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Biomedical subjects

C Cipolli

Publications and source records attributed to C Cipolli.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

The validity of informant report for grading the severity of Alzheimer's dementia.

The validity of informant-based techniques has been established for the detection of dementia cases by non-pathological individuals, but is still controversial for the assessment of the severity of dementia. This study aimed at ascertaining whether informant-based evaluation (the so-called informant report) of the cognitive and behavioral impairment of a patient is valid for grading the severity of dementia, and consistent with objective assessment of the patient's cognitive and behavioral functioning. We enrolled 96 community-dwelling outpatients and 56 controls assessed at the Geriatric Evaluation Unit of the University of Modena, Italy. All patients scored lower than 27 on the MMSE, and met DSM-IV inclusion criteria for Alzheimer's dementia. Patients and controls were administered the CAMDEX interview, containing a section which collects participant (patient or control) and informant evaluations on dementia-related cognitive and behavioral deficits. The informant report resulted effective at MANOVA for grading the severity of dementia in 4 of its 5 measures (namely, memory, everyday activities, general mental functioning and depressed mood), and was correlated with the scores of several scales of the CAMDEX cognitive section (i.e., CAMCOG). Instead, the participant's (patient or control) report showed a lower capacity for grading dementia, and was poorly correlated with the psychometric outcomes of cognitive functioning. On the whole, the results corroborated the validity of the informant report in the diagnostic work-up for grading dementia, given its sensitivity to the severity of dementia, and its consistency with cognitive psychometric outcomes.

Aged↗
PubMed2001

Active processing of declarative knowledge during REM-sleep dreaming.

The ability to process recently acquired knowledge is clearly maintained during sleep. Here we assess whether and how far the sleeper controls this processing (in a non-volitional and non-conscious manner). We posit that during sleep, the cognitive concerns of previous waking may guide access to, and processing of, items of declarative knowledge with which those concerns are associated. In a delayed recall task, before each of three sleep onsets in the same night, 12 subjects heard a different nonsense sentence. When awakened in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, they were asked to report their dream experience and to recall the last sentence heard. Occurrences of incorporation into dream content were more frequent for this sentence than for the sentences heard before previous sleep onsets, and also more frequent than occurrences of similar contents in reports from a control night. However, the modalities of elaboration of dream contents did not vary. These findings indicate that cognitive concern can affect the accessing of recently acquired declarative knowledge during sleep, but not the modalities by which this is inserted into dream content. They also suggest that cognitive concern may help consolidate knowledge by increasing the likelihood of it being processed during sleep.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Story-like organization of dream experience in different periods of REM sleep.

Four dream reports, collected from each of 16 subjects in an experimental night, were analysed using the criteria of Mandler and Johnson's story grammar. The experimental night was the first of the four nights where subjects had spontaneously given a dream report after each of the four awakenings planned in REM sleep. A multivariate analysis of covariance, taking the order of the nights where the experimental night occurred and the order of reports as factors, the number of stories per report as covariate and the number of statements in the setting, the number of statements in the event structure and number of episodes per story as dependent variables, showed that the greater length and complexity of reports collected in the second half of the night depends on a greater effectiveness of the dream production system rather than on a greater accuracy of recall. This increase concerns the organization of individual stories rather than the number of stories developed in a given time. These findings raise the issue of how dream production is re-triggered during REM sleep. To cast light on this issue, it seems important to establish whether and how the themes of the various stories developed in a given dream experience are interrelated.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Assessing behavioural and cognitive impairment in dementia using an informant's report: evidence from the CAMDEX interview.

The consistency of measures from informants' report and from objective testing, both incorporated into the CAMDEX interview, was tested for elderly persons with mild dementia (n = 46), with moderate dementia (n = 41), and without cognitive impairment (controls, n = 56). Informants' reports permitted grading severity of dementia and provided measures of memory and mental functioning in everyday activities highly related to indices derived from objective testing.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1998

Binocular vertical perceptual adaptation in essential infantile esotropia.

This study assessed whether dissociated vertical deviation, corresponding to an occasional elevation of the deviated eye, is accompanied by a binocular vertical perceptual adaptation. Dissociated vertical deviation was elicited by means of neutral filters in 16 patients, 8 who had undergone operations for the disorder of essential infantile esotropia and 8 who had not. Neutral filters elicited dissociation vertical deviation, which was accompanied by binocular vertical perceptual adaptation. This effect was significantly greater for patients who had operations and was enhanced by the filter density. Surgical elimination of inhibitory mechanisms for dissociated vertical deviation in patients with essential infantile esotropia appears to facilitate a loose sensory adaptation, which permits a binocular vertical perceptual adaptation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Functional uncertainty, aging and memory processes during sleep.

Disorganized sleep patterns, can be found both during normal development and in pathological conditions. Aging could also be accompanied by a disorganization of the night sleep episode; sleep could be interrupted by spontaneous awakening, sleep cycle could be shortened or incomplete, sleep states modified. These patterns suggest an inability to sustain a stable condition, i.e. a condition of functional uncertainty. Biological and cognitive implications of functional uncertainty conditions are discussed. In particular, the hypothesis has been put forward that disturbances of sleep could have a detrimental role on memory. Recent results obtained in our lab support this hypothesis: recall is correlated with NREM-REM cycles proportion. Future research should ascertain the role of the functional uncertainty with respect to the kind of memory being involved during sleep, and establish how much and for which cognitive processes (including those involved in dream production) the inability to sustain a steady condition impairs the functioning during sleep. The duration of the functional uncertainty condition is also important. The long-term study of the link between functional uncertainty and cognitive resources, could be important for the understanding of the night life and for an adequate treatment of patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

1995 IPA/Bayer Research Awards in Psychogeriatrics. Bihemispheric language disorders in early-stage dementia of the Alzheimer type: evidence from a novel metalinguistic task.

Because dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) is commonly characterized by bilateral cerebral atrophy, we examined the issue of higher linguistic abilities lateralized to the right cerebral hemisphere (RH) in earlystage DAT. A modified version of an insertion task was administered to 14 patients with probable DAT, 8 right-hemisphere brain-damaged (RHD) patients, 8 left-hemisphere brain-damaged (LHD) patients, and 28 normal elderly (control, CTR) right-handed subjects. The task consisted of presenting the subjects with 53 well-formed sentences; in each a word or syntagm had to be inserted grammatically. Twenty-eight word/syntagm insertions required grammatical role reassignment of a lexical item in the stimulus sentence (shift, sensitive to RHD); 25 insertions implied only semantic reinterpretation of the target sentence (nonshift, sensitive to LHD). The three pathological groups were relatively and similarly impaired on standard aphasia assessment. The performances of the DAT patients, controlled for global cognitive verbal proficiency, verbal cognitive skills, and mood, were found to be significantly worse than the performances of the CTR group on both insertion subtests, whereas there were no significant differences between the DAT and RHD subjects on the shift items or between the DAT and LHD subjects on the nonshift items. Similarly, no differences were noted between the RHD and CTR nonshift scores, or between the LHD and CTR shift scores. On the other hand, the LHD group outscored the RHD group on the shift insertions. A comparison between the two insertion subtests revealed that only the RHD and DAT groups performed significantly worse on the shift than on the nonshift items. Results are consistent with other anecdotally reported RH-specific language-related disorders in early DAT and replicate previous findings of bihemispheric extralinguistic disturbances in these patients.

Aged↗
PubMed1995

Transient global amnesia: memory and metamemory.

Twenty patients (mean age 64 years) with a previous episode of transient global amnesia (TGA) were examined to assess the functioning of objective memory (by using the Randt Memory Test), the metamemory capacities (Sehulster Memory Scale), the residual level of retrograde amnesia (Questionnaire of Remote Events), and the level of depression (Geriatric Depression Scale). Patients with residual retrograde amnesia scored significantly lower than non-amnesic ones on indices of both short-term and long-term memory, and for one of three main metamemory components, namely self-rating of memory functioning through comparison with memory functioning of peers (Set3). Age, time interval from TGA attack and TGA duration did not prove to influence memory and metamemory scores. Retrograde amnesia and depression were rather substantially associated (1/5), and this association was found to negatively influence nearly all memory and metamemory scores. Depression level showed a positive correlation with short-term memory functioning in non-amnesics. The different pattern and strength of the relationships between metamemory components and objective memory dimensions observed in amnesics and non-amnesics indicate that metamemory evaluations are more closely related to memory functioning in amnesics than in non-amnesics.

Aged↗
PubMed1995

Symposium: Cognitive processes and sleep disturbances: Sleep, dreams and memory: an overview.

Investigations into the role played by sleep in information processing have consistently shown that the retention of information is better when the memory storage is followed by a period of sleep than of waking. Less definitive evidence, however, is available as to whether the better performance is mainly due to (a) reduction of interference during sleep, (b) slowing down of decay, or (c) consolidation processes at work during sleep. Important insights as to whether consolidation takes place during sleep have recently been provided by the thematic continuity of dreams elaborated in the same night and by the repeated incorporation of pre-sleep stimuli into dream contents. The analysis of such aspects of dreaming indicates that the items of information which are repeatedly accessed during sleep and elaborated for insertion into the ongoing dream experience are better retained at delayed recall. Finally, it is suggested that the use of the strategies applied in studying the information processing in normals may also be extended to sleep-disturbed individuals, in order to establish how memory functioning during sleep is influenced by sleep disturbances.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1994

Effect of estradiol on the sympathoadrenal response to mental stress in normal men.

It has been shown that steroid hormones are able to influence the sympathoadrenal system activity. Therefore, we have investigated in a double blind cross-over study the effect of percutaneous estradiol administration (100 micrograms) on the sympathoadrenal and cardiovascular responses to mental arithmetic stress in 20 normal young males. The plasma estradiol level was 154 +/- 14 pmol/L during the estrogen session (ES) and 44 +/- 7 pmol/L during the placebo session (PL; P < 0.001). The mental stress induced a significant increase in systolic blood pressure during both the PL (F = 7.2; P < 0.001) and the ES (F = 4.8; P < 0.01); the peak obtained during PL was, however, higher than that during ES (128 +/- 2 vs. 122 +/- 3 mm Hg; P < 0.02). A significant increase in pulse rate was observed during PL (F = 4.2; P < 0.002), but not during ES (F = 2.6; P = 0.47), with the peak pulse rate being higher during mental stress in the PL than the ES (78 +/- 2 vs. 74 +/- 2 beats/min; P < 0.03). In response to the mental stress, plasma epinephrine increased significantly during PL (F = 3.2; P < 0.03), but not during ES (F = 1.1; P = 0.3). The stress-induced peak in plasma epinephrine during PL was higher than that during ES when expressed as the absolute value or the incremental peak (513 +/- 103 vs. 125 +/- 32 pmol/L; P < 0.005). The incremental peak in plasma norepinephrine obtained during PL was higher than that during ES (0.78 +/- 0.1 vs. 0.27 +/- 0.07 nmol/L; P < 0.02). Plasma free fatty acid, acetoacetate, and 3-hydroxybutyrate increased significantly from basal values during PL, but not during ES. These data show that mildly elevated levels of estradiol are able to influence the response of the adrenal medulla to mental stress in men.

3-Hydroxybutyric Acid↗
PubMed1993

Bizarreness effect in dream recall.

This study aimed to ascertain a) whether morning reports of dream experience more frequently reproduce bizarre contents of night reports than nonbizarre ones and b) whether this effect depends on the rarity of bizarre contents in the dream or on their richer encoding in memory. Ten subjects were awakened in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep three times per night for 4 nonconsecutive nights and asked to report their previous dream experiences. In the morning they were asked to re-report those dreams. Two separate pairs of judges scored the reports: the former identified the parts in each report with bizarre events, characters or feelings and the latter parsed each report into content units using transformational grammar criteria. By combining the data of the two analyses, content units were classified as bizarre or nonbizarre and, according to whether present in both the night and corresponding morning reports, as semantically equivalent or nonequivalent. The proportion of bizarre contents common to night and morning reports was about twice that of nonbizarre contents and was positively correlated to the quantity of bizarre contents present in the night report. These findings support the view that bizarreness enhances recall of dream contents and that this memory advantage is determined by a richer encoding at the moment of dream generation. Such a view would seem to explain why dreams in everyday life, which are typically remembered after a rather long interval, appear more markedly bizarre than those recalled in the sleep laboratory.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Story structure in verbal reports of mental sleep experience after awakening in REM sleep.

Four night reports obtained after awakening in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and their corresponding morning reports were collected from 20 subjects in an experimental night. All of the reports were analyzed using a slightly modified version of Mandler and Johnson's story grammar. Values for a series of indicators were compared with respect to the factors "moment of reporting" (at night/in the morning) and "order of reporting" (first/second/third/fourth report). Story-like organization seems to be a feature of dream production and not merely due to reconstructive effects in recall: values of no indicator significantly differ in night and morning reports. The more extensive thematic progression and the increasing complexity in reports over the first half of the night show that the effectiveness of the system of dream production varies in different periods of REM sleep. These findings, while strengthening the view of a multilevel character of the system of dream production, still generate the problem of the direction of activation (bottom-up or top-down) of this system.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Dream structure in Parkinson's patients.

Dream reports of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) were analyzed to ascertain whether cognitive deficits associated with this nonfocal brain pathology influence dream structure or dream recall. Fifteen outpatients with idiopathic PD were sampled (diagnosed from 1 to 10 years and currently in stage II or III of Hoehn and Yarh's scale); all were without psychiatric symptoms or major medical illnesses and were currently being treated with L-dopa. After an adaptation night in the sleep laboratory, each patient spent a night in which he/she was awakened at least twice in rapid eye movement sleep and asked to report dream experience. Thirteen patients were able to report at least one dream. Overall frequency of dream recall (71.4%) was fully compatible with normative data for the elderly. Multiple regression analyses showed that both the length of the dream report as story and the organization of contents into coherent episodes (analyzed using Mandler and Johnson's story grammar) varied significantly in relation to level of cognitive functioning and, in part, of language comprehension, but not in relation to age, illness duration, and dose of L-dopa.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1992

Binocularity and photophobia in intermittent exotropia.

The relationship between photophobia and binocular function in intermittent exotropia was examined in 42 subjects (21 patients and 21 controls). In all subjects fusional amplitude and strength of binocular sensory status were tested before and during exposure to bright light. An explanation of photophobia in intermittent exotropia was suggested as impairment in binocular cooperation, since the indicators of binocular function were significantly altered in the patients, particularly during light exposure.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Recall of mental sleep experience with or without prior verbalization.

We investigated whether verbalization of contents of mental sleep experience (MSE), just after awakening provoked during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, facilitates subsequent recall in the morning. Twelve subjects were awakened four times in each of two experimental nights and alternately asked to recall, with or without concurrent verbalization, MSE contents preceding the awakening. In the morning, the subjects were asked to report MSEs both verbalized and nonverbalized during the night. If subjects were unable to provide a spontaneous morning report, they were prompted using a probe, which was the title given by the subjects to each MSE at the end of its verbalization or covert recall at night. Frequencies of spontaneous reports were high, regardless of whether MSEs had been previously verbalized or not. The proportions of spontaneous and probed reports were similar for verbalized and nonverbalized MSEs, but spontaneous morning reports were longer than probed ones, regardless of their previous verbalization. Spontaneous and probed morning reports corresponding to night reports shared similar linguistic structures (i.e., length of sentences and proportions of waking-related utterances, which are indicative of difficulty of retrieval for MSE contents) and had similar percentages of contents common to night and morning reports. These findings support the hypothesis that verbalization does not directly influence the further accessibility of MSE contents.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

[Effects of L-acetylcarnitine on mental deterioration in the aged: initial results].

In this paper the preliminary findings of a multicentre study on the effects of Acetyl-L-Carnitine on mildly impaired elderly are reported. Statistical analysis was carried out on 236 out of 469 subjects sampled in 42 different Italian geriatric or hospital units. Each subject was treated over 150 days, and a battery of tests (investigating cognitive functioning, emotional-affective state and relational behavior) was administered at the beginning on the treatment and the conclusion of each of its four phases. In the first and the last phases there was a 30 days placebo treatment (aimed respectively to wash-out the effects of previous drug and to assess the residual effects of the treatment), while in the second and the third ones (both 45 days long) the subjects took 1500 mg/day of Acetyl-L-carnitine. Repeated multivariate analysis of variance and of covariance (taking as independent variables phases of treatment, age, gender, etiology and severity of mental impairment, as dependent variables the scores either of each test administered or of groups of items and as covariants the level of depression and the sensitivity to placebo effect) showed that drug treatment significantly increased the effectiveness of performance on all the measures of cognitive functioning and of emotional-affective state and on some scores of the relational behavior. Age resulted significantly influential on cognitive functioning and relational behavior, but not on emotional-affective state. Severity of mental impairment significantly influenced also several measures of cognitive functioning and relational behavior, while less consistent results were shown for gender and etiology of mental impairment. The placebo effect, although significant for some cognitive processes, was lower than that of treatment. There findings suggest that Acetyl-L-carnitine treatment is effective against the outcomes of mental impairment in the cognitive (in particular, for memory functioning and constructional thinking) and emotional-affective domains, while its effects on relational behaviour are less consistent, probably because they are partly biased in the subjective evaluation of caregivers and relatives by factors such as age and levels of mental impairment and depression.

Acetylcarnitine↗
PubMed1990

Self-rating and objective memory testing of normal and depressed elderly.

This study aimed to assess the relationships between the scores of subjective assessment (metamemory) and those of performance testing for memory, on the one hand, and the level of depression, on the other. A hundred and eighty elderly subjects (102 women and 78 men; mean age 65.7 years) were selected for the study. They showed neither intellectual impairment (as assessed through Mini Mental State test: MMS) nor neuropsychiatric symptoms. Each subject was administered the Randt Memory Test (RMT) for performance testing, the Sehulster Memory Scale (SMS) for the subjective assessment, and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). A MULTCOVA analysis showed that both age and the depression level are negatively correlated with both the measures (Acquisition-Recall: AR; Delayed Memory: DM) of the RMT. The scores of the second (memory complaints) of the three sets of SMS were positively correlated with those of AR and DM indices. A Multivariate Regression Analysis showed that in males age and the depression level were significant regressors for both AR and MD scores while in females only the depression level was a significant regressor for AR and only age was a significant regressor for DM. Our results suggest that a) the relationships between the depression level and memory functioning are close, although not fully homogeneous in men and women; and b) that the scores in some areas of metamemory parallel, independently of the level of depression, the performance outcomes of memory functioning.

Aged↗