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Biomedical subjects

P A Eling

Publications and source records attributed to P A Eling.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Motor performance in girls with Turner syndrome.

In order to validate the movement problems in daily life for girls with Turner syndrome (TS), as reported by teachers, parents, and the girls themselves, we examined whether these girls have impaired motor ability and a specific pattern of motor impairment. As TS phenotypes are characterized by a particular profile of normal Verbal IQ (VIQ) and lowered Performance IQ (PIQ), we investigated whether there is a significant correlation between intelligence scores and motor performance scores. Fifteen girls with TS (age range 5.8 to 12.5 years), of whom nine had 45 XO karyotype and six girls mosaic karyotype, were individually tested on the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC; Henderson and Sugden 1992, Smits-Engelsman 1998), and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale-Revised (WISC-RN; Vander Steene et al. 1986). Mean percentile score on the MABC was 2.93 (range 1 to 8). Based on the total score of the MABC, none of the girls with TS fell into the 'normal' range; five patients were classified as 'at risk' and 10 as 'impaired'. Girls with TS made more errors and needed more time across all items tested; no specific profile of impairment was observed and no significant correlation between intelligence scores and motor performance scores was found. The results clearly demonstrate that girls with TS indeed experience a significant general motor impairment. The motor problems apparently cannot be attributed to cognitive problems.

Child↗
PubMed1998

Proactive interference and temporal context encoding after diazepam intake.

Two experiments were designed to test whether the memory impairment induced by benzodiazepines (BZDs) is due to impaired memory for temporal context. In both experiments, subjects were administered either diazepam (15 mg oral) or placebo, and a standard BZD impairment on prose recall as well as a decreased subjective arousal was found. Key tasks to explore temporal context memory were an A-B A-C proactive interference paradigm and a list discrimination task. Initial learning of both groups on these tasks was broadly matched. In experiment 1, diazepam did not increase susceptibility to proactive interference using semantically related words. However, in experiment 2, using unrelated word pairs, diazepam markedly increased the number of prior list intrusions. Furthermore, after diazepam intake, subjects were clearly impaired in learning unrelated word pairs. Subjects after diazepam intake were not impaired in the list discrimination task. We conclude that (1) diazepam impairs the forming of new associations, whether this is the formation of links between two or more targets or between targets and context, (2) a temporal context encoding deficit cannot account for a broader diazepam-induced memory impairment.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Dual task performance after diazepam intake: can resource depletion explain the benzodiazepine-induced amnesia?

It was tested whether a depletion in resources can account for the benzodiazepine-induced memory impairment. In two experiments, it was examined whether dividing attention had a disproportionately detrimental effect on learning semantically related and unrelated word pairs after diazepam intake. Word pairs had to be learned in both a single task condition and while performing a visual discrimination task concurrently (dual task condition). Moreover, the complexity of the visual discrimination task was manipulated systematically. Diazepam (15 mg, orally) or placebo was administered in a double-blind, between-subjects design. Subjects after diazepam intake were clearly impaired in learning unrelated word pairs, but not in learning related word pairs. Dividing attention in the dual task condition was associated with a reduction in learning unrelated word pairs, but this was not disproportionately reduced after diazepam intake. Moreover, the magnitude of resource depletion did not correlate with the severity of the diazepam-induced memory impairment. In general, the pattern of results does not support the hypothesis that a depletion of resources can explain the benzodiazepine-induced memory impairment.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

A model and diagnostic measures for response time series on tests of concentration: historical background, conceptual framework, and some applications.

Based upon classical hypotheses about accumulating mental fatigue and distraction and its effect on response times, put forward in late 19th and early 20th century papers, a mathematical model is proposed for response times on tests of speed and concentration. The model assumes the random occurrence of very short distractions during information processing. It explains fluctuation and the increasing trend in response times on successive equivalent task units and leads to some simple diagnostic RT measures of speed and concentration as alternatives to the mean RT. A review is given of several experimental applications of the model, with subjects with and without concentration problems, using cancellation and digit addition tasks. The results demonstrate the potential usefulness of the model and the diagnostic measures derived from it. As predicted by the model, prolonged task performance yields an increasing trend in RT mean and variance that can be strongly reduced by giving very short resting periods very frequently, and to a lesser extent also by task alternation, but not by simply motivating the subjects to concentrate. Some practical implications for the administration and scoring of tests of speed and concentration are discussed, as well as limitations of the present results and the complementary relation of our approach to popular ones such as "stage analysis."

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Shifting behavior: an analysis of response patterns of Parkinson patients in discrimination learning.

Parkinson patients often show decreased performance on what is generally referred to as "shift tasks." This does not necessarily imply that Parkinson patients have problems with shifting, since task performance reflects not only shifting but also other factors. Using a discrimination learning task, we analyzed response patterns to determine the decision rules used. As well, we varied the manner of problem alternation (implicit versus explicit) and the type of problem alternation (extradimensional versus intradimensional shifts). In accordance with the literature, we found that Parkinson patients needed more trials to solve the problems. However, the response patterns of the Parkinson patients and controls were practically the same. An important finding was that Parkinson patients did not hold on longer to a rule, which was correct in a former problem, than controls did. Therefore, we concluded that Parkinson patients are able to shift from one decision rule to another.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Categorization of arithmetic word problems by normals, frontal and posterior-injured patients.

An important stage in the solution of mathematical word problems is the formation of a global internal representation of the problem. There is ample evidence that the recognition of problem schemata or problem types plays a major role in this representation stage. In the present study, a sorting task is used in order to examine the knowledge of arithmetical word-problem schemata in a group of normals, a group of patients with frontal lesions, and a group of patients with left posterior brain lesions. Quantitative and qualitative analyses show that normals classify the word problems according to principles that are essential for problem solving. These analyses also reveal that the general sorting dimensions of the frontal and the left posterior brain-damaged groups, as measured by a multidimensional scaling procedure, are similar. Cluster analysis shows that both groups base their sorting behavior mainly on superficial text characteristics, such as the objects found in the various word problems. The implications of these differences in sorting behavior for arithmetical word-problem solving are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

The internal representation of arithmetical word problem sentences: frontal and posterior-injured patients compared.

Patients with frontal and left posterior brain lesions have severe difficulties in arithmetical word problem solving. In the present study the origin of these difficulties is investigated from an information-processing perspective. Following this perspective the first stage in word problem solving consists of a translation of individual sentences to an internal representation. This translation process is examined in 30 frontal patients, 10 left posterior-injured patients, and 10 healthy controls with a recognition and a sentence-picture matching task. In addition, the relationship between sentence representation and arithmetical word problem solving is studied. The results suggest that error rates in the translation of different types of arithmetical word problem propositions differ substantially in our three groups. A relationship between translation skills and arithmetical word problem solving ability is also found.

Adolescent↗