The present study compared the responses of a group of simulating malingerers who were offered a monetary incentive to feign symptoms of a head injury, with the responses of head injured groups both with and without litigation, a forensic parole group, and an honest-responding control group. The following six neuropsychological measures were utilized: Rey 15-Item Memory Test, Controlled Oral Word Association Test, Finger Oscillation Test, WAIS-R Neuropsychological Instrument (Vocabulary, Information, and Similarities subtests), Booklet Category Test, and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. The statistical concepts of floor effect, performance curve, and magnitude of error were examined. Additionally, the statistical differences in the responses of the five groups were analyzed to determine cutting scores for use in distinguishing malingerers from nonmalingerers.

Research has consistently shown schizophrenics to perform significantly poorer than normal controls on commonly used measures of neuropsychological functioning. Research on the neuropsychological functioning of first-degree relatives of schizophrenics who do not themselves have schizophrenia is comparatively sparse but suggests the likelihood of deficits in this group as well. A battery of standard neuropsychological tests was administered to three groups: first-degree relatives of schizophrenics who do not themselves have schizophrenia (FDR-SCZ), first-degree relatives of persons with major depression and bipolar disorder (FDR-MOOD), and normal controls (NC). The FDRSCZ group was not found to demonstrate significantly impaired performance relative to the other two groups on any of the hypothesized or exploratory analyses. These implications of these findings are discussed with reference to previous studies and future research.

Perceptual learning is an important mechanism in the human visual system, and can lead to long-lasting improvements across a broad range of perceptual tasks. In this study we demonstrated how perceptual learning can be applied to improve word recognition in the peripheral visual field of a sample of older individuals. We have shown that improvements in thresholds can be equalised across age, simply by increasing the number of training sessions available to older observers. Based on this initial finding we further sought to establish a protocol to induce improvements in reading ability for a sample of individuals with age-related macular disease (AMD). As a prelude to this work, we investigated the effects of crowding and fixation instability on similar tasks. Having suffered damage to their central vision, our target population (individuals with AMD) must use peripheral vision for daily viewing tasks. Peripheral vision is known to be highly susceptible to crowding, the influence of which has previously been shown to strengthen with age. We investigated the relationship between age and crowding on a letter recognition task, and found that (for this task) crowding was age in-variant, implying that this key inhibitor to peripheral visual perception should not have an inordinate influence on learning in our AMD sample. Our work on fixation stability also led to promising results. We demonstrated that our proxy for fixation instability (a dynamic target or dynamic fixation point) did not adversely affect letter recognition thresholds. Fixation instability is a common issue in AMD, but our data suggests that this may not adversely affect learning on our word recognition task. The final part of this work has been the implementation of a small study in which we trained a sample of individuals with AMD on our word recognition task. Significant improvements in thresholds were observed, though these did not quite reach the level of an age-matched normally sighted sample. Nonetheless, the trajectory of the learning curve suggests that further improvements would be possible with extended training sessions. Crucially, we also observed significant transfer of learning – from the trained word recognition task to an untrained sentence reading task (the MNRead Acuity chart). This is a key aspect of the study, as we are primarily interested in developing training protocols that lead to real-world improvements in visual ability. Improvements on MNRead scores are promising, and suggest that our approach may prove to be a useful starting point in the development of a robust therapeutic protocol.

Understanding the modulation of contextual fear learning and memory by the neurotransmitter dopamine is important as it could lead to a greater understanding of the mechanisms underlying anxiety disorders. The effect of D1 receptor antagonism during the contextual fear learning and memory stages was investigated. In the first set of experiments the D1 receptor antagonist SCH 23390 (0.1mg/kg; i.p.) was administered systemically before or immediately after contextual fear conditioning to determine whether D1 receptors are involved in the acquisition and/or consolidation stages. This experiment was followed up by investigating the effects of SCH 23390 infusion into the dorsal hippocampus (5μg per side) or amygdala (2.5μg per side) on contextual fear acquisition. The second set of experiments investigated the involvement of systemic SCH 23390 in the reconsolidation, retrieval, destabilization and extinction of contextual fear. SCH 23390 was administered before or immediately after either a short reactivation or longer extinction session. In the destabilization experiment SCH 23390 was administered prior to reactivation and the NMDA receptor antagonist MK-801 (0.1mg/kg; i.p) immediately after to determine if SCH 23390 could rescue the amnesic effects of NMDA receptor antagonism. It was found that systemic and intra-hippocampal but not intra-amygdala SCH 23390 reduced freezing during memory retention testing, twenty four hours and seven days after conditioning. There was no effect of SCH 23390 when immediately given after conditioning. There was also no effect of SCH 23390 when given either before or after reactivation or extinction sessions. The destabilization experiment was inconclusive as MK-801 was not found to impair memory when administered after reactivation. In conclusion, D1 receptors were found to be involved in the acquisition of contextual fear, and this modulation was found to occur in the dorsal hippocampus but not the amygdala. D1 type receptors were not found to be involved in the consolidation, retrieval, reconsolidation or extinction of contextual fear.

Resumo: A atenção é uma função neuropsicológica fundamental na entrada da informação no Sistema Nervoso. Os recursos atencionais são imprescindíveis para o desenvolvimento das demais funções neuropsicológicas. O uso eficiente da atenção voluntária supõe o emprego de um nível de persistência na execução de atividades por longo período de tempo, tarefa difícil para crianças com alterações no desenvolvimento neuropsicomotor e na aprendizagem, cujas falhas mostram-se relacionadas ao processamento atencional. Objetivo: o presente estudo propôs investigar os aspectos estratégicos da atenção de crianças com dificuldades psicomotoras e de leitura-escrita. Método: fizeram parte 45 crianças, de ambos os sexos, na faixa etária de 8 a 12 anos e 11 meses de idade, cursando do 3o ao 6o ano do Ensino Fundamental de escolas públicas, compondo três grupos: GI, formado por 15 crianças com queixa atencional e baixo rendimento escolar; GII, com 15 crianças com alterações no desenvolvimento neuropsicomotor e com queixa atencional; e, GIII, caracterizando o grupo-controle, com 15 crianças sem queixa escolar, psicomotora e atencional. O estudo foi realizado numa escola pública da cidade de Boracéia/SP. Instrumentos: Teste de Desempenho Escolar, Trail Making Test, Stroop Color Word Test, Tavis-4, Torre de Londres, Teste Wisconsin de Classificação de Cartas, Teste Matrizes Progressivas Raven, Teste de Cancelamento, Protocolo de Avaliação das Funções Psicomotoras e o Protocolo de Triagem Escolar para Pais e Professores, elaborado para esta pesquisa. Os dados foram analisados descritivamente e submetidos ao estudo estatístico sobre a média e desvio padrão, para obtenção dos escores brutos e transformados. Resultados: Na avaliação sobre os desempenhos intelectuais, o GII foi o grupo com recursos mais limitados no raciocínio perceptual de espaço-temporal lógico, com 46% dos sujeitos abaixo da média esperada à idade. No nível atencional, o GII foi o grupo que apresentou o maior número de erros por omissão e maior tempo de reação na atividade, principalmente no tipo alternado. Os resultados sobre a capacidade de planejamento e estratégia mostraram que o GI obteve 53% de acertos e o GII, 58,6%, com pontuações inferiores ao controle. Quando verificado o desempenho dos grupos com relação ao gerenciamento na resolução de problemas cognitivos, os índices de dificuldades conceituais dos GI e GII foram considerados altos. Conclusão: Apesar de tanto o GI quanto o GII evidenciarem mais prejuízo, comparados ao controle, nas tarefas que exigiram as funções executivas, o GII foi o grupo que apresentou desempenhos mais rebaixados nas tarefas submetidas, que requeriam a função atencional, estratégias de raciocínio, flexibilidade cognitiva e memória de trabalho visual. / Summary: Attention is a fundamental neuropsychological function in the input of information in the Nervous System. The attentional resources are essential to the development of other neuropsychological functions. The efficient use of voluntary attention supposes the use of a level of persistence in carrying out activities for a long period of time, a difficult task for children with changes in the neuropsychomotor and learning development, whose flaws show a relationship to attentional processing. Objective: The present study proposed to investigate the strategic aspects of attention in children with psychomotor and read-write difficulties. Method: took part in the research 45 children, of both sexes, aged 8-12 years and 11 months of age, attending the 3rd to the 6th year of Elementary School public school, forming three groups: GI, consisting of 15 children with attentional complaints and poor school performance, GII, with 15 children with developmental and attentional complaining and, GIII, characterizing the control group, with 15 children without learning, psychomotor or attentional difficulties. The was conducted in a public school in the town of Boracéia/SP. Instruments: Academic Performance Test, Trail Making Test, Stroop Color Word Test, Tavis-4, Tower of London, Wisconsin Test of Card Sorting, Raven Progressive Matrices Test, Cancellation Test, Protocol Assessment of psychomotor functions and Screening Protocol for School parents and Teachers, prepared for this research. The data was analyzed descriptively and subjected to statistical analysis on the mean and standard deviation, to obtain the raw scores and transformed. Results: In the evaluation of the intellectual performance, the GII was the group with more limited resources in perceptual reasoning of spatio-temporal logic, with 46% of subjects below the average expected age. In regards to attention, the GII was the group that had the highest number of omission errors and longer reaction time in the activity, especially in the alternate type. The results on the capacity and strategy planning showed that the GI got 53% correct, and GII 58,6%, with scores lower than the control. Analyzing the performance of the groups with regards to the management in the cognitive problem solving, the indices of conceptual difficulties of GI and GII were considered high. Conclusion: Although both the GI and the GII showed more damage compared to the control, in the tasks requiring executive functions, the GII was the group that presented performances lower in the submitted tasks, whick required the attentional function, reasoning strategies, cognitive flexibility, and visual working memory.

Recent research has shown mindfulness practices to be correlated with traits frequently associated with high Executive Functioning (EF) individuals such as greater attention to specific tasks, greater working memory capacity, and the improved ability to inhibit behaviors or emotions. These three traits are highly correlated with each other, and provide an accurate assessment of an individual’s level of Executive Functioning. This study was designed to examine how individual traits associated with Mindfulness such as ‘non-judgement’ can influence attention, working memory and inhibition. This study used three self-administered questionnaires to assess traits associated with mindful individuals and three EF tests to measure performance in inhibition, task shifting and updating working memory tasks. Results showed that certain mindfulness variables from the Freberg Mindfulness Inventory and Five Facet Mindfulness Questioniare, were correlated with performance on working memory tasks while mindfulness experience was not. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Resumo: A atenção é uma função neuropsicológica fundamental na entrada da informação no Sistema Nervoso. Os recursos atencionais são imprescindíveis para o desenvolvimento das demais funções neuropsicológicas. O uso eficiente da atenção voluntária supõe o emprego de um nível de persistência na execução de atividades por longo período de tempo, tarefa difícil para crianças com alterações no desenvolvimento neuropsicomotor e na aprendizagem, cujas falhas mostram-se relacionadas ao processamento atencional. Objetivo: o presente estudo propôs investigar os aspectos estratégicos da atenção de crianças com dificuldades psicomotoras e de leitura-escrita. Método: fizeram parte 45 crianças, de ambos os sexos, na faixa etária de 8 a 12 anos e 11 meses de idade, cursando do 3o ao 6o ano do Ensino Fundamental de escolas públicas, compondo três grupos: GI, formado por 15 crianças com queixa atencional e baixo rendimento escolar; GII, com 15 crianças com alterações no desenvolvimento neuropsicomotor e com queixa atencional; e, GIII, caracterizando o grupo-controle, com 15 crianças sem queixa escolar, psicomotora e atencional. O estudo foi realizado numa escola pública da cidade de Boracéia/SP. Instrumentos: Teste de Desempenho Escolar, Trail Making Test, Stroop Color Word Test, Tavis-4, Torre de Londres, Teste Wisconsin de Classificação de Cartas, Teste Matrizes Progressivas Raven, Teste de Cancelamento, Protocolo de Avaliação das Funções Psicomotoras e o Protocolo de Triagem Escolar para Pais e Professores, elaborado para esta pesquisa. Os dados foram analisados descritivamente e submetidos ao estudo estatístico sobre a média e desvio padrão, para obtenção dos escores brutos e transformados. Resultados: Na avaliação sobre os desempenhos intelectuais, o GII foi o grupo com recursos mais limitados no raciocínio perceptual de espaço-temporal lógico, com 46% dos sujeitos abaixo da média esperada à idade. No nível atencional, o GII foi o grupo que apresentou o maior número de erros por omissão e maior tempo de reação na atividade, principalmente no tipo alternado. Os resultados sobre a capacidade de planejamento e estratégia mostraram que o GI obteve 53% de acertos e o GII, 58,6%, com pontuações inferiores ao controle. Quando verificado o desempenho dos grupos com relação ao gerenciamento na resolução de problemas cognitivos, os índices de dificuldades conceituais dos GI e GII foram considerados altos. Conclusão: Apesar de tanto o GI quanto o GII evidenciarem mais prejuízo, comparados ao controle, nas tarefas que exigiram as funções executivas, o GII foi o grupo que apresentou desempenhos mais rebaixados nas tarefas submetidas, que requeriam a função atencional, estratégias de raciocínio, flexibilidade cognitiva e memória de trabalho visual. / Summary: Attention is a fundamental neuropsychological function in the input of information in the Nervous System. The attentional resources are essential to the development of other neuropsychological functions. The efficient use of voluntary attention supposes the use of a level of persistence in carrying out activities for a long period of time, a difficult task for children with changes in the neuropsychomotor and learning development, whose flaws show a relationship to attentional processing. Objective: The present study proposed to investigate the strategic aspects of attention in children with psychomotor and read-write difficulties. Method: took part in the research 45 children, of both sexes, aged 8-12 years and 11 months of age, attending the 3rd to the 6th year of Elementary School public school, forming three groups: GI, consisting of 15 children with attentional complaints and poor school performance, GII, with 15 children with developmental and attentional complaining and, GIII, characterizing the control group, with 15 children without learning, psychomotor or attentional difficulties. The was conducted in a public school in the town of Boracéia/SP. Instruments: Academic Performance Test, Trail Making Test, Stroop Color Word Test, Tavis-4, Tower of London, Wisconsin Test of Card Sorting, Raven Progressive Matrices Test, Cancellation Test, Protocol Assessment of psychomotor functions and Screening Protocol for School parents and Teachers, prepared for this research. The data was analyzed descriptively and subjected to statistical analysis on the mean and standard deviation, to obtain the raw scores and transformed. Results: In the evaluation of the intellectual performance, the GII was the group with more limited resources in perceptual reasoning of spatio-temporal logic, with 46% of subjects below the average expected age. In regards to attention, the GII was the group that had the highest number of omission errors and longer reaction time in the activity, especially in the alternate type. The results on the capacity and strategy planning showed that the GI got 53% correct, and GII 58,6%, with scores lower than the control. Analyzing the performance of the groups with regards to the management in the cognitive problem solving, the indices of conceptual difficulties of GI and GII were considered high. Conclusion: Although both the GI and the GII showed more damage compared to the control, in the tasks requiring executive functions, the GII was the group that presented performances lower in the submitted tasks, whick required the attentional function, reasoning strategies, cognitive flexibility, and visual working memory.

Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) demonstrate a sensitive and specific short-term memory impairment for visual bindings (e.g. the combination of shapes and colours) that is absent in healthy ageing (Parra et al., 2009) and other dementias (Della Sala et al., 2012). This impairment is also seen in cases of asymptomatic, familial AD (Parra et al., 2010). The visual short term memory binding (VSTMB) impairment in AD has clear clinical and neuropsychological implications which are investigated in this thesis. Firstly, the utility of the VSTMB paradigm was contrasted with the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Task with Immediate Recall (FCSRT-IR) – which has recently been posited as a useful diagnostic marker of AD pathology (Dubois et al., 2014). The results indicated that the former is not affected by age, where the latter is, suggesting that the VSTMB paradigm provides a suitable baseline to measure cognitive decline associated with AD. The development of a parallel version of the FCSRT-IR is also reported. Secondly, a 24-week longitudinal study of patients receiving treatment for AD (donepezil hydrochloride) revealed that patients who respond to this treatment on cognitive scales also experience change in VSTMB performance. These responders, however, did not significantly improve on the FCSRT-IR during the study. This suggests that anticholinergic treatment may have an effect on VSTMB performance. Additionally, a meta-analysis that investigates the effect of a study’s funding on donepezil RCT outcome showed that industry-funded studies report larger changes in cognition than independent studies. Lastly, an auditory binding experimental paradigm was developed, with a view to reveal a non-visual binding impairment in AD, investigating whether the binding impairment reflects a general or modality-specific memory impairment. The overall conclusions of this thesis confirm that the VSTMB impairment has significant promise as an index of AD. The auditory binding paradigm, by contrast, shares conceptual similarity with the VSTMB paradigm, but may have restricted clinical use within the AD patient population.

This series of projects aims to explore the potential role of strategic flexibility in cognitive aging, and whether this construct can serve as an effective mechanistic proxy for cognitive reserve. Study 1 introduces the task designed for this series, based on stimuli from a classic test of fluid reasoning and formatted as a task-switching paradigm to explore strategic characteristics in a structured way. This study suggests that such a task is subject to age-related effects. Study 2 introduces a redesigned version of this task, matching it more closely to existing paradigms of task-switching, and explores how covariates interact with measured performance. Study 3 draws upon an existing sample of extensive neuropsychological and neuroimaging data, and aims to describe the associations among this set of data and measures of strategic flexibility. Results overall indicate that age negatively affects strategic flexibility, but cognitive reserve may mitigate this impairment.

No description available.