1,721,030 research outputs found
Methodology in clinical neuropsychology. An interpretative approach to guide clinical Practice
No full textMethodology in Neuropsychological Assessment: An Interpretative Approach to Guide Clinical Practice provides practical and methodological guidance for neuropsychologists working with people with brain lesions or brain dysfunctions. The textbook underlines the principles that can be used to guide clinicians in recognizing and interpreting signs and symptoms while enabling a complete neuropsychological assessment through a series of well-defined steps. The text provides a detailed methodological approach towards neuropsychological tools, with guidance on how to select the right test and how to interpret the outcome, which can act as a primer for a clinician through every step of the assessment in a coherent and reasoned way.
The textbook presents an exhaustive discussion of the varied tools that a clinician can employ to complete a rigorous and consistent neuropsychological assessment. It guides the reader from the first step of collecting the personal history of the examinee – the anamnesis – to the selection of suitable psychometric tests and scoring, which is accordingly integrated to formulate the neuropsychological diagnosis and write up the neuropsychological report. Chapters also include coverage of the neuropsychological interview with the examinee and their family and the probability of identifying a disorder with a neuropsychological assessment. The authors have further included a series of detailed and explanatory clinical cases from their experience to expand upon the evaluation process.
The textbook is valuable reading for students in clinical neuropsychology who are learning to carry out neuropsychological evaluations as well as clinicians who are seeking to develop a more comprehensive approach towards performing a thorough neuropsychological assessment
Effects of priming in texture segmentation
No full textThis study aimed at establishing whether, as follows from the perceptual representation system (PRS) hypothesis, mechanisms for coding configural properties in texture segmentation are similar in perception and short-term perceptual memory (STPM). We investigated whether implicit STPM for a texture bar oriented 45° clockwise or counterclockwise produced different priming effects on texture segmentation, depending on whether bar orientation was parallel or orthogonal to its line texture elements. Orientation discrimination in the first block was at threshold (74%) for parallel but not for orthogonal (40%) bars. Training brought all performances to ceiling, suggesting that training makes parallel and orthogonal bars equally salient. However, performance was worse when the stimulus in the nth trial was preceded by a parallel bar rather than an orthogonal one, regardless of whether the bar in the nth trial was parallel or orthogonal; this (priming effect) decreased with training. These results indicate that in the first trials the parallel, more salient, bar is coded in the PRS by low-spatial-frequency mechanisms selective to the whole-bar orientation, and that this STPM may interfere with local texture segmentation. On the other hand, the orthogonal, less salient, bar is coded in the PRS by high-spatial- frequency channels selective for texture elements or texture borders and interferes less with texture processing. Learning equates salience of parallel and orthogonal bars so that the memory code, as well as the sensory processing, become similar for the two kinds of texture. These findings support the view of a common mechanism (namely, PRS) responsible for visual processing and STPM of visual stimuli, which operate at early levels of the visual stream
Oscillazioni neurali α e β in predizione e produzione linguistica: Caratteristiche comuni e distintive
No full textNeural correlates of prospective memory: a comparison between a time-based and an event-based task
No full textSensory modality affects the spatiotemporal dynamics of alpha and theta oscillations associated with prospective memory
Full text linkBackground: The maintenance of an intention in memory (Prospective Memory, PM) while performing a task is associated with a cost in terms of both performance (longer response times and lower accuracy) and neurophysiological modulations, which extent depends on several features of the stimuli. Aim: This study explores the neural patterns associated with PM in different sensory modalities, to identify differences depending on this variable and discuss their functional meaning. Method: Data were collected using a High-Density EEG during a baseline and a PM condition, proposed in a visual and an auditory version. Theta and alpha oscillations were compared between the two conditions within each modality using a cluster-based permutation approach. Results: PM conditions were associated with clusters of decreased alpha and theta activity in both modalities. However, different spatiotemporal dynamics were elicited as a function of sensory modality: alpha decreases displayed an overlapping onset between modalities, but different durations, lasting longer in the auditory modality. Conversely, the clusters of decreased theta activity presented similar durations between modalities, but different temporal and spatial onsets, appearing at different moments over the respective sensory areas. Conclusions: The similar spatiotemporal properties of alpha suppression between modalities indicate that such oscillations may represent a supramodal, top-down process, presumably reflecting the external direction of attention to successfully detect the prospective cue (strategic monitoring). In theta, the clusters showed more modality-specific differences, which temporal and spatial properties correspond to the ones necessary to perform the ongoing task, suggesting a shift in resource allocation in favor of the PM task
The principle of good continuation in space and time can guide visual search in the absence of spatial priming or contextual cueing
No full textPrevious research has shown that repetition of the same target features or target spatial position over time can improve search. It has also been shown that a consistent relationship between a given target and the features or spatial arrangement of the accompanying distractors can similarly improve search. Thus it appears that the spatial and non-spatial characteristics of the target and/or the distractors are somehow retained by the visual system and used to guide visual processes such as object recognition and search. Here, we introduced a paradigm for manipulating the sequential structure of target position across trials independently of target features and contextual information. Results show that visual search is improved or impaired, respectively, when the target appears at an implicitly expected or unexpected position, according to the principle of good continuation of the target's successive positions across trials. These results are not merely due to bottom - up spatial priming, since facilitation also occurs for positions far from those recently occupied by the target, nor to contextual cueing, since the relative positions of the target and distractors are kept constant. These results demonstrate that the principle of good continuation in space and time can guide visual selective attention and ease search processes and object recognition
Unveiling the neural correlates of prospective memory: An ecological EEG study
No full textThe ability to remember intentions for future actions is a fundamental aspect of human functioning in everyday life. This process is typically studied in laboratory settings with tasks designed to isolate it, but these often lack ecological validity because they may not fully capture the complexity and variability of prospective memory (PM) in real-world contexts. The present exploratory study was designed to overcome these limitations. Firstly, participants watched a movie simulating to be home on their sofa. They then continued to watch the movie on their "smart TV", while simultaneously maintaining and executing intentions related to everyday activities, such as "virtual cooking". Neurophysiological activity was recorded during these tasks using an hd-EEG system to investigate the role of brain oscillations in strategic monitoring processes involved in PM. Power spectral density was analyzed across the theta, alpha, and high beta frequency bands. Administration of time-based and eventbased instructions in an ecological context revealed two distinct patterns of brain activity. Time-based PM was characterized by widespread and sustained fronto-temporal activation, along with pronounced engagement of high beta frequencies in prefrontal areas. Event-based PM was associated with theta and alpha power localized to focal areas of the occipito-parietal lobes. According to the PM literature, modulations of theta and alpha oscillations are associated with attentional mechanisms for rehearsing different PM intentions in memory. The involvement of high beta frequencies in the time-based PM condition, already associated with temporal abilities, highlights their role in determining optimal timing for retrieval of future intentions
Cognitive reserve protects language functions in patients with brain tumours
No full textCognitive reserve (CR) theory suggests that individual differences in general intelligence (IQ), occupational attainment or participation in leisure/recreational activities protect against cognitive decline. However the relationship between CR and cognitive functioning in patients with brain tumours has been very rarely investigated in past research. The present study systematically assesses whether CR concept can also be applied to cognitive functions of neurosurgical patients affected by brain tumours. We investigated the role of different CR proxies (education level, premorbid IQ, current IQ, working and leisure activity) in protecting language against brain tumours and surgery effects, considering interactions with demographic (sex/age), anatomical (hemisphere/lobe location of lesion) and clinical/biological variables (tumour type: High/Low Grade Glioma or Meningioma; lesion volume; lesion aggressiveness). One-hundred patients undergoing neuropsychological assessment before and immediately after surgery participated. A “Language Score” summarizing performance on all language tests was derived with Principal Component Analysis. Data were then analyzed with Multiple Regression and Classification and Regression Tree analyses to investigate possible relationships between predictors (CR proxies and clinical variables) and Language Score. We found that premorbid IQ was the best predictor of pre-operatory language integrity, above and beyond all clinical variables considered, also moderating lesion volume effects. Moreover, patients with lower pre-operatory language integrity and low-to-moderately aggressive tumours showed a mitigating effect of current IQ over surgery consequences. Results thus suggest that different CR proxies play a role in moderating cognitive decline following brain tumours and surgery
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