Preliminary adaptation into Portuguese of a standardised picture set for the use in research and neuropsychological assessment

Pictorial stimuli and words have been widely used to evaluate mnemonic processes in clinical settings, neuropsychological investigations, as well as in studies on the mechanisms underlying the phenomena of memory. However, there seem to be few studies of standardisation of pictures for research in this field. The present paper aimed at adapting the use of a set of pictures standardised for English speaking subjects for Portuguese speakers. Name agreement of 150 pictures was assessed in 100 high-school students. Ninety pictures were found to present the same name for over 90 subjects. Results yield data that may help create more controlled tests for the study of memory for pictorial stimuli in Brazil

Compensation in Abnormal Conditions of Infant Care in the Common Marmoset (Callithrix Jacchus)

Callithrix jacchus (common marmoset) young receive care from mothers and fathers during early stages of development. In order to evaluate the compensatory care given by mothers when fathers were not giving their usual care, three families of marmosets, in which the fathers evidenced low levels of care from the time of the birth of the young, and two families in which the level of paternal care giving was normal were studied. In two of the low care families, and one of the normal families, the father was removed at 15 days after birth; in the other two families the fathers were removed at 30 days after birth. Data as to duration of care giving by the mother, care giving by the father, and contact between the two offspring (typically the common marmoset gives birth to twins) were recorded from the time of birth through two days after separation. Although the mothers compensated for the low levels of care given by the fathers, the total amount of time spent in care giving did not differ from that of the normal families, in those cases where separation took place at 15 days. In the case of the 30 day separation families, the total time of care giving in the lowcare family was lower than that of the normal family. Contact time between twins also differed between the 15 and 30 day separation families. The results indicate that compensatory care giving can be induced in the common marmoset

Compensation in Abnormal Conditions of Infant Care in the Common Marmoset ( Callithrix Jacchus )

Callithrix jacchus (common marmoset) young receive care from mothers and fathers during early stages of development. In order to evaluate the compensatory care given by mothers when fathers were not giving their usual care, three families of marmosets, in which the fathers evidenced low levels of care from the time of the birth of the young, and two families in which the level of paternal care giving was normal were studied. In two of the low care families, and one of the normal families, the father was removed at 15 days after birth; in the other two families the fathers were removed at 30 days after birth. Data as to duration of care giving by the mother, care giving by the father, and contact between the two offspring (typically the common marmoset gives birth to twins) were recorded from the time of birth through two days after separation. Although the mothers compensated for the low levels of care given by the fathers, the total amount of time spent in care giving did not differ from that of the normal families, in those cases where separation took place at 15 days. In the case of the 30 day separation families, the total time of care giving in the lowcare family was lower than that of the normal family. Contact time between twins also differed between the 15 and 30 day separation families. The results indicate that compensatory care giving can be induced in the common marmoset

Curva de posição serial e facilitação semântica em pacientes com epilepsia de lobo temporal mesial

We investigated the serial position curve and semantic facilitation effect in patients with left and right mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) with hipocampal sclerosis compared to a matched control group. Subjects (L-MTLE = 19, R-MTLE = 15, and controls = 21) were assessed by recalling word lists either with the three middle words semantically related or not. The total number of words recalled from both types of lists did not differ between groups. Recency was preserved, showing that short-term memory (phonological loop) is not affected in these patients. Primacy was equally present for the lists with no semantic relationships in all groups, but was absent for lists with semantically related words. The semantic facilitation effect was seen in all groups, but with a lower magnitude in the L-MTLE group, suggesting that the spread of discharges in the left hemisphere interferes with the automatic processing of semantic networks. Keywords: mesial temporal lobe epilepsy; serial position curve; semantic facilitation; episodic memory; semantic memory.Nós investigamos a curva de posição serial e o efeito de facilitação semântica em pacientes com epilepsia do lobo temporal mesial (ELTM) esquerda e direita com esclerose hipocampal, comparados a um grupo controle. Os sujeitos (ELTM-E = 19, ELTM-D = 15 e controles = 21) foram submetidos ao teste de recordação livre de palavras, sendo que metade das listas de palavras continham três palavras semanticamente relacionadas inseridas nas posições intermediárias. O número total de palavras recordadas em ambos tipos de listas não diferiu entre os grupos. A recência foi preservada sugerindo que a memória de curto prazo (alça fonológica) não é afetada nestes pacientes. A primazia foi observada somente nas listas sem relacionamento semântico, independentemente do grupo. O efeito de facilitação semântica foi obtido em todos os grupos, mas com menor magnitude ao ELTM-E, sugerindo que a propagação das descargas no hemisfério esquerdo interfere com o processamento automático da rede semântica. Palavras-chave: epilepsia do lobo temporal mesial; curva de posição serial; facilitação semântica; memória episódica; memória semântica

Adaptação transcultural da Bateria NEPSY - avaliação neuropsicológica do desenvolvimento: estudo-piloto

The NEPSY is a neuropsychological battery of 27 subtests for 3 to 12 year old children. This study is the first part of the adaptation of the NEPSY for Brazilian children and had the objective to describe the performance of a sample of children submitted to a translated and adapted version for comparison to the American version. It was back-translated and adapted by a team of specialists and 100 children were assessed. The results showed that the Brazilian sample remained within the average variation with a standard deviation (100 + 15), the lowest score in Sensor-Motor Domain (88.05 + 14.89) and the highest in Visual-spatial Domain (102.25+19.39). Statistically significant differences were observed in the age group of 3-4 years among itself and the other age groups. Conclusion: The translated and adapted version of NEPSY was appropriate to obtain the discrimination among children of different ages, socioeconomic status and parent education level.O NEPSY é uma bateria neuropsicológica de 27 subtestes para crianças de 3 a 12 anos de idade. Este estudo é a primeira etapa de adaptação do NEPSY para crianças brasileiras e teve como objetivo descrever o desempenho de uma amostra de crianças submetidas à versão traduzida e adaptada do NEPSY e compará-la com a americana. Foi traduzido por back-translation e adaptado com equipe de especialistas, então aplicado em 100 crianças. Nos resultados observou-se que a amostra brasileira manteve-se dentro da variação da média e um desvio-padrão (100 + 15), sendo o menor escore no Domínio Sensório-Motor (88,05 + 14,89) e o maior no Domínio Viso-espacial (102,25+19,39). Observaram-se diferenças estatisticamente significantes das faixas de 3-4 anos entre si e entre todas as outras idades. Conclusão: A versão adaptada e traduzida do NEPSY mostrou-se adequada, conseguindo discriminar o desempenho das crianças em diferentes faixas de idade, sócio-econômica e escolaridade dos pais

O uso de procedimentos de estruturação de rotina em indivíduos com anóxia cerebral: relato de caso Procedures to improve daily activities performance in individuals with cerebral anoxia: case report

OBJETIVO: Apresentar um estudo de caso de reabilitação com procedimentos de estruturação de rotina para realização das atividades de vida diária (AVDs). PACIENTE: Quadro de anóxia cerebral, com déficit de memória verbal e visual, desorientação temporal, abulia e bradipsiquismo. MÉTODO: Estruturação de horários fixos na rotina diária; exposição a um calendário 3 vezes ao dia; caminhadas diárias; monitorização do familiar na execução de tarefas de auto cuidado, fornecendo auxílio mediante comandos verbais curtos e pistas específicas. RESULTADOS: Foram observados aumento da iniciativa, maior autonomia nas AVDs, diminuição do período de latência para qualquer resposta, melhora da atenção, orientação temporal e bradipsiquismo. CONCLUSÕES: Estratégias de controle do comportamento trazem ganhos e limitações para pacientes e familiares. Embora obriguem a adaptação a uma rotina pouco flexível, promovem o aprendizado através da automatização de procedimentos que se valem de mecanismos de memória implícita preservados. Estes recursos podem elevar o grau de autonomia do paciente em casa.<br>OBJECTIVE: To present a rehabilitation case study; procedures to improve the performance on daily activities were used by the caregiver. PATIENT: Cerebral anoxia due to cardiac arrest. He presented memory deficits for both visual and verbal material, temporal disorientation, abulia, psychomotor slowing and bradypsychism. METHODS: daily activities were developed in fixed hours; calendar was presented 3 times a day ; daily walks were performed; self-care activities were performed by the patient with short verbal commands and cues from the caregiver. RESULTS: We observed improvement on initiative and autonomy for daily activities, attention, temporal orientation and bradypsychism. There was also reduction on response time. CONCLUSIONS: Behavioral control strategies result on improvement for patients and their family although limit their routine. Behavioral control strategy promotes learning through the preserved implicit memory mechanism and results on enhancement at patient's autonomy at home

Working memory impairment in multiple sclerosis relapsing-remitting patients with episodic memory deficits Prejuízo de memória operacional em pacientes com esclerose múltipla recorrente-remitente com déficits de memória episódica

Episodic memory is impaired in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, possibly because of deficits in working memory (WM) functioning. If so, WM alterations should necessarily be found in patients with episodic memory deficits, but this has not yet been demonstrated. In this study we aimed at determining whether episodic memory deficits in relapsing-remitting MS are found in conjunction with impaired WM. We evaluated 32 MS patients and 32 matched healthy controls. Nineteen of the 32 patients had episodic memory impairment, and as a group only these individuals showed deficits in WM capacity, which may lead to difficulty in encoding, and/or retrieving information from episodic memory.<br>Pacientes com esclerose múltipla (EM) apresentam prejuízo de memória episódica possivelmente em decorrência de um déficit no funcionamento da memória operacional (MO). Se assim fosse, alterações de MO seriam necessariamente encontradas em pacientes com déficit de memória episódica, mas isto ainda não foi demonstrado. Neste estudo tivemos como objetivo determinar se déficits de memória episódica em pacientes com EM recorrente-remitente são encontrados em associação com prejuízo de MO. Avaliamos 32 pacientes com EM pareados com 32 voluntários saudáveis. Dezenove dos 32 pacientes apresentaram prejuízo de memória episódica, e como grupo, somente estes indivíduos apresentaram déficit na capacidade de MO, o que deve resultar na dificuldade de codificar, e /ou recuperar informações da memória episódica