled trials that examined the effects of AFO in stroke patients between 18 and 80 years old, with acute or chronic evolution. No search limits on the date of the studies were included, and the search lasted until April 2011. The following databases were used: Pubmed, Trip Database, Cochrane library, Embase, ISI Web Knowledge, CINHAL and PEDro. Intervention succeeded in improving some gait parameters, such as speed and cadence. However it is not clear if there was improvement in the symmetry, postural sway or balance.Conclusions: Because of the limitations of this systematic review, due to the clinical diversity of the studies and the methodological limitations, these results should be considered with caution. Accidente cerebrovascular; Control postural; Equilibrio; Marcha; Ortesis tobillo pie Efecto de la ortesis de tobillo pie en el control postural tras el accidente cerebrovascular: revisión sistemática Resumen Introducción: El accidente cerebrovascular (ictus) actualmente es la primera causa de discapacidad permanente en la edad adulta por sus consecuentes secuelas, quedando una combinación de deficiencias sensoriales, motoras, cognitivas y emocionales que conducen a restricciones en su capacidad para realizar actividades básicas de la vida diaria (ABVD). El control postural se afecta y da lugar a problemas en el equilibrio estático y dinámico que incrementan el riesgo de caídas. El objetivo de la revisión consiste en realizar una revisión sistemática que permita valorar los efectos de las ortesis de tobillo (OTP) en el control postural y en la marcha, en sujetos que han presentado un ictus.Desarrollo: Se incluyeron ensayos controlados y aleatorizados que analizasen los efectos de las ortesis de tobillo en pacientes con ictus de entre 18 y 80 años, con evolución aguda o crónica. La búsqueda de ensayos no tuvo limitación en fecha de inicio y se extendió hasta marzo de 2011. Se emplearon las bases de datos Pubmed, Trip Database, Cochrane Library Plus, Embase, ISI Web knowledge, CINHAL y PEDro.Conclusiones: La intervención logró mejorar algunos parámetros de la marcha como velocidad y cadencia. Sin embargo, no está clara la mejora en la simetría del peso, el balanceo postural o el equilibrio. Las limitaciones de esta revisión sistemática, debidas a la gran diversidad clínica de los estudios que incluye y las limitaciones metodológicas de estos, justifican una lectura precavida de...

Because of the limitations of this systematic review, due to the clinical diversity of the studies and the methodological limitations, 0these results should be considered with caution.