Marie-Pier Tremblay

Normative Data for the Rey–Osterrieth and the Taylor Complex Figure Tests in Quebec-French People

The Rey-Osterrieth (ROCF) and Taylor (TCF) complex figure tests are widely used to assess visuospatial and constructional abilities as well as visual/non-verbal memory. Normative data adjusted to the cultural and linguistic reality of older Quebec-French individuals is still nonexistent for these tests. In this article, we report the results of two studies that aimed to establish normative data for Quebec-French people (aged at least 50 years) for the copy, immediate recall, and delayed recall trials of the ROCF (Study 1) and the TCF (Study 2). For both studies, the impact of age, education, and sex on test performance was examined. Moreover, the impact of copy time on test performance, the impact of copy score on immediate and delayed recall score, and the impact of immediate recall score on delayed recall performance were examined. Based on regression models, equations to calculate Z scores for copy and recall scores are provided for both tests.

Semantic Memory Impairment for Biological and Man-Made Objects in Individuals With Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment or Late-Life Depression

Objective: Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and late-life depression (LLD) both increase the risk of developing Alzheimer disease (AD). Very little is known about the similarities and differences between these syndromes. The present study addresses this issue by examining the nature of semantic memory impairment (more precisely, object-based knowledge) in patients at risk of developing AD. Methods: Participants were 17 elderly patients with aMCI, 18 patients with aMCI plus depressive symptoms (aMCI/D+), 15 patients with LLD, and 29 healthy controls. All participants were aged 55 years or older and were administered a semantic battery designed to assess semantic knowledge for 16 biological and 16 man-made items. Results: Overall performance of aMCI/D+ participants was significantly worse than the 3 other groups, and performance for questions assessing knowledge for biological items was poorer than for questions relating to man-made items. Conclusion: This study is the first to show that aMCI/D+ is associated with object-based semantic memory impairment. These results support the view that semantic deficits in aMCI are associated with concomitant depressive symptoms. However, depressive symptoms alone do not account exclusively for semantic impairment, since patients with LLD showed no semantic memory deficit.

Repeated exposure to others’ pain reduces vicarious pain intensity estimation

Pain perception in others can be influenced by different contextual factors. In clinical settings, the repeated exposure to others’ pain has been proposed as a factor that could explain underestimation of patients’ pain by health care providers. Previous research supported this idea by showing that repeated exposure to persons in pain biases the subsequent willingness to impute pain in others. However, it remains unclear if the effect of repeated exposure on the detection of pain extends to deliberate pain estimation of stimuli presented for a longer period.

Normative Data for a Computer-Assisted Version of the Auditory Three-Consonant Brown-Peterson Paradigm in the Elderly French-Quebec Population

The Brown-Peterson task is used to assess verbal short-term memory as well as divided attention. In its auditory three-consonant version, trigrams are presented to participants who must recall the items in correct order after variable delays, during which an interference task is performed. The present study aimed to establish normative data for this test in the elderly French-Quebec population based on cross-sectional data from a retrospective, multi-center convenience sample. A total of 595 elderly native French-speakers from the province of Quebec performed the Memoria version of the auditory three-consonant Brown-Peterson test. For both series and item-by-item scoring methods, age, education, and, in most cases, recall after a 0-second interval were found to be significantly associated with recall performance after 10-second, 20-second, and 30-second interference intervals. Based on regression model results, equations to calculate Z scores are presented for the 10-second, 20-second and 30-second intervals and for each scoring method to allow estimation of expected performance based on participants’ individual characteristics. As an important ceiling effect was observed at the 0-second interval, norms for this interference interval are presented in percentiles.

The Neural Signature of Empathy for Physical Pain … Not Quite There Yet!

The perception and evaluation of other’s pain has been largely used in social neuroscience as a paradigm to study human empathy. Thanks to the growing attention given to this concept over the last 15 years, the cerebral bases of empathy in the context of physical pain are increasingly well documented. The aim of this chapter is to provide a critical overview of the most recent evidence while fostering discussion about the extent to which the cerebral changes associated with empathy can lead to a specific signature of this key process of social interactions. The authors firstly clarify the complex definition of empathy and its principal components, and make a clear distinction between pain perception in others, empathy and the behavioral outputs that can follow. Secondly, the cerebral networks underlying the distinct, yet interacting, components of empathy for physical pain are defined. Lastly, recent work on the factors that are likely to modulate empathy and these cerebral networks is discussed. The study of brain function has advanced our understanding of empathy in the context of physical pain considerably, but the complexity of this often fleeting process, especially in healthcare, is such that multiple levels of analysis will be needed to fully uncover its mysteries.

Validation de stimuli prosodiques émotionnels chez les Franco-québécois de 50 à 80 ans.

Few batteries of prosodic stimuli testing have been validated for Quebec-French people. Such validation is necessary to develop auditory-verbal tasks in this population. The objective of this study was to validate a battery of emotional prosodic stimuli for French-Québec aging subjects. The battery of 195 stimuli, which was elaborated by Maurage et al. (2007), is composed of 195 prosodic stimuli and was administrated to 50 healthy Quebecers aged 50-to-80 years. The percentages of good responses were calculated for each stimulus. For each emotion, Cronbachs alphas were calculated to evaluate the internal consistency of the stimuli. Results showed that among the 195 stimuli, 40 were correctly recognized by at least 80 per cent of the subjects. Anger was the emotion that was most correctly identified by the participants, while recognition of disgust was the least recognised. Overall, this study provides data that will guide the selection of prosodic stimuli in evaluating French-Québécois.Few batteries of prosodic stimuli testing have been validated for Quebec-French people. Such validation is necessary to develop auditory-verbal tasks in this population. The objective of this study was to validate a battery of emotional prosodic stimuli for French-Québec aging subjects. The battery of 195 stimuli, which was elaborated by Maurage et al. (2007), is composed of 195 prosodic stimuli and was administrated to 50 healthy Quebecers aged 50-to-80 years. The percentages of good responses were calculated for each stimulus. For each emotion, Cronbach’s alphas were calculated to evaluate the internal consistency of the stimuli. Results showed that among the 195 stimuli, 40 were correctly recognized by at least 80 per cent of the subjects. Anger was the emotion that was most correctly identified by the participants, while recognition of disgust was the least recognised. Overall, this study provides data that will guide the selection of prosodic stimuli in evaluating French-Québécois.