scholarly journals The Effect of Chronic Alprazolam Intake on Memory, Attention, and Psychomotor Performance in Healthy Human Male Volunteers

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahid Sadek Chowdhury ◽  
Mohammed Monzur Morshed ◽  
Mohammad Shahriar ◽  
Mohiuddin Ahmed Bhuiyan ◽  
Sardar Mohd. Ashraful Islam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Psychomotor Performance ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Neuropsychological Test ◽  
Chronic Administration ◽  
Anterograde Amnesia ◽  
Healthy Human ◽  
Paired Associates ◽  
Male Volunteers ◽  
Significant Impairment

Alprazolam is used as an anxiolytic drug for generalized anxiety disorder and it has been reported to produce sedation and anterograde amnesia. In the current study, we randomly divided 26 healthy male volunteers into two groups: one group taking alprazolam 0.5 mg and the other taking placebo daily for two weeks. We utilized the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) software to assess the chronic effect of alprazolam. We selected Paired Associates Learning (PAL) and Delayed Matching to Sample (DMS) tests for memory, Rapid Visual Information Processing (RVP) for attention, and Choice Reaction Time (CRT) for psychomotor performance twice: before starting the treatment and after the completion of the treatment. We found statistically significant impairment of visual memory in one parameter of PAL and three parameters of DMS in alprazolam group. The PAL mean trial to success and total correct matching in 0-second delay, 4-second delay, and all delay situation of DMS were impaired in alprazolam group. RVP total hits after two weeks of alprazolam treatment were improved in alprazolam group. But such differences were not observed in placebo group. In our study, we found that chronic administration of alprazolam affects memory but attentive and psychomotor performance remained unaffected.

Visual memory and sustained attention impairment in youths with autism spectrum disorders

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (11) ◽  
pp. 2263-2273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y.-L. Chien ◽  
S. S.-F. Gau ◽  
C.-Y. Shang ◽  
Y.-N. Chiu ◽  
W.-C. Tsai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Neuropsychological Test ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Paired Associates ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Attention Impairment

BackgroundAn uneven neurocognitive profile is a hallmark of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Studies focusing on the visual memory performance in ASD have shown controversial results. We investigated visual memory and sustained attention in youths with ASD and typically developing (TD) youths.MethodWe recruited 143 pairs of youths with ASD (males 93.7%; mean age 13.1, s.d. 3.5 years) and age- and sex-matched TD youths. The ASD group consisted of 67 youths with autistic disorder (autism) and 76 with Asperger's disorder (AS) based on the DSM-IV criteria. They were assessed using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery involving the visual memory [spatial recognition memory (SRM), delayed matching to sample (DMS), paired associates learning (PAL)] and sustained attention (rapid visual information processing; RVP).ResultsYouths with ASD performed significantly worse than TD youths on most of the tasks; the significance disappeared in the superior intelligence quotient (IQ) subgroup. The response latency on the tasks did not differ between the ASD and TD groups. Age had significant main effects on SRM, DMS, RVP and part of PAL tasks and had an interaction with diagnosis in DMS and RVP performance. There was no significant difference between autism and AS on visual tasks.ConclusionsOur findings implied that youths with ASD had a wide range of visual memory and sustained attention impairment that was moderated by age and IQ, which supports temporal and frontal lobe dysfunction in ASD. The lack of difference between autism and AS implies that visual memory and sustained attention cannot distinguish these two ASD subtypes, which supports DSM-5 ASD criteria.

scholarly journals Allium sativumL. Improves Visual Memory and Attention in Healthy Human Volunteers

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Tasnim ◽  
Parsa Sanjana Haque ◽  
Md. Sazzadul Bari ◽  
Md. Monir Hossain ◽  
Sardar Mohd. Ashraful Islam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Executive Function ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Neuropsychological Test ◽  
Healthy Human ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Memory And Attention ◽  
Human Volunteers ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Significant Difference

Studies have shown thatAllium sativumL. (AS) protects amyloid-beta peptide-induced apoptosis, prevents oxidative insults to neurons and synapses, and thus prevent Alzheimer’s disease progression in experimental animals. However, there is no experimental evidence in human regarding its putative role in memory and cognition. We have studied the effect of AS consumption by healthy human volunteers on visual memory, verbal memory, attention, and executive function in comparison to control subjects taking placebo. The study was conducted over five weeks and twenty volunteers of both genders were recruited and divided randomly into two groups: A (AS) and B (placebo). Both groups participated in the 6 computerized neuropsychological tests of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) twice: at the beginning and after five weeks of the study. We found statistically significant difference (p<0.05) in several parameters of visual memory and attention due to AS ingestion. We also found statistically nonsignificant (p>0.05) beneficial effects on verbal memory and executive function within a short period of time among the volunteers. Study for a longer period of time with patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases might yield more relevant results regarding the potential therapeutic role of AS.

Using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) to assess the cognitive impact of electroconvulsive therapy on visual and visuospatial memory

2009 ◽  
Vol 40 (6) ◽  
pp. 1017-1025 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. W. Falconer ◽  
J. Cleland ◽  
S. Fielding ◽  
I. C. Reid
Keyword(s):  
Recognition Memory ◽  
Electroconvulsive Therapy ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Medial Temporal Lobe ◽  
Neuropsychological Test ◽  
Neuropsychological Testing ◽  
Severe Depression ◽  
Visuospatial Memory ◽  
Significant Impairment

BackgroundThe cognitive impact of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is rarely measured systematically in everyday clinical practice even though patient and clinician acceptance is limited by its adverse affect on memory. If patients are tested it is often with simple paper and pencil tests of visual or verbal memory. There are no reported studies of computerized neuropsychological testing to assess the cognitive impact of ECT on visuospatial memory.MethodTwenty-four patients with severe depression were treated with a course of bilateral ECT and assessed with a battery of visual memory tests within the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB). These included spatial and pattern recognition memory, pattern-location associative learning and a delayed matching to sample test. Testing was carried out before ECT, during ECT, within the week after ECT and 1 month after ECT.ResultsPatients showed significant impairments in visual and visuospatial memory both during and within the week after ECT. Most impairments resolved 1 month following ECT; however, significant impairment in spatial recognition memory remained. This is one of only a few studies that have detected anterograde memory deficits more than 2 weeks after treatment.ConclusionsPatients receiving ECT displayed a range of visual and visuospatial deficits over the course of their treatment. These deficits were most prominent for tasks dependent on the use of the right medial temporal lobe; frontal lobe function may also be implicated. The CANTAB appears to be a useful instrument for measuring the adverse cognitive effects of ECT on aspects of visual and visuospatial memory.

Profile of neurocognitive impairments associated with female in-patients with anorexia nervosa

2005 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 517-527 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. FOWLER ◽  
A. BLACKWELL ◽  
A. JAFFA ◽  
R. PALMER ◽  
T. W. ROBBINS ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Recognition Memory ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Neuropsychological Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Neurocognitive Performance ◽  
Spatial Span ◽  
Paired Associates ◽  
Wide Range

Background. Although many studies have reported impairments of neurocognitive performance in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN), these have involved a wide range of assessment methods and some findings are inconsistent.Method. Twenty-five female in-patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of AN, identified from three units specializing in the treatment of eating disorders, volunteered for the study. Twenty-five non-clinical control subjects were recruited, matched for age, gender and estimated IQ. Subjects were assessed with a range of computer-administered neurocognitive tasks from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB), which has been validated in many studies of neuropsychiatric disorders.Results. The patient group showed significant but moderate impairments (i.e. less than one standard deviation below the mean performance of the control group) on tests of spatial recognition memory, a planning task and rapid visual information processing, while a subgroup of patients (n=14) showed greater degrees of impairments on at least one of these tests. The degrees of impairments did not correlate with body mass index (BMI). No impairments were observed on tests of spatial span, pattern recognition memory, spatial working memory, matching-to-sample, paired associates learning and set-shifting.Conclusions. The findings, in relation to a mean BMI of 15·3, are compatible with, in general, subtle impairments in neurocognition in AN. However, in those patients with relatively severe degrees of impairments, these may have adverse effects on complex tasks of social and occupational functioning. Further research is needed on the nature of relevant causal mechanisms, including the effects of potentially confounding variables.

scholarly journals The Relation between Inflammation and Neuropsychological Test Performance

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie H. Balldin ◽  
James R. Hall ◽  
Robert C. Barber ◽  
Linda Hynan ◽  
Ramon Diaz-Arrastia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Inflammatory Markers ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Neuropsychological Functioning ◽  
Neuropsychological Test ◽  
Differential Relation ◽  
Markers Of Inflammation ◽  
Anti Inflammatory

Background. Considerable research documents an association between pro- and anti-inflammatory markers and Alzheimer's disease (AD), yet the differential relation between these markers and neuropsychological functioning in AD and nondemented controls has received less attention. The current study sought to evaluate the relationship between peripheral markers of inflammation (both pro- and anti-inflammatory) and neuropsychological functioning through the Texas Alzheimer's Research and Care Consortium (TARCC) cohort.Methods. There were 320 participants (Probable ADn=124, Controlsn=196) in the TARCC Longitudinal Research Cohort available for analysis. Regression analyses were utilized to examine the relation between proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory markers and neuropsychological functioning. Follow-up analyses were conducted separately by case versus control status.Results. Proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory markers were found to be associated with neuropsychological testing. Third tertile proinflammatory markers were negatively associated with measures of attention and language, and anti-inflammatory markers were positively associated with measures of immediate verbal memory and delayed verbal and visual memory.Conclusions. These findings support the link between peripheral inflammatory markers and neuropsychological functioning and suggest the utility of examining profiles of inflammatory markers in the future.

scholarly journals Flipping the Script: Measuring Both Performance Validity and Cognitive Ability with the Forced Choice Recognition Trial of the RCFT

2021 ◽  
pp. 003151252110197
Author(s):  
Kaitlyn Abeare ◽  
Kristoffer Romero ◽  
Laura Cutler ◽  
Christina D. Sirianni ◽  
Laszlo A. Erdodi
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Clinical Sample ◽  
Neuropsychological Test ◽  
Forced Choice ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Performance Validity ◽  
Two Samples

In this study we attempted to replicate the classification accuracy of the newly introduced Forced Choice Recognition trial (FCR) of the Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT) in a clinical sample. We administered the RCFT FCR and the earlier Yes/No Recognition trial from the RCFT to 52 clinically referred patients as part of a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery and incentivized a separate control group of 83 university students to perform well on these measures. We then computed the classification accuracies of both measures against criterion performance validity tests (PVTs) and compared results between the two samples. At previously published validity cutoffs (≤16 & ≤17), the RCFT FCR remained specific (.84–1.00) to psychometrically defined non-credible responding. Simultaneously, the RCFT FCR was more sensitive to examinees’ natural variability in visual-perceptual and verbal memory skills than the Yes/No Recognition trial. Even after being reduced to a seven-point scale (18-24) by the validity cutoffs, both RCFT recognition scores continued to provide clinically useful information on visual memory. This is the first study to validate the RCFT FCR as a PVT in a clinical sample. Our data also support its use for measuring cognitive ability. Replication studies with more diverse samples and different criterion measures are still needed before large-scale clinical application of this scale.

scholarly journals Predictive coding of action intentions in dorsal and ventral visual stream is based on visual anticipations, memory-based information and motor preparation

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simona Monaco ◽  
Giulia Malfatti ◽  
Alessandro Zendron ◽  
Elisa Pellencin ◽  
Luca Turella
Keyword(s):  
Visual Information ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Visual Recognition ◽  
Predictive Coding ◽  
Action Planning ◽  
Neural Signals ◽  
Motor Representation ◽  
Visual Stream ◽  
Ventral Visual Stream ◽  
Action Intention

AbstractPredictions of upcoming movements are based on several types of neural signals that span the visual, somatosensory, motor and cognitive system. Thus far, pre-movement signals have been investigated while participants viewed the object to be acted upon. Here, we studied the contribution of information other than vision to the classification of preparatory signals for action, even in absence of online visual information. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and multivoxel pattern analysis (MVPA) to test whether the neural signals evoked by visual, memory-based and somato-motor information can be reliably used to predict upcoming actions in areas of the dorsal and ventral visual stream during the preparatory phase preceding the action, while participants were lying still. Nineteen human participants (nine women) performed one of two actions towards an object with their eyes open or closed. Despite the well-known role of ventral stream areas in visual recognition tasks and the specialization of dorsal stream areas in somato-motor processes, we decoded action intention in areas of both streams based on visual, memory-based and somato-motor signals. Interestingly, we could reliably decode action intention in absence of visual information based on neural activity evoked when visual information was available, and vice-versa. Our results show a similar visual, memory and somato-motor representation of action planning in dorsal and ventral visual stream areas that allows predicting action intention across domains, regardless of the availability of visual information.

scholarly journals Change in Evaluation Mode Can Cause a Cheerleader Effect

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claude Messner ◽  
Mattia Carnelli ◽  
Patrick Stefan Hähener
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Target Face ◽  
Contrast Effects ◽  
Evaluation Mode ◽  
Standard Of Comparison ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Hierarchical Encoding ◽  
Practical Implications

The cheerleader effect describes the phenomenon whereby faces are perceived as being more attractive when flanked by other faces than when they are perceived in isolation. At least four theories predict the cheerleader effect. Two visual memory processes could cause a cheerleader effect. First, visual information will sometimes be averaged in the visual memory: the averaging of faces could increase the perceived attractiveness of all the faces flanked by other faces. Second, information will often be combined into a higher-order concept. This hierarchical encoding suggests that information processing causes faces to appear more attractive when flanked by highly attractive faces. Two further explanations posit that comparison processes cause the cheerleader effect. While contrast effects predict that a difference between the target face and the flanking faces causes the cheerleader effect due to comparison processes, a change in the evaluation mode, which alters the standard of comparison between joint and separate evaluation of faces, could be sufficient for producing a cheerleader effect. This leads to the prediction that even when there is no contrast between the attractiveness of the target face and the flanking faces, a cheerleader effect could occur. The results of one experiment support this prediction. The findings of this study have practical implications, such as for individuals who post selfies on social media. An individual’s face will appear more attractive in a selfie taken with people of low attractiveness than in a selfie without other people, even when all the faces have equally low levels of attractiveness.

The acute and medium-term effects of treatment with electroconvulsive therapy on memory in patients with major depressive disorder

2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 797-806 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. P. Maric ◽  
Z. Stojanovic ◽  
S. Andric ◽  
I. Soldatovic ◽  
M. Dolic ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Major Depressive Disorder ◽  
Depressive Disorder ◽  
Electroconvulsive Therapy ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Mixed Model ◽  
Linear Mixed Model ◽  
Neuropsychological Test ◽  
Medium Term ◽  
Major Depressive ◽  
Visual Spatial

BackgroundCurrent literature provides insufficient information on the degree of cognitive impairment during and after electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), mostly due to the fact that applied tests lacked sensitivity and flexibility. Our goal was to evaluate cognitive functioning in adult depressed patients treated with bi-temporal ECT, using tests sensitive for detection of possible acute and medium-term memory changes.MethodThirty adult patients with major depressive disorder, treated with a course of bi-temporal ECT, underwent clinical and cognitive measurements three times: at baseline, immediately after a course of ECT, and 1 month later. For cognition assessment, we used learning and visual, spatial and figural memory tests from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB).ResultsBi-temporal ECT has proven to be an effective treatment. The linear mixed model, used to analyze changes in depression severity and patients’ cognitive performances over time and to assess dynamic correlations between aforementioned features, did not show any significant memory impairment as a potential acute or medium-term ECT effect. However, it yielded significant improvement on visual memory and learning at the follow-up, which positively correlated with the improvement of depression.ConclusionGood progress is being made in the search for ECT-related acute and medium-term cognitive side-effects by using the tests sensitive to detect memory dysfunction with parallel forms of the tasks (to counter practice effects on repeat testing). Our results on learning and memory in relation to ECT during treatment of depression did not bring forth any prolonged and significant bi-temporal ECT-related memory deficit.

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