Practice effects in healthy adults: A longitudinal study on frequent repetitive cognitive testing

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cognitive deterioration is a core symptom of many neuropsychiatric disorders and target of increasing significance for novel treatment strategies. Hence, its reliable capture in long-term follow-up studies is prerequisite for recording the natural course of diseases and for estimating potential benefits of therapeutic interventions. Since repeated neuropsychological testing is required for respective longitudinal study designs, occurrence, time pattern and magnitude of practice effects on cognition have to be understood first under healthy good-performance conditions to enable design optimization and result interpretation in disease trials.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Healthy adults (N = 36; 47.3 ± 12.0 years; mean IQ 127.0 ± 14.1; 58% males) completed 7 testing sessions, distributed asymmetrically from high to low frequency, over 1 year (baseline, weeks 2-3, 6, 9, months 3, 6, 12). The neuropsychological test battery covered 6 major cognitive domains by several well-established tests each.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Most tests exhibited a similar pattern upon repetition: (1) Clinically relevant practice effects during high-frequency testing until month 3 (Cohen's <it>d </it>0.36-1.19), most pronounced early on, and (2) a performance plateau thereafter upon low-frequency testing. Few tests were non-susceptible to practice or limited by ceiling effects. Influence of confounding variables (age, IQ, personality) was minor.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Practice effects are prominent particularly in the early phase of high-frequency repetitive cognitive testing of healthy well-performing subjects. An optimal combination and timing of tests, as extractable from this study, will aid in controlling their impact. Moreover, normative data for serial testing may now be collected to assess normal learning curves as important comparative readout of pathological cognitive processes.</p

Marktforschung in der Praxis: Kundenpräferenzen beim Kauf eines neuen Fernsehgerätes

In der heutigen Zeit sind Medien aller Art im alltäglichen Leben anzutreffen. Ob früh am Morgen die frisch gedruckte Zeitung, das Radio in der Küche, der Lieblingsfilm im Fernsehen oder das Internet via Mobiltelefon. Viele Menschen können sich heutzutage ein Leben ohne Mobiltelefon oder Fernsehgerät nicht mehr vorstellen. Die Industrie hat dies erkannt und bringt fast täglich neue Weiterentwicklungen auf den Markt. Smartphones, die beinahe so viel können wie ein Laptop oder Fernseher, die den Zuschauer via 3D-Technologie in das Geschehen eintauchen lassen, entwickeln sich zu Standardprodukten. Bei der heutigen Geschwindigkeit der Neuentwicklungen und den immer kürzer werdenden Produktlebenszyklen ist es besonders wichtig, den Endverbraucher vom Mehrwert zu überzeugen. In diesem Zusammenhang ist es notwendig herauszukristallisieren, worauf der Endkunde Wert legt und welche Informationsschwächen er hat. Hierzu haben acht Studierende der TH Wildau aus dem Fachbereich Betriebswirtschaft/Wirtschaftsinformatik eine empirische Studie entwickelt.In your everyday life, media of all kinds are found. Whether early in the morning, freshly printed newspaper, the radio in the kitchen, favorite movies on TV or the Internet via mobile phone. Many people can not imagine a life without mobile phone or TV. The industry has recognized that and almost every day they have new developments for the market. Smartphones have nearly as much as functions as a laptop or a television and are able to bring the viewers into actions via 3D technology as a standard. Because of the speed of new developments and the shortening product life cycle it is especially important to convince the consumer«s added value. In this case it is important to have a look what is significant for the end consumer and what lack of information does the consumer have. Concerning these problems, eight students of the University of Applied Science Wildau from the Department of Business Administration and Business Informatics designed an empirical study

Clinical and neuroimaging findings in MOGAD–MRI and OCT

Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disorders (MOGAD) are rare in both children and adults, and have been recently suggested to be an autoimmune neuroinflammatory group of disorders that are different from aquaporin-4 autoantibody-associated neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder and from classic multiple sclerosis. In-vivo imaging of the MOGAD patient central nervous system has shown some distinguishing features when evaluating magnetic resonance imaging of the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves, as well as retinal imaging using optical coherence tomography. In this review, we discuss key clinical and neuroimaging characteristics of paediatric and adult MOGAD. We describe how these imaging techniques may be used to study this group of disorders and discuss how image analysis methods have led to recent insights for consideration in future studies

Use of Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers of Alzheimer’s Disease Risk in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Subjective Cognitive Decline in Routine Clinical Care in Germany

Background: The National Institute of Aging and Alzheimer's Association's diagnostic recommendations for preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) define AD by pathological processes which can be detected by biomarkers. These criteria were established as part of a research framework intended for research purposes but progressively enter the clinical practice. Objective: We investigated the availability, frequency of use, interpretation, and therapeutic implications of biomarkers for the etiologic diagnosis and prognosis in MCI and subjective cognitive decline (SCD) in routine clinical care. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire survey among 215 expert dementia centers (hospitals and memory clinics) in Germany. Results: From the 98 centers (45.6% of contacted centers) included, two-thirds reported use of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers Aß42, tau, and phospho-tau in the diagnostic workup of MCI and one third in SCD. CSF biomarker analysis was more often employed by neurological (MCI 84%; SCD 42%) compared to psychiatric institutions (MCI 61%; SCD 33%; p=0.001). Although dementia experts disagreed on the risk of progression associated with different CSF biomarker constellations, CSF biomarker results guided therapeutic decisions: ~40% of responders reported to initiate cholinesterase inhibitor therapy in MCI and 18% in SCD (p = 0.006), given that all CSF biomarkers were in the pathological range. Conclusion: Considering the vast heterogeneity among dementia expert centers in use of CSF biomarker analysis, interpretation of results, and therapeutic consequences, a standardization of biomarker-based diagnosis practice in pre-dementia stages is needed

a multicentre prevalence study

Objectives: The aim of this study was to measure the prevalence of skin diseases in aged nursing home residents and to explore possible associations with demographic and medical characteristics. Design: Descriptive multicentre prevalence study. Setting and participants: The study was conducted in a random sample of ten institutional long-term care facilities in the federal state of Berlin, Germany. In total, n=223 residents were included. Results: In total, 60 dermatological diseases were diagnosed. The most frequently diagnosed skin disease was xerosis cutis (99.1%, 95% CI 97.7% to 100.0%) followed by tinea ungium (62.3%, 95% CI 56.0% to 69.1%) and seborrheic keratosis (56.5%, 95% CI 50.2% to 63.0%). Only few bivariate associations have been detected between skin diseases and demographic and medical characteristics. Conclusion: Study results indicate that almost every resident living in residential care has at least one dermatological diagnosis. Dermatological findings range from highly prevalent xerosis and cutaneous infection up to skin cancer. Not all conditions require immediate dermatological treatment and can be managed by targeted skin care interventions. Caregivers need knowledge and diagnostic skills to make appropriate clinical decisions. It is unlikely that specialised dermatological care will be delivered widely in the growing long-term care sector. Trial registration number: This study is registered at https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02216526

Correction: Cognitive Performance and Long-Term Social Functioning in Psychotic Disorder: A Three-Year Follow-Up Study:A Three-Year Follow-Up Study (vol 11, e0151299, 2016)

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0151299.].</p

Impact of coping styles on substance use in persons with psychosis, siblings, and controls

BACKGROUND: Substance use is overrepresented in patients with psychosis. Maladaptive coping has been proposed as one of the mechanisms which might underlie this high prevalence. Patients are known to apply more maladaptive coping compared to the healthy population. However, it is unknown whether coping is associated with the use of different substances across those with different vulnerability for psychosis, and whether coping mediates the possible association between life events and substance use. METHODS: In this multicenter, cohort study, 429 patients, 504 siblings, and 220 controls were included. We determined whether coping was associated with tobacco smoking, cannabis use, or alcohol consumption. Multivariable logistic regression models were applied whilst correcting for potential confounders. We performed post-hoc analyses to explore the association between negative life events, tobacco smoking, and the role of coping as a mediator in patients with psychosis. RESULTS: A positive association was found in patients between passive coping and tobacco smoking (fully adjusted OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.18-2.31). Tobacco smoking patients experienced more negative life events compared to non-smoking patients and passive coping mediated this association. In siblings and controls, none of the coping strategies were associated with substance use. CONCLUSIONS: The coping style of patients with psychosis is associated with tobacco smoking and mediates the association between negative events and tobacco smoking. No significant associations were found in siblings, controls or concerning other substance use. Future research is required to examine whether enhancing healthy coping strategies decreases tobacco use in patients with psychosis

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing in neuromuscular disease: a systematic review

Introduction: Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is increasingly used to determine aerobic fitness in health and disability conditions. Patients with neuromuscular diseases (NMDs) often present with symptoms of cardiac and/or skeletal muscle dysfunction and fatigue that might impede the ability to deliver maximal cardiopulmonary effort. Although an increasing number of studies report on NMDs’ physical fitness, the applicability of CPET remains largely unknown. Areas covered: This systematic review synthesized evidence about the quality and feasibility of CPET in NMDs and patient’s aerobic fitness. The review followed the PRISMA guidelines (PROSPERO number CRD42020211068). Between September and October 2020 one independent reviewer searched the PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, SCOPUS, and Web of Science databases. Excluding reviews and protocol description articles without baseline data, all study designs using CPET to assess adult or pediatric patients with NMDs were included. The methodological quality was assessed according to the American Thoracic Society/American College of Chest Physicians (ATS/ACCP) recommendations. Expert opinion: CPET is feasible for ambulatory patients with NMDs when their functional level and the exercise modality are taken into account. However, there is still a vast potential for standardizing and designing disease-specific CPET protocols for patients with NMDs. Moreover, future studies are urged to follow the ATS/ACCP recommendations

The association between smoking behaviour, social cognition and social functioning in patients with a non-affective psychotic disorder:A prospective follow-up study

INTRODUCTION: In patients with psychotic disorders, both tobacco smoking and deficits in social cognition and social functioning are highly prevalent. However, little is known about their relationship in psychosis. The authors sought to evaluate the multi-cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between tobacco smoking, social cognition and social functioning in a large prospective study. METHODS: This study was performed within the Genetic Risk and Outcome of Psychosis (GROUP) Study, a cohort study conducted in patients with non-affective psychosis (N = 1074), their unaffected siblings (N = 1047) and healthy controls (N = 549). At baseline, three years and six years of follow-up, data on tobacco smoking (using the Composite International Diagnostic Review), social cognition (emotion processing and theory of mind) and social functioning were collected. To assess associations between tobacco smoking and social cognition or social functioning, multivariate linear mixed-effects models and multiple linear regression models were used. Bonferroni correction for multiple testing was applied. RESULTS: A significant positive association was found between smoking and emotion processing (as part of social cognition) in the patient group (estimate = 1.96, SE = 0.6, p = 0.003). However, smoking was significantly negatively associated with participating in pro-social activities compared with smoking (estimate = 2.55, SE = 0.9, p = 0.004). Change in smoking behaviour was not associated with social cognition or social functioning in the longitudinal analyses. CONCLUSION: Findings indicate that smoking patients with a non-affective psychotic disorder slightly outperformed their non-smoking peers on a task on social cognition, but participated less in pro-social activities. Commencement or cessation of smoking was not related to social cognition or functioning