& executive function deficit could be reversible after treatment, and 3) medication might have a benefit in improving the cognitive functions in schizophrenia. Furthermore, the data supports that the better premorbid executive function was, the more favorable was the treatment response in schizophrenic patients. Finally, this study indicates that executive function might be an index of treatment improvement.
Executive Function ; Humans ; Schizophrenia

Humans ; Child ; Executive Function

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to prove the validity of the Korean version of the Executive Interview (K-EXIT) which was developed by Donald Royall as a bed-side test to measure the executive function. METHODS: The K-EXIT was developed and applied to 169elderly people with other executive functiontests.The internal consistency,reliability and the validity of the K-EXIT were analyzed. RESULTS: The K-EXIT showed high internal consistency (Crohnbachalpha= 0.766) and high inter-rater reliability (r=0.997, p<0.01).The K-EXIT total score was well correlated with verbal fluency test (r=-0.460, p<0.001), and the initiation-perseveration-change score (r=-0.598, p<0.005). CONCLUSION: The K-EXIT is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing executive function of the Korean elderly people. It may be also useful for the less well-educated people.
Aged ; Dementia ; Executive Function ; Humans

OBJECTIVE: Lexical fluency tests are frequently used to assess language and executive function in clinical practice. We investigated the influences of age, gender, and education on lexical verbal fluency in an educationally-diverse, elderly Korean population and provided its' normative information. METHODS: We administered the lexical verbal fluency test (LVFT) to 1676 community-dwelling, cognitively normal subjects aged 60 years or over. RESULTS: In a stepwise linear regression analysis, education (B=0.40, SE=0.02, standardized B=0.506) and age (B=-0.10, SE=0.01, standardized B=-0.15) had significant effects on LVFT scores (p<0.001), but gender did not (B=0.40, SE=0.02, standardized B=0.506, p>0.05). Education explained 28.5% of the total variance in LVFT scores, which was much larger than the variance explained by age (5.42%). Accordingly, we presented normative data of the LVFT stratified by age (60-69, 70-74, 75-79, and > or =80 years) and education (0-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, and > or =13 years). CONCLUSION: The LVFT norms should provide clinically useful data for evaluating elderly people and help improve the interpretation of verbal fluency tasks and allow for greater diagnostic accuracy.
Aged* ; Education ; Executive Function ; Humans ; Linear Models

Executive Function ; Humans ; Prefrontal Cortex ; physiology

Child ; Executive Function ; Humans ; Pediatric Obesity ; physiopathology

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate relationships between psychotic symptoms and cognitive functions in schizophrenia. METHODS: The study group was composed of 36 schizophrenic patients. Positive, negative, and disorganization symptoms were assessed using the PANSS. Verbal, visuospatial, attention, memory, and executive functions were assessed using a battery of cognitive tests. RESULTS: Correlation analysis between symptom vs. cognitive measures showed that (a) positive symptoms were significantly correlated with no cognitive measures, (b) negative symptoms were significantly correlated with all cognitive measures, and (c) disorganization symptoms were significantly correlated with executive and memory measures. Correlation analyses between symptom vs. cognitive factors showed that negative-disorganization factor is significantly correlated with executive-memory factor. CONCLUSION: Significant relationships were confined mostly to frontal symptoms vs. frontal cognitive functions. Thus, the relationships may be mediated mainly by variations in severity of frontal pathology among patients.
Executive Function ; Fibrinogen ; Humans ; Memory ; Pathology ; Schizophrenia

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the impact of executive function on the performance of two different affective tasks, the Facial Affect Identification Task (FAIT) and the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), in patients with schizophrenia. METHODS: Thirty-nine patients with schizophrenia and 33 healthy controls completed the FAIT and the IGT, followed by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and the intelligence quotient (IQ) test. In addition to correlation analysis, regression analysis was used to determine the extent to which the performance of the WCST, in particular, perseverative error (PE), accounted for the variation in both the FAIT and the IGT. RESULTS: Relative to normal controls, patients with schizophrenia showed significant impairments in the IGT, the FAIT and the WCST even after controlling for IQ. While normal controls did not show any relationships between the WCST and two affective tasks, patients with schizophrenia showed that variables in the WCST correlated not only with the FAIT total correct score (r=-0.503, p=0.001 for PE) but also with the IGT net score (r=0.385, p=0.016 for PE). The PE score was a better predictor of the performance on the FAIT (R2=0.25) than that of the performance on the IGT (R2=0.15). CONCLUSION: Our findings imply that deficits in executive function in schizophrenia can affect performance on facial emotion recognition task more than performance on task based on emotion experience, that is, the feedback from the body. Therefore, more consideration is needed of the impact of executive function when interpreting the result of "conventional" facial affect recognition tests as opposed to interpreting the IGT.
Executive Function ; Gambling ; Humans ; Intelligence ; Iowa ; Schizophrenia ; Wisconsin

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this research was to investigate the differences of symptoms and neurocognitive functions with good and poor social functioning schizophrenic outpatients. METHOD: 152 schizophrenic outpatients were divided to good social functioning group(n=26) and poor social functioning group(n=126) based on the instrumental role of workers or students. Neurocognitive functions of these patient groups were compared with normal control group, which was composed of 30 healthy persons without a history of psychiatric illness. Schizophrenic symptoms were assessed by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale(PANSS). Neurocognitive function tests include the sustained attention, sensory register, executive function, concentration and attention, and verbal memory and learning assessed with Degraded Stimulus Continuous Performance Test(DS-CPT), Span Apprehension Task(SAT), Wisconsin Card Sorting Test(WCST), Digit Span(DS), and Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test(RAVLT). RESULTS: 1) No significant differences were noted in the symptom subtypes of PANSS between good and poor social functioning patient groups. 2) The poor social functioning patient group showed significant deficits in the sustained attention, sensory register, concentration and attention, and verbal memory and learning as manifested in the data of DS-CPT, SAT, DS, and RAVLT compared with normal control and good social functioning patient groups. But there were no differences in these neurocognitive functions between good social functioning patient group and normal control group. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that some neurocognitive deficits such as sustained attention, sensory register, concentration and attention, and verbal memory and learning may be more important factors than symptoms for social functioning in the stable schizophrenic outpatients.
Executive Function ; Humans ; Learning ; Memory ; Outpatients ; Schizophrenia ; Verbal Learning ; Wisconsin

This paper reviews the Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment (CBT) of late-life anxiety disorders, mainly focused on generalized anxiety disorder. CBT for late-life anxiety disorder is usually based on the same programs with demonstrated efficacy in younger adults, with specific treatment components included relaxation training, cognitive restructuring, and exposure. CBT for late-life anxiety disorders was proved to be more effective than no treatment. But, the existing body of work does not clearly indicate the superiority of CBT over alternative psychosocial interventions. Another serious limitation of CBT is that the rates of attrition in many trials are higher among older adults than among younger adults. Those limitations are strongly suggested that augmented CBT to meet the late-life adult's characteristics and needs, like as execute function, should be developed. Enhanced CBT is the one of the example, it includes the standard CBT elements, as well as additional attention to at-home practice assignments, reminder telephone call and weekly reviews of concepts and techniques. In conclusion, this review suggested the potential value of CBT for late-life anxiety disorders. Based on the current literature, nonstandard and augmented therapies appear to produce best results.
Adult ; Anxiety Disorders* ; Anxiety* ; Executive Function ; Humans ; Relaxation ; Telephone