OBJECTIVETo explore the neuropsychological characteristics of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

METHODSNeuropsychological tests, including visual working memory, Stroop test, digits inverse reciting, vocabulary fluency, Wisconsin card sort test (WCST), and Temporal discounting were used to evaluate the capacity of response inhibition, phonological working memory, visual working memory executive function and delayed satisfying capacity of subjects.

RESULTS1. The ADHD children spent longer time [ADHD-I (84(20), ADHD-C: 98 (31), normal: 70 (28)] to accomplish color naming and made more errors [ADHD-I: 3 (3), ADHD-C: 6 (19), normal: 2 (5)] than the normal control when the color was inconsistent with the word meaning in Stroop test (P < 0.01). 2. The scores of digits reciting [ADHD-I: 3 (3), ADHD-C: 3 (4), normal 4 (4)] inverse was lower in ADHD than in normal control (P < 0.01). 3. The representation of ADHD was poorer than normal control in visual working memory [ADHD-I: 21 (3), ADHD-C: 20 (5), Normal: 20 (3)], and in delayed visual memory [ADHD-I: 19 (5), ADHD-C: 19 (5), Normal: 20 (5)] (P < 0.01). 4. The scores of vocabulary fluency [ADHD-I: 1 (1), ADHD-C: 2 (1), normal: 0 (0)] was lower in ADHD than in normal control (P < 0.01). 5. In WCST, the ADHD children made more errors [ADHD-I :15 (17), ADHD-C: 15 (15), normal: 13 (13)] and less classification [ADHD-I: 5 (4), ADHD-C: 5 (4), normal: 5 (3)] than normal control (P < 0.01). 6. In Temporal discounting, the ADHD children showed significantly more impairments than normal control did (P < 0.01). 7. There was significant difference between the two subtype groups on some tests (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSObvious cognitive impairments were found in children with ADHD, involving poor response inhibition, impaired working memory, dysfunction of planning and set-shifting, and there was no significant difference between the two subtype groups.

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity ; classification ; immunology ; physiopathology ; psychology ; Child ; Cognition Disorders ; physiopathology ; psychology ; Humans ; Memory ; Memory Disorders ; immunology ; psychology ; Memory, Short-Term ; physiology ; Neuropsychological Tests

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Zonisamide (ZNS) is a useful antiepileptic drug with a broad therapeutic spectrum. However, there is limited information on the long-term use of ZNS as a monotherapy. This study investigated the long-term effects of ZNS as a monotherapy for the treatment of epilepsy. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the records of epilepsy patients treated with ZNS monotherapy at our clinic. We identified outcomes for patients treated with ZNS monotherapy for a minimum of 6 months. Efficacy was quantified as the percentage change in seizure frequency, and safety was assessed by the frequency and types of adverse events. RESULTS: Sixty patients who received ZNS for a minimum of 6 months were included. The mean duration of treatment was 19.8 months (range, 6-37 months), and the mean ZNS dosage was 255 mg/day (range, 100-500 mg/day). Twenty-seven patients (45%) were seizure-free, and an additional 20 patients (33%) had above 50% seizure frequency reduction at the last follow-up visit. Partial seizures with or without secondary generalization and generalized seizures were well controlled by ZNS, whereas complex partial seizures were not. Forty-eight patients (80%) reported mild-to-moderate adverse events, including memory loss (35%), attention deficit (27%), and weight loss (20%). CONCLUSIONS: Long-term ZNS monotherapy is effective at treating a broad spectrum of seizure disorders, except complex partial seizures. However, a specific adverse event, such as cognitive impairment, is common and long-lasting.
Epilepsy* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Generalization (Psychology) ; Humans ; Memory Disorders ; Retrospective Studies ; Seizures ; Weight Loss

OBJECTIVEIt is known that hypertension may be implicated the development of memory dysfunction. Our study tests the hypothesis that prevalence of memory dysfunction is closely linked with the level of SBP (systolic blood pressure) and DBP (diastolic blood pressure) in hypertension patients.

METHODSNon-stroke hypertension patients aged 18-75 years (n = 196, age 54 ± 10, 101 male) with diagnosed hypertension for more than one year were included. Memory function was measured by the Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test Second Edition (RBMTII, 2003). The general information was obtained through questionnaire.

RESULTSRBMTII total score, the ability of recall name, remember storing article, recall faces, delayed route memory and orientation score were significantly decreased in proportion with increasing blood pressure (P < 0.05: hypertension III vs. II and I). RBMTII total score, the ability of recall name, and recall faces were significantly lower in hypertension II group compared to hypertension I group (P < 0.05). The age, male gender, years of hypertension, level of SBP and BMI were risk factors of memory dysfunction while the years of education was protective factor of memory dysfunction. The morbidity of memory dysfunction in patients with hypertension was higher and more serious with increasing blood pressure level (χ(2) = 10.389, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSOur results suggest that blood pressure is positively related to increased risk of memory dysfunction. The age, male gender, years of hypertension, level of SBP and BMI are risk factors of memory dysfunction while the years of education is protective factor of memory dysfunction.

Adult ; Blood Pressure ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension ; physiopathology ; psychology ; Male ; Memory Disorders ; etiology ; Middle Aged ; Risk Factors

The largely consistent columnar circuitry observed throughout the cortex may serve to continuously predict bottom-up activation based on invariant memories. This "memory-prediction" function is essential to efficient and accurate perception. Many of the defined cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia suggest a breakdown of memory-prediction function. As deficits in memory-prediction function are proposed to lie more proximal to the biological causes of schizophrenia than deficits in standard cognitive constructs, tests that more directly probe memory-prediction function may be especially sensitive predictors of conversion in individuals at high-risk for schizophrenia. In this article, we review the conceptual basis for this hypothesis, and outline how it may be tested with specific cognitive paradigms. The accurate identification of cognitive processes that precede the onset of psychosis will not only be useful for clinicians to predict which young people are at greatest risk for schizophrenia, but will also help determine the neurobiology of psychosis onset, thus leading to new and effective treatments for preventing schizophrenia and other psychoses.
Cognition Disorders ; Humans ; Memory ; Neuropsychological Tests ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Risk Assessment ; Schizophrenia ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Schizophrenic Psychology

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the psychological state of children with epilepsy and analyze its influencing factors.

METHODSThe Mental Health Scale for Child and Adolescent was used to survey 113 children with epilepsy and 114 normal children to evaluate and compare their psychological state. Questionnaires were used to investigate the general status of all subjects and the disease condition and treatment of children with epilepsy. The possible influencing factors for the psychological state of children with epilepsy were analyzed.

RESULTSThe mental health status of children with epilepsy was poorer than that of normal children in cognition, thinking, emotion, will-behavior, and personality traits (P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that family education, family relations, seizure frequency, seizure duration, EEG epileptiform discharges in the last six months, and number of types of antiepileptic drugs were correlated with the psychological state of children with epilepsy.

CONCLUSIONSThere is a wider range of psychological health problems in children with epilepsy than in normal children. Poor family living environment, poor seizure control, and use of many antiepileptic drugs are the risk factors affecting the psychological state of children with epilepsy. Improving family living environment, controlling seizures, and monotherapy help to improve the psychological state of children with epilepsy.

Adolescent ; Child ; Epilepsy ; drug therapy ; psychology ; Female ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Memory Disorders ; etiology

Behavioral characteristics of the animal models and humans are impaired in chronic stress. The present study aimed to evaluate and compare the protective effects of sertraline and curcumin on stress-induced learning and memory impairment, anxiety and anhedonia in rats. Male rats were divided into seven groups: stress+water, stress+olive oil, stress+curcumin (100 mg/kg/day), stress+sertraline (10 mg/kg/day), curcumin, sertraline, and control groups. The rats were exposed to chronic variable stress for 56 days. At the end of 40 days and while the previous treatments were continued, the rats were tested in the eight radial maze, elevated plus maze, and sucrose consumption for learning and memory, anxiety, and anhedonia, respectively. In comparison to the non-stressed group, stress+water and stress+olive oil groups revealed a significantly lower percent of correct choices and higher reference and working memory errors during learning and retention phases (p<0.001). In addition these stress groups showed a significant lower percent of the open arms time and open arms entries in the elevated plus maze and consuming less sucrose solution. In addition, the stress+curcumin and stress+sertraline groups showed a better performance in the evaluated parameters of the radial arm maze, elevated plus maze, and sucrose consumption tests. It appears that curcumin and sertraline have the similar effectiveness on behavioral changes in chronic variable stress-induced rats.
Anhedonia ; Animals ; Anxiety ; Arm ; Curcumin ; Humans ; Learning ; Male ; Memory ; Memory Disorders ; Memory, Short-Term ; Models, Animal ; Rats ; Retention (Psychology) ; Sertraline ; Sucrose

In the fields of judicial psychiatric identification, about 40%-60% of the people maybe exaggerate their injury for personal profit. Though some psychological tests are effective in identification, they are limited in cunning liars. This article summarizes previous experimental mode, results and effects of event-related potential (ERP) in detecting cognitive malingering. ERP technology can be highly sensitive and specific. It is a kind of objective physiological index and is a promising technology in detecting cognitive malingering.
Brain Injuries/psychology* ; Cognition Disorders/psychology* ; Disability Evaluation ; Electroencephalography ; Event-Related Potentials, P300 ; Forensic Psychiatry/methods* ; Humans ; Malingering/psychology* ; Memory/physiology* ; Neuropsychological Tests ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sensitivity and Specificity

PURPOSE: In this study a cognitive enhancement group training program of 10 sessions was provided for community-dwelling elders and the effects on cognitive function, depression and quality of life were tested. METHODS: A quasi-experimental study using a nonequivalent control group, pre-post design was used. The participants were 87 elders whose cognitive function was within the normal range. Of these elders, 45 were assigned to the experimental group and 42 to the control group. The intervention was conducted once a week for 10 weeks. Chi-square test, t-test, paired t-test, Wilcoxon rank sum test and Wilcoxon signed rank test were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: After the program, the cognitive function (t=-2.85, p=.006), depression (z=2.82, p=.005) and quality of life (t=2.79, p=.007) of the experimental group was significantly better than those of the control group. Especially, immediate recall (z=2.45, p=.014) and concentration (z=2.58, p=.010) in the subcategory of cognitive function were significantly better than that of the control group. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that the cognitive enhancement group training program was effective in enhancing the cognitive function, depression and quality of life for elders and could therefore be considered as a positive program for emotional and cognitive support for community-dwelling elders.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Cognition Disorders/*therapy ; Cognitive Therapy ; Depression ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Memory, Short-Term ; *Program Evaluation ; Quality of Life ; Recognition (Psychology)

OBJECTIVES: Nocturnal sleep disruption has been considered as a risk factor for cognitive impairment in the elderly. And the frontal lobe dysfunction was suggested to predict the progression to dementia. We aimed to illustrate the relationship of nocturnal sleep with frontal lobe function in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients. METHODS: Thirty MCI patients and 30 age- and sex-matched normal control (NC) subjects were selected. Frontal lobe function tests including Stroop Test, Similarity Test, Digit Span Test (DST), and Benton Visual Retention Test (BVRT) were administrated. Nocturnal polysomnography was done for each subject. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the sleep parameters and diagnostic distributions of sleep disorders between the MCI and NC groups. In MCI patients, the mean hypopnea index (HI) of the ApoE4 positive group was higher than that of ApoE4 negative group. In the NC group, the wake time after sleep onset (WASO) was negatively correlated with the DST score (r=-0.545). In the MCI group, WASO tended to be negatively correlated with the Similarity Test score (r=-0.376, p=0.053), and slow wave sleep amount (SWS) was negatively correlated with the error score of BVRT (r=-0.489). CONCLUSION: Although there was no difference in the sleep quality and frequency of SAS between the MCI and NC groups, the severity of SDB was higher in MCI patients with ApoE4 compared to those without ApoE4. In the MCI group, the difficulty in maintaining sleep was associated with decreased executive function, and the decreased SWS was associated with impaired working memory. The relationship of nocturnal sleep with the frontal lobe function in MCI patients appears to be different from that of normal elderly subjects.
Aged ; Apolipoprotein E4 ; Dementia ; Executive Function ; Frontal Lobe ; Humans ; Memory, Short-Term ; Mild Cognitive Impairment ; Phenothiazines ; Polysomnography ; Retention (Psychology) ; Risk Factors ; Sleep Wake Disorders ; Stroop Test

BACKGROUND: The Seoul Verbal Learning Test (SVLT) is a relatively brief test of verbal learning and memory, which is used to examine dementia patients when a more comprehensive memory assessment is not feasible or when serial testing is desired. The aim of this study was to investigate the pattern of the SVLT performance and its usefulness in making a differential diagnosis between Alzheimer's disease (AD) and subcortical vascular dementia (SVD). METHODS: The SVLT was administered to 15 younger controls, 12 elderly controls, 84 probable AD and 53 SVD patients who met the DSM-IV criteria for dementia. In order to determine the difference of the SVLT parameters between AD and SVD according to the disease severity, the subjects were first grouped into mild dementia (CDR 1 or less) and advanced dementia (CDR2), then the parameters were compared. RESULTS: Pattern analysis of the SVLT performance in subjects with AD and SVD revealed that the mild AD subjects recalled fewer words in trial 2, had a lower discrimination index, a lower combination memory score and more recognition of semantically-unrelated distracter items. In advanced cases, with the exception of combination memory score, there were no differences between the groups in terms of the overall learning or the discrimination index. CONCLUSIONS: Although SVLT has limited differential diagnostic value in advanced cases, in mild cases, pattern analysis of the SVLT performance is a useful tool for discriminating mild AD from SVD. Therefore, a further clinical study should be promising.
Aged ; Alzheimer Disease* ; Dementia ; Dementia, Vascular* ; Diagnosis, Differential* ; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Humans ; Learning ; Memory ; Seoul* ; Verbal Learning*