Clustering of indicators of the cognitive status in cardiac surgery patients to assess the risk of postoperative decline

The aim of the study. To determine the informational value of psychometric indicators used for the integral assessment of cognitive status in cardiac patients, and to find those that would help differentiate the individual sensibility to postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD).Materials and methods. The clustering methods were analyzed the extended psychometric testing data in 256 cardiac surgery patients. The psychometric testing carried out 3–5 days before and on days 7–10 after surgery using the psychophysiological complex program “Status PF”.Results. The cluster analysis revealed that the most informative tests for a screening risk assessment of POCD are the testing the speed of response to visual stimuli with feedback of changes in the stimuli exposition according to the individual reaction time and the testing short-term memory (memorized words). While the analysis of postoperative psychometric indicators, the patients in a modified clustering group were characterized by a deterioration of verbal memory and a decrease of the time reaction to visual stimuli whereas that its observed acceleration in the general “stable” group.Conclusion. The clustering methods enabled the identification of cardiac surgery patients in the preoperative stage who had less cognitive reserve for recovery after surgery. The changes in the relationship of complex visual and motor response, attention, and memory indicators, which depended on the belonging to the identified clusters, suggest that the preoperative period is characterized by the dedifferentiation of cognitive functions indicating a cognitive deficit

Изменения в структуре когнитивных функций и тревожности у кардиохирургических пациентов в зависимости от выраженности стенозов сонных артерий

Highlights. The article revealed that severe (more than 50%) carotid artery (CA) stenosis was associated with significant slowdown of the information selection processes, and these patients were characterized by older age and tendency to an increase in trait anxiety compared to the patients without CA stenosis.It was found that the reduced attention and memory was a typical feature of the cognitive status in patients with severe CA stenosis in the early postoperative period of cardiac surgery in comparison with the patients without CA stenosis. At the same time the speed characteristics indicators of the information selection processes in these patients are positively related to state anxiety.Aim. The cardiac surgery patients were studied in order to analyze the postoperative changes in the efficiency of selection information and memory processes depending on the degree of carotid artery (CA) stenosis (including more than 50%) and the age and the role of the trait anxiety indicator assessed before surgery.Methods. The prospective study included 229 patients undergoing elected coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) or CABG and carotid endarterectomy (CEE). Each study participant underwent clinical, instrumental and extended psychometric examination before cardiac surgery and at 7-10 days after surgery. The evaluation of the extracranial vessels state was carried out before surgery using color duplex scanning. Based on the results of assessing the extracranial vessels state, all patients were divided into three groups: no stenosis (n = 124), CA stenosis less than 50% (n = 69) and more than 50% (n = 36).Results. It was found out that the patients with CA stenoses more than 50% are characterized by a slower reaction under different conditions of visual stimuli selection and by an older age as compared with patients with no stenoses as well as patients with stenoses less than 50%. In the postoperative period of cardiac surgery in comparison with testing before surgery there was an improvement in the information selection stability (an increase in the number of processed symbols per 4 minute of the Bourdon's test (p<0.00006)) and short-term memory (p = 0.03) only in the group of patients without stenoses. The patients with stenoses of less than 50% had an increase the of the information selection stability but the short-term memory decrease (p<0.05) whereas the group with stenoses more than 50% had a decrease in both the stability of information selection and short-term memory (p<0,05). Additional factors of cognitive deficit in CA stenosis patients were trait anxiety associated with memory impairment and a history of stroke that related to a decrease in the effectiveness of a complex visual-motor reaction.Conclusion. The comprehensive analysis of the cognitive status of cardiac surgery patients with different severity of CA stenosis showed that an increase in the age and stenosis degree is the factor of the reaction time slowdown under different conditions of information selection. To differentiate groups of patients depending on the severity of stenosis in the postoperative period the testing short-term memory and stability of attention is informative. These indicators improve in the group without stenosis but decrease in the group with pronounced stenosis. The trait anxiety and the history of stroke were the additional factors of memory impairment due to CA stenosis.Основные положения. Впервые показано, что выраженный (более 50%) стеноз сонных артерий (СА) приводит к значимому замедлению формирования реакции при селекции информации и эти пациенты характеризуются старшим возрастом и тенденцией к росту личностной тревожности по сравнению с больными с отсутствием стенозов СА.Обнаружено, что отличительной особенностью когнитивного статуса пациентов с выраженными стенозами СА в раннем послеоперационном периоде кардиохирургического вмешательства служат снижение объема внимания и ухудшение памяти в сравнении с больными с отсутствием стенозов СА, при этом скоростные показатели селекции информации положительно связаны с личностной тревожностью.Цель. Проанализировать послеоперационные изменения эффективности селекции информации и памяти в зависимости от степени стеноза сонных артерий (СА) (более 50%) и возраста пациентов и выяснить роль показателя личностной тревожности, измеренного до оперативного вмешательства.Материалы и методы. В проспективное исследование включены 229 больных, перенесших изолированное коронарное шунтирование (КШ) либо КШ в сочетании с каротидной эндартерэктомией. Клиническое, инструментальное и расширенное психометрическое обследование выполнено до вмешательства и на 7-10-е сут после операции. Оценка состояния экстракраниальных сосудов проведена до операции с использованием цветного дуплексного сканирования. По результатам этой оценки сформированы три группы пациентов: отсутствие стеноза СА (n = 124), стеноз СА менее 50% (n = 69) и более 50% (n = 36).Результаты. Больные со стенозами СА более 50% отличаются от пациентов с отсутствием стенозов и стенозами менее 50% более медленной реакцией в разных условиях селекции зрительных стимулов и старшим возрастом. В послеоперационном периоде кардиохирургических вмешательств только в группе лиц без стенозов отмечено улучшение устойчивости селекции информации (увеличение количества обрабатываемых за 4 минуты символов теста корректурной пробы Бурдона; p<0,00006) и кратковременной памяти (р = 0,03) в сравнении с тестированием до операции. У пациентов со стенозами менее 50% наряду с повышением устойчивости селекции информации показатели кратковременной памяти снижались (р<0,05), а в группе со стенозами более 50% отмечено как уменьшение устойчивости селекции информации, так и кратковременной памяти (р<0,05). Дополнительными факторами когнитивного дефицита при стенозе СА выступают личностная тревожность, связанная с ухудшением памяти, и наличие ОНМК в анамнезе, ассоциированное со снижением эффективности сложной зрительно-моторной реакции.Заключение. В результате комплексного анализа когнитивного статуса кардиохирургических пациентов с разной выраженностью стенозов СА установлено, что увеличение возраста и степени стеноза служит фактором замедления формирования ответа в разных условиях селекции информации. Для дифференциации групп больных в зависимости от выраженности стеноза в послеоперационном периоде информативно тестирование кратковременной памяти и устойчивости внимания, показатель которого улучшается в группе без стеноза, но снижается в группе с выраженным стенозом

Gender and creativity: An overview of psychological and neuroscientific literature

The topic of gender differences in creativity is one that generates substantial scientific and public interest, but also courts considerable controversy. Owing to the heterogeneous nature of the findings associated with this line of research, the general picture often appears puzzling or obscure. This article presents a selective overview of psychological and neuroscientific literature that has a relevant bearing on the theme of gender and creativity. Topics that are explored include the definition and methods of assessing creativity, a summary of behavioral investigations on gender in relation to creativity, postulations that have been put forward to understand gender differences in creative achievement, gender-based differences in the structure and function of the brain, gender-related differences in behavioral performance on tasks of normative cognition, and neuroscientific studies of gender and creativity. The article ends with a detailed discussion of the idea that differences between men and women in creative cognition are best explained with reference to the gender-dependent adopted strategies or cognitive style when faced with generative tasks

Plasticity of brain functional systems as a compensator resource in normal and pathological aging associated with atherosclerosis

The analytical review address to the influence of atherosclerotic vascular changes in the development of age-related cognitive decline, the role of the cognitive reserve as a factor in the compensating of the brain changes associated with normal and pathological aging, and the reorganization of the brain functional systems in vascular cognitive impairment, reflected in the rhythmic activity of biopotentials