PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

F W Black

Publications and source records attributed to F W Black.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Barbiturate anticonvulsants: a neuropsychological and quantitative electroencephalographic study.

We studied 11 epileptic children aged 7 to 14 years with quantitative electroencephalographic (EEG) and neuropsychological tests, both on and off the barbiturate anticonvulsants phenobarbital and mephobarbital, comparing them to 13 controls matched for age and IQ who received testing at similar intervals. Neuropsychological tests employed were the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R), Bender-Gestalt, controlled oral word association test (COWAT), selected subtests of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised, Purdue Peg Board, Stroop Test, Trail Making Test, Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised, and Achenbach Behavior Rating Scale. There was no difference between on- and off-drug quantitative EEG in percentage power of any frequency band between 0.6 and 32 Hz. Neuropsychological data from all 11 subjects were analyzed with a two-factor analysis of variance with repeated measures on the time factor. The only difference from controls was on the Stroop Test. Parents reported clear behavioral changes in 6 of 11 subjects, but in 4 of these children the behavioral changes were sufficiently mild that parents chose to continue the barbiturate anticonvulsants: irritability, oppositional attitude, and overactivity were described. Mephobarbital was reported by parents to cause less severe problems than phenobarbital in subjects who had taken both barbiturate anticonvulsants. Barbiturate anticonvulsants have no effect on quantitative EEG and limited effects on neuropsychological tests in school-aged children.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Patterns of neuropsychological deficit in cases of schizophrenia spectrum disorder with and without a family history of psychosis.

This study was designed to identify the types of neuropsychological deficits that are unique to familial and nonfamilial forms of schizophrenia. Seventy-two patients who met Research Diagnostic Criteria for schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, mainly schizophrenic, were divided into two groups on the basis of the presence or absence of a family history of psychosis. The two groups were then compared for differences on six neuropsychological parameters as well as for differences in psychotic symptoms. Multivariate analyses indicated that schizophrenic patients with a family history of psychosis showed significantly higher levels of overall neuropsychological deficit and significantly greater deficits on tests of motor-control and abstraction and problem-solving. Factor analyses indicate that schizophrenic patients with a family history of psychosis show a pattern of specific neuropsychological deficits, while schizophrenic patients without a family history show a pattern of more consistent cognitive deficits. The results of this study indicate that recent-onset schizophrenic patients with and without a family history of psychosis show distinctly different patterns of neuropsychological dysfunction. These data suggest that abnormalities in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and nonprimary motor areas may be associated with an increased familial risk for psychotic disorder.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

The topography of muscle activity in quantitative EEG.

Ten normal preadolescent subjects were studied on three occasions with quantitative EEG topography: two sessions recorded EEG that was free of artifact, but during the third the subjects were instructed to clench their teeth and tighten their faces to produce muscle artifact. The sessions were then compared for stability of various frequencies at standard scalp electrode sites. The posterior electrodes were stable among sessions for frequencies up to 24 Hz; the anterior electrodes were less stable, and above 24 Hz there were no stable electrode sites. Muscle artifact contaminates anterior electrode sites more than posterior sites, making the posterior scalp electrodes superior for studying beta activity in quantitative EEG. Frequencies above 24 Hz are contaminated at all sites and therefore cannot be assessed reliably in the presence of muscle artifact.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Prospective memory intervention in Alzheimer's disease.

Four individuals with Alzheimer's disease were trained to remember and to implement an intention for future action. The training program utilized the spaced-retrieval method, which involves active attempts to recall information over expanding intervals of time. All participants learned to select a colored coupon from an array of distractors and offer it to the experimenter after a week's delay. Following one-week retention of the initial task, a different coupon became the new training target. All participants were able to shift to this new task requirement, and all learned three successive coupon colors successfully. These results indicate that individuals with Alzheimer's disease can learn a prospective memory task using spaced-retrieval practice and can make adjustments for changing task requirements.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Differential effects of alprazolam and buspirone upon acquisition, retention, and retrieval processes in memory.

A group of 125 healthy young adults was given a memory battery 1 hour after administration of alprazolam (0.5 and 1.0 mg), buspirone (5 and 10 mg), and placebo under single-dose, double-blind conditions. On the wordlist recall battery and a 24-hour retest, alprazolam appeared to impair acquisition and retention in dosages of 1.0 mg; buspirone did not adversely affect test performance at either dosage. On the basis of a 3-stage model of memory, a neuroantomical/neurophysiological model is proposed to explain the selective effects of the benzodiazepines on memory function.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

A comparison of the single-dose effects of alprazolam, buspirone, and placebo upon memory function.

The effects of alprazolam and buspirone at varying dosages were compared with placebo in a battery of memory and cognitive tests in a sample of 125 young, healthy medical students by utilizing a single-dose, double-blind design. Although the dosages in this study did not impair visuomotor reaction time in any of the experimental groups, 1.0 mg of alprazolam did result in significantly impaired performance on selective aspects of memory function as assessed by the memory battery.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Neuropsychological profiles of children with learning disabilities and children with documented brain damage.

This study sought to identify clusters or subtypes of children with learning disabilities (LD) and documented brain damage (BD) on the basis of a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. Sixty subjects, 24 with LD and 36 with BD, participated in the study. The standard scores for several measures from the Intermediate Battery of the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery and other select measures were submitted to Q-Technique factor analysis for the entire sample. Five clusters were determined. No one cluster was composed exclusively of LD or BD subjects, with the proportions of LD and BD varying considerably from one cluster to the next. There were some qualitative differences between the clusters, while quantitative differences also figured prominently.

Brain Damage, Chronic↗
PubMed1987

Anomalous dominance in sibling stutterers: evidence from CT scan asymmetries, dichotic listening, neuropsychological testing, and handedness.

Two left-handed siblings with developmental stuttering are comprehensively described. The methods of study included speech and language evaluation, neurological and neuropsychological examinations, dichotic listening, auditory evoked responses, electroencephalogram, and CT scan asymmetry measurements. The data from each sibling showed evidence of anomalous cerebral dominance on many of the variables investigated. The CT scan measurements showed atypical asymmetries, especially in the occipital regions. These findings support the theory that stuttering may be related to anomalous cerebral dominance, both on functional as well as structural bases. Implications of anomalous dominance and the resultant effect of hemispheric rivalry on speech fluency are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Memory assessment using the Strub-Black Mental Status Examination and the Wechsler Memory Scale.

A systematic mental status exam often can differentiate accurately patients with organic brain disease from normal persons and those with functional disorders. The present study attempts to validate the memory portion of the Strub-Black Mental Status Exam by comparing it to the Wechsler Memory Scale. Twenty-five brain-damaged and 25 routine medical patients were given Form I of the Wechsler Memory Scale and the memory portion of the Strub-Black Mental Status Exam at their hospital bedside. Results indicate significant differences in almost all scores between the brain-damaged and normal groups on both the Wechsler Memory Scale and Mental Status exam; the Mental Status Exam differentiated between groups at a higher level of significance of ANOVA and ANCOVA comparisons of total memory scores, as well as several subtests. In these samples, age, more than education, was an important factor that affected memory test performance. The Mental Status Examination appears valid for the differentiation of clinical samples and for the documentation of specific aspects of memory dysfunction in individual brain-damaged patients. This study represents a beginning step in providing normative data on components of the Strub-Black mental status examination.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Digit repetition in brain-damaged adults: clinical and theoretical implications.

Digit repetition was investigated in samples of unilaterally (N = 87) and bilaterally (N = 75) brain-damaged adults. The study was designed to investigate the hemispheric and neuropsychological factors that underlie performance on these two dissimilar tasks. Digit repetition was disproportionately depressed in such patients, especially those with left hemisphere lesions. The incidence of individually impaired digit repetition performance, especially of digits backward, was significantly higher than in normals, again particularly within the left hemisphere sample. However, impaired digit repetition was not invariably associated with brain dysfunction. The data suggest, but do not confirm, a differential function hypothesis, as well as a unilateral hemispheric hypothesis that underlies the ability to repeat forward and backward digits; this finding is consistent with some previous literature. Group performance showed considerable overlap, which limited the possibility of demonstrating a double dissociation between digits forward and verbal measures, and digits backward and nonverbal factors. Digit repetition in brain-damaged patients appears to have some theoretical value, but limited clinical utility.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Neuroanatomic and neuropsychologic correlates of digit span performance by brain-damaged adults.

Digit repetition performance was examined in samples of adult brain-injured patients having confirmed unilateral lesions. The primary purposes of the study were to investigate the sensitivity of forward and backward repetition to the effects of lateralized brain lesions and to assess the differential neuroanatomic and neuropsychologic substrates of the two forms of digit repetition. Digit repetition, especially digits backward and particularly by patients with left-hemisphere lesions, was significantly lower than would be predicted on the basis of intelligence. However, impaired repetition was not invariably a consequence of brain damage. Correlational data suggested but could not confirm hypotheses about either the functional or the neuroanatomic substrate in differential performance on digits forward and backward. Problems implicit in using measures having a high intellectual loading in clinical studies are discussed, as are suggestions for further research.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Long-term effects of focal, cortical injuries upon articulation and discrimination performance.

Residual, long-term effects of cortical injuries upon speech production are rarely examined. In this study, we examined the articulation and discrimination abilities in twelve subjects who received focal, cortical injuries in Vietnam during 1968-1971. The subjects were divided into two groups based upon the hemisphere (right or left) of lesion. Data revealed the left-hemisphere injured group produced a greater number of articulation and discrimination errors than the right-hemisphere injured group. Articulation errors occurred more often than discrimination errors in both groups. However, a feature analysis revealed the left-hemisphere injured group made predominantly combination errors and the right-hemisphere injured group made predominantly place errors. Taken overall, the data suggest the left-hemisphere injured group may experience residual difficulties with the encoding of phonological units while the right-hemisphere injured group appears to have residual problems that may be related to the spatial correlates of speech.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Attribution of control and the fear of death among first-year medical students.

Explored the relationship between attribution of control and the fear of death in a medical student population. Ss were 50 first-year students at the LSU School of Medicine at New Orleans, with a mean age of 24.7 years. Instruments included the Rotter Internal-External Locus of Control Scale and the Templer Death Anxiety Scale. Ss were divided into two groups (internal or external) based upon scores on the Locus of Control Scale, and a one-way analysis of variance was computed between the groups. The dependent variable was level of death anxiety. The results revealed that the internally oriented group obtained a significantly lower mean score on the Death Anxiety Scale when compared to the externally oriented group (F = 2.28, p less than .02). Two additional ANOVAs that used sex and age as the independent variables revealed no significant differences on the death anxiety measure, thus strengthening the apparent relationship between locus of control and fear of death.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Constructional apraxia as a function of lesion locus and size in patients with focal brain damage.

Patients with penetrating missile wounds confined to one of the four brain quadrants were evaluated to determine the incidence and severity of constructional apraxia. The visual constructive tasks used were the WAIS Block Designs subtest and the Bender Gestalt (reproduction) Test. Estimates of lesion size were used to investigate the effect of this factor on constructional ability. Patients with right posterior lesion tended to perform least adequately in general, although significant differences were obtained only for the Bender Gestalt Test. The effect for lesion laterality was greater than that for caudality , although neither analysis reached statistical significance. Lesion size made a relatively minor contribution to the visual constructional deficits in this sample. Only in the left posterior sample did lesion size correlate significantly with measures of constructional impairment. The lack of consistent findings may have been due to the restricted lesion size in these patients and to the absence of significant cognitive deficits in most subjects. The results support either a regional interpretation of the mass action theory or the possible role of deficient verbal mediation in the constructional performance of patients with left hemisphere lesions. This study emphasizes the importance in neurobehavioral research of controlling potentially confounding variables (e.g., lesion size and type of associated cognitive deficits) when studying any specific aspect of neuropsychological functioning.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Normative data for the Spreen-Benton Sentence Repetition Test: its relationship to age, intelligence, and memory.

The present study provided normative data applicable to a cortically-impaired adult population on the Spreen-Benton Sentence Repetition Test. Data were presented for decade groups ranging from 20 to 70 years. The current research indicated that intelligence may play a relatively strong role in performance on this test; also, that memory may be involved, but to a lesser degree. It was recommended that patients' intellectual levels be considered when interpreting the results of the Sentence Repetition Test.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

The correlation between surgical and CT estimates of brain damage following missile wounds.

The occurrence of distant brain damage following an apparent focal missile injury to the brain has not been well documented until computerized tomography scanning demonstrated this phenomenon. Mechanisms of additional or distant damage within the brain may include a high deposit of kinetic energy from the penetrating missile, additional vascular damage, and possibly neuronal and axonal degeneration. Widespread and distant brain changes may explain some instances of late neuropsychological and psychiatric dysfunction or rehabilitation failure following a brain wound. Brain imaging should be used to properly evaluate the full extent of brain damage following wounding.

Adult↗