Effect of age on forward and backward span tasks

The central executive component of working memory has been argued to play an important role in the performance of span tasks, particularly backward span. Age-related decline in central executive function has also been reported, and yet there have been inconsistent findings to indicate that with increasing age, the discrepancy between forward and backward span increases. A secondary analysis of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Third Edition standardization sample (N = 1030) was performed to investigate this relationship. It was hypothesized on the basis of past research indicating an age-related decline in central executive performance, that backward digit and spatial span performance would decrease at a greater rate than forward span performance. However, the results indicated that the rate of age-related performance decline was equivalent for both measures. It is proposed that both forward and backward span tasks recruit central executive resources for successful task performance

Psychosocial readjustment in the families of stroke patients.

The study set out to investigate readjustment to disability on the part of spouses of stroke patients, and to elicit the particular problems faced by the spouse of an aphasic patient. Seventy-nine stroke patients and their spouses were selected, from rehabilitation records for assessment. They were classified firstly according to the patient's disability: Aphasia without hemiplegia; Aphasia with hemiplegia; Hemiplegia without aphasia. The groups were found to be closely comparable on demographic variables such as age, sex and social class. Subsequently they were reclassified by laterality of lesion. The assessments of the spouse included ratings of their personality, social adjustment, psychiatric health attitude towards, the patient and the disability, and help and coimatmication patterns. Spouses of aphasic patients showed evidence of significantly poorer overall social adjustment than spouses of non-aphasic patients. The areas that were particularly impaired were social and leisure activities, and marital relationships. Although the areas of work, parental-relationship, and relationship with the extended family were relatively less impaired, they were also frequently, problematic. In the marital area, aphasia appeared to be particularly disruptive, but marriages of all stroke patients were characterised by poor comnunication, diminished sexual satisfaction and loss of partnership. Social isolation also affected all spouses, but more especially the spouses of aphasic patients. There was a raised incidence of apparent neurotic disturbance in all spouses and again this was more pronounced amongst the spouses of aphasic patients. Overprotective and unrealistic attitudes were a more common response than rejection or retributive guilt feelings. It is suggested that the emotional reactions of the patient to his disability differentially affect the interpersonal relations and adjustment of the spouse: the laterality of the lesion presenting differing emotional reactions to disability

Psychosocial readjustment in the families of stroke patients.

The study set out to investigate readjustment to disability on the part of spouses of stroke patients, and to elicit the particular problems faced by the spouse of an aphasic patient. Seventy-nine stroke patients and their spouses were selected, from rehabilitation records for assessment. They were classified firstly according to the patient's disability: Aphasia without hemiplegia; Aphasia with hemiplegia; Hemiplegia without aphasia. The groups were found to be closely comparable on demographic variables such as age, sex and social class. Subsequently they were reclassified by laterality of lesion. The assessments of the spouse included ratings of their personality, social adjustment, psychiatric health attitude towards, the patient and the disability, and help and coimatmication patterns. Spouses of aphasic patients showed evidence of significantly poorer overall social adjustment than spouses of non-aphasic patients. The areas that were particularly impaired were social and leisure activities, and marital relationships. Although the areas of work, parental-relationship, and relationship with the extended family were relatively less impaired, they were also frequently, problematic. In the marital area, aphasia appeared to be particularly disruptive, but marriages of all stroke patients were characterised by poor comnunication, diminished sexual satisfaction and loss of partnership. Social isolation also affected all spouses, but more especially the spouses of aphasic patients. There was a raised incidence of apparent neurotic disturbance in all spouses and again this was more pronounced amongst the spouses of aphasic patients. Overprotective and unrealistic attitudes were a more common response than rejection or retributive guilt feelings. It is suggested that the emotional reactions of the patient to his disability differentially affect the interpersonal relations and adjustment of the spouse: the laterality of the lesion presenting differing emotional reactions to disability

PSYCHO-ONCOLOGY DEVELOPMENT AND INITIAL VALIDATION OF A FAMILY APPRAISAL OF CAREGIVING QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PALLIATIVE CARE

SUMMARY This article describes the derivation and initial psychometric validation of a multi-dimensional Family Appraisal of Caregiving Questionnaire for Palliative Care (FACQ-PC). The 25-item measure consists of four theoretically derived subscales: (i) caregiver strain, (ii) positive caregiving appraisals, (iii) caregiver distress, and (iv) family well-being. Based on a sample of 160 family caregivers of a relative with cancer receiving palliative care, reliability analyses demonstrated the subscale scores to be internally consistent and factor analysis revealed evidence of factorial validity. Correlations of the four subscales with measures of family functioning, positive and negative affect, and subjective burden provided evidence of convergent and discriminant validity. The FACQ-PC provides a measure of the family's appraisal of caregiving that can be used in clinical assessment, and has potential utility for evaluating the effectiveness of palliative care interventions

Attentional modulation of implicit processing of information in spatial neglect

Patients with parietal lesions often fail to identify stimuli in the contralesional field (i.e. neglect) but may nevertheless demonstrate implicit processing of neglected stimuli. Explanations of implicit processing in neglect range from intact preattentive mechanisms, to intact higher level categorical processing. Such theories assume implicit processing in neglect is passive and not subject to attentional modulation. We investigated implicit processing in a neglect patient (JS) using a flanker task in which targets differed on two dimensions simultaneously (i.e. coloured letters). Controls demonstrated interference effects only from goal-relevant dimensions of flankers. JS showed a similar pattern of results even when flankers appeared in his neglected field, suggesting that implicit processing of neglected stimuli can be modulated by behavioural goals

Cognitive performance in older people after mild traumatic brain injury: Trauma effects and other risk factors

OBJECTIVE: Cognitive symptoms are common in the initial weeks after mTBI, but recovery is generally expected within three months. However, there is limited information about recovery specifically in older age cohorts. Therefore, this study investigated cognitive outcome three months after mTBI in older adults (≥ 65 years) compared to trauma and community age-matched controls and explored risk factors for outcome after traumatic injury. METHODS: Older mTBI patients (n = 40) and older adults with mild traumatic injury but without head injury (n = 66) were compared to a noninjured community control group (n = 47). Cognitive assessment included neuropsychological and computerized tests. Group differences were compared on individual tasks and overall cognitive performances using composite scores. Regression analyses identified predictors of outcome for trauma patients and moderator analyses explored possible interactions of mTBI severity with age and cognition. RESULTS: As well as lower performances in processing speed and memory, both trauma groups had significantly lower performance on composite neuropsychological (d = .557 and .670) and computerized tasks (d = .783 and .824) compared to noninjured controls. Age, education, and history of depression were direct predictors of cognitive performance after mild traumatic injury (with or without head injury). Further moderation analysis demonstrated that mTBI severity (Glasgow Coma Scale < 15) moderated the impact of older age on computerized assessment (β = -.138). CONCLUSIONS: Three months after mild trauma (regardless of head injury), older people demonstrate lower cognition compared to noninjured peers. However, severity of mTBI (Glasgow Coma Scale < 15) can interact with older age to predict poorer cognitive outcomes