Cognitive impairment is considered as essential feature of non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD). It is a result of underlying pathological processes in the brain of PD patients and it leads to decreased quality of life. In this thesis an analysis of the structure and profile of cognitive impairment is presented with special emphasis on executive functions and memory. We take diagnostic entities developed for the description of PD cognitive spectrum such as mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI) and dementia (PD-D) as examples of heterogeneity and different severity of cognitive impairment in PD. However, neuropsychological methods in Czech version that would measure these diagnotic units were not adequatly validated. In the experimental part we test a hypothesis, if gait disorder with falls in PD is interconnected with cognitive impairment, and if PD-fallers have more severe cognitive deficit than PD-non-fallers. On the basis of nine validity or normative data studies we show psychometric properties and clinical utility of several basic neuropsychological methods in the Czech population for memory (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, California Verbal Learning Test, Second Edition, Memory For Intentions Screening Test and Enhanced Cued Recall Test), sustained attention and executive functions...

The aim of this thesis is to describe the cognitive profile, including the developed and deficient cognitive functions, in a group of children and adolescents with specific learning disabilities. The theoretical part of the thesis introduces Reuven Feuerstein's work, especially his concepts of structural cognitive modifiability and mediated learning experience, the theory of cognitive deficits, cognitive map and Feuerstein's instrumental enrichment programme. The characteristics of traditional and dynamic assessment, basic differences between these diagnostic approaches and cognitive symptoms of specific learning disabilities are also described in the thesis. The results of the examination of twenty-eight DYS-centrum's clients with specific learning disabilities are qualitatively analyzed in the empirical part. We focus on their developed and deficient cognitive functions, their fulfilment of complex tasks, a preferred modality in which the tasks are presented, and differences between the results obtained through static and dynamic testing. The results collected from individual subjects are finally compared and visualized using figures and graphs which gives an overview of the studied phenomena throughout the whole research sample. We found all the clients of the research sample having following...

The thesis deals with the contemporary topic of cognitive deficit present by schizophrenic people. It introduces the subjective point of view of the patients in more detail, which means the experience of deficits in the cognitive area. The text itself consists, as usual, of the theoretical and the research section. The theoretical section deals with the specifics of cognitive functions and their deficits present by schizophrenic patients. It focuses more closely on the subjective point of view of an individual, the impairment-related experience which follows from the impaired cognitive functions. The thesis pursues also the impact of cognitive impairment on an individual's life. A part of the theoretical section is also dedicated to the tools designated to measure cognitive functions. The major subpart is dedicated to self-evaluating tool entitled Frankfurt Complaint Questionnaire (FCQ), concerning primarily its origin, description and psychometric properties. The research section is based on the usage of the Czech translation of the FCQ in practice. Based on an observation of a sample of 53 individuals diagnosed with F20.0 and 53 healthy people, the psychometric qualities of the FCQ (discriminant validity, Cronbach's alpha, test-retest reliability) were examined. In case of patients diagnosed with...

Un des enjeux majeurs de la Psychologie Cognitive est de décrire les grandes fonctions mentales, notamment chez l’humain. Du point de vue neuroscientifique, il s’agit de modéliser l’activité cérébrale pour en extraire les éléments et mécanismes spatio-temporels susceptibles d’être mis en correspondance avec les opérations cognitives. Le travail de cette thèse a consisté à définir et mettre en œuvre des stratégies originales permettant de confronter les modèles cognitifs existants à des données issues d’enregistrements neurophysiologiques chez l’humain. Dans une première étude nous avons démontré que la distinction entre les organisations classiques de la dénomination de dessin sériel-parallèle, doit être adressée au niveau des essais uniques et non sur la moyenne des signaux. Nous avons conçu et mené l’analyse des signaux SEEG de 15 patients pour montrer que l’organisation temporelle de la dénomination de dessin n’est pas, au sens strict, parallèle. Dans une deuxième étude nous avons combiné trois techniques d’enregistrements : SEEG, EEG et MEG pour clarifier l’organisation spatiale des sources d’activité neuronales. Nous avons établi la faisabilité de l’enregistrement sur un patient qui exécute une tâche de perception visuelle. Au delà des corrélations entre les signaux moyens des trois techniques, cette analyse a révélé des corrélations au niveau des essais uniques. À travers deux approches expérimentales, cette thèse propose de nombreux développements méthodologiques et conceptuels originaux et pertinents. Ces contributions ouvrent de nouvelles perspectives à partir desquelles les signaux neurophysiologiques pourront informer les théories des Neurosciences Cognitives. / A major issue in Cognitive Psychology is to describe human cognitive functions. From the Neuroscientific perceptive, measurements of brain activity are collected and processed in order to grasp, at their best resolution, the relevant spatio-temporal features of the signal that can be linked with cognitive operations. The work of this thesis consisted in designing and implementing strategies in order to overcome spatial and temporal limitations of signal processing procedures used to address cognitive issues. In a first study we demonstrated that the distinction between picture naming classical temporal organizations serial-parallel, should be addressed at the level of single trials and not on the averaged signals. We designed and conducted the analysis of SEEG signals from 5 patients to show that the temporal organization of picture naming involves a parallel processing architecture to a limited degree only. In a second study, we combined SEEG, EEG and MEG into a simultaneous trimodal recording session. A patient was presented with a visual stimulation paradigm while the three types of signals were simultaneously recorded. Averaged activities at the sensor level were shown to be consistent across the three techniques. More importantly a fine-grained coupling between the amplitudes of the three recording techniques is detected at the level of single evoked responses. This thesis proposes various relevant methodological and conceptual developments. It opens up several perspectives in which neurophysiological signals shall better inform Cognitive Neuroscientific theories.

Performance of cognitive abilities, like attention, memory, language and speech, planning, decision making or logical thinking, is the basic assumption for quality of life. There are many ways how to keep and improve them. This thesis deals with connection of information technologies and cognitive sciences with focus on memory support. At the beginning there is introduced an aim of thesis in detail, in the next chapter there are described memory systems and other cognitive functions. Third chapter is focused on short introduction of brain structures, neurotransmitters affecting memory activities and imaging methods that serve for observing memory activities. In the forth chapter there are described the most common memory deficits. In the fifth part there is description of several computer programs currently used for cognitive functions support. Within the scope of practical part there was tested one software from fifth chapter with focus on memory abilities of researched sample. The results of conducted experiment are described in detail at the very end of this thesis.

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This diploma thesis is introducing Trail Making Test - Part A as a tool for assessment of cognitive deficit in schizophrenia. Cognitive deficit is one of the core symptoms of schizophrenia which plays a key role in the final psychosocial functioning in the life of people with schizophrenia. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the efficiency of interventions focused on improving cognitive functions and the quality of diagnostics. In this paper we were verifying a validity of TMT-A in use of cognitive deficit in schizophrenia. We have found out that the test discriminates between clinical and healthy population (n=332) quite well. Participants with schizophrenia scored significantly worse than the healthy volunteers in the time variable. We have not found any difference in the number of errors in TMT-A between the groups. In the ROC analysis we were verifying if the TMT-A has enough good sensitivity and specificity and we found positive results. The AUC value was large for the age category of 18-44 as well as for particular age subgroups. Using the regression analysis we controlled for the demographic differences of the clinical and healthy groups and we estimated the difference between the performance of clinical and healthy population of about 11,9 seconds. Due to the general nature of...

Non-competitive antagonists of NMDA receptors can induce psychomimetic effects - they can cause schizophrenia-like behavior in healthy volunteers. MK-801 is such an agent. It is often used to model schizophrenia-like behavior in experimental animals. On the other hand, non-competitive antagonists of NMDA receptors show antidepressant effects both in patients suffering from depression and in animal models. Currently, cognitive deficit is considered to be a crucial symptom of the schizophrenia. Cognitive coordination is a process distinguishing irrelevant and relevant stimuli. A disruption of this process could play a pivotal role in cognitive deficit in schizophrenia. Active Allothetic Place Avoidance task (AAPA) could be a useful tool to study this phenomenon. In this task an animal has to distinguish between two spatial (reference) frames, whereas one of them is irrelevant and the other is relevant. The aims of my diploma thesis were: to study 1) behavioral strategies of laboratory rats in AAPA task and 2) effect of MK-801 on behavioral strategies and cognitive efficiency of rats in this task. The rats demonstrated two different strategies in the AAPA task. The first strategy was an active avoidance of an aversive sector; the second one was "freezing" with minimal active movement on the arena. Application...

INTRODUCTION: By the age of 65, every driver holding a valid driving license is required to undergo a compulsory medical examination according to Act 361/2000 Coll. The purpose of the examination should be to examine not only physical, but also psychosocial and cognitive factors that can affect the ability to drive safely. However, the extension of the validity of a driving license may have a considerable impact on the preservation of the existing self-sufficiency. GOALS: To determine the relationship of anamnestic data on the state of driving a motor vehicle with the state of cognitive functions. As a secondary goal, the work asks whether there is a correlation between the results of the Montreal cognitive test (MoCA-CZ1) with newly created memory screening tests (POBAV, ALBA and DOZNAT). METHODOLOGY: The research was based on a qualitative examination of the 39 drivers older than 65 years. Drivers were assessed by the state of cognitive function according to the Montreal Cognitive Test, and were then examined by "new short cognitive tests" targeting different types of memory. Finally, the participants filled out the questionnaire on subjective evaluation of driving skills. RESULTS: Dependence was found between the driving frequency and the groups of drivers with cognitive impairment and...

This Master thesis focuses on the neuropsychological test called Rey-Osterrieth complex figure test and its diagnostic value in the clinical assesment of schizophrenic patients. Deficiency of cognitive functioning is a dominating feature in the clinical picture of schizophrenic patients. Attention is brought especially to the specific aspects of the ROCF performance in the clinical group of schizophrenic patients. Theoretical part is based on the realized investigative studies focused on the Rey-Osterrieth complex figure test and its value in cognitive assesment in psychodiagnostic praxis. The diagnostic method ROCF is presented in its complexity, the way of administration, assesment and interpretation are described and attention is also brought to the specific features of ROCF performance in healthy, neurological and psychiatric patients with focus on schizophrenic individuals. Empirical part of the thesis in the first section compares the ROCF performance of Czech healthy individuals and schizophrenic patients. The influence of demografic and other factors on the ROCF performance was analyzed and isolated elements of the figure and their difficultness was evaluated in both surveyed groups. Outcomes of this master thesis could contribute to the present knowledge of the diagnostic possibilities of...