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Linas A Bieliauskas

Publications and source records attributed to Linas A Bieliauskas.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Clinical relevance of cognitive scores in hepatitis C patients with advanced fibrosis.

Mild neuropsychological impairment has previously been reported in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients. The aim of this study was to assess the presence and severity of cognitive impairment among a cohort of CHC patients with advanced fibrosis using clinician ratings compared to classification based upon statistical methods. In addition, we set out to determine the relationship between cognitive scores and functional status. Two experienced neuropsychologists provided "clinician ratings" on a battery of 10 neuropsychological tests performed in 100 randomly selected patients participating in the HALT-C clinical trial. The overall kappa between the 2 graders on level of impairment was 0.59. Clinician ratings (the gold standard) were similarly sensitive to identifying cognitive impairment as was classification based on standard scores (44% vs. 40%). Global Deficit Scores (GDS), derived from pooling standard scores, also identified 44% of patients as having mild impairment and were highly correlated with clinician ratings (r = .81 p = < 0.0001). Neither clinician ratings nor deficit scores correlated with SF-36 subscale or summary scores but did correlate with depression scores (p < .0007). In summary, clinician ratings and deficit scores identified a similar prevalence of cognitive impairment amongst CHC patients with advanced fibrosis. There was a significant correlation between cognitive impairment and self-reported depression.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Cognitive function in hepatitis C patients with advanced fibrosis enrolled in the HALT-C trial.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Prior studies have demonstrated neuropsychological abnormalities in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients even with mild fibrosis. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency, type, and severity of cognitive impairment in a large group of CHC patients with advanced fibrosis. METHODS: Ten validated neuropsychological tests were administered to 201 CHC patients. Standard scores for individual tests were calculated using normative population data that controlled for age, gender, and/or education. Lifetime psychiatric history, alcohol consumption, and mood status were also determined. RESULTS: 33% of patients met criteria for cognitive impairment (i.e. standard score <40 on at least 4 tests). Mild impairment in verbal recall and working memory were noted with other domains remaining intact. Liver disease severity and lifetime psychiatric/substance abuse history did not correlate with group mean cognitive test results or the presence of cognitive impairment. In contrast, IQ and depression scores were significant and independent predictors of cognitive impairment (ROC = 0.84). CONCLUSIONS: 33% of patients entering the HALT-C trial have evidence of a mild, non-focal subcortical processing deficit which was highly correlated with IQ, education, and occupation. Future studies of cognitive function in CHC patients should control for general cognitive ability.

Affect↗
PubMed2005

Neuropsychological assessment of geriatric driving competence.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: To review of studies that focus on the assessment of driving competence among the elderly who are at increased risk of being involved in automobile crashes. The current status of neuropsychological testing as a predictor of driving safety in this population is critically evaluated. MAIN OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Several domains of neuropsychological assessment have been shown to be related to safe driving in older age groups, including vision-based testing, attention-based testing, and testing of executive functions. Use of a driving simulator to investigate crash risk has been particularly effective. CONCLUSIONS: The argument is made that a combination of test approaches be used to develop an algorithm for efficient screening of elderly drivers on a regular basis and that use of a driving simulator to measure driving performance under challenge should be incorporated as part of this evaluation.

Aged↗
PubMed2005

Face emotion perception and executive functioning deficits in depression.

Frontal, limbic and temporal regions of the brain important in emotion perception and executive functioning also have been implicated in the etiology and maintenance of depression; yet, the relationships among these topics remain poorly understood. The present study evaluated emotion perception and executive functioning among 21 depressed women and 20 nondepressed women controls. Depressed women performed significantly worse than controls in emotion perception accuracy and in inhibitory control, an aspect of executive functioning, whereas the groups did not differ in other cognitive tests assessing memory, visual-spatial, motor, and attention skills. The findings suggest that emotion perception and executive functioning are disproportionately negatively affected relative to other cognitive functions, even in a high-functioning group of mildly depressed women. Measures of emotion perception and executive functioning may be of assistance in objectively measuring functional capability of the ventral and dorsal neural systems, respectively, as well as in the diagnosis of depression.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mayo's Older Americans Normative Studies: Age- and IQ-Adjusted Norms for the Auditory Verbal Learning Test and the Visual Spatial Learning Test.

Although normative data sets for standardized neuropsychometric instruments frequently feature adjustments for subject variables, there are reasons to believe that improvements in interpretive accuracy that result from such adjustments are less than optimal. In particular, years of education may be less closely associated with test performances than is overall intellectual functioning. In this last of four reanalyses of results from the Mayo Clinic's Older Americans Normative Studies (MOANS) databases, age-adjusted scores for the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test and the Visual Spatial Learning Test were found to be more strongly related to Mayo age-adjusted WAIS-R Full Scale IQ scores (rs=.150 to .395) than to education (rs=.060 to .236) for healthy older examinees between 56 and 99 years of age. Although AVLT-FSIQ correlations were greatest at moderate levels of intelligence, VSLT-FSIQ correlations consistently increased in strength as intelligence increased (cf. Dodrill, 19971999). Based on these results, we present tables of age- and IQ-adjusted percentile equivalents of Mayo age-adjusted AVLT index scores and MOANS age-adjusted AVLT and VSLT scaled scores for ten age ranges and either seven (AVLT) or five (VSLT) IQ ranges.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mayo's Older Americans Normative Studies: Age- and IQ-Adjusted Norms for the Wechsler Memory Scale--Revised.

Normative data sets for standardized neuropsychometric instruments often include adjustments for subject variables. There are reasons to believe, however, that improvements in interpretive accuracy that result from such adjustments are less than optimal. In particular, "years of formal education" may be less closely related to test performances than is general intellectual functioning. In this third of four reanalyses of results from the Mayo Clinic's Older Americans Normative Studies (MOANS) databases, age-adjusted index and scaled scores for the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised were found to be more strongly associated with Mayo age-adjusted WAIS-R Full Scale IQ scores (rs=.271 to .631) than with education (rs=.089 to .310) for healthy older examinees between 56 and 99 years of age. These associations were strongest for Attention/Concentration and General Memory Index scores and, in general, for individuals with average intelligence (cf. Dodrill, 19971999). Tables of age- and IQ-adjusted percentile equivalents of Mayo age-adjusted WMS-R index scores and MOANS age-adjusted WMS-R subtest scaled scores are presented for eleven age ranges and seven IQ ranges.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mayo's Older Americans Normative Studies: Age- and IQ-Adjusted Norms for the Trail-Making Test, the Stroop Test, and MAE Controlled Oral Word Association Test.

Although normative data sets for standardized neuropsychometric instruments often include adjustments for subject variables, there are reasons to believe that improvements in interpretive accuracy that result from such adjustments are less than optimal. In particular, years of formal education may be less closely related to test performances than is general intellectual functioning. In this second of four reanalyses of results from the Mayo Clinic's Older Americans Normative Studies (MOANS) databases, age-adjusted scores for the Trail-Making Test, the Stroop Color-Word Test, and the MAE Controlled Oral Word Associations Test were found to be more strongly associated with Mayo age-adjusted WAIS-R Full Scale IQ scores (rs=.368 to .495) than with education (rs=.174 to .367) for healthy older examinees between 56 and 99 years of age. For the TMT and the COWAT, but not the Stroop, these associations became stronger as IQ increased (cf. Dodrill, 1997, 1999). Tables of age- and IQ-adjusted percentile equivalents of MOANS age-adjusted TMT, Stroop, and COWAT scores are presented for eleven age ranges and seven IQ ranges.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mayo's Older Americans Normative Studies: Age- and IQ-Adjusted Norms for the Boston Naming Test, the MAE Token Test, and the Judgment of Line Orientation Test.

Although many extant normative data sets for standardized neuropsychometric instruments feature adjustments for subject variables, there are reasons to believe that improvements in interpretive accuracy that result from such adjustments are less than optimal. In particular, several theoretical considerations suggest that years of formal education may be less closely related to test performances than is general intellectual functioning. In this first of four reanalyses of results from the Mayo Clinic's Older Americans Normative Studies (MOANS) databases, age-adjusted scores on the Boston Naming Test, the MAE Token Test, and the Judgment of Line Orientation Test were indeed found to be more strongly associated with Mayo Age-adjusted WAIS-R Full Scale IQ scores (rs=.608, .473, and .502, respectively) than with education (rs=.310, .306, and .236, respectively) for healthy older examinees (56-99 years). Consistent with the remarks of Dodrill (19971999), these correlations generally decreased at higher levels of intelligence. The magnitude and pattern of such declines varied across the three tests, however, suggesting that IQ-test score associations must be empirically determined rather than assumed to be linear. Tables of Age- and IQ-Adjusted percentile equivalents of MOANS Age-adjusted BNT, Token Test, and JLO scaled scores are presented for eleven age ranges and seven IQ ranges. The article concludes with a discussion of factors that may underlie observed relations among age, intelligence, and neuropsychometric test performances.

Age Factors↗