Valentina Ladera Fernández

Blind Randomized Controlled Study of the Efficacy of Cognitive Training in Parkinson's Disease

The aim of this study was to analyze the efficacy of a cognitive training program on cognitive performance and quality of life in nondemented Parkinsons disease patients. Participants who met UK Brain Bank diagnosis criteria for Parkinsons disease, with I–III Hoehn & Yahr, aged 50–80, and nondemented (Mini‐Mental State Examination ≥ 23) were recruited. Patients cognitive performance and functional and quality‐of‐life measures were assessed with standardized neuropsychological tests and scales at baseline and after 4 weeks. Subjects were randomly and blindly allocated by age and premorbid intelligence (Vocabulary, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale‐III) into 2 groups: an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group received 4 weeks of 3 weekly 45‐minute sessions using multimedia software and paper‐and‐pencil cognitive exercises, and the control group received speech therapy. A total of 28 patients were analyzed. Compared with the control group participants (n = 12), the experimental group participants (n = 16) demonstrated improved performance in tests of attention, information processing speed, memory, visuospatial and visuoconstructive abilities, semantic verbal fluency, and executive functions. There were no observable benefits in self‐reported quality of life or cognitive difficulties in activities of daily living. We concluded that intensive cognitive training may be a useful tool in the management of cognitive functions in Parkinsons disease.

Executive functioning in obese individuals waiting for clinical treatment.

BACKGROUND Executive functions have an important role in human behavioural regulation and can be a determinant of eating behaviour. Our aim was to study the different components of executive functions in obese individuals waiting for clinical treatment, comparing them with normoweight subjects with similar socio-demographic characteristics. METHOD A total of 114 adults (76 obese and 38 normoweight) completed a neuropsychological battery that included tasks of conceptualization and abstraction, motor programming, response maintenance, inhibition and resistance, problem solving, cognitive flexibility, and verbal fluency. RESULTS There was a statistically significant difference between groups for all the dimensions of the executive functions evaluated, with the obese group showing poorer performance compared to normoweight. CONCLUSIONS Obese individuals demonstrated poorer executive functions than normoweight individuals.

The effect of cognitive impairment on self-generation in Hispanics with TBI.

The objective of this study was to determine the moderating effect of cognitive impairment (CI) on the usefulness of the generation effect to improve learning and memory in Hispanics with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Sixty-one Hispanic individuals with TBI (29 without CI, 22 with mild to moderate CI, and 10 with severe CI) and 44 healthy controls (HC) were required to remember the last word in each of 32 sentences. Target words were presented in a self-generated and provided condition. Recall and recognition were examined immediately, after 30 minutes, and at one week. Individuals remembered and recalled significantly more words in the generated condition than the provided condition, regardless of group or time. The self-generation technique equally benefitted all participants regardless of TBI status or degree of CI. Future cognitive rehabilitation programs designed to improve short-term recall and recognition in Hispanic individuals with TBI should include the self-generation technique. Further research into the longer-term effects of the generation effects is warranted.

Recognition of thematic and taxonomic conceptual relations in patients with aphasia

Background: There is mounting evidence that there exist conceptual non-verbal deficits in patients with aphasia. In the current paper, taxonomic and thematic conceptual relations are the focus of interest. There is a debate surrounding this topic regarding whether they are part of the same semantic system or there are independent systems dedicated to each kind of relations. Aims: Our aim was to study and look for possible dissociations in a group of fluent and non-fluent aphasic patients on their ability to recognise conceptual relations (taxonomic and thematic). Methods & Procedures: Previous studies have usually proposed forced-choice tasks, which give the patients closed response options and do not allow the researcher to assess the criteria for the choice the participants have made. In the following study we assigned different types of conceptual tasks (forced choice and free choice) to a group of 25 stroke patients (7 fluent and 18 non-fluent aphasic patients), as well as 30 healthy control participants. We assessed the hit rates and the response criteria followed by the patients. Outcomes & Results: The results showed that although all aphasic patients experienced difficulties in establishing both types of conceptual relations in verbal tasks, dissociations were observed particularly in non-verbal tasks showing poor performance in thematic relations. This was especially noticeable in non-fluent aphasic patients. Meanwhile, fluent aphasic patients showed more difficulty in establishing taxonomic relations in the pictorial free-choice task and a tendency to use thematic criteria. Conclusion: These results support the claim that there exist separate systems for both kinds of conceptual relations. Implications for the assessment of semantic deficits in aphasic patients were discussed.