José María Ruiz Sánchez de León

Assessment of motor and process skills in daily life activities of treated substance addicts

Abstract Aim: The purpose of this study was to apply the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS) in a sample of people in treatment for addictive behaviours and to study the results. Methods:The test was applied to a sample of 101 outpatients in treatment for addiction to substances. The results were studied in relation to gender, age, level of education, and variables related to addiction. Results:Motor and cognitive performance was negatively related to time of addiction and its severity. Sixty per cent of the sample reached suboptimal scores and 25% showed scores suggesting significant deterioration, especially with regard to cognitive processing skills. Conclusions:The AMPS seems to be a useful instrument to estimate the cognitive and motor impairment associated with addiction in daily life activities. The present work is the first to consider its applicability to drug users under treatment. The percentage of subjects affected and the magnitude of the observed impairment in the sample suggest the need to consider taking these deficits into account in treatment programmes and the convenience of incorporating functional rehabilitation as a basic element of the treatment of persons with addictions. Future studies should develop this instrument in larger samples, increasing the representativeness and generalizability of the results.

Clinical Relevance of Specific Cognitive Complaints in Determining Mild Cognitive Impairment from Cognitively Normal States in a Study of Healthy Elderly Controls

Introduction: Subjective memory complaints (SMC) in the elderly have been suggested as an early sign of dementia. This study aims at investigating whether specific cognitive complaints are more useful than others to discriminate Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) by examining the dimensional structure of the Everyday Memory Questionnaire (EMQ). Materials and Methods: A sample of community-dwelling elderly individuals was recruited (766 controls and 78 MCI). The EMQ was administered to measure self-perception of cognitive complaints. All participants also underwent a comprehensive clinical and neuropsychological battery. Combined exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Item Response Theory (IRT) were performed to identify the underlying structure of the EMQ. Furthermore, logistic regression analyses were conducted to study whether single cognitive complaints were able to predict MCI. Results: A suitable five-factor solution was found. Each factor focused on a different cognitive domain. Interestingly, just three of them, namely Forgetfulness of Immediate Information (FII), Executive Functions (EF) and Prospective Memory (PM) proved to be effective in distinguishing between cognitively healthy individuals and MCI. Based on these results we propose a shortened EMQ version comprising 10 items (EMQ-10). Discussion: Not all cognitive complaints have the same clinical relevance. Only subjective complaints on specific cognitive domains are able to discriminate MCI. We encourage clinicians to use the EMQ-10 as a useful tool to quantify and monitor the progression of individuals who report cognitive complaints.

Arquitecturas cognitivas y cerebro: hacia una teoría unificada de la cognición

Cognitive architectures are defined as the group of essential components belonging to a system which allows the analysis of its cognitions and behaviors. The aim of this study is to review one of the most plausible cognitive architectures from the neuroanatomic perspective: The Adaptive Control of Thought-Rational (ACT-R) is a theory about how human mind works. Following an initial approach to its basic concepts its two computational levels are described, these are: a symbolic level , which includes declarative information; and a sub-symbolic level which is represented as a parallel set of processes. At the same time, architecture’s modules are related to brain’s functional neuroanatomy describing how cortico-striatal-thalamic circuit works

Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TIC): abuso de Internet, videojuegos, teléfonos móviles, mensajería instantánea y redes sociales mediante el MULTICAGE-TIC

Use/abuse of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) has in recent years become a topic of great interest. Current discussion addresses whether it must be considered addictive behaviour and if it is a problem that primarily affects adolescents and youth. This study aims to understand the problems that affect people of all ages in controlling the use of these ICTs and whether they are related to mental health problems, stress and difficulties in executive control of behaviour. A survey was administered through social networks and email, using the MULTICAGE-ICT, a questionnaire that explores problems in the use of Internet, mobile phones, video games, instant messaging and social networks. Additionally, the Prefrontal Symptom Inventory, General Health Questionnaire and Perceived Stress Scale were administered. The sample was comprised of 1,276 individuals of all ages from different Spanish-speaking countries. The results indicate that about 50% of the sample, regardless of age or other variables, presents significant problems with the use of these technologies, and that these problems are directly related to symptoms of poor prefrontal functioning, stress and mental health problems. The results reveal the need for reconsidering whether we are facing an addictive behaviour or a new problem demanding environmental, psychological, sociological and sociopolitical explanations; therefore, it is necessary to reformulate actions to be implemented to address and refocus our understanding of the problem.