HIV Risk Behavior Self-Report Reliability at Different Recall Periods

Few studies have investigated the optimal length of recall period for self-report of sex and drug-use behaviors. This meta-analysis of 28 studies examined the test-retest reliability of three commonly used recall periods: 1, 3, and 6 months. All three recall periods demonstrated acceptable test-retest reliability, with the exception of recall of needle sharing behaviors and 6-months recall of some sex behaviors. For most sex behaviors, a recall period of 3 months was found to produce the most reliable data; however, 6 months was best for recalling number of sex partners. Overall, shorter periods were found to be more reliable for recall of drug-use behaviors, though the most reliable length of recall period varied for different types of drugs. Implications of the findings and future directions for research are discussed

An N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor agonist facilitates sleep-independent synaptic plasticity associated with working memory capacity enhancement

Working memory (WM) capacity improvement is impacted by sleep, and possibly by N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) agonists such as D-cycloserine (DCS), which also affects procedural skill performance. However, the mechanisms behind these relationships are not well understood. In order to investigate the neural basis underlying relationships between WM skill learning and sleep, DCS, and both sleep and DCS together, we evaluated training-retest performances in the n-back task among healthy subjects who were given either a placebo or DCS before the task training, and then followed task training sessions either with wakefulness or sleep. DCS facilitated WM capacity enhancement only occurring after a period of wakefulness, rather than sleep, indicating that WM capacity enhancement is affected by a cellular heterogeneity in synaptic plasticity between time spent awake and time spent asleep. These findings may contribute to development, anti-aging processes, and rehabilitation of higher cognition