SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Executive function”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,045 records · Page 58Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Differential effects on cognitive functioning in 9- to 12-year olds prenatally exposed to cigarettes and marihuana.

Cognitive performance was examined in 131 9-12-year-old children for whom prenatal marihuana and cigarette exposure had been ascertained. The subjects, participants in an ongoing longitudinal study, were from a low-risk, predominantly middle class sample. The tasks included the WISC-III and a series of tests assessing aspects of cognition subsumed under the rubric of executive function. Consistent with results obtained at earlier ages, discriminant function analysis revealed a dose-dependent association, which remained after controlling for potential confounds (including secondhand smoke), between prenatal cigarette exposure and lower global intelligence scores with the verbal subtests of the WISC maximally discriminating among levels of in utero exposure. In contrast, prenatal marihuana exposure was not associated with global intelligence or the verbal subtests. Rather, this drug was negatively associated with the executive function tasks that require impulse control and visual analysis/hypothesis testing and with a number of WISC subtests requiring the same abilities. The interpretation of these results is discussed in terms of executive function and is related to earlier observations of this sample and to the extant prefrontal and general marihuana literature.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Cognitive correlates of financial abilities in mild cognitive impairment.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the cognitive correlates of financial abilities in mild cognitive impairment (MCI). DESIGN: Controlled, matched-sample, cross-sectional analysis regressing five cognitive composites on financial performance measures. SETTING: University medical and research centers. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-three persons with MCI and 43 normal controls. MEASUREMENTS: The Financial Capacity Instrument (FCI) and a comprehensive neurocognitive battery. RESULTS: Patients with MCI performed significantly worse than controls on cognitive domains of executive function, memory, and language and on FCI domains of financial conceptual knowledge, bank statement management, and bill payment. Patients with MCI also needed significantly more time to complete a multistep financial task and were significantly more likely than controls to make errors on this task. Stepwise regression models revealed that, within the MCI group, attention and executive function were significant correlates of FCI performance. CONCLUSION: Although impaired memory is the cardinal deficit in MCI, the neurocognitive basis of lower functional performance in MCI appears to be emergent declines in abilities to selectively attend, self-monitor, and temporally integrate information. Compromised performance on cognitive measures of attention and executive function may constitute clinical markers of lower financial abilities and should be evaluated for its relationship to functional ability in general. These cognitive domains may be appropriate targets of future intervention studies aimed at preservation of functional independence in people with MCI.

Aged↗

PubMed1995

Clinical and cognitive diversity of psychotic states arising in late life (late paraphrenia).

This study aimed to explore the heterogeneity of paranoid psychosis with onset in late life by using cognitive factors in a centroid method of cluster analysis. Forty-seven subjects were allocated to two different clusters, the first with 24 (51.1%) and the second with 23 (48.9%) patients. Their cognitive attainment was evaluated against the performance of 33 elderly controls, all groups being matched for age, sex, and the numbers of years of education. Patients in cluster 2 showed a pattern of widespread cognitive impairment, which involved general measures of cognitive performance (MMSE, CAMCOG, WAIS-R verbal and performance scores), memory (digit and spatial span, delayed matching-to-sample, recognition memory for words and faces), and executive functions (verbal fluency, extra and intra-dimensional shift ability, spatial working memory, and planning). In contrast, patients in cluster 1 were only impaired on their extra-dimensional set shift and planning abilities, suggesting a more specific and restricted executive functioning deficit. We also analysed the impact that the use of antipsychotic medication could have had on patients' cognitive performance, which was shown to be negligible. In addition, there was no difference between the clusters with regard to the number of patients using neuroleptics, suggesting that the medication was unlikely to have introduced a performance bias in the two patient clusters. The validity of the subdivision of these patients into two separate groups was further supported by other clinical findings. Patients in cluster 1 exhibited more severe psychotic symptoms, as measured by the SAPS, than their counterparts in cluster 2, and were also more likely to display first-rank symptoms of Schneider. Conversely, cluster 2 membership was strongly associated with the presence of neurological signs and negative symptoms. We suggest that psychotic states arising in late life are a heterogeneous condition that may be best divided in two: 'type A', including patients with a wide range of psychotic symptoms, mild increase in the frequency of neurological signs, and cognitive deficits restricted to executive functions, and 'type B', which includes patients with less complex psychotic symptoms associated with a marked increase in the frequency of neurological signs and generalized cognitive impairment. The basis for this subdivision and the prospect for future studies are discussed.

Aged↗

PubMed2006

Cognitive impairment in bipolar II disorder.

BACKGROUND: Persistent impairments in neurocognitive function have been described in bipolar disorder. AIMS: To compare the cognitive performance of patients with bipolar II disorder with that of patients with bipolar I disorder and a healthy control group. METHOD: The study included 71 euthymic patients with bipolar disorder (38 bipolar I, 33 bipolar II), who were compared on clinical and neuropsychological variables (e.g. executive function, attention, verbal and visual memory) and contrasted with 35 healthy controls on cognitive performance. RESULTS: Compared with controls, both bipolar groups showed significant deficits in most cognitive tasks including working memory (DigitSpan Backwards, P=0.002) and attention (DigitSpan Forwards, P=0.005; Trail Making Test, P=0.001). Those with type II disorders had an intermediate level of performance between the bipolar I group and the control group in verbal memory (P<0.005) and executive functions (Stroop interference task, P=0.020). CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive impairment exists in both subtypes of bipolar disorder, although more so in the bipolar I group. The best predictors of poor psychosocial functioning in bipolar II disorder were subclinical depressive symptoms, early onset of illness and poor performance on a measure related to executive function.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

A test for children's goal-directed behavior: a pilot study.

A test for children's goal-directed behavior was developed, based on neuropsychological executive function research of Vilkki and Holst and on the framework of Lewin's level-of-aspiration research. 46 12-yr.-old children were participants. Fluid Intelligence was expected to be linked to goal-directed behavior and a commonly used executive function task, the Wisconsin Card-sorting Test. A child was asked to set personal goals in a short-term memory task without prior knowledge about performance. Four different task versions were developed employing both verbal (memorizing series of words) and visuospatial (memorizing block sequences) material. The child set an individual goal for each memory trial. Goal-setting after successful and failed trials was investigated. Usually, the children lowered their goals after failures and set their goals higher or did not change them after successful trials. Compared to goal on a previous trial, Inadequate Responses included setting a goal higher after a failed trial and setting it lower after success. Fluid Intelligence was related to goal-directed behavior, viz., Inadequate Responses. It also correlated with scores on the Wisconsin Card-sorting Test. The results are in concordance with previous research. In addition to experimental executive function research, the novel test might be useful in research concerning children's motivation, self-efficacy, and self-regulated learning.

Child↗

PubMed2000

Frontotemporal dementia and neuropsychology: the value of missing values.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of missing values due to behavioural disturbances on the neuropsychological test profile in frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The neuropsychological examination of patients with FTD poses a methodological problem. In many patients it is impossible to administer a complete test battery, due to behavioural disturbances inherent to the disease. This study describes the test behaviour of patients with FTD, the number of missing values due to disturbed test behaviour, and its influence on neuropsychological test results. METHODS: Thirty one patients with probable FTD were administered a neuropsychological test battery including measures of memory, intelligence, and executive functioning. Moreover, patients were rated on a global deterioration scale and a test behaviour scale, constructed for this study. RESULTS: The more disturbing the test behaviour, the less tests were assessable, leading to many missing values. The most disturbing features were "positive symptoms" of FTD, such as perseveration and stimulus boundedness. The effect of test behaviour was largest for tests measuring executive functions and reasoning capabilities. The replacement of the missing values due to behavioural disturbances by the lowest score also showed the largest effect on tests of executive function and reasoning abilities. CONCLUSION: Data imputation of missing values due to test behaviour disturbances provides a more differentiated picture of cognitive deficits in FTD.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Neuropsychological predictors of everyday memory and everyday functioning in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease.

The contributions of executive function, naming, visuoperception, and delayed recall to everyday memory abilities and everyday living activities were examined in a sample (n = 24) of mildly impaired Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Everyday memory was rated independently by the patient and by a caregiver, and everyday functioning was rated by a caregiver. For patient-rated everyday memory, verbal recall accounted for 23% of the variance, while naming performance alone accounted for 56% of the variance in caregiver-rated everyday memory. Executive function was a unique and significant predictor of caregiver-rated functional daily living skills, accounting for 40% of the variance. Clinician's ratings of patient unawareness of deficit correlated with the discrepancy between caregiver and patient rating of memory. Caregiver reports of memory impairment appear to be influenced by naming abilities, indicating that language dysfunction may be misinterpreted as reflecting memory impairment. Helping caregivers distinguish between these two abilities may result in more accurate reporting of patients' impairments.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2001

A simulated reality scenario compared with the computerized Wisconsin card sorting test: an analysis of preliminary results.

Neuropsychologists and other clinicians often comment on the minimal relationship that frequently exists between formal assessments of executive functions, analysis of findings, recommendations, and the person's real-life functioning. The authors' believe that current assessments of executive functions do not transfer easily to real-world behavior. There are limitations in the current examinations and in the settings in which they are given. The tests are artificial and the test settings lack the usual stresses, distractions, and multiple demands common to real life. The interactions are unlike what they experience in everyday life. The examiner often, but unintentionally orients the participant to relevant information that in turn can help the person compensate for the difficulties with executive control processes and bias the findings. We believe that virtual reality (VR) more closely approximates real life settings, the distractions, and the common interchanges (VR) provides a "life-like," three-dimensional (3-D) highly interactive environment, and safety from potential dangers that could arise in actual situations. VR can increase motivation because of its gaming, interactive, and immersive qualities and features are easily modified and allow for multiple applications. Our goal is to develop VR assessments that can be administered under controlled and safe conditions, but which are more sensitive to difficulties with executive control processes critical to safe, independent living. This initial study compares several functions assessed by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) with our three-dimensional, stereographic scenario, Look for a Match (LFAM) Study participants completed questionnaires, alternately began with either the WCST or LFAM, and then took the second test. All participants completed motion sickness and follow-up questionnaires. The results demonstrated that the study participants found LFAM to be more enjoyable and interesting, but found the WCST to be easier. While there is an effect of order with participants doing relatively better on the assessment tool administered second, overall the LFAM performance was inferior to that on the WCST. However, even considering the order effect, LFAM seemed to be more difficult than the WCST.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

[Neurocognitive assessment in alcohol abuse and dependence: implications for treatment].

The aim of the Neuropsychology applied to the Alcohol Dependence field is the comprehension of the effects of brain dysfunction on cognition and human behavior. It investigates neurocognitive impairments and associates them to structural and functional neuroimaging findings (CT, MRI, PET and SPECT). Acute use of alcohol impairs attention, memory, executive functions and visuospatial skills, while chronic abuse causes neurocognitive deficits in memory, learning, visuospatial functions, psychomotor speed processing, executive functions and decision-making, and may lead to persistent amnesic disorder and alcoholic dementia. Executive Dysfunction related to frontal lobe has direct implications on treatment, by the choosing of strategies and for prognostic evaluation. It is presented an easy tool to screen cognitive impairments, the Frontal Assessment Battery--FAB.15. Neuropsychological Assessment is useful for early detection of impairments and evaluation of their evolution and Cognitive Rehabilitation has a significant role on deficits recovery and psychosocial adjustment of these patients.

Alcoholism↗

PubMed2002

Neuropsychological sequelae of patients treated with microsurgical clipping or endovascular embolization for anterior communicating artery aneurysm.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: While microsurgical clipping has been the choice of treatment for anterior communicating artery (ACoA) aneurysm, endovascular embolization is increasingly popular for treating intracranial aneurysms. Previous studies showed that in terms of mortality (i.e., death) and morbidity (i.e., functional outcome, independent living, rebleeding) rates, the clinical outcomes of coil embolization for intracranial aneurysms are as good as or even better than those of surgical clipping. However, little is known about the impact of these treatments on the cognitive functions of those survived after the treatment. Thus, the present study is designed to examine the cognitive deficits of patients treated with either surgical clipping or coil embolization. METHOD: Eighteen patients with a ruptured ACoA aneurysm were recruited. Half of them had undergone surgical clipping and the other half had endovascular embolization. Standardized neuropsychological tests were employed to assess their memory, executive function, motor ability, language and visual perceptual abilities. RESULTS: The performance of the patients was in general poorer than that of the normal control subjects on tests of verbal memory, flexible thinking, ability to resist interference and motor control. However, in terms of severity, the patients who received surgical clipping demonstrated more severe impairment than those had endovascular embolization on these cognitive domains. In addition, while 33% of patients in the clipping group showed impairments on memory and executive function, no patient in the embolization group demonstrated these impairments. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with ACoA aneurysm demonstrated impaired verbal memory, executive function and motor abilities while their language and visual perception abilities remained relatively intact. However, when comparing the effect of treatment choice on the cognitive functions of these patients, the present results favored the coil embolization as the patients treated with coil embolization demonstrated significantly fewer severe cognitive deficits than patients who had undergone surgical clipping.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Modafinil treatment for fatigue in HIV+ patients: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Fatigue is widespread among human immunodeficiency virus-positive (HIV+) patients, yet few studies have assessed effective treatments. The authors conducted a pilot study to evaluate the efficacy of modafinil for fatigue in this clinical population. METHOD: Response was evaluated after a 4-week open-label trial. Data were collected from February 2003 through January 2004. Responders were offered 8 additional weeks of modafinil. Inclusion criteria included written approval from the primary care physician, clinically significant fatigue, current use of anti-retroviral medications, and the absence of treatable medical conditions known to cause fatigue. Exclusion criteria included untreated major depression and current substance abuse. Major outcome measures were the Fatigue Severity Scale, Chalder Fatigue Scale, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, Beck Depression Inventory, and neuropsychological tests assessing verbal memory, speed of processing, and executive function. Immunologic and virologic measures were performed at baseline and week 4 to assess safety of treatment. RESULTS: All 30 patients who enrolled completed 4 weeks of treatment; 24 (80%) were rated as responders. Responders showed statistically significant improvement on all measures of fatigue, depressive symptoms, and executive function, while nonresponders did not. Mean values of CD4 cell count and HIV RNA viral load did not change. The most common side effect was headache, followed by irritability and feeling "hyper." CONCLUSION: This pilot study shows encouraging results for modafinil in alleviation of fatigue in HIV+ patients. In addition, depressive symptoms were substantially reduced. Improvements on measures of verbal memory and executive function were significant, but in the absence of a placebo control, the magnitude of effect due to practice cannot be determined.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Trick or treat?: uneven understanding of mind and emotion and executive dysfunction in "hard-to-manage" preschoolers.

It is widely recognised that impaired social relations are characteristic of school-aged children with behavioural disorders, and predict a poor long-term outcome (Parker & Asher, 1987). However, little is known about the early antecedents of social impairment in behaviourally disturbed children. The aim of the present study was to explore three areas of potential dysfunction in younger children: theory of mind, emotion understanding, and executive function. Forty preschoolers, rated by their parents on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (Goodman, 1994) as "hard to manage" (H2M) were compared with a control group on a set of: (1) theory of mind tasks (including an emotion prediction task involving either a nice or a nasty surprise); (2) emotion understanding stories (that required affective perspective-taking skills as well as situational understanding); and (3) simple executive function tasks (adapted for preschoolers, and tapping inhibitory control, attentional set-shifting, and working memory). Small but significant group differences were found in all three cognitive domains. In particular, hard-to-manage preschoolers showed poor understanding of emotion and executive control, poor prediction or recall of a false belief, and better understanding of the belief-dependency of emotion in the context of a trick than a treat. Moreover, executive function was associated with performance on the theory of mind tasks for the hard-to-manage group alone, suggesting both direct and indirect links between executive dysfunction and disruptive behaviour.

Affect↗

PubMed2000

The role of cognition in vocational functioning in schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is associated with long-term unemployment. Cognitive dysfunction, rather than clinical symptoms, may be the most important factor in the ability to work for patients with this disorder. To evaluate the relationship of clinical symptoms and cognitive functioning to work status, thirty patients with schizophrenia, who were participants in a vocational rehabilitation program, were evaluated with a comprehensive neuropsychological battery and assessment of psychopathology. Subjects were classified as being in stable full-time, part-time or unemployed work status for at least a year. Univariate analysis indicated that patients who were working full-time were significantly better educated, more likely to be treatment-resistant, more likely to be treated with an atypical antipsychotic medication, had more positive symptoms, and were engaged in work tasks which were more cognitively complex than the part-time employed and unemployed work groups. An ANCOVA controlling for education demonstrated that the full-time employed group performed significantly better than the unemployed group on measures of executive functioning, working memory and vigilance; and significantly better than the part-time group on measures of vigilance and executive functioning. Although negative symptoms did not significantly relate to work status in the univariate analysis, a multiple regression indicated that negative symptoms, level of education, and executive functioning differentiated the work groups. These results suggest that poor premorbid function, negative symptoms and cognitive dysfunction are significantly associated with unemployment in schizophrenia.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Longitudinal volumetric MRI change and rate of cognitive decline.

OBJECTIVE: To examine how baseline and change of volumetric MRI relate to cognitive decline in older individuals. BACKGROUND: Memory is associated with hippocampal integrity, whereas executive function has been linked to impaired frontal lobe function. Previous studies have shown that hippocampal and cortical atrophy are more strongly related to cognition than are measures of subcortical cerebrovascular disease (CVD). The authors hypothesized that memory (MEM) decline would be related to change in hippocampal volume (HC), whereas decline in executive function (EXEC) would be related to change of cortical gray matter volume (CGM) and measures of subcortical CVD. METHODS: Subjects from a multicenter study (n = 103) included cognitively normal, mildly impaired, and demented cases with and without subcortical lacunes. All had longitudinal cognitive evaluation (mean = 4.8 years) and two or more MRI scans at least one year apart (mean = 3.4 years). MRI measures included HC, CGM, total lacune volume (LAC), and white matter hyperintensity volume (WMH). Random effects modeling of longitudinal data assessed effects of MRI baseline and MRI change on baseline and change of psychometrically matched measures of MEM and EXEC. RESULTS: Change in MEM was related to HC baseline and HC change. Change in EXEC was related to baseline CGM and to change in CGM, HC, and LAC. Results were unchanged when demented cases were excluded. WMH was not associated with change in MEM or EXEC independent of HC, CGM, and LAC. CONCLUSION: Hippocampal volume was the primary determinant of memory decline, whereas executive function (EXEC) decline was related to multiple brain components. Results support a hypothesis that MEM decline is strongly influenced by Alzheimer disease (AD), whereas EXEC decline may be complexly determined by cerebrovascular disease and AD.

Aged↗

PubMed2001

Cognitive changes 5 years after coronary artery bypass grafting: is there evidence of late decline?

OBJECTIVE: To determine the long-term (preoperative to 5 years postoperative) and late (1-5 years postoperative) changes in cognitive test performance in patients after coronary artery bypass grafting. SETTING: The departments of surgery and neurology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md. PATIENTS: A group of 102 patients who completed preoperative and follow-up cognitive testing up to 5 years after coronary artery bypass grafting. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: A battery of neuropsychological tests, assessing 8 cognitive domains (attention, language, verbal and visual memory, visuoconstruction, executive function, and psychomotor and motor speed), was administered preoperatively and at 1 month, 1 year, and 5 years postoperatively. RESULTS: Significant changes in neuropsychological test scores from baseline to 5 years were observed in only 3 of the 8 domains: there were declines in visuoconstruction and psychomotor speed and an improvement in executive function. When the period from baseline to 5 years was divided into 2 intervals, we found that cognitive test scores generally improved from baseline to 1 year. By contrast, between 1 and 5 years, there was significant decline in all cognitive domains except for attention and executive function. Some potential explanatory covariates (demographic, medical history, and surgery variables) were associated with changes from baseline to 5 years in some cognitive domains, but few covariates were statistically significant in more than 1 cognitive domain. CONCLUSIONS: The change in cognitive test performance between baseline and 5 years is likely related to several factors, including low baseline performance and practice effects. The significant decline in performance between 1 and 5 years, however, raises the possibility that a late cognitive decline may be occurring in this population. Additional studies, with the use of a nonsurgical control group, are needed to determine if the observed cognitive decline is related to bypass surgery itself, normal aging in a population with cardiovascular risk factors, or some combination of these and other factors.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Interleukin-6 covaries inversely with cognitive performance among middle-aged community volunteers.

OBJECTIVE: Recent evidence suggests that higher peripheral levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6) are associated with poorer cognitive function and predict future cognitive decline among the elderly. The current investigation extends the study of relationships between plasma IL-6 and cognitive performance to healthy middle-aged adults and to an examination of more specific cognitive domains. METHODS: Five hundred relatively healthy community volunteers aged 30 to 54 had blood drawn for the determination of plasma IL-6 levels and completed a battery of neuropsychological tests evaluating memory and executive function. RESULTS: After controlling for age, gender, race, and education, hierarchical regression analyses revealed an inverse relationship between circulating levels of IL-6 and performance on clusters of tests assessing auditory recognition memory, attention/working memory, and executive function. In contrast, there was no association between IL-6 and performance on tests of general memory. Secondary analyses demonstrated that relationships between IL-6 and auditory recognition and working memory and executive function were independent of a number of health factors, including body mass index, smoking, and hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: These findings contribute to a growing body of evidence linking chronic inflammation to poorer cognitive functioning and extend these findings to a midlife community sample, raising the possibility that IL-6 may represent a biomarker for risk of future cognitive decline.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Cognitive models that predict physician judgments of capacity to consent in mild Alzheimer's disease.

OBJECTIVE: To identify cognitive measures that predict consent capacity of normal and demented older adults as judged by experienced physicians. This study is a companion to the physician competency judgment research reported in this issue. DESIGN: Predictor models for competency judgments of individual physicians were developed using independent patient neuropsychological test measures and discriminant function analyses (DFA). SETTING: University medical center. PARTICIPANTS: Subjects were 16 normal older controls and 29 patients with mild AD (MMSE > or = 20). Five experienced medical center physicians were recruited as competency decision-makers. MEASUREMENTS: Subjects were videotaped responding to a standardized consent capacity interview (SCCI) designed to evaluate capacity to consent to treatment. Interview subjects were also independently administered (off videotape) a battery of neuropsychological measures theoretically and empirically linked to competency function. Study physicians blinded to subject diagnosis and neuropsychological test performance individually viewed each SCCI videotape and made a judgment of competent or incompetent to consent to treatment. Stepwise DFA identified neuropsychological predictors of each physician's competency judgments for the full sample (N = 45). Classification DFAs determined how accurately these predictor models classified competency outcomes assigned by the individual physician. RESULTS: Cognitive models differed across individual physicians and were related to stringency of judgments for AD patients. Under stepwise DFA, delayed verbal recall (R2 = .57, P < .0001) predicted judgments of Physician 1 (incompetency rate of 90% for AD patients), short term verbal recall (R2 = .43, P < .0001) predicted judgments of Physician 2 (incompetency rate of 52%), phonemic word fluency (R2 = .27, P < .001) predicted judgments of Physician 3 (incompetency rate of 24%), and visuomotor tracking/sequencing (R2 = .31, P < .001) predicted judgments of Physician 4 (incompetency rate of 14%). (No predictor model was available for Physician 5 as this physician found all subjects to be competent). These single predictor solutions correctly classified 93%, 87%, 87%, and 96% of cases for Physicians 1-4, respectively. Use of two predictor solutions achieved successful classification rates between 98% and 100%. CONCLUSIONS: We identified two cognitive models of consent capacity as judged by physicians: (1) verbal recall and (2) simple executive function. The verbal recall model predicted judgments of physicians likely to find mild AD patients incompetent, whereas the executive function model predicted judgments of physicians likely to find mild AD patients competent. Assessment of verbal recall and simple executive functions may provide important information in the clinical evaluation of capacity to consent to treatment.

Aged↗

PubMed2001

Face processing in schizophrenia: defining the deficit.

BACKGROUND: Abnormalities of face affect naming and face recognition occur in schizophrenia but it is not clear whether the deficits reflect wider underlying impairments of perception, memory, language or executive function. METHOD: Twenty-six patients with schizophrenia were compared with 23 healthy volunteers on neuropsychological tests and tests of face and affect processing. Face and non-face tests were compared at four levels of processing: visuo-spatial perception, recognition memory, language and naming, and executive function. We examined relationships with drug dose, duration of illness and pre-morbid and current IQ. RESULTS: Patients and controls did not differ in estimated pre-morbid IQ but current IQ was 12 points lower in patients. At each level of processing there were correlated deficits of face and non-face processing in the patients that were mostly independent of IQ decline. Impaired face and non-face visuo-spatial function and recognition performance were generally correlated with drug dose. Impairments in naming face emotions were correlated with other non-face naming tasks independently of drug dose. Patients performed less well than controls in classifying faces by emotion while ignoring identity and this was associated with poorer performance in Wisconsin Card Sorting. CONCLUSIONS: The pattern of results suggests that deficits in face processing reflect three wider neuropsychological impairments: a drug-related impairment of visual imagery, and disease-related impairments of semantic retrieval and executive function.

Adult↗