Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS
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J Int Neuropsychol Soc · Jul 2014
Mild traumatic brain injury in older adults: early cognitive outcome.
Severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) in older age is associated with high rates of mortality. However, little is known about outcome following mild TBI (mTBI) in older age. We report on a prospective cohort study investigating 3 month outcome in older age patients admitted to hospital-based trauma services. ⋯ Both trauma groups had significantly lower performances than the community group on prospective memory (d=0.82 to 1.18), attention set-shifting (d=-0.61 to -0.69), and physical quality of life measures (d=0.67 to 0.84). However, there was only a small to moderate but non-significant difference in the orthopedic control and mTBI group performances on the most demanding task of prospective memory (d=0.37). These findings indicate that, at 3 months following mTBI, older adults are at risk of poor cognitive performance but this is substantially accounted for by predisposition to injury or general multi-system trauma.
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J Int Neuropsychol Soc · May 2014
Assessing metacognition during a cognitive task: impact of "on-line" metacognitive questions on neuropsychological performances in a non-clinical sample.
Whereas metacognition is of great interest for neuropsychological practice, little is known about the impact of metacognitive questions during a neuropsychological assessment. This study explored the impact of measuring "on-line" metacognitive processes on neuropsychological performances in a non-clinical population. Participants were randomly assigned to a "standard" or a "metacognitive" neuropsychological test procedure. ⋯ No significant difference was found concerning executive functioning or social cognition. The assessment of "on-line" metacognition might improve working memory performances by enhancing concentration, and might impair episodic memory performances by acting as a distractor. These findings may have implications for the development of cognitive remediation programs.
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J Int Neuropsychol Soc · Feb 2014
Influence of negative stereotypes and beliefs on neuropsychological test performance in a traumatic brain injury population.
The impact of stereotype threat and self-efficacy beliefs on neuropsychological test performance in a clinical traumatic brain injury (TBI) population was investigated. A total of 42 individuals with mild-to-moderate TBI and 42 (age-, gender-, educationally matched) healthy adults were recruited. The study consisted of a 2 (Type of injury: control, TBI) × 2 (Threat Condition: reduced threat, heightened threat) between-participants design. ⋯ No effect was found for Delayed Recall measures. Memory self-efficacy mediated the relation between threat condition and neuropsychological performance, indicating a potential mechanism for the threat effect. The findings highlight the impact of stereotype threat and self-referent beliefs on neuropsychological test performance in a clinical TBI population.
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J Int Neuropsychol Soc · Aug 2013
Pediatric sleep difficulties after moderate-severe traumatic brain injury.
The objective of this study is to systematically investigate sleep following moderate-severe pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI). School-aged children with moderate-severe TBI identified via hospital records were invited to participate, along with a school-age sibling. Subjective reports and objective actigraphy correlates of sleep were recorded: Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ), Sleep Self-Report questionnaire (SSR), and 5-night actigraphy. ⋯ There was no evidence of circadian rhythm disorders, and daytime napping was not prevalent. Moderate-severe pediatric TBI was associated with sleep inefficiency in the form of sleep onset and maintenance problems. This preliminary study indicates that clinicians should be aware of sleep difficulties following pediatric TBI, and their potential associations with cognitive and behavioral problems in a group already at educational and psychosocial risk.
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J Int Neuropsychol Soc · May 2013
Awareness of executive deficits in people with Parkinson's disease.
Executive functioning is frequently impaired among people with Parkinson's disease (PD). Little is known about awareness of executive functioning, in the sense of being able to accurately appraise functioning or performance, in people with PD, or about whether awareness is particularly affected in those who have impaired executive functioning. This study explored awareness of executive functioning at the levels of evaluative judgment (comparison of self- and informant ratings of executive functioning), and performance monitoring (comparison of performance on cognitive tests and self-ratings of that performance). ⋯ When the level of agreement between self- and informant ratings was considered, people with PD in both groups appeared as accurate in evaluating their overall executive functioning as healthy controls. When appraising their performance as the specific tasks were completed, people with PD who had impairments in executive functioning appeared less accurate than controls and people with PD without executive impairments. People with PD who have executive deficits may lack the ability to recognize their limitations while performing specific tasks, which may have implications for their functional abilities.