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Sample records for impaired mental rotation

  1. Impaired mental rotation in benign paroxysmal positional vertigo and acute vestibular neuritis.

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    Matteo eCandidi

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available Vestibular processing is fundamental to our sense of orientation in space which is a core aspect of the representation of the self. Vestibular information is processed in a large subcortical-cortical neural network. Tasks requiring mental rotations of human bodies in space are known to activate neural regions within this network suggesting that vestibular processing is involved in the control of mental rotation. We studied whether mental rotation is impaired in patients suffering from two different forms of unilateral vestibular disorders (Vestibular Neuritis – VN- and Benign Paroxysmal positional Vertigo – BPPV with respect to healthy matched controls (C. We used two mental rotation tasks in which participants were required to: i mentally rotate their own body in space (egocentric rotation thus using vestibular processing to a large extent and ii mentally rotate human figures (allocentric rotation thus using own body representations to a smaller degree. Reaction times and accuracy of responses showed that VN and BPPV patients were impaired in both tasks with respect to C. Significantly, the pattern of results was similar in the three groups suggesting that patients were actually performing the mental rotation without using a different strategy from the control individuals. These results show that dysfunctional vestibular inflow impairs mental rotation of both own body and human figures suggesting that unilateral acute disorders of the peripheral vestibular input massively affect the cerebral processes underlying mental rotations.

  2. Mental rotation of faces in healthy aging and Alzheimer's disease.

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    Cassandra A Adduri

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Previous research has shown that individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD develop visuospatial difficulties that affect their ability to mentally rotate objects. Surprisingly, the existing literature has generally ignored the impact of this mental rotation deficit on the ability of AD patients to recognize faces from different angles. Instead, the devastating loss of the ability to recognize friends and family members in AD has primarily been attributed to memory loss and agnosia in later stages of the disorder. The impact of AD on areas of the brain important for mental rotation should not be overlooked by face processing investigations -- even in early stages of the disorder. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: This study investigated the sensitivity of face processing in AD, young controls and older non-neurological controls to two changes of the stimuli -- a rotation in depth and an inversion. The control groups showed a systematic effect of depth rotation, with errors increasing with the angle of rotation, and with inversion. The majority of the AD group was not impaired when faces were presented upright and no transformation in depth was required, and were most accurate when all faces were presented in frontal views, but accuracy was severely impaired with any rotation or inversion. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results suggest that with the onset of AD, mental rotation difficulties arise that affect the ability to recognize faces presented at different angles. The finding that a frontal view is "preferred" by these patients provides a valuable communication strategy for health care workers.

  3. Mental rotation of letters, pictures, and three-dimensional objects in German dyslexic children.

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    Rüsseler, Jascha; Scholz, Janka; Jordan, Kirsten; Quaiser-Pohl, Claudia

    2005-12-01

    This study examines mental rotation ability in children with developmental dyslexia. Prior investigations have yielded equivocal results that might be due to differences in stimulus material and testing formats employed. Whereas some investigators found dyslexic readers to be impaired in mental rotation, others did not report any performance differences or even superior spatial performance for dyslexia. Here, we report a comparison of mental rotation for letters, three-dimensional figures sensu Shepard and Metzler, and colored pictures of animals or humans in second-grade German dyslexic readers. Findings indicate that dyslexic readers are impaired in mental rotation for all three kinds of stimuli. Effects of general intelligence were controlled. Furthermore, dyslexic children were deficient in other spatial abilities like identifying letters or forms among distracters. These results are discussed with respect to the hypotheses of a developmental dysfunction of the parietal cortex or a subtle anomaly in cerebellar function in dyslexic readers.

  4. Hemispheric dominance during the mental rotation task in patients with schizophrenia.

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    Chen, Jiu; Yang, Laiqi; Zhao, Jin; Li, Lanlan; Liu, Guangxiong; Ma, Wentao; Zhang, Yan; Wu, Xingqu; Deng, Zihe; Tuo, Ran

    2012-04-01

    Mental rotation is a spatial representation conversion capability using an imagined object and either object or self-rotation. This capability is impaired in schizophrenia. To provide a more detailed assessment of impaired cognitive functioning in schizophrenia by comparing the electrophysiological profiles of patients with schizophrenia and controls while completing a mental rotation task using both normally-oriented images and mirror images. This electroencephalographic study compared error rates, reaction times and the topographic map of event-related potentials in 32 participants with schizophrenia and 29 healthy controls during mental rotation tasks involving both normal images and mirror images. Among controls the mean error rate and the mean reaction time for normal images and mirror images were not significantly different but in the patient group the mean (sd) error rate was higher for mirror images than for normal images (42% [6%] vs. 32% [9%], t=2.64, p=0.031) and the mean reaction time was longer for mirror images than for normal images (587 [11] ms vs. 571 [18] ms, t=2.83, p=0.028). The amplitude of the P500 component at Pz (parietal area), Cz (central area), P3 (left parietal area) and P4 (right parietal area) were significantly lower in the patient group than in the control group for both normal images and mirror images. In both groups the P500 for both the normal and mirror images was significantly higher in the right parietal area (P4) compared with left parietal area (P3). The mental rotation abilities of patients with schizophrenia for both normally-oriented images and mirror images are impaired. Patients with schizophrenia show a diminished left cerebral contribution to the mental rotation task, a more rapid response time, and a differential response to normal images versus mirror images not seen in healthy controls. Specific topographic characteristics of the EEG during mental rotation tasks are potential biomarkers for schizophrenia.

  5. Mental rotation impairs attention shifting and short-term memory encoding: neurophysiological evidence against the response-selection bottleneck model of dual-task performance.

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    Pannebakker, Merel M; Jolicœur, Pierre; van Dam, Wessel O; Band, Guido P H; Ridderinkhof, K Richard; Hommel, Bernhard

    2011-09-01

    Dual tasks and their associated delays have often been used to examine the boundaries of processing in the brain. We used the dual-task procedure and recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate how mental rotation of a first stimulus (S1) influences the shifting of visual-spatial attention to a second stimulus (S2). Visual-spatial attention was monitored by using the N2pc component of the ERP. In addition, we examined the sustained posterior contralateral negativity (SPCN) believed to index the retention of information in visual short-term memory. We found modulations of both the N2pc and the SPCN, suggesting that engaging mechanisms of mental rotation impairs the deployment of visual-spatial attention and delays the passage of a representation of S2 into visual short-term memory. Both results suggest interactions between mental rotation and visual-spatial attention in capacity-limited processing mechanisms indicating that response selection is not pivotal in dual-task delays and all three processes are likely to share a common resource like executive control. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Establishing a New Screening System for Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease with Mental Rotation Tasks that Evaluate Visuospatial Function.

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    Suzuki, Ayuko; Shinozaki, Jun; Yazawa, Shogo; Ueki, Yoshino; Matsukawa, Noriyuki; Shimohama, Shun; Nagamine, Takashi

    2018-01-01

    The mental rotation task is well-known for the assessment of visuospatial function; however, it has not been used for screening of dementia patients. The aim of this study was to create a simple screening test for patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) by focusing on non-amnestic symptoms. Age-matched healthy controls (age 75.3±6.8), patients with MCI (76.5±5.5), and AD (78.2±5.0) participated in this study. They carried out mental rotation tasks targeting geometric graphics or alphabetical characters with three rotating angles (0°, 90°, and 180°) and indicated the correct answer. Response accuracy and reaction time were recorded along with their eye movements using an eye tracker. To quantify their visual processing strategy, the run count ratio (RC ratio) was calculated by dividing the mean number of fixations in incorrect answers by that in correct answers. AD patients showed lower accuracy and longer reaction time than controls. They also showed a significantly greater number of fixation and smaller saccade amplitude than controls, while fixation duration did not differ significantly. The RC ratio was higher for AD, followed by MCI and control groups. By setting the cut-off value to 0.47 in the 180° rotating angle task, we could differentiate MCI patients from controls with a probability of 80.0%. We established a new screening system for dementia patients by evaluating visuospatial function. The RC ratio during a mental rotation task is useful for discriminating MCI patients from controls.

  7. Keep calm! Gender differences in mental rotation performance are modulated by habitual expressive suppression.

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    Fladung, Anne-Katharina; Kiefer, Markus

    2016-11-01

    Men have been frequently found to perform more accurately than women in mental rotation tasks. However, men and women also differ with regard to the habitual use of emotion regulation strategies, particularly with regard to expressive suppression, i.e., the suppression of emotional expression in behavior. As emotional suppression is more often used by men, emotion regulation strategies might be a variable modulating gender differences in mental rotation performance. The present study, therefore, examined the influences of gender and emotion regulation strategies on mental rotation performance accuracy and feedback processing. Twenty-eight men and 28 women matched for relevant demographic variables performed mental rotation tasks of varying difficulty over a prolonged time. Emotional feedback was given immediately after each trial. Results showed that women reported to use expressive suppression less frequently than men. Women made more errors in the mental rotation task than men confirming earlier demonstrations of gender differences. Furthermore, women were more impaired by the negative feedback as indicated by the increased likelihood of subsequent errors compared with men. Task performance of women not habitually using expressive suppression was most inferior and most strongly influenced by failure feedback compared with men. Women using expressive suppression more habitually did not significantly differ in mental rotation accuracy and feedback processing from men. Hence, expressive suppression reduces gender differences in mental rotation accuracy by improving cognitive performance following failure feedback.

  8. Motor Processes in Children's Mental Rotation

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    Frick, Andrea; Daum, Moritz M.; Walser, Simone; Mast, Fred W.

    2009-01-01

    Previous studies with adult human participants revealed that motor activities can influence mental rotation of body parts and abstract shapes. In this study, we investigated the influence of a rotational hand movement on mental rotation performance from a developmental perspective. Children at the age of 5, 8, and 11 years and adults performed a…

  9. Sex Differences in Mental Rotation Tasks: Not Just in the Mental Rotation Process!

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    Boone, Alexander P.; Hegarty, Mary

    2017-01-01

    The paper-and-pencil Mental Rotation Test (Vandenberg & Kuse, 1978) consistently produces large sex differences favoring men (Voyer, Voyer, & Bryden, 1995). In this task, participants select 2 of 4 answer choices that are rotations of a probe stimulus. Incorrect choices (i.e., foils) are either mirror reflections of the probe or…

  10. The role of rotational hand movements and general motor ability in children’s mental rotation performance

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    Petra eJansen

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Mental rotation of visual images of body parts and abstract shapes can be influenced by simultaneous motor activity. Children in particular seem to have a strong coupling between motor and cognitive processes. We investigated the influence of a rotational hand movement performed by rotating a knob on mental rotation performance in primary school-age children (N= 83; Age range: 7.0-8.3 and 9.0-10.11 years. In addition, we assessed the role of motor ability in this relationship. Boys in the 7-8-year-old group were faster when mentally and manually rotating in the same direction than in the opposite direction. For girls and older children this effect was not found. A positive relationship was found between motor ability and accuracy on the mental rotation task: stronger motor ability related to improved mental rotation performance. In both age groups, children with more advanced motor abilities were more likely to adopt motor processes to solve mental rotation tasks if the mental rotation task was primed by a motor task. Our evidence supports the idea that an overlap between motor and visual cognitive processes in children is influenced by motor ability.

  11. Rotated alphanumeric characters do not automatically activate frontoparietal areas subserving mental rotation

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    Weiss, Michael M; Wolbers, Thomas; Peller, Martin

    2008-01-01

    Functional neuroimaging studies have identified a set of areas in the intraparietal sulcus and dorsal precentral cortex which show a linear increase in activity with the angle of rotation across a variety of mental rotation tasks. This linear increase in activity with angular disparity suggests t...... modulated by angular disparity during the stimulus categorization task. These results suggest that at least for alphanumerical characters, areas implicated in mental rotation will only be called into action if the task requires a rotational transformation....

  12. Think Spatial: The Representation in Mental Rotation Is Nonvisual

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    Liesefeld, Heinrich R.; Zimmer, Hubert D.

    2013-01-01

    For mental rotation, introspection, theories, and interpretations of experimental results imply a certain type of mental representation, namely, visual mental images. Characteristics of the rotated representation can be examined by measuring the influence of stimulus characteristics on rotational speed. If the amount of a given type of information…

  13. Mental object rotation in Parkinson's disease.

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    Crucian, Gregory P; Barrett, Anna M; Burks, David W; Riestra, Alonso R; Roth, Heidi L; Schwartz, Ronald L; Triggs, William J; Bowers, Dawn; Friedman, William; Greer, Melvin; Heilman, Kenneth M

    2003-11-01

    Deficits in visual-spatial ability can be associated with Parkinson's disease (PD), and there are several possible reasons for these deficits. Dysfunction in frontal-striatal and/or frontal-parietal systems, associated with dopamine deficiency, might disrupt cognitive processes either supporting (e.g., working memory) or subserving visual-spatial computations. The goal of this study was to assess visual-spatial orientation ability in individuals with PD using the Mental Rotations Test (MRT), along with other measures of cognitive function. Non-demented men with PD were significantly less accurate on this test than matched control men. In contrast, women with PD performed similarly to matched control women, but both groups of women did not perform much better than chance. Further, mental rotation accuracy in men correlated with their executive skills involving mental processing and psychomotor speed. In women with PD, however, mental rotation accuracy correlated negatively with verbal memory, indicating that higher mental rotation performance was associated with lower ability in verbal memory. These results indicate that PD is associated with visual-spatial orientation deficits in men. Women with PD and control women both performed poorly on the MRT, possibly reflecting a floor effect. Although men and women with PD appear to engage different cognitive processes in this task, the reason for the sex difference remains to be elucidated.

  14. Emotion and affect in mental imagery: Do fear and anxiety manipulate mental rotation performance?

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    Sandra eKaltner

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Little is known about the effects of fear as a basic emotion on mental rotation performance. We expected that the emotional arousal evoked by fearful stimuli presented prior to each mental rotation trial would enhance mental rotation performance. Regarding the influence of anxiety, high anxious participants are supposed to show slower responses and higher error rates in this specific visuo-spatial ability. Furthermore, with respect to the embodied cognition viewpoint we wanted to investigate if the influence of fear on mental rotation performance is the same for egocentric and object-based transformations. Results show that fear enhances mental rotation performance, expressed by a higher mental rotation speed. Interestingly, this influence is stimulus-specific: it is restricted to egocentric transformations. Both observation of emotional stimuli and egocentric strategies are associated with left hemisphere activation which could explain a stronger influence on this type of transformation during observation. Another possible notion is the conceptual link between visuo-spatial perspective taking and empathy based on the co-activation of parietal areas. Stronger responses in egocentric transformations could result from this specific link. Regarding the influence of anxiety, participants with high scores on the trait-anxiety scale showed poor results in both reaction time and mental rotation speed. Findings of impoverished recruitment of prefrontal attentional control in patients with high scores in trait anxiety could be the explanation for this reduced performance.

  15. Confidence mediates the sex difference in mental rotation performance.

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    Estes, Zachary; Felker, Sydney

    2012-06-01

    On tasks that require the mental rotation of 3-dimensional figures, males typically exhibit higher accuracy than females. Using the most common measure of mental rotation (i.e., the Mental Rotations Test), we investigated whether individual variability in confidence mediates this sex difference in mental rotation performance. In each of four experiments, the sex difference was reliably elicited and eliminated by controlling or manipulating participants' confidence. Specifically, confidence predicted performance within and between sexes (Experiment 1), rendering confidence irrelevant to the task reliably eliminated the sex difference in performance (Experiments 2 and 3), and manipulating confidence significantly affected performance (Experiment 4). Thus, confidence mediates the sex difference in mental rotation performance and hence the sex difference appears to be a difference of performance rather than ability. Results are discussed in relation to other potential mediators and mechanisms, such as gender roles, sex stereotypes, spatial experience, rotation strategies, working memory, and spatial attention.

  16. Mental rotation and the motor system: embodiment head over heels.

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    Krüger, Markus; Amorim, Michel-Ange; Ebersbach, Mirjam

    2014-01-01

    We examined whether body parts attached to abstract stimuli automatically force embodiment in a mental rotation task. In Experiment 1, standard cube combinations reflecting a human pose were added with (1) body parts on anatomically possible locations, (2) body parts on anatomically impossible locations, (3) colored end cubes, and (4) simple end cubes. Participants (N=30) had to decide whether two simultaneously presented stimuli, rotated in the picture plane, were identical or not. They were fastest and made less errors in the possible-body condition, but were slowest and least accurate in the impossible-body condition. A second experiment (N=32) replicated the results and ruled out that the poor performance in the impossible-body condition was due to the specific stimulus material. The findings of both experiments suggest that body parts automatically trigger embodiment, even when it is counterproductive and dramatically impairs performance, as in the impossible-body condition. It can furthermore be concluded that body parts cannot be used flexibly for spatial orientation in mental rotation tasks, compared to colored end cubes. Thus, embodiment appears to be a strong and inflexible mechanism that may, under certain conditions, even impede performance. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. The association between obesity and mental rotation ability in an adolescent sample.

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    Kaltner, Sandra; Schulz, Anja; Jansen, Petra

    Obesity has been related to deficient mental rotation performance. We assessed object-based and egocentric MR tasks in 19 obese and 19 normal-weight participants. Results showed slower response times of obese adolescents only for high angular disparities. This finding might emerge because of impairments in working memory, motor skills or perspective taking processes in obese youth. Copyright © 2016 Asia Oceania Association for the Study of Obesity. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Mental rotation and working memory in musicians' dystonia.

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    Erro, Roberto; Hirschbichler, Stephanie T; Ricciardi, Lucia; Ryterska, Agata; Antelmi, Elena; Ganos, Christos; Cordivari, Carla; Tinazzi, Michele; Edwards, Mark J; Bhatia, Kailash P

    2016-11-01

    Mental rotation of body parts engages cortical-subcortical areas that are actually involved in the execution of a movement. Musicians' dystonia is a type of focal hand dystonia that is grouped together with writer's cramp under the rubric of "occupational dystonia", but it is unclear to which extent these two disorders share common pathophysiological mechanisms. Previous research has demonstrated patients with writer's cramp to have deficits in mental rotation of body parts. It is unknown whether patients with musicians' dystonia would display similar deficits, reinforcing the concept of shared pathophysiology. Eight patients with musicians' dystonia and eight healthy musicians matched for age, gender and musical education, performed a number of tasks assessing mental rotation of body parts and objects as well as verbal and spatial working memories abilities. There were no differences between patients and healthy musicians as to accuracy and reaction times in any of the tasks. Patients with musicians' dystonia have intact abilities in mentally rotating body parts, suggesting that this disorder relies on a highly selective disruption of movement planning and execution that manifests only upon playing a specific instrument. We further demonstrated that mental rotation of body parts and objects engages, at least partially, different cognitive networks. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Visual and Haptic Mental Rotation

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    Satoshi Shioiri

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available It is well known that visual information can be retained in several types of memory systems. Haptic information can also be retained in a memory because we can repeat a hand movement. There may be a common memory system for vision and action. On the one hand, it may be convenient to have a common system for acting with visual information. On the other hand, different modalities may have their own memory and use retained information without transforming specific to the modality. We compared memory properties of visual and haptic information. There is a phenomenon known as mental rotation, which is possibly unique to visual representation. The mental rotation is a phenomenon where reaction time increases with the angle of visual target (eg,, a letter to identify. The phenomenon is explained by the difference in time to rotate the representation of the target in the visual sytem. In this study, we compared the effect of stimulus angle on visual and haptic shape identification (two-line shapes were used. We found that a typical effect of mental rotation for the visual stimulus. However, no such effect was found for the haptic stimulus. This difference cannot be explained by the modality differences in response because similar difference was found even when haptical response was used for visual representation and visual response was used for haptic representation. These results indicate that there are independent systems for visual and haptic representations.

  20. Titrating decision processes in the mental rotation task.

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    Provost, Alexander; Heathcote, Andrew

    2015-10-01

    Shepard and Metzler's (1971) seminal mental-rotation task-which requires participants to decide if 1 object is a rotated version of another or its mirror image-has played a central role in the study of spatial cognition. We provide the first quantitative model of behavior in this task that is comprehensive in the sense of simultaneously providing an account of both error rates and the full distribution of response times. We used Brown and Heathcote's (2008) model of choice processing to separate out the contributions of mental rotation and decision stages. This model-based titration process was applied to data from a paradigm where converging evidence supported performance being based on rotation rather than other strategies. Stimuli were similar to Shepard and Metzler's block figures except a long major axis made rotation angle well defined for mirror stimuli, enabling comprehensive modeling of both mirror and normal responses. Results supported a mental rotation stage based on Larsen's (2014) model, where rotation takes a variable amount of time with a mean and variance that increase linearly with rotation angle. Differences in response threshold differences were largely responsible for mirror responses being slowed, and for errors increasing with rotation angle for some participants. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  1. INFORMATIONAL MODEL OF MENTAL ROTATION OF FIGURES

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    V. A. Lyakhovetskiy

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Subject of Study.The subject of research is the information structure of objects internal representations and operations over them, used by man to solve the problem of mental rotation of figures. To analyze this informational structure we considered not only classical dependencies of the correct answers on the angle of rotation, but also the other dependencies obtained recently in cognitive psychology. Method.The language of technical computing Matlab R2010b was used for developing information model of the mental rotation of figures. Such model parameters as the number of bits in the internal representation, an error probability in a single bit, discrete rotation angle, comparison threshold, and the degree of difference during rotation can be changed. Main Results.The model reproduces qualitatively such psychological dependencies as the linear increase of time of correct answers and the number of errors on the angle of rotation for identical figures, "flat" dependence of the time of correct answers and the number of errors on the angle of rotation for mirror-like figures. The simulation results suggest that mental rotation is an iterative process of finding a match between the two figures, each step of which can lead to a significant distortion of the internal representation of the stored objects. Matching is carried out within the internal representations that have no high invariance to rotation angle. Practical Significance.The results may be useful for understanding the role of learning (including the learning with a teacher in the development of effective information representation and operations on them in artificial intelligence systems.

  2. Uncovering the cognitive processes underlying mental rotation: an eye-movement study.

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    Xue, Jiguo; Li, Chunyong; Quan, Cheng; Lu, Yiming; Yue, Jingwei; Zhang, Chenggang

    2017-08-30

    Mental rotation is an important paradigm for spatial ability. Mental-rotation tasks are assumed to involve five or three sequential cognitive-processing states, though this has not been demonstrated experimentally. Here, we investigated how processing states alternate during mental-rotation tasks. Inference was carried out using an advanced statistical modelling and data-driven approach - a discriminative hidden Markov model (dHMM) trained using eye-movement data obtained from an experiment consisting of two different strategies: (I) mentally rotate the right-side figure to be aligned with the left-side figure and (II) mentally rotate the left-side figure to be aligned with the right-side figure. Eye movements were found to contain the necessary information for determining the processing strategy, and the dHMM that best fit our data segmented the mental-rotation process into three hidden states, which we termed encoding and searching, comparison, and searching on one-side pair. Additionally, we applied three classification methods, logistic regression, support vector model and dHMM, of which dHMM predicted the strategies with the highest accuracy (76.8%). Our study did confirm that there are differences in processing states between these two of mental-rotation strategies, and were consistent with the previous suggestion that mental rotation is discrete process that is accomplished in a piecemeal fashion.

  3. Overlooked Transport Participants - Mentally Impaired but Still Mobile

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    Vlk, Tamara; Wanjek, Monika; Berkowitsch, Claudia; Hauger, Georg

    2017-10-01

    Providing an inclusive transport system is a global ambition. Whereas, mobility needs and mobility barriers of people suffering from a physical impairment have already been observed frequently, people suffering from mental impairments (due to e.g. anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, dementia or other degenerative diseases) are often overlooked. Numerous studies already suggest that the number of people with mental impairment will significantly increase due to the demographic change and is also shown by the prevalence of mental diseases. Whereby, not even the data collected do necessarily give the full picture of the actual situation. Thus, the importance of mobility needs and mobility problems of people with mental impairments will gain dramatically. Participating in the transport system is a basic need that furthermore requires the ability of adopting different roles (e.g. driver, pedestrian). Due to explanatory studies of the authors, it could be shown what kind of problems people with mental impairment are faced with while participating in the transport system or interacting in public space. Thus, these studies represent the first step that is needed to consider the specific needs of people with mental impairments in future planning. The identified problems of people who are suffering from mental impairment are various. Thereby it can be distinguished between problems triggered by structural (e.g. absence of emergency buttons, spacious stations), organisational (e.g. absence of security stuff, lacking information according time table of transit) or social conditions (e.g. crowed places or vehicles, stigmatisation). This paper presents an overall view of specific requirements of people with mental impairment and suggests possible solutions for planning and designing an inclusive transport system.

  4. Constraining movement alters the recruitment of motor processes in mental rotation.

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    Moreau, David

    2013-02-01

    Does mental rotation depend on the readiness to act? Recent evidence indicates that the involvement of motor processes in mental rotation is experience-dependent, suggesting that different levels of expertise in sensorimotor interactions lead to different strategies to solve mental rotation problems. Specifically, experts in motor activities perceive spatial material as objects that can be acted upon, triggering covert simulation of rotations. Because action simulation depends on the readiness to act, movement restriction should therefore disrupt mental rotation performance in individuals favoring motor processes. In this experiment, wrestlers and non-athletes judged whether pairs of three-dimensional stimuli were identical or different, with their hands either constrained or unconstrained. Wrestlers showed higher performance than controls in the rotation of geometric stimuli, but this difference disappeared when their hands were constrained. However, movement restriction had similar consequences for both groups in the rotation of hands. These findings suggest that expert's advantage in mental rotation of abstract objects is based on the readiness to act, even when physical manipulation is impossible.

  5. Functional impairment and mental health functioning among Vietnamese children.

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    Dang, Hoang-Minh; Weiss, Bahr; Trung, Lam T

    2016-01-01

    Functional impairment is a key indicator of need for mental health services among children and adolescents, often a stronger predictor of service usage than mental health symptoms themselves. Functional impairment may be of particular importance in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) because of its potential to focus policy on treatment of child mental health problems which is generally given low priority in LMIC. However, few studies have assessed functional impairment in LMIC. The present study assessed rates of functional impairment among children in Vietnam, as a case example of an LMIC, as well as effects of other risk/protective factors of particular relevance to LMIC (e.g., whether the family lived in an urban or rural area; family structure variables such as grandparents living with the family). 1314 parents of children 6-16 years old from 10 Vietnamese provinces were interviewed. The overall rate of functional impairment among Vietnamese children was 20 %, similar to rates in high-income countries such as Germany and the United States, suggesting that LMIC status may not be associated with dramatic increases in functional impairment in children. Functional impairment was significantly greater among mental health cases than non-cases, with increases of over 550 % associated with mental health caseness. A number of other risk factors (e.g., marital status) had smaller but significant effects. Mental health problems are a major but not the sole contributor to functional impairment among Vietnamese children. The pragmatic significance of this research lies in its potential to affect public awareness and policy related to child mental health in LMIC.

  6. From Tesla to Tetris: Mental Rotation, Vocation, and Gifted Education

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    von Károlyi, Catya

    2013-01-01

    Mental rotation ability is important for success in a number of academic and career fields, especially the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) domains. Individual differences in intelligence, spatial ability, strategy selection biases, and gender are all associated with proficiency in mental rotation. Interventions and…

  7. Functional impairment and mental health functioning among Vietnamese children

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    Dang, Hoang-Minh; Weiss, Bahr; Trung, Lam T.

    2015-01-01

    Purpose Functional impairment is a key indicator of need for mental health services among children and adolescents, often a stronger predictor of service usage than mental health symptoms themselves. Functional impairment may be of particular importance in low and middle income countries (LMIC) because of its potential to focus policy on treatment of child mental health problems which is generally given low priority in LMIC. However, few studies have assessed functional impairment in LMIC. The present study assessed rates of functional impairment among children in Vietnam, as a case example of an LMIC, as well as effects of other risk/protective factors of particular relevance to LMIC (e.g., whether the family lived in an urban or rural area; family structure variables such as grandparents living with the family). Methods 1,314 parents of children 6–16 years old from 10 Vietnamese provinces were interviewed. Results The overall rate of functional impairment among Vietnamese children was 20%, similar to rates in high income countries such as Germany and the United States, suggesting that LMIC status may not be associated with dramatic increases in functional impairment in children. Functional impairment was significantly greater among mental health cases than non-cases, with increases of over 550% associated with mental health caseness. A number of other risk factors (e.g., marital status) had smaller but significant effects. Conclusions Mental health problems are a major but not the sole contributor to functional impairment among Vietnamese children. The pragmatic significance of this research lies in its potential to affect public awareness and policy related to child mental health in LMIC. PMID:26315942

  8. Different Mental Rotation Performance in Students of Music, Sport and Education

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    Pietsch, Stefanie; Jansen, Petra

    2012-01-01

    In this study the effect of long-term physical and musical activity on spatial cognitive performance, measured by mental rotation performance, is investigated in detail. Mental rotation performance is the ability to rotate a three-dimensional object using the imagination. Three groups, each consisting of 40 students, and divided by the subjects,…

  9. Gender differences in brain activation on a mental rotation task.

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    Semrud-Clikeman, Margaret; Fine, Jodene Goldenring; Bledsoe, Jesse; Zhu, David C

    2012-10-01

    Few neuroimaging studies have explored gender differences on mental rotation tasks. Most studies have utilized samples with both genders, samples mainly consisting of men, or samples with six or fewer females. Graduate students in science fields or liberal arts programs (20 males, 20 females) completed a mental rotation task during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). When a pair of cube figures was shown, the participant made a keypad response based on whether the pair is the same/similar or different. Regardless of gender, the bilateral middle frontal gyrus, bilateral intraparietal sulcus (IPS), and the left precuneus were activated when a subject tried to solve the mental rotation task. Increased activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus/middle frontal gyrus, the left precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex/cuneus region, and the left middle occipital gyrus was found for men as compared to women. Better accuracy and shorter response times were correlated with an increased activation in the bilateral intraparietal sulcus. No significant brain activity differences related to mental rotation were found between academic majors. These findings suggest that networks involved in visual attention appear to be more strongly activated in the mental rotation tasks in men as compared to women. It also suggests that men use a more automatic process when analyzing complex visual reasoning tasks while women use a more top-down process.

  10. Dissociating object-based from egocentric transformations in mental body rotation: effect of stimuli size.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Habacha, Hamdi; Moreau, David; Jarraya, Mohamed; Lejeune-Poutrain, Laure; Molinaro, Corinne

    2018-01-01

    The effect of stimuli size on the mental rotation of abstract objects has been extensively investigated, yet its effect on the mental rotation of bodily stimuli remains largely unexplored. Depending on the experimental design, mentally rotating bodily stimuli can elicit object-based transformations, relying mainly on visual processes, or egocentric transformations, which typically involve embodied motor processes. The present study included two mental body rotation tasks requiring either a same-different or a laterality judgment, designed to elicit object-based or egocentric transformations, respectively. Our findings revealed shorter response times for large-sized stimuli than for small-sized stimuli only for greater angular disparities, suggesting that the more unfamiliar the orientations of the bodily stimuli, the more stimuli size affected mental processing. Importantly, when comparing size transformation times, results revealed different patterns of size transformation times as a function of angular disparity between object-based and egocentric transformations. This indicates that mental size transformation and mental rotation proceed differently depending on the mental rotation strategy used. These findings are discussed with respect to the different spatial manipulations involved during object-based and egocentric transformations.

  11. Sex-specific lateralization of event-related potential effects during mental rotation of polygons.

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    Pellkofer, Julia; Jansen, Petra; Heil, Martin

    2014-08-06

    Mental rotation performance has been found to produce one of the largest sex differences in cognition. Many theories suggest that this effect should be accompanied by a sex difference in functional cerebral asymmetry, but empirical data are more than equivocal probably because of (a) the use of inappropriate stimuli and (b) insufficient power of most neurophysiological studies. Therefore, sex differences in mental rotation of polygons were investigated in 122 adults. Men outperformed women on mental rotation speed (as well as on response time and accuracy). On the basis of the electrophysiological brain correlates of mental rotation, we observed a bilateral brain activity for men, whereas women's brain activity was clearly lateralized toward the left hemisphere if and only if mental rotation was involved. Thus, sex differences in functional cerebral asymmetry can indeed be observed if appropriate stimuli are used in a sufficiently large sample.

  12. Lateralization of event-related potential effects during mental rotation of polygons.

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    Pellkofer, Julia; Jansen, Petra; Heil, Martin

    2012-07-11

    Numerous studies have shown that there is an amplitude modulation of the late positivity depending on the angular disparity during mental rotation performance. However, almost all of these studies used characters as stimulus material, whereas studies with different stimuli are rare. In the present experiment, 35 participants were instructed to rotate polygons mentally. Most importantly, with this stimulus material, the well-known event-related potential effects were also present at posterior electrode leads. Interestingly, the amplitude modulation were found to be larger and more reliable over left than over right posterior electrode leads, a finding reported previously for characters as stimuli, although not consistently. Thus, the present data suggest that the left lateralization of event-related potential effects during mental rotation of characters might not be because of their 'verbal nature', but might suggest a stronger involvement of the left parietal cortex during mental rotation per se, a suggestion that needs to be addressed with methods providing a higher spatial resolution.

  13. Laterality-Specific Training Improves Mental Rotation Performance in Young Soccer Players.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pietsch, Stefanie; Jansen, Petra

    2018-01-01

    This study investigates the influence of specific soccer training with the non-dominant leg on mental rotation performance of 20 adolescent soccer players between 10 and 11 years of age. While the experimental group performed soccer specific tasks only with the non-dominant foot once a week for 10 weeks, the control group absolved the same exercises with the dominant foot for the same period of time. Both groups performed a mental rotation task and shot, dribbling and ball control tests before and after the 10 week intervention. The most relevant result was that the experimental group showed a significantly larger increase in mental rotation ability than the control group.

  14. Reliabilities of mental rotation tasks: limits to the assessment of individual differences.

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    Hirschfeld, Gerrit; Thielsch, Meinald T; Zernikow, Boris

    2013-01-01

    Mental rotation tasks with objects and body parts as targets are widely used in cognitive neuropsychology. Even though these tasks are well established to study between-groups differences, the reliability on an individual level is largely unknown. We present a systematic study on the internal consistency and test-retest reliability of individual differences in mental rotation tasks comparing different target types and orders of presentations. In total n = 99 participants (n = 63 for the retest) completed the mental rotation tasks with hands, feet, faces, and cars as targets. Different target types were presented in either randomly mixed blocks or blocks of homogeneous targets. Across all target types, the consistency (split-half reliability) and stability (test-retest reliabilities) were good or acceptable both for intercepts and slopes. At the level of individual targets, only intercepts showed acceptable reliabilities. Blocked presentations resulted in significantly faster and numerically more consistent and stable responses. Mental rotation tasks-especially in blocked variants-can be used to reliably assess individual differences in global processing speed. However, the assessment of the theoretically important slope parameter for individual targets requires further adaptations to mental rotation tests.

  15. The Comparison of Mental Rotation Performance in Team and Individual Sports of Students

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    Fatemeh Pasand

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available As a practical and causal-comparative study, the present study was aimed at comparing the mental rotation performance in team and individual sports among students. The statistical population included all of the female and male athletes (N=1500 from different districts of Shiraz, Iran who participated in the sport clubs. The participants of this study included 240 students between 12-14 years old (120 girls and 120 boys who were selected randomly from four sport fields (Volleyball, Basketball, Karate, and Gymnastics. Finally, 30 athletes were selected from each field. The Mentrat Program, a kind of software for the Mental Rotation Test was used as an evaluation tool. Analyses of variance (ANOVA with repeated measures were conducted to analysis of data. The results indicated that the impact of the rotational angle was significant in both team and individual groups (p0.05. It was also observed that there was a significant difference between the mental rotation scores of the males in the individual groups contrary to the ones in the team groups (p<0.05. As a whole, it seems that as the rotational angle increases, the ability of the mental rotation in the individual fields of sport (males will be higher compared to the team groups. Keywords: Mental Rotation, Rotational Angle, Team and Individual Sports, Students

  16. Gender-Specific Effects of Artificially Induced Gender Beliefs in Mental Rotation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heil, Martin; Jansen, Petra; Quaiser-Pohl, Claudia; Neuburger, Sarah

    2012-01-01

    Men outperform women in the Mental Rotation Test (MRT) by about one standard deviation. The present study replicated a gender belief account [Moe, A., & Pazzaglia, F. (2006). Following the instructions! Effects of gender beliefs in mental rotation. Learning and Individual Differences, 16, 369-377.] for (part of) this effect. A sample of 300…

  17. Laterality-Specific Training Improves Mental Rotation Performance in Young Soccer Players

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stefanie Pietsch

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available This study investigates the influence of specific soccer training with the non-dominant leg on mental rotation performance of 20 adolescent soccer players between 10 and 11 years of age. While the experimental group performed soccer specific tasks only with the non-dominant foot once a week for 10 weeks, the control group absolved the same exercises with the dominant foot for the same period of time. Both groups performed a mental rotation task and shot, dribbling and ball control tests before and after the 10 week intervention. The most relevant result was that the experimental group showed a significantly larger increase in mental rotation ability than the control group.

  18. Generalisation, decision making, and embodiment effects in mental rotation: A neurorobotic architecture tested with a humanoid robot.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seepanomwan, Kristsana; Caligiore, Daniele; Cangelosi, Angelo; Baldassarre, Gianluca

    2015-12-01

    Mental rotation, a classic experimental paradigm of cognitive psychology, tests the capacity of humans to mentally rotate a seen object to decide if it matches a target object. In recent years, mental rotation has been investigated with brain imaging techniques to identify the brain areas involved. Mental rotation has also been investigated through the development of neural-network models, used to identify the specific mechanisms that underlie its process, and with neurorobotics models to investigate its embodied nature. Current models, however, have limited capacities to relate to neuro-scientific evidence, to generalise mental rotation to new objects, to suitably represent decision making mechanisms, and to allow the study of the effects of overt gestures on mental rotation. The work presented in this study overcomes these limitations by proposing a novel neurorobotic model that has a macro-architecture constrained by knowledge held on brain, encompasses a rather general mental rotation mechanism, and incorporates a biologically plausible decision making mechanism. The model was tested using the humanoid robot iCub in tasks requiring the robot to mentally rotate 2D geometrical images appearing on a computer screen. The results show that the robot gained an enhanced capacity to generalise mental rotation to new objects and to express the possible effects of overt movements of the wrist on mental rotation. The model also represents a further step in the identification of the embodied neural mechanisms that may underlie mental rotation in humans and might also give hints to enhance robots' planning capabilities. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  19. Role of strategies and prior exposure in mental rotation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cherney, Isabelle D; Neff, Nicole L

    2004-06-01

    The purpose of these two studies was to examine sex differences in strategy use and the effect of prior exposure on the performance on Vandenberg and Kuse's 1978 Mental Rotation Test. A total of 152 participants completed the spatial task and self-reported their strategy use. Consistent with previous studies, men outperformed women. Strategy usage did not account for these differences, although guessing did. Previous exposure to the Mental Rotation Test, American College Test scores and frequent computer or video game play predicted performance on the test. These results suggest that prior exposure to spatial tasks may provide cues to improve participants' performance.

  20. Absence of sex differences in mental rotation performance in autism spectrum disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rohde, Melanie S; Georgescu, Alexandra L; Vogeley, Kai; Fimmers, Rolf; Falter-Wagner, Christine M

    2017-08-01

    Mental rotation is one of the most investigated cognitive functions showing consistent sex differences. The 'Extreme Male Brain' hypothesis attributes the cognitive profile of individuals with autism spectrum disorder to an extreme version of the male cognitive profile. Previous investigations focused almost exclusively on males with autism spectrum disorder with only limited implications for affected females. This study is the first testing a sample of 12 female adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder compared to 14 males with autism spectrum disorder, 12 typically developing females and 14 typically developing males employing a computerised version of the mental rotation test. Reaction time and accuracy served as dependent variables. Their linear relationship with degree of rotation allows separation of rotational aspects of the task, indicated by slopes of the psychometric function, and non-rotational aspects, indicated by intercepts of the psychometric function. While the typical and expected sex difference for rotational task aspects was corroborated in typically developing individuals, no comparable sex difference was found in autism spectrum disorder individuals. Autism spectrum disorder and typically developing individuals did not differ in mental rotation performance. This finding does not support the extreme male brain hypothesis of autism.

  1. Mental fatigue impairs soccer-specific decision-making skill.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Mitchell R; Zeuwts, Linus; Lenoir, Matthieu; Hens, Nathalie; De Jong, Laura M S; Coutts, Aaron J

    2016-07-01

    This study aimed to investigate the impact of mental fatigue on soccer-specific decision-making. Twelve well-trained male soccer players performed a soccer-specific decision-making task on two occasions, separated by at least 72 h. The decision-making task was preceded in a randomised order by 30 min of the Stroop task (mental fatigue) or 30 min of reading from magazines (control). Subjective ratings of mental fatigue were measured before and after treatment, and mental effort (referring to treatment) and motivation (referring to the decision-making task) were measured after treatment. Performance on the soccer-specific decision-making task was assessed using response accuracy and time. Visual search behaviour was also assessed throughout the decision-making task. Subjective ratings of mental fatigue and effort were almost certainly higher following the Stroop task compared to the magazines. Motivation for the upcoming decision-making task was possibly higher following the Stroop task. Decision-making accuracy was very likely lower and response time likely higher in the mental fatigue condition. Mental fatigue had unclear effects on most visual search behaviour variables. The results suggest that mental fatigue impairs accuracy and speed of soccer-specific decision-making. These impairments are not likely related to changes in visual search behaviour.

  2. Effects of Power on Mental Rotation and Emotion Recognition in Women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nissan, Tali; Shapira, Oren; Liberman, Nira

    2015-10-01

    Based on construal-level theory (CLT) and its view of power as an instance of social distance, we predicted that high, relative to low power would enhance women's mental-rotation performance and impede their emotion-recognition performance. The predicted effects of power emerged both when it was manipulated via a recall priming task (Study 1) and environmental cues (Studies 2 and 3). Studies 3 and 4 found evidence for mediation by construal level of the effect of power on emotion recognition but not on mental rotation. We discuss potential mediating mechanisms for these effects based on both the social distance/construal level and the approach/inhibition views of power. We also discuss implications for optimizing performance on mental rotation and emotion recognition in everyday life. © 2015 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

  3. Motion Controllers for Learners to Manipulate and Interact with 3D Objects for Mental Rotation Training

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yeh, Shih-Ching; Wang, Jin-Liang; Wang, Chin-Yeh; Lin, Po-Han; Chen, Gwo-Dong; Rizzo, Albert

    2014-01-01

    Mental rotation is an important spatial processing ability and an important element in intelligence tests. However, the majority of past attempts at training mental rotation have used paper-and-pencil tests or digital images. This study proposes an innovative mental rotation training approach using magnetic motion controllers to allow learners to…

  4. Strategies for Improving Nursing Students' Mental Health Clinical Rotation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kroning, Maureen

    2016-01-01

    Mental illness is a huge problem many people face in the U.S. and around the world. The American Psychiatric Nurses Association indicates there is a shortage of nurses in every level and role in psychiatric-mental health nursing. Raising up a generation of nurses who want to work with the mentally ill is a challenge for nurse educators. The use of role playing and simulation in the learning lab prior to entering the clinical setting and reflective journaling in the clinical rotation can improve undergraduate nursing students' mental health clinical experience.

  5. Mental disorders and personality traits as determinants of impaired work functioning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Michon, H. W. C.; ten Have, M.; Kroon, H.; van Weeghel, J.; de Graaf, R.; Schene, A. H.

    2008-01-01

    Background. Both mental disorders and personality characteristics are associated with impaired work functioning, but these determinants have not yet been studied together. The aim of this paper is to examine the impairing effects that mental disorders and personality characteristics (i.e.

  6. Breaking new ground in the mind: an initial study of mental brittle transformation and mental rigid rotation in science experts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Resnick, Ilyse; Shipley, Thomas F

    2013-05-01

    The current study examines the spatial skills employed in different spatial reasoning tasks, by asking how science experts who are practiced in different types of visualizations perform on different spatial tasks. Specifically, the current study examines the varieties of mental transformations. We hypothesize that there may be two broad classes of mental transformations: rigid body mental transformations and non-rigid mental transformations. We focus on the disciplines of geology and organic chemistry because different types of transformations are central to the two disciplines: While geologists and organic chemists may both confront rotation in the practice of their profession, only geologists confront brittle transformations. A new instrument was developed to measure mental brittle transformation (visualizing breaking). Geologists and organic chemists performed similarly on a measure of mental rotation, while geologists outperformed organic chemists on the mental brittle transformation test. The differential pattern of skill on the two tests for the two groups of experts suggests that mental brittle transformation and mental rotation are different spatial skills. The roles of domain general cognitive resources (attentional control, spatial working memory, and perceptual filling in) and strategy in completing mental brittle transformation are discussed. The current study illustrates how ecological and interdisciplinary approaches complement traditional cognitive science to offer a comprehensive approach to understanding the nature of spatial thinking.

  7. Cognitive Motor Coordination Training Improves Mental Rotation Performance in Primary School-Aged Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pietsch, Stefanie; Böttcher, Caroline; Jansen, Petra

    2017-01-01

    The long-term physical activity in specific sport activities can change the quality of mental rotation performance. This study investigates the influence of "Life Kinetik"--a motion program with tasks of cognition and motor coordination--on mental rotation performance of 44 primary school-aged children. While the experimental group…

  8. Motor Imagery Impairment in Postacute Stroke Patients

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    Niclas Braun

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Not much is known about how well stroke patients are able to perform motor imagery (MI and which MI abilities are preserved after stroke. We therefore applied three different MI tasks (one mental chronometry task, one mental rotation task, and one EEG-based neurofeedback task to a sample of postacute stroke patients (n=20 and age-matched healthy controls (n=20 for addressing the following questions: First, which of the MI tasks indicate impairment in stroke patients and are impairments restricted to the paretic side? Second, is there a relationship between MI impairment and sensory loss or paresis severity? And third, do the results of the different MI tasks converge? Significant differences between the stroke and control groups were found in all three MI tasks. However, only the mental chronometry task and EEG analysis revealed paresis side-specific effects. Moreover, sensitivity loss contributed to a performance drop in the mental rotation task. The findings indicate that although MI abilities may be impaired after stroke, most patients retain their ability for MI EEG-based neurofeedback. Interestingly, performance in the different MI measures did not strongly correlate, neither in stroke patients nor in healthy controls. We conclude that one MI measure is not sufficient to fully assess an individual’s MI abilities.

  9. THE ATHLETES’ BODY SHAPES THE ATHLETES’ MIND – NEW PERSPECTIVES ON MENTAL ROTATION PERFORMANCE IN ATHLETES

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    Thomas Heinen

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Mentally rotating the image of an object is one fundamental cognitive ability in humans. Recent theoretical developments and empirical evidences highlight the potential role of the sensory-motor system, when analysing and understanding mental rotation. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the role of specific sensory-motor experience on mental rotation performance in gymnasts. N = 40 male gymnasts with either clockwise or anticlockwise rotation preference in a forward twisting layout salto performed a psychometric mental rotation test with either rotation-preference congruent or rotation-preference incongruent stimuli. Results revealed that choice reaction times differed clearly as a function of Angular Rotation between the stimuli figures. Gymnasts who preferred a clockwise rotation preference showed faster choice reaction times when the rotation direction of the reference figure was clockwise, and vice versa. The results clearly support the notion, that mental rotation performance varies as a function of sensory-motor system characteristics between different people. It is concluded, that sensory-motor experience in a particular sport may facilitate cognitive processing of experience-congruent stimuli. This may be advantageous for situations in which people are engaged in observing sport performance (i.e., judges, coaches. This conclusion could furthermore contribute to the training of athletes from sports such as sky-diving, scuba-diving, and climbing, where losses of spatial orientation can be life-threatening.

  10. An electrophysiological study of the mental rotation of polygons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pierret, A; Peronnet, F; Thevenet, M

    1994-05-09

    Reaction times and event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during a task requiring subjects to decide whether two sequentially presented polygons had the same shape regardless of differences in orientation. Reaction times increased approximately linearly with angular departure from upright orientation, which suggests that mental rotation was involved in the comparison process. The ERPs showed, between 665 and 1055 ms, a late posterior negativity also increasing with angular disparity from upright, which we assumed to reflect mental rotation. Two other activities were exhibited, from 265 to 665 ms, which may be related either to an evaluation of the stimulus or a predetermination of its orientation, and from 1055 to 1600 ms attributed to the decision process.

  11. Using mental rotation to evaluate the benefits of stereoscopic displays

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aitsiselmi, Y.; Holliman, N. S.

    2009-02-01

    Context: The idea behind stereoscopic displays is to create the illusion of depth and this concept could have many practical applications. A common spatial ability test involves mental rotation. Therefore a mental rotation task should be easier if being undertaken on a stereoscopic screen. Aim: The aim of this project is to evaluate stereoscopic displays (3D screen) and to assess whether they are better for performing a certain task than over a 2D display. A secondary aim was to perform a similar study but replicating the conditions of using a stereoscopic mobile phone screen. Method: We devised a spatial ability test involving a mental rotation task that participants were asked to complete on either a 3D or 2D screen. We also design a similar task to simulate the experience on a stereoscopic cell phone. The participants' error rate and response times were recorded. Using statistical analysis, we then compared the error rate and response times of the groups to see if there were any significant differences. Results: We found that the participants got better scores if they were doing the task on a stereoscopic screen as opposed to a 2D screen. However there was no statistically significant difference in the time it took them to complete the task. We also found similar results for 3D cell phone display condition. Conclusions: The results show that the extra depth information given by a stereoscopic display makes it easier to mentally rotate a shape as depth cues are readily available. These results could have many useful implications to certain industries.

  12. Mental Rotation Ability and Computer Game Experience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gecu, Zeynep; Cagiltay, Kursat

    2015-01-01

    Computer games, which are currently very popular among students, can affect different cognitive abilities. The purpose of the present study is to examine undergraduate students' experiences and preferences in playing computer games as well as their mental rotation abilities. A total of 163 undergraduate students participated. The results showed a…

  13. Sex-Specific Response Strategies in Mental Rotation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hirnstein, Marco; Bayer, Ulrike; Hausmann, Markus

    2009-01-01

    The present study investigated whether the marked sex difference in the original mental rotation test (MRT) is simply a result of sex differences in response strategies. Thirty-four participants (17 males, 17 females) completed the revised Vandenberg and Kuse MRT [Peters, M., Laeng, B., Latham, K., Jackson, M., Zaiyouna, R., & Richardson, C.…

  14. Mental rotation of anthropoid hands: a chronometric study

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    L.G. Gawryszewski

    2007-03-01

    Full Text Available It has been shown that mental rotation of objects and human body parts is processed differently in the human brain. But what about body parts belonging to other primates? Does our brain process this information like any other object or does it instead maximize the structural similarities with our homologous body parts? We tried to answer this question by measuring the manual reaction time (MRT of human participants discriminating the handedness of drawings representing the hands of four anthropoid primates (orangutan, chimpanzee, gorilla, and human. Twenty-four right-handed volunteers (13 males and 11 females were instructed to judge the handedness of a hand drawing in palm view by pressing a left/right key. The orientation of hand drawings varied from 0º (fingers upwards to 90º lateral (fingers pointing away from the midline, 180º (fingers downwards and 90º medial (finger towards the midline. The results showed an effect of rotation angle (F(3, 69 = 19.57, P < 0.001, but not of hand identity, on MRTs. Moreover, for all hand drawings, a medial rotation elicited shorter MRTs than a lateral rotation (960 and 1169 ms, respectively, P < 0.05. This result has been previously observed for drawings of the human hand and related to biomechanical constraints of movement performance. Our findings indicate that anthropoid hands are essentially equivalent stimuli for handedness recognition. Since the task involves mentally simulating the posture and rotation of the hands, we wondered if "mirror neurons" could be involved in establishing the motor equivalence between the stimuli and the participants' own hands.

  15. Determination of hemispheric dominance with mental rotation using functional transcranial Doppler sonography and FMRI.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hattemer, Katja; Plate, Annika; Heverhagen, Johannes T; Haag, Anja; Keil, Boris; Klein, Karl Martin; Hermsen, Anke; Oertel, Wolfgang H; Hamer, Hajo M; Rosenow, Felix; Knake, Susanne

    2011-01-01

    the aim of this study was to investigate specific activation patterns and potential gender differences during mental rotation and to investigate whether functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and functional transcranial Doppler sonography (fTCD) lateralize hemispheric dominance concordantly. regional brain activation and hemispheric dominance during mental rotation (cube perspective test) were investigated in 10 female and 10 male healthy subjects using fMRI and fTCD. significant activation was found in the superior parietal lobe, at the parieto-occipital border, in the middle and superior frontal gyrus bilaterally, and the right inferior frontal gyrus using fMRI. Men showed a stronger lateralization to the right hemisphere during fMRI and a tendency toward stronger right-hemispheric activation during fTCD. Furthermore, more activation in frontal and parieto-occipital regions of the right hemisphere was observed using fMRI. Hemispheric dominance for mental rotation determined by the 2 methods correlated well (P= .008), but did not show concordant results in every single subject. the neural basis of mental rotation depends on a widespread bilateral network. Hemispheric dominance for mental rotation determined by fMRI and fTCD, though correlating well, is not always concordant. Hemispheric lateralization of complex cortical functions such as spatial rotation therefore should be investigated using multimodal imaging approaches, especially if used clinically as a tool for the presurgical evaluation of patients undergoing neurosurgery. Copyright © 2009 by the American Society of Neuroimaging.

  16. Postural Effects on the Mental Rotation of Body-Related Pictures: An fMRI Study

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    Fangbing Qu

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available This study investigated the embodied effects involved in the mental rotation of pictures of body parts (hands and feet. Blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD signals were collected from 18 healthy volunteers who performed mental rotation tasks of rotated drawings of hands under different arm postures. Congruent drawings of hands (those congruent with left-hand posture evoked stronger activation in the left supplementary motor area (SMA, left precentral gyrus, and left superior parietal lobule (SPL than did incongruent drawings of hands. Congruent drawings of hands (those congruent with right-hand posture evoked significant activation in the left inferior parietal lobule (IPL, right SMA, bilateral middle frontal gyrus (MFG, left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG, and bilateral superior frontal gyrus (SFG compared to that evoked by the incongruent drawings of hands. Similar methodology was implemented with drawings of feet. However, no significant differences in brain activation were observed between congruent and incongruent drawings of feet. This finding suggests that body posture influences body part-related mental rotation in an effector-specific manner. A direct comparison between the medially and laterally rotated drawings revealed activation in the right IPL, left precentral gyrus, bilateral IFG, and bilateral SFG. These results suggest that biomechanical constraints affect the cognitive process of mental rotation.

  17. Impairments of spontaneous and deliberative mentalizing co-occur, yet dissociate, in schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langdon, Robyn; Flynn, Michaela; Connaughton, Emily; Brüne, Martin

    2017-11-01

    Evidence of impairment in explicit mentalizing in people with schizophrenia has inspired interventions to improve awareness of others' mental states in these individuals. Less is known of implicit mentalizing in schizophrenia, with current findings mixed. We sought to resolve previous inconsistencies using Heider & Simmel's (H&S) classic animation to elicit spontaneous mentalizing and examined relations between spontaneous and deliberative mentalizing. Forty-five schizophrenia outpatients and 27 general-community controls completed two explicit theory-of-mind (TOM) tasks and then described the H&S animation (to elicit spontaneous social attributions about emotionally driven, as well as goal-driven, behaviours), before and after an instruction to think of the shapes as people. Accuracy of basic and social facts and frequencies of personification and different mental-state terms were recorded. Explicit TOM performance was impaired in patients. Patients also generated fewer social (but not basic) facts than controls to describe the H&S animation, and used less mental-state language, before, and even more so, after the 'people' instruction, despite that both groups had used more personification terms after the 'people' instruction. Measures of explicit and spontaneous mentalizing contributed independently to discriminating between groups. Patients respond less to the bottom-up signals of agency that ought normally to elicit spontaneous social attributions, even when cued to think of the stimuli as people, and the stimuli depict emotionally driven, as well as goal-driven, behaviour. That impairments of spontaneous and deliberative mentalizing dissociate in schizophrenia suggests that training deliberative mentalizing may not be enough; interventions to improve spontaneous mentalizing are also needed. Findings People with schizophrenia were less likely than controls to spontaneously attribute causal mental states when viewing dynamic signals of emotionally driven and

  18. Mental rotation impairs attention shifting and short-term memory encoding: neurophysiological evidence against the response-selection bottleneck model of dual-task performance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pannebakker, M.M.; van Dam, W.O.; Band, G.P.H.; Ridderinkhof, K.R.; Hommel, B.

    2011-01-01

    Dual tasks and their associated delays have often been used to examine the boundaries of processing in the brain. We used the dual-task procedure and recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate how mental rotation of a first stimulus (S1) influences the shifting of visual-spatial

  19. Mental flexibility impairment in drivers with early Alzheimer's disease: A simulator-based study

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    Virginie Etienne

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available After memory impairment, one of the most common troubles of early Alzheimer's disease (AD is the impairment of executive functioning. However, it can have major consequences on daily life, notably on the driving activity. The present study focused on one important executive function involved in driving: mental flexibility; and considered how this impairment can affect driving. Ten patients with early AD were matched with 29 healthy older drivers. All participants were given an evaluation of mental flexibility through neuropsychological tests and an experimental test developed on a static driving simulator. The experiment was divided in two conditions; one without mental flexibility and another condition with a mental flexibility demand. AD patients showed impairments in the neuropsychological tests evaluating mental flexibility. These deficits are linked to the deficits they showed in the driving simulator flexibility tests. This study contributes to the understanding of mental flexibility mechanisms and on their role in driving activity. It also confirms that the driving simulator is a suitable tool to explore cognitive disorders and driving ability.

  20. Sex differences in mental rotation with polygons of different complexity: Do men utilize holistic processes whereas women prefer piecemeal ones?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heil, Martin; Jansen-Osmann, Petra

    2008-05-01

    Sex differences in mental rotation were investigated as a function of stimulus complexity with a sample size of N = 72. Replicating earlier findings with polygons, mental rotation was faster for males than for females, and reaction time increased with more complex polygons. Additionally, sex differences increased for complex polygons. Most importantly, however, mental rotation speed decreased with increasing complexity for women but did not change for men. Thus, the sex effects reflect a difference in strategy, with women mentally rotating the polygons in an analytic, piecemeal fashion and men using a holistic mode of mental rotation.

  1. Keeping It in Three Dimensions: Measuring the Development of Mental Rotation in Children with the Rotated Colour Cube Test (RCCT)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lutke, Nikolay; Lange-Kuttner, Christiane

    2015-01-01

    This study introduces the new Rotated Colour Cube Test (RCCT) as a measure of object identification and mental rotation using single 3D colour cube images in a matching-to-sample procedure. One hundred 7- to 11-year-old children were tested with aligned or rotated cube models, distracters and targets. While different orientations of distracters…

  2. Cognitive strategies in the mental rotation task revealed by EEG spectral power.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gardony, Aaron L; Eddy, Marianna D; Brunyé, Tad T; Taylor, Holly A

    2017-11-01

    The classic mental rotation task (MRT; Shepard & Metzler, 1971) is commonly thought to measure mental rotation, a cognitive process involving covert simulation of motor rotation. Yet much research suggests that the MRT recruits both motor simulation and other analytic cognitive strategies that depend on visuospatial representation and visual working memory (WM). In the present study, we investigated cognitive strategies in the MRT using time-frequency analysis of EEG and independent component analysis. We scrutinized sensorimotor mu (µ) power reduction, associated with motor simulation, parietal alpha (pα) power reduction, associated with visuospatial representation, and frontal midline theta (fmθ) power enhancement, associated with WM maintenance and manipulation. µ power increased concomitant with increasing task difficulty, suggesting reduced use of motor simulation, while pα decreased and fmθ power increased, suggesting heightened use of visuospatial representation processing and WM, respectively. These findings suggest that MRT performance involves flexibly trading off between cognitive strategies, namely a motor simulation-based mental rotation strategy and WM-intensive analytic strategies based on task difficulty. Flexible cognitive strategy use may be a domain-general cognitive principle that underlies aptitude and spatial intelligence in a variety of cognitive domains. We close with discussion of the present study's implications as well as future directions. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  3. Effects of gender, imagery ability, and sports practice on the performance of a mental rotation task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Habacha, Hamdi; Molinaro, Corinne; Dosseville, Fabrice

    2014-01-01

    Mental rotation is one of the main spatial abilities necessary in the spatial transformation of mental images and the manipulation of spatial parameters. Researchers have shown that mental rotation abilities differ between populations depending on several variables. This study uses a mental rotation task to investigate effects of several factors on the spatial abilities of 277 volunteers. The results demonstrate that high and low imagers performed equally well on this tasks. Athletes outperformed nonathletes regardless of their discipline, and athletes with greater expertise outperformed those with less experience. The results replicate the previously reported finding that men exhibit better spatial abilities than women. However, with high amounts of practice, the women in the current study were able to perform as well as men.

  4. Mental rotation and the human body: Children's inflexible use of embodiment mirrors that of adults.

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    Krüger, Markus; Ebersbach, Mirjam

    2017-12-25

    Adults' mental rotation performance with body-like stimuli is enhanced if these stimuli are anatomically compatible with a human body, but decreased by anatomically incompatible stimuli. In this study, we investigated these effects for kindergartners and first-graders: When asked to mentally rotate cube configurations attached with human body parts in an anatomically compatible way, allowing for the projection of a human body, children performed better than with pure cube combinations. By contrast, when body parts were attached in an anatomically incompatible way, disallowing the projection of a human body, children performed worse than with pure combinations. This experiment is of specific interest against the background of two different theoretical approaches concerning imagery and the motor system in development: One approach assumes an increasing integration of motor processes and imagery over time that enables older children and adults to requisition motor resources for imagery processes, while the other postulates that imagery stems from early sensorimotor processes in the first place, and is disentangled from it over time. The finding that children of the two age groups tested show exactly the same effects as adults when mentally rotating anatomically compatible and incompatible stimuli is interpreted in favour of the latter approach. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? In mental rotation, adults perform better when rotating anatomically possible stimuli as compared to rotating standard cube combinations. Performance is worse when rotating anatomically impossible stimuli. What does this study add? The present study shows that children's mental transformations mirror those of adults in these respects. In case of the anatomically impossible stimuli, this highlights an inflexible use of embodiment in both age groups. This is in line with the Piagetian assumption of imagery being based on sensorimotor processes. © 2017 The British

  5. The Role of Motor Processes in Three-Dimensional Mental Rotation: Shaping Cognitive Processing via Sensorimotor Experience

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    Moreau, David

    2012-01-01

    An extensive body of literature has explored the involvement of motor processes in mental rotation, yet underlying individual differences are less documented and remain to be fully understood. We propose that sensorimotor experience shapes spatial abilities such as assessed in mental rotation tasks. Elite wrestlers' and non-athletes' mental…

  6. Different strategies do not moderate primary motor cortex involvement in mental rotation: a TMS study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Koeneke Susan

    2007-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Regions of the dorsal visual stream are known to play an essential role during the process of mental rotation. The functional role of the primary motor cortex (M1 in mental rotation is however less clear. It has been suggested that the strategy used to mentally rotate objects determines M1 involvement. Based on the strategy hypothesis that distinguishes between an internal and an external strategy, our study was designed to specifically test the relation between strategy and M1 activity. Methods Twenty-two subjects were asked to participate in a standard mental rotation task. We used specific picture stimuli that were supposed to trigger either the internal (e.g. pictures of hands or tools or the external strategy (e.g. pictures of houses or abstract figures. The strategy hypothesis predicts an involvement of M1 only in case of stimuli triggering the internal strategy (imagine grasping and rotating the object by oneself. Single-pulse Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS was employed to quantify M1 activity during task performance by measuring Motor Evoked Potentials (MEPs at the right hand muscle. Results Contrary to the strategy hypothesis, we found no interaction between stimulus category and corticospinal excitability. Instead, corticospinal excitability was generally increased compared with a resting baseline although subjects indicated more frequent use of the external strategy for all object categories. Conclusion This finding suggests that M1 involvement is not exclusively linked with the use of the internal strategy but rather directly with the process of mental rotation. Alternatively, our results might support the hypothesis that M1 is active due to a 'spill-over' effect from adjacent brain regions.

  7. Different strategies do not moderate primary motor cortex involvement in mental rotation: a TMS study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bode, Stefan; Koeneke, Susan; Jäncke, Lutz

    2007-08-07

    Regions of the dorsal visual stream are known to play an essential role during the process of mental rotation. The functional role of the primary motor cortex (M1) in mental rotation is however less clear. It has been suggested that the strategy used to mentally rotate objects determines M1 involvement. Based on the strategy hypothesis that distinguishes between an internal and an external strategy, our study was designed to specifically test the relation between strategy and M1 activity. Twenty-two subjects were asked to participate in a standard mental rotation task. We used specific picture stimuli that were supposed to trigger either the internal (e.g. pictures of hands or tools) or the external strategy (e.g. pictures of houses or abstract figures). The strategy hypothesis predicts an involvement of M1 only in case of stimuli triggering the internal strategy (imagine grasping and rotating the object by oneself). Single-pulse Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) was employed to quantify M1 activity during task performance by measuring Motor Evoked Potentials (MEPs) at the right hand muscle. Contrary to the strategy hypothesis, we found no interaction between stimulus category and corticospinal excitability. Instead, corticospinal excitability was generally increased compared with a resting baseline although subjects indicated more frequent use of the external strategy for all object categories. This finding suggests that M1 involvement is not exclusively linked with the use of the internal strategy but rather directly with the process of mental rotation. Alternatively, our results might support the hypothesis that M1 is active due to a 'spill-over' effect from adjacent brain regions.

  8. Neurological impairments and sleep-wake behaviour among the mentally retarded.

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    Lindblom, N; Heiskala, H; Kaski, M; Leinonen, L; Nevanlinna, A; Iivanainen, M; Laakso, M L

    2001-12-01

    The objective of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between the sleep-wake behaviour and neurological impairments among mentally retarded people. The sleep-wake behaviour of 293 mentally retarded subjects living in a rehabilitation center was studied by a standardized observation protocol carried out by trained staff members. The protocol consisted of brief check-ups of the subjects' sleep-wake status at 20-min intervals for five randomly chosen 24-h periods during 4 months. From the raw data five sleep-wake behaviour variables were formed. The data concerning the subject characteristics (age, body mass index (BMI), gender, degree of mental retardation, presence of locomotor disability, that of epilepsy, blindness or deafness and the usage of psychotropic medications) were collected from the medical records. Two main findings emerged: (1) severe locomotor disability, blindness and active epilepsy were found to be independent predictors of increased daytime sleep and increased number of wake-sleep transitions and (2) the subjects with a combination of two or all three of these impairments had a significantly more fragmented and abnormally distributed sleep than those with none or milder forms of these impairments. Age, BMI, degree of mental retardation and the studied medications played a minor role in the sleep disturbances of the study population. Finally, deafness was not found to be associated with any of the measured sleep-wake variables.

  9. Relationships between spatial activities and scores on the mental rotation test as a function of sex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ginn, Sheryl R; Pickens, Stefanie J

    2005-06-01

    Previous results suggested that female college students' scores on the Mental Rotations Test might be related to their prior experience with spatial tasks. For example, women who played video games scored better on the test than their non-game-playing peers, whereas playing video games was not related to men's scores. The present study examined whether participation in different types of spatial activities would be related to women's performance on the Mental Rotations Test. 31 men and 59 women enrolled at a small, private church-affiliated university and majoring in art or music as well as students who participated in intercollegiate athletics completed the Mental Rotations Test. Women's scores on the Mental Rotations Test benefitted from experience with spatial activities; the more types of experience the women had, the better their scores. Thus women who were athletes, musicians, or artists scored better than those women who had no experience with these activities. The opposite results were found for the men. Efforts are currently underway to assess how length of experience and which types of experience are related to scores.

  10. Offenders With Antisocial Personality Disorder Display More Impairments in Mentalizing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Newbury-Helps, John; Feigenbaum, Janet; Fonagy, Peter

    2017-04-01

    This study was designed to test the hypothesis that individuals with antisocial, particularly violent, histories of offending behavior have specific problems in social cognition, notably in relation to accurately envisioning mental states. Eighty-three male offenders on community license, 65% of whom met the threshold for antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), completed a battery of computerized mentalizing tests requiring perspective taking (Perspectives Taking Test), mental state recognition from facial expression (Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test), and identification of mental states in the context of social interaction (Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition). The results were compared with a partially matched sample of 42 nonoffending controls. The offender group showed impaired mentalizing on all of the tasks when compared with the control group for this study when controlling for demographic and clinical variables, and the offending group performed poorly in comparisons with participants in published studies, suggesting that limited capacity to mentalize may be part of the picture presented by individuals with histories of offending behavior. Offenders with ASPD demonstrated greater difficulty with mentalizing than non-ASPD offenders. Mentalization subscales were able to predict offender status and those with ASPD, indicating that specific impairments in perspective taking, social cognition, and social sensitivity, as well as tendencies toward hypomentalizing and nonmentalizing, are more marked in individuals who meet criteria for a diagnosis of ASPD. Awareness of these deficits may be helpful to professionals working with offenders, and specifically addressing these deficits may be a productive aspect of therapy for this "hard to reach" clinical group.

  11. Mental rotation evoked potentials P500 in patients with major depressive disorder

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    陈玖

    2013-01-01

    Objective To explore the difference on mental rotation ability between major depressive disorders and healthy subjects.Methods Twenty-three patients with major depressive disorders and 24 healthy subjects

  12. Reducing the silent burden of impaired mental health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jané-Llopis, Eva; Anderson, Peter; Stewart-Brown, Sarah; Weare, Katherine; Wahlbeck, Kristian; McDaid, David; Cooper, Cary; Litchfield, Paul

    2011-08-01

    Mental and behavioral disorders account for about one third of the world's disability caused by all ill health among adults, with unipolar depressive disorders set to be the world's number one cause of illhealth and premature death in 2030, affecting high- and low-income countries. There is a range of evidence-based cost-effective interventions that can be implemented in parenting, at schools, at the workplace, and in older age that can promote health and well-being, reduce mental disorders, lead to improved productivity, and increase resilience to cope with many of the stressors in the world. These facts need to be better communicated to policymakers to ensure that the silent burden of impaired mental health is adequately heard and reduced.

  13. Effects of mental rotation on acalculia: differences in the direction of mental rotation account for the differing characteristics of acalculia induced by right and left hemispheric brain injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asada, Tomohiko; Takayama, Yoshihiro; Oita, Jiro; Fukuyama, Hidenao

    2014-04-01

    We observed a 59-year-old right-handed man with an infarction in his right-middle cerebral artery that included the parietal lobe, who abnormally manipulated mental images in the horizontal direction, resulting in calculation disturbances. Three years later, the patient suffered an infarction in the left parietal lobe and displayed abnormalities during the creation of mental images; i.e., he rotated them in the vertical direction, which again resulted in calculation disturbances. These mental imagery disturbances might indicate that a common acalculia mechanism exists between the right and left hemispheres.

  14. Impaired mental well-being and psychosocial risk: a cross-sectional study in female nursing home direct staff

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pélissier, C; Fontana, L; Fort, E; Vohito, M; Sellier, B; Perrier, C; Glerant, V; Couprie, F; Agard, J P; Charbotel, B

    2015-01-01

    Objectives The present study sought to quantify the impaired mental well-being and psychosocial stress experienced by nursing home staff and to determine the relationship between impaired mental well-being assessed on the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and exposure to psychosocial stress assessed on Siegrist's effort/reward and overcommitment model. Methods A transverse study was conducted in France on 2471 female employees in 105 nursing homes for the elderly. Personal and occupational data were collected by questionnaire for 668 housekeepers, 1454 nursing assistants and 349 nurses. Results 36.8% of participants (n=896) showed impaired mental well-being, 42.7% (n=1039) overcommitment and 9% (n=224) effort/reward imbalance. Overcommitment (prevalence ratio (PR)=1.27; 95% CI (1.21 to 1.34)) and effort–reward imbalance (PR=1.19; 95% CI (1.12 to 1.27)) were significantly associated with presence of impaired mental well-being after adjustment for personal factors (age and private life events). Taking effort and reward levels into account, the frequency of impaired mental well-being was highest in case of exposure to great extrinsic effort and low rewards of any type: esteem, PR=3.53, 95% CI (3.06 to 4.08); earnings, PR=3.48, 95% CI (2.99 to 4.06); or job security, PR=3.30, 95% CI (2.88 to 3.78). Participants in situations of overcommitment and of effort/reward imbalance were at the highest risk of impaired mental well-being: PR=3.86, 95% CI (3.42 to 4.35). Conclusions Several changes in nursing home organisation can be suggested to reduce staff exposure to factors of psychosocial stress. Qualitative studies of the relation between impaired mental well-being and psychosocial stress in nursing home staff could guide prevention of impaired mental well-being at work. PMID:25829371

  15. Interference from mere thinking: mental rehearsal temporarily disrupts recall of motor memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yin, Cong; Wei, Kunlin

    2014-08-01

    Interference between successively learned tasks is widely investigated to study motor memory. However, how simultaneously learned motor memories interact with each other has been rarely studied despite its prevalence in daily life. Assuming that motor memory shares common neural mechanisms with declarative memory system, we made unintuitive predictions that mental rehearsal, as opposed to further practice, of one motor memory will temporarily impair the recall of another simultaneously learned memory. Subjects simultaneously learned two sensorimotor tasks, i.e., visuomotor rotation and gain. They retrieved one memory by either practice or mental rehearsal and then had their memory evaluated. We found that mental rehearsal, instead of execution, impaired the recall of unretrieved memory. This impairment was content-independent, i.e., retrieving either gain or rotation impaired the other memory. Hence, conscious recollection of one motor memory interferes with the recall of another memory. This is analogous to retrieval-induced forgetting in declarative memory, suggesting a common neural process across memory systems. Our findings indicate that motor imagery is sufficient to induce interference between motor memories. Mental rehearsal, currently widely regarded as beneficial for motor performance, negatively affects memory recall when it is exercised for a subset of memorized items. Copyright © 2014 the American Physiological Society.

  16. Does the athletes? body shape the athletes? mind? A few ideas on athletes? mental rotation performance. Commentary on Jansen and Lehmann

    OpenAIRE

    Heinen, Thomas

    2013-01-01

    Athletes exhibit differences in perceptual-cognitive abilities when compared to non-athletes. Recent theoretical developments focus on the role of the athletes? body in perceptual-cognitive tasks such as mental rotation tasks. It is assumed that the degree to which stimuli in mental rotation tasks can be embodied facilitates the mental rotation process. The implications of this assumption are discussed and ideas for future research are presented.

  17. Cerebral asymmetry for mental rotation: effects of response hand, handedness and gender.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Blake W; McKenzie, Kirsten J; Hamm, Jeff P

    2002-10-28

    We assessed lateralization of brain function during mental rotation, measuring the scalp distribution of a 400-600 ms latency event-related potential (ERP) with 128 recording electrodes. Twenty-four subjects, consisting of equal numbers of dextral and sinistral males and females, performed a mental rotation task under two response conditions (dominant non-dominant hand). For males, ERPs showed a right parietal bias regardless of response hand. For females, the parietal ERPs were slightly left-lateralized when making dominant hand responses, but strongly right-lateralized when making non-dominant hand responses. These results support the notion that visuo-spatial processing is more bilaterally organized in females. However, left hemisphere resources may be allocated to response preparation when using the non-dominant hand, forcing visuo-spatial processing to the right hemisphere.

  18. Mental Fatigue: Impairment of Technical Performance in Small-Sided Soccer Games.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Badin, Oliver O; Smith, Mitchell R; Conte, Daniele; Coutts, Aaron J

    2016-11-01

    To assess the effects of mental fatigue on physical and technical performance in small-sided soccer games. Twenty soccer players (age 17.8 ± 1.0 y, height 179 ± 5 cm, body mass 72.4 ± 6.8 kg, playing experience 8.3 ± 1.4 y) from an Australian National Premier League soccer club volunteered to participate in this randomized crossover investigation. Participants played 15-min 5-vs-5 small-sided games (SSGs) without goalkeepers on 2 occasions separated by 1 wk. Before the SSG, 1 team watched a 30-min emotionally neutral documentary (control), while the other performed 30 min of a computer-based Stroop task (mental fatigue). Subjective ratings of mental and physical fatigue were recorded before and after treatment and after the SSG. Motivation was assessed before treatment and SSG; mental effort was assessed after treatment and SSG. Player activity profiles and heart rate (HR) were measured throughout the SSG, whereas ratings of perceived exertion (RPEs) were recorded before the SSG and immediately after each half. Video recordings of the SSG allowed for notational analysis of technical variables. Subjective ratings of mental fatigue and effort were higher after the Stroop task, whereas motivation for the upcoming SSG was similar between conditions. HR during the SSG was possibly higher in the control condition, whereas RPE was likely higher in the mental-fatigue condition. Mental fatigue had an unclear effect on most physical-performance variables but impaired most technical-performance variables. Mental fatigue impairs technical but not physical performance in small-sided soccer games.

  19. The functional role of dorso-lateral premotor cortex during mental rotation: an event-related fMRI study separating cognitive processing steps using a novel task paradigm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lamm, Claus; Windischberger, Christian; Moser, Ewald; Bauer, Herbert

    2007-07-15

    Subjects deciding whether two objects presented at angular disparity are identical or mirror versions of each other usually show response times that linearly increase with the angle between objects. This phenomenon has been termed mental rotation. While there is widespread agreement that parietal cortex plays a dominant role in mental rotation, reports concerning the involvement of motor areas are less consistent. From a theoretical point of view, activation in motor areas suggests that mental rotation relies upon visuo-motor rather than visuo-spatial processing alone. However, the type of information that is processed by motor areas during mental rotation remains unclear. In this study we used event-related fMRI to assess whether activation in parietal and dorsolateral premotor areas (dPM) during mental rotation is distinctively related to processing spatial orientation information. Using a newly developed task paradigm we explicitly separated the processing steps (encoding, mental rotation proper and object matching) required by mental rotation tasks and additionally modulated the amount of spatial orientation information that had to be processed. Our results show that activation in dPM during mental rotation is not strongly modulated by the processing of spatial orientation information, and that activation in dPM areas is strongest during mental rotation proper. The latter finding suggests that dPM is involved in more generalized processes such as visuo-spatial attention and movement anticipation. We propose that solving mental rotation tasks is heavily dependent upon visuo-motor processes and evokes neural processing that may be considered as an implicit simulation of actual object rotation.

  20. Explaining sex differences in mental rotation: role of spatial activity experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nazareth, Alina; Herrera, Asiel; Pruden, Shannon M

    2013-05-01

    Males consistently outperform females on mental rotation tasks, such as the Vandenberg and Kuse (1978) Perceptual and Motor Skills, 47(2), 599-604, mental rotation test (MRT; e.g. Voyer et al. 1995) in Psychological Bulletin, 117, 250-265. The present study investigates whether these sex differences in MRT scores can be explained in part by early spatial activity experience, particularly those spatial activities that have been sex-typed as masculine/male-oriented. Utilizing an online survey, 571 ethnically diverse adult university students completed a brief demographic survey, an 81-item spatial activity survey, and the MRT. Results suggest that the significant relation between sex of the participant and MRT score is partially mediated by the number of masculine spatial activities participants had engaged in as youth. Closing the gap between males and females in spatial ability, a skill linked to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics success, may be accomplished in part by encouraging female youth to engage in more particular kinds of spatial activities.

  1. Mentalization-based treatment for psychosis: linking an attachment-based model to the psychotherapy for impaired mental state understanding in people with psychotic disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brent, Benjamin K; Holt, Daphne J; Keshavan, Matcheri S; Seidman, Larry J; Fonagy, Peter

    2014-01-01

    Disturbances of mentalization have been increasingly associated with the symptoms and functional impairment of people with psychotic disorders. it has been proposed that psychotherapy designed to foster self and other understanding, such as mentalization-based treatment (mBt), may play an important part in facilitating recovery from psychosis. Here, we present an attachment-based understanding of mentalization impairments. We then outline a neuropsychological model that links disruptions of mentalization associated with disturbances in the caregiving environment to the pathophysiology of psychosis in genetically at-risk individuals. this is followed by an illustration of some of the core mBt techniques for the rehabilitation of the capacity to mentalize as applied to the treatment of a patient with a psychotic disorder.

  2. A Comparative Study on Emotional Intelligence and Mental Toughness for Visually Impaired Male and Female Athletes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robabeh Rostami

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Background: Nowadays researches find that athlete’s performance is affected not only by physical fitness, technical and tactical factors, but also mental and emotional features can affect sport performance. Objective: Hence, the aim of this study is examined the dimensions of emotional intelligence and mental toughness visually impaired male and female athletes. Methodology: This was a causal-comparative study, where the statistical population included 300 visually impaired male and female athletes taking part in the First National Cultural- Sports Festival featuring goalball, tug-of-war, track and field, swimming, and powerlifting. Using a smaple of convenience, 70 participants completed the Sheard, Golby, and van Wersch-questionnaire on mental toughness in three dimensions of  “confidence” “ control” and “constancy”, and the Petrides and Furnham’s questionnaire in four dimensions of “ understanding emotions”, “ social skills” “ controlling emotions” and “ optimism”. Results: Analysis of variables using an independent t-test showed significant differences in the dimensions of controlling emotions, understanding emotions, and social skills in favor of visually impaired sportswomen. However, there were no significant differences between the genders for optimism in the emotional intelligence questionnaire, and in mental toughness questionnaire. Conclusions: Visually impaired individuals pass through stages of emotional intelligence in a different way compared to those with normal vision. Moreover, motor skills and sports for the visually impaired are of a different kind. Moreover, our results showed that women benefited more from participating in physical and sporting activities than men did. Therefore, we recommend that authorities and people involved in sports for the visually impaired should make more use of exercises in psychological skills, along with technical and tactical ones, for visually impaired male

  3. The Relationship of Level of Positive Mental Health with Current Mental Disorders in Predicting Suicidal Behavior and Academic Impairment in College Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keyes, Corey L. M.; Eisenberg, Daniel; Perry, Geraldine S.; Dube, Shanta R.; Kroenke, Kurt; Dhingra, Satvinder S.

    2012-01-01

    Objective: To investigate whether level of positive mental health complements mental illness in predicting students at risk for suicidal behavior and impaired academic performance. Participants: A sample of 5,689 college students participated in the 2007 Healthy Minds Study and completed an Internet survey that included the Mental Health…

  4. The role of embodied simulation in mental transformation of whole-body images: evidence from Parkinson's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Conson, Massimiliano; Trojano, Luigi; Vitale, Carmine; Mazzarella, Elisabetta; Allocca, Roberto; Barone, Paolo; Grossi, Dario; Santangelo, Gabriella

    2014-02-01

    It has been repeatedly demonstrated that mentally performing an action and mentally transforming body-parts entail simulation of one's own body movements, consistent with predictions of embodied cognition theories. However, the involvement of embodied simulation in mental transformation of whole-body images is still disputed. Here, we assessed own body transformation in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with symptoms most affecting the left or the right body side. PD patients were required to perform left-right judgments on front-facing or back-facing human figures, and a letter rotation task. Results demonstrated that PD patients were selectively impaired in judging the side of back-facing human figures corresponding to their own most affected side, but performed as well as healthy subjects on mental transformation of front-facing bodies and on letter rotation. These findings demonstrate a parallel impairment between motor and mental simulation mechanisms in PD patients, thus highlighting the specific contribution of embodied cognition to mental transformation of whole-body images. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  5. Mental Health among Students with Hearing Impairment in a Malaysian Secondary School

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sharene Tay Ai Hwa

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Good mental health is important to meet challenges in life. In contrast, mental health problem may affect anyone at any age, and may significantly impair one’s ability to form daily activities. The aim of this study is to identify mental health state among hearing impaired secondary school students in Johor Bahru. For collecting data, a survey design was using a questionnaire. A total of 77 students with hearing disabilities were selected through purposive sampling to participate in this study. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics in the form of frequency and percentage. The findings in this study showed that peers problems are the most significant problems, followed by conduct problems, and emotional problems. These findings indicate that the need to tackle mental health problems due to the impact of poor mental health in an individual can lead to problems for the individuals themselves, their families and society. Kesihatan mental yang baik adalah penting untuk menghadapi cabaran dalam kehidupan. Sebaliknya, masalah kesihatan mental boleh menjejaskan sesiapa sahaja pada peringkat umur, dan dengan ketara boleh menjejaskan keupayaan seseorang untuk membentuk aktiviti harian. Tujuan utama kajian ini adalah untuk mengenal pasti tahap kesihatan mental murid di sekolah menengah kurang upaya pendengaran di Johor Bahru. Kajian tinjauan ini menggunakan soalselidik untuk mengumpulkan data. Seramai 77 orang murid kurang upaya pendengaran yang telah dipilih melalui persampelan bertujuan sebagai responden dalam kajian ini. Data dianalisis melalui statistik deskriptif dalam bentuk kekerapan dan peratusan. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa masalah rakan sebaya merupakan masalah yang paling signifikan, diikuti oleh masalah conduct, dan masalah emosi. Penemuan ini menunjukkan keperluan untuk menangani masalah kesihatan mental kerana impak kesihatan mental yang kurang memuaskan pada seseorang individu boleh mengakibatkan masalah kepada individu itu

  6. Mental State Inferences Abilities Contribution to Verbal Irony Comprehension in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. Gaudreau

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective. The present study examined mentalizing capacities as well as the relative implication of mentalizing in the comprehension of ironic and sincere assertions among 30 older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI and 30 healthy control (HC subjects. Method. Subjects were administered a task evaluating mentalizing by means of short stories. A verbal irony comprehension task, in which participants had to identify ironic or sincere statements within short stories, was also administered; the design of the task allowed uniform implication of mentalizing across the conditions. Results. Findings indicated that participants with MCI have second-order mentalizing difficulties compared to HC subjects. Moreover, MCI participants were impaired compared to the HC group in identifying ironic or sincere stories, both requiring mental inference capacities. Conclusion. This study suggests that, in individuals with MCI, difficulties in the comprehension of ironic and sincere assertions are closely related to second-order mentalizing deficits. These findings support previous data suggesting a strong relationship between irony comprehension and mentalizing.

  7. Identification of cognitive impairment and mental illness in elderly homeless men: Before and after access to primary health care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joyce, David P; Limbos, Marjolaine

    2009-11-01

    To describe the occurrence of mental health problems and cognitive impairment in a group of elderly homeless men and to demonstrate how clinical examination and screening tests used in a shelter setting might be helpful in identifying mental illness and cognitive impairment. Cross-sectional study including face-to-face interviews and review of medical records. A community-based homeless shelter in an urban metropolitan centre (Toronto, Ont). A total of 49 male participants 55 years of age or older. The average duration of homelessness was 8.8 (SD 10.2) years. Participants were admitted to a community-based shelter that offered access to regular meals, personal support and housing workers, nursing, and a primary care physician. Medical chart review was undertaken to identify mental illness or cognitive impairment diagnosed either before or after admission to the facility. The 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) and the Folstein Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) were administered. Previous or new diagnosis of mental illness or cognitive impairment. Thirty-six of the participants (73.5%) had previous or new diagnoses. The most prevalent diagnosis was schizophrenia or psychotic disorders (n = 17), followed by depression (n = 11), anxiety disorders (n = 3), cognitive impairment (n = 8), and bipolar affective disorder (n = 1). A total of 37% of participants were given new mental health diagnoses during the study. The GDS-15 identified 9 people with depression and the MMSE uncovered 11 individuals with cognitive impairment who had not been previously diagnosed. This study suggests that providing access to primary care physicians and other services in a community-based shelter program can assist in identification of mental illness and cognitive impairment in elderly homeless men. Use of brief screening tools for depression and cognitive impairment (like the GDS-15 and the MMSE) could be helpful in this highrisk group.

  8. Identity degradation and mental disorder: an empirical assessment of the Conduct Impairment Scale.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schley, W R; Wagenfeld, M O

    1979-02-01

    Proponents of the medical models have held that mental disorder is best measured in terms of some inventory of symptoms indicative of an underlying disease. Alternatively, critics have argued that mental disorder is the result of a degraded ascribed role, a discrepancy between the person and his environment, or the degradation of identity. The issue goes beyond academic debate, with important implications for case-finding and program development in community mental health. Theodore Sarbin has developed a 58-item "Conduct Impairment Scale" to operationalize the concept of "Identity Degradation" and proposed it as a substitute for the medical model. Three dimensions are posited: status, value, and involvement. An appropriate level of reliability and clustering of scale items are reported by Sarbin. In order to subject the scale to a more rigorous test, it was administered to a random sample of 208 respondents in four neighborhoods in Grand Rapids, Michigan, as part of a larger epidemiological study. In an effort to assess the validity of the scale, factor analytic methods were employed. A principal components model with varimax rotation was performed. It was found that items purporting to tap the three theoretical dimensions explicated by Sarbin did not load in the expected pattern. Additionally, the first three extracted factors accounted for only a small proportion of the total variance. Efforts to assess the reliability of the scale were more fruitful. A corrected split-half of .82 and coefficient alpha of .86 were obtained. It was concluded that the validity of the scale was not adequately demonstrated, and its use as an alternative to the medical model open to serious reservation.

  9. The mental health of UK ex-servicemen with a combat-related or a non-combat-related visual impairment: does the cause of visual impairment matter?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stevelink, Sharon A M; Malcolm, Estelle M; Gill, Pashyca C; Fear, Nicola T

    2015-08-01

    Since the start of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the numbers of young service personnel who have sustained a combat-related visual impairment have increased. This cross-sectional study examined the mental well-being of ex-servicemen (aged 22-55 years) with a visual impairment and determined if the mental health of those with a combat-related visual impairment differed from those whose visual impairment is not combat-related. Male ex-service personnel with a visual impairment completed a telephone interview assessing the presence of depressive symptomatology, probable anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology and alcohol misuse. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. 77 participants were included in the study, reflecting a response rate of 76.2%. Of those with complete data (n=74), 20 ex-servicemen had a combat-related visual impairment. Among ex-service personnel with a combat-related visual impairment, 10.0% (95% CI 0 to 23.2) screened positive for a probable depression, 25.0% (95% CI 6.0 to 44.0) for probable anxiety and 10.0% (95% CI 0 to 23.2) for probable PTSD. The prevalence of probable depression and probable PTSD differed among those with a non-combat-related visual impairment, namely 18.5% (95% CI 8.1 to 28.9) and 16.7% (95% CI 6.8 to 26.7), respectively. Probable anxiety was 18.5% (95% CI 8.1 to 28.9) among non-combat-related visually impaired ex-service personnel. 45.0% (95% CI 23.2 to 66.8) of combat-related visually impaired personnel reported hazardous drinking, compared with 20.4% (95% CI 9.7 to 31.2) of those with a non-combat-related visual impairment. Mental health problems were prevalent among visually impaired younger ex-servicemen. No statistically significant differences were found in the prevalence of mental health problems among ex-servicemen with a combat-related visual impairment compared with those with a non-combat-related visual impairment. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited

  10. Mental Fatigue Impairs Soccer-Specific Physical and Technical Performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Mitchell R; Coutts, Aaron J; Merlini, Michele; Deprez, Dieter; Lenoir, Matthieu; Marcora, Samuele M

    2016-02-01

    To investigate the effects of mental fatigue on soccer-specific physical and technical performance. This investigation consisted of two separate studies. Study 1 assessed the soccer-specific physical performance of 12 moderately trained soccer players using the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test, Level 1 (Yo-Yo IR1). Study 2 assessed the soccer-specific technical performance of 14 experienced soccer players using the Loughborough Soccer Passing and Shooting Tests (LSPT, LSST). Each test was performed on two occasions and preceded, in a randomized, counterbalanced order, by 30 min of the Stroop task (mentally fatiguing treatment) or 30 min of reading magazines (control treatment). Subjective ratings of mental fatigue were measured before and after treatment, and mental effort and motivation were measured after treatment. Distance run, heart rate, and ratings of perceived exertion were recorded during the Yo-Yo IR1. LSPT performance time was calculated as original time plus penalty time. LSST performance was assessed using shot speed, shot accuracy, and shot sequence time. Subjective ratings of mental fatigue and effort were higher after the Stroop task in both studies (P motivation was similar between conditions. This mental fatigue significantly reduced running distance in the Yo-Yo IR1 (P performance time were not different between conditions; however, penalty time significantly increased in the mental fatigue condition (P = 0.015). Mental fatigue also impaired shot speed (P = 0.024) and accuracy (P performance.

  11. Mental health impairment in underweight women: do body dissatisfaction and eating-disordered behavior play a role?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hay Phillipa

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background We sought to evaluate the hypothesis that mental health impairment in underweight women, where this occurs, is due to an association between low body weight and elevated levels of body dissatisfaction and/or eating-disordered behaviour. Methods Subgroups of underweight and normal-weight women recruited from a large, general population sample were compared on measures of body dissatisfaction, eating-disordered behaviour and mental health. Results Underweight women had significantly greater impairment in mental health than normal-weight women, even after controlling for between-group differences in demographic characteristics and physical health. However, there was no evidence that higher levels of body dissatisfaction or eating-disordered behaviour accounted for this difference. Rather, underweight women had significantly lower levels of body dissatisfaction and eating-disordered behaviour than normal-weight women. Conclusions The findings suggest that mental health impairment in underweight women, where this occurs, is unlikely to be due to higher levels of body dissatisfaction or eating-disordered behaviour. Rather, lower levels of body dissatisfaction and eating-disordered behaviour among underweight women may counterbalance, to some extent, impairment due to other factors.

  12. Prior Mental Fatigue Impairs Marksmanship Decision Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    James Head

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: Mental fatigue has been shown to impair subsequent physical performance in continuous and discontinuous exercise. However, its influence on subsequent fine-motor performance in an applied setting (e.g., marksmanship for trained soldiers is relatively unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether prior mental fatigue influences subsequent marksmanship performance as measured by shooting accuracy and judgment of soldiers in a live-fire scenario.Methods: Twenty trained infantry soldiers engaged targets after completing either a mental fatigue or control intervention in a repeated measure design. Heart rate variability and the NASA-TLX were used to gauge physiological and subjective effects of the interventions. Target hit proportion, projectile group accuracy, and precision were used to measure marksmanship accuracy. Marksmanship accuracy was assessed by measuring bullet group accuracy (i.e., how close a group of shots are relative to center of mass and bullet group precision (i.e., how close are each individual shot to each other. Additionally, marksmanship decision accuracy (correctly shooting vs. correctly withholding shot when engaging targets was used to examine marksmanship performance.Results: Soldiers rated the mentally fatiguing task (59.88 ± 23.7 as having greater mental workload relative to the control intervention [31.29 ± 12.3, t(19 = 1.72, p < 0.001]. Additionally, soldiers completing the mental fatigue intervention (96.04 ± = 37.1 also had lower time-domain (standard deviation of normal to normal R-R intervals heart rate variability relative to the control [134.39 ± 47.4, t(18 = 3.59, p < 0.001]. Projectile group accuracy and group precision failed to show differences between interventions [t(19 = 0.98, p = 0.34, t(19 = 0.18, p = 0.87, respectively]. Marksmanship decision errors significantly increased after soldiers completed the mental fatigue intervention (48% ± 22.4 relative to the control

  13. Combining Automatic Item Generation and Experimental Designs to Investigate the Contribution of Cognitive Components to the Gender Difference in Mental Rotation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arendasy, Martin E.; Sommer, Markus; Gittler, Georg

    2010-01-01

    Marked gender differences in three-dimensional mental rotation have been broadly reported in the literature in the last few decades. Various theoretical models and accounts were used to explain the observed differences. Within the framework of linking item design features of mental rotation tasks to cognitive component processes associated with…

  14. Neurocognitive impairment in a large sample of homeless adults with mental illness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stergiopoulos, V; Cusi, A; Bekele, T; Skosireva, A; Latimer, E; Schütz, C; Fernando, I; Rourke, S B

    2015-04-01

    This study examines neurocognitive functioning in a large, well-characterized sample of homeless adults with mental illness and assesses demographic and clinical factors associated with neurocognitive performance. A total of 1500 homeless adults with mental illness enrolled in the At Home Chez Soi study completed neuropsychological measures assessing speed of information processing, memory, and executive functioning. Sociodemographic and clinical data were also collected. Linear regression analyses were conducted to examine factors associated with neurocognitive performance. Approximately half of our sample met criteria for psychosis, major depressive disorder, and alcohol or substance use disorder, and nearly half had experienced severe traumatic brain injury. Overall, 72% of participants demonstrated cognitive impairment, including deficits in processing speed (48%), verbal learning (71%) and recall (67%), and executive functioning (38%). The overall statistical model explained 19.8% of the variance in the neurocognitive summary score, with reduced neurocognitive performance associated with older age, lower education, first language other than English or French, Black or Other ethnicity, and the presence of psychosis. Homeless adults with mental illness experience impairment in multiple neuropsychological domains. Much of the variance in our sample's cognitive performance remains unexplained, highlighting the need for further research in the mechanisms underlying cognitive impairment in this population. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  15. Mediational Model of Multiple Sclerosis Impairments, Family Needs, and Caregiver Mental Health in Guadalajara, Mexico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Melody N. Mickens

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS, especially those living in Latin America, often require assistance from family caregivers throughout the duration of the disease. Previous research suggests that family caregivers may experience positive and negative outcomes from providing care to individuals with MS, but few studies have examined the unmet needs of individuals providing care to family members with MS and how these unmet needs may mediate the relationship between MS symptoms and caregiver mental health. The current study examined the relationships among MS impairments (functional, neurological, cognitive, behavioral, and emotional, unmet family needs (household, informational, financial, social support, and health, and caregiver mental health (satisfaction with life, anxiety, burden, and depression in a sample of 81 MS caregivers from Guadalajara, Mexico. A structural equation model demonstrated the mediational effect of unmet family needs on the relationship between MS impairments and caregiver mental health. These findings suggest that intervention research on MS caregivers in Latin America may consider focusing on caregiver mental health problems by addressing unmet family needs and teaching caregivers ways to manage the impairments of the individual with MS.

  16. Dopamine Does Not Appear to Affect Mental Rotation in Parkinson’s Disease

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gregory P. Crucian

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available ObjectivePatients with Parkinson’s disease (PD often have deficits with mental rotation (MR. The neuropathological factors underlying these deficits, however, remain to be elucidated. One hypothesis suggests that dopamine depletion in nigro-striatal systems adversely influences MR. Another hypothesis suggests that deterioration of cortical (fronto-temporo-parietal basal ganglia networks that mediate this function are responsible for this deficit. The goal of this study was to test the dopamine hypothesis by determining if dopamine abstinence negatively influences MR performance. MethodsThirty three non-demented right-handed individuals with PD were assess for their ability to perform a pencil and paper MR test while “on” and “off” dopaminergic medications. Dopamine abstinence followed the typical overnight withdrawal procedures. ResultsNo differences in mental rotation abilities were found between “on” and “off” dopaminergic medications. ConclusionsThese results suggest that other neuropathological factors, such as cortical-basal ganglia neurodegeneration, or dysfunction of other neurotransmitters systems, might account for these cognitive deficits and future research will have to test these alternative hypotheses.

  17. Sex differences and autism: brain function during verbal fluency and mental rotation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Felix D C C Beacher

    Full Text Available Autism spectrum conditions (ASC affect more males than females. This suggests that the neurobiology of autism: 1 may overlap with mechanisms underlying typical sex-differentiation or 2 alternately reflect sex-specificity in how autism is expressed in males and females. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI to test these alternate hypotheses. Fifteen men and fourteen women with Asperger syndrome (AS, and sixteen typically developing men and sixteen typically developing women underwent fMRI during performance of mental rotation and verbal fluency tasks. All groups performed the tasks equally well. On the verbal fluency task, despite equivalent task-performance, both males and females with AS showed enhanced activation of left occipitoparietal and inferior prefrontal activity compared to controls. During mental rotation, there was a significant diagnosis-by-sex interaction across occipital, temporal, parietal, middle frontal regions, with greater activation in AS males and typical females compared to AS females and typical males. These findings suggest a complex relationship between autism and sex that is differentially expressed in verbal and visuospatial domains.

  18. Sex differences and autism: brain function during verbal fluency and mental rotation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beacher, Felix D C C; Radulescu, Eugenia; Minati, Ludovico; Baron-Cohen, Simon; Lombardo, Michael V; Lai, Meng-Chuan; Walker, Anne; Howard, Dawn; Gray, Marcus A; Harrison, Neil A; Critchley, Hugo D

    2012-01-01

    Autism spectrum conditions (ASC) affect more males than females. This suggests that the neurobiology of autism: 1) may overlap with mechanisms underlying typical sex-differentiation or 2) alternately reflect sex-specificity in how autism is expressed in males and females. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to test these alternate hypotheses. Fifteen men and fourteen women with Asperger syndrome (AS), and sixteen typically developing men and sixteen typically developing women underwent fMRI during performance of mental rotation and verbal fluency tasks. All groups performed the tasks equally well. On the verbal fluency task, despite equivalent task-performance, both males and females with AS showed enhanced activation of left occipitoparietal and inferior prefrontal activity compared to controls. During mental rotation, there was a significant diagnosis-by-sex interaction across occipital, temporal, parietal, middle frontal regions, with greater activation in AS males and typical females compared to AS females and typical males. These findings suggest a complex relationship between autism and sex that is differentially expressed in verbal and visuospatial domains.

  19. [Impairment of muscle vasodilation during mental stress in women with subclinical hypothyroidism].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghetti, Fabiana de Faria; Lacerda, Rafaela Pinheiro; Wernek, Francisco Zacaron; Coelho, Emerson Filipino; Vaisman, Mário; Lima, Jorge Roberto Perrout de; Martinez, Daniel Godoy; Laterza, Mateus Camaroti

    2014-10-01

    To test the hypothesis that women with subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) have forearm vascular conductance (FVC) impaired during mental stress. We evaluated 20 women with SH and 21 euthyroid (Control group), matched for age (p = 0.699) and body mass index (p = 0.462). Muscle blood flow (MBF) was assessed by venous occlusion plethysmography and blood pressure by Dixtal2023. Both variables were recorded simultaneously for 3 minutes of baseline followed by 3 minutes of mental stress. The FVC was calculated by dividing MBF by mean arterial pressure. Significant differences were assumed at p muscle vasodilatatory response during mental stress.

  20. Gender Difference Does Not Mean Genetic Difference: Externalizing Improves Performance in Mental Rotation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moe, Angelica

    2012-01-01

    The fear of underperforming owing to stereotype threat affects women's performance in tasks such as mathematics, chess, and spatial reasoning. The present research considered mental rotation and explored effects on performance and on regulatory focus of instructions pointing to different explanations for gender differences. Two hundred and one…

  1. Mental Rotation in False Belief Understanding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Jiushu; Cheung, Him; Shen, Manqiong; Wang, Ruiming

    2018-05-01

    This study examines the spontaneous use of embodied egocentric transformation (EET) in understanding false beliefs in the minds of others. EET involves the participants mentally transforming or rotating themselves into the orientation of an agent when trying to adopt his or her visuospatial perspective. We argue that psychological perspective taking such as false belief reasoning may also involve EET because of what has been widely reported in the embodied cognition literature, showing that our processing of abstract, propositional information is often grounded in concrete bodily sensations which are not apparently linked to higher cognition. In Experiment 1, an agent placed a ball into one of two boxes and left. The ball then rolled out and moved either into the other box (new box) or back into the original one (old box). The participants were to decide from which box they themselves or the agent would try to recover the ball. Results showed that false belief performance was affected by increased orientation disparity between the participants and the agent, suggesting involvement of embodied transformation. In Experiment 2, false belief was similarly induced and the participants were to decide if the agent would try to recover the ball in one specific box. Orientation disparity was again found to affect false belief performance. The present results extend previous findings on EET in visuospatial perspective taking and suggest that false belief reasoning, which is a kind of psychological perspective taking, can also involve embodied rotation, consistent with the embodied cognition view. Copyright © 2018 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

  2. Visual impairment is associated with physical and mental comorbidities in older adults: a cross-sectional study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Court, Helen; McLean, Gary; Guthrie, Bruce; Mercer, Stewart W; Smith, Daniel J

    2014-10-17

    Visual impairment is common in older people and the presence of additional health conditions can compromise health and rehabilitation outcomes. A small number of studies have suggested that comorbities are common in visual impairment; however, those studies have relied on self-report and have assessed a relatively limited number of comorbid conditions. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of a dataset of 291,169 registered patients (65-years-old and over) within 314 primary care practices in Scotland, UK. Visual impairment was identified using Read Code ever recorded for blindness and/or low vision (within electronic medical records). Prevalence, odds ratios (from prevalence rates standardised by stratifying individuals by age groups (65 to 69 years; 70 to 74; 75 to 79; 80 to 84; and 85 and over), gender and deprivation quintiles) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) of 37 individual chronic physical/mental health conditions and total number of conditions were calculated and compared for those with visual impairment to those without. Twenty seven of the 29 physical health conditions and all eight mental health conditions were significantly more likely to be recorded for individuals with visual impairment compared to individuals without visual impairment, after standardising for age, gender and social deprivation. Individuals with visual impairment were also significantly more likely to have more comorbidities (for example, five or more conditions (odds ratio (OR) 2.05 95% CI 1.94 to 2.18)). Patients aged 65 years and older with visual impairment have a broad range of physical and mental health comorbidities compared to those of the same age without visual impairment, and are more likely to have multiple comorbidities. This has important implications for clinical practice and for the future design of integrated services to meet the complex needs of patients with visual impairment, for example, embedding depression and hearing screening within eye care services.

  3. High School Students' Performance on Vandenberg's Mental Rotations Test: Art Ability, Gender, Activities, Academic Performance, Strategies, and Ease of Taking the Test.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gurny, Helen Graham

    This study tested whether mental rotation performance of 186 high school students (80 males and 106 females) in grades 9 through 12 in art and nonart classes on Vandenbergs Mental Rotations test (S. Vandenberg and Kuse, 1978) was affected by gender, visual-spatial activities, strategies used while performing the test, and the ease of test taking.…

  4. Fast and Careless or Careful and Slow? Apparent Holistic Processing in Mental Rotation Is Explained by Speed-Accuracy Trade-Offs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liesefeld, Heinrich René; Fu, Xiaolan; Zimmer, Hubert D.

    2015-01-01

    A major debate in the mental-rotation literature concerns the question of whether objects are represented holistically during rotation. Effects of object complexity on rotational speed are considered strong evidence against such holistic representations. In Experiment 1, such an effect of object complexity was markedly present. A closer look on…

  5. Is the Male Advantage in Mental-Rotation Performance Task Independent? On the Usability of Chronometric Tests and Paper-and-Pencil Tests in Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quaiser-Pohl, Claudia; Neuburger, Sarah; Heil, Martin; Jansen, Petra; Schmelter, Andrea

    2014-01-01

    This article presents a reanalysis of the data of 862 second and fourth graders collected in two previous studies, focusing on the influence of method (psychometric vs. chronometric) and stimulus type on the gender difference in mental-rotation accuracy. The children had to solve mental-rotation tasks with animal pictures, letters, or cube…

  6. Original article The effect of three-dimensional imaging of well-known objects on time and accuracy of mental rotation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Piotr Francuz

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Background The purpose of this study was to verify hypotheses concerning the effect of three-dimensional imaging and the canonicity of objects presented in the original position on the reaction time (RT and the accuracy (A of mental rotation task (MRT execution. The classical paradigm of MRT, developed by Shepard and Metzler (1971, was used in the experiment. Participants and procedure One hundred fifty-eight undergraduate students (88 female and 70 male, aged 18-30 years, participated in the experiment. All participants had normal vision or corrected vision, and reported no stereo blindness. The sequential version of the MRT was used in the experiment. Participants answered whether the object observed in the second position was only rotated or both rotated and mirror-reversed, in comparison to its original position. The answer (accuracy and its latency (RT were recorded. Results As predicted by the mental rotation model, both the “U”-shaped A-MRT distribution and the inverted “U”-shaped RT-MRT distribution were found, due to the angular disparity. For the RT-MRT, this effect was more pronounced when the objects were displayed stereoscopically than in a plane, and when the objects were presented in the original position from the canonical orientation rather than an unusual point of view. On the other hand, in the case of the A-MRT, an effect of the orientation of objects presented in the original position on strengthening the relationship between accuracy and angular disparity was found. Conclusions The results indicated that the interactions between the presentation of the objects in the mental rotation task (stereoscopically vs. in a plane and the orientation of the object in its original position (canonically vs. unusual are more complicated than would appear from predictions of classical theories of mental rotation. The results of this study are discussed in relation to the theories of recognition and categorization.

  7. Multiple Learning Strategies Project. Building Maintenance & Engineering. Educable Mentally Impaired. [Vol. 2.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Constantini, Debra; And Others

    This instructional package is one of three designed for educable mentally impaired students in the vocational area of building maintenance and engineering. The thirty-four learning modules are organized into six units: general maintenance tasks; restrooms; chalkboards; carpet care; office cleaning; and grounds. Each module includes these elements:…

  8. Movimentos oculares e padrões de busca visual em tarefas de rotação mental Eye movements and scan patterns in mental rotation tasks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Priscila Covre

    2005-06-01

    Full Text Available O objetivo deste estudo é identificar as estratégias utilizadas nas tarefas de rotação mental pela análise dos traçados dos movimentos oculares. Foi analisado o desempenho de 40 participantes na comparação de pares de objetos tridimensionais rotacionados no eixo y, com diferenças de angulação de 0o a 180o. Foi utilizado um sistema computacional de rastreamento dos movimentos oculares (eyetracking durante a visualização de figuras. Os resultados mostram que tempo de julgamento, duração média das fixações do olho, número de fixações nos objetos e número de alternâncias entre os dois objetos aumentam em função da diferença de angulação. Análise dos traçados oculares, com base na inspeção visual, indica o uso de dois tipos de estratégias: rotação mental em torno dos eixos padrões e comparação independente da orientação. O uso dessas estratégias é discutido com relação ao desempenho dos participantes e à memória de trabalho.The purpose of this paper is to identify the strategies used on mental rotation tasks by analyzing ocular movements. The performance of 40 participants on comparison of pairs of three-dimensional objects, rotated on the y-axis, from 0o to 180o was analyzed. An eye-tracking computerized system was used to track eye movements during scene visualization. Results showed that judgment time, fixation duration, number of fixations and number of switches between the objects increased with rotation angle. Analysis by visual inspection indicates the use of two kinds of strategies: Mental rotation around the standard axis and comparison of orientation-free descriptions. The use of the strategies is discussed with regard to performance and working memory.

  9. Multiple Learning Strategies Project. Building Maintenance & Engineering. Educable Mentally Impaired. [Vol. 1.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Dwight; And Others

    This instructional package is one of three designed for educable mentally impaired students in the vocational area of building maintenance and engineering. The thirty learning modules are organized into two units: floor care and general maintenance tasks. Each module includes these elements: a performance objective page which tells the student…

  10. You Should Be the Specialist! Weak Mental Rotation Performance in Aviation Security Screeners - Reduced Performance Level in Aviation Security with No Gender Effect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krüger, Jenny K; Suchan, Boris

    2016-01-01

    Aviation security screeners analyze a large number of X-ray images per day and seem to be experts in mentally rotating diverse kinds of visual objects. A robust gender-effect that men outperform women in the Vandenberg & Kuse mental rotation task has been well documented over the last years. In addition it has been shown that training can positively influence the overall task-performance. Considering this, the aim of the present study was to investigate whether security screeners show better performance in the Mental Rotation Test (MRT) independently of gender. Forty-seven security screeners of both sexes from two German airports were examined with a computer based MRT. Their performance was compared to a large sample of control subjects. The well-known gender-effect favoring men on mental rotation was significant within the control group. However, the security screeners did not show any sex differences suggesting an effect of training and professional performance. Surprisingly this specialized group showed a lower level of overall MRT performance than the control participants. Possible aviation related influences such as secondary effects of work-shift or expertise which can cumulatively cause this result are discussed.

  11. Androgens and cognitive abilities: Mental rotations skills and handedness in adult females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ripa, Caroline P.L.; Johannsen, T.H.; Mortensen, E.L.

    2006-01-01

    Research on animal and human populations has suggested elevated spatial abilities as well as higher incidence of left-handedness in genetic females exposed to abnormally high androgen levels perinatally. However, findings in humans are inconsistent. We administered the Mental Rotations Test...

  12. ICRP and impairment of mental function following prenatal irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mole, R.H.

    1992-01-01

    A brief account is given of mental retardation and intelligence testing in unirradiated human populations, without which it is not possible to judge the 1991 ICRP Recommendations relating to mental impairment. The dose-response used by ICRP (1991) for the reduction of IQ by irradiation in utero has no radiobiological basis because IQ values are derived from intelligence test scores by transforming the scale of measurement. It is also defective because it assumed that IQ is distributed normally whereas this is so only in normal school children, not in a population in general including retarded persons. There seems good evidence for a substantial threshold of dose for both reduction in IQ and increase in severe mental retardation (SMR). The four prenatally irradiated bomb survivors with SMR and intrauterine dose in the dose range 1-49 cGy were not intelligence tested, so the relation between SMR and IQ in that practically important dose range cannot be examined directly, SMR is a deterministic phenomenon, so is not expected to occur unless dose exceeds a threshold. The threshold doses for SMR based on linear dose-responses using ungrouped doses were 46 and 55 cGy DS86 intrauterine dose (Otake et al 1987). The threshold 50 cGy derived here for reduction in IQ is closely similar. Mild mental retardation has not been reported as a diagnosis in bombs survivors exposed in utero. (Author)

  13. But you should be the specialist! Weak Mental Rotation Performance in Aviation Security Screeners.Reduced performance level in aviation security with no gender effect.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jenny Kathinka Krüger

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Aviation security screeners analyze a large number of X-ray images per day and seem to be experts in mentally rotating diverse kinds of visual objects. A robust gender-effect that men outperform women in the Vandenberg & Kuse mental rotation task has been well documented over the last years. In addition it has been shown that training can positively influence the overall task-performance. Considering this, the aim of the present study was to investigate whether security screeners show better performance in the Mental Rotation Test (MRT independently of gender. Forty-seven security screeners of both sexes from two German airports were examined with a computer based MRT. Their performance was compared to a large sample of control subjects. The well-known gender-effect favoring men on mental rotation was significant within the control group. However, the security screeners did not show any sex differences suggesting an effect of training and professional performance. Surprisingly this specialized group showed a lower level of overall MRT performance than the control participants. Possible aviation related influences such as secondary effects of work-shift or expertise which can cumulatively cause this result are discussed.

  14. The Columbia Impairment Scale: Factor Analysis Using a Community Mental Health Sample

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singer, Jonathan B.; Eack, Shaun M.; Greeno, Catherine M.

    2011-01-01

    Objective: The objective of this study was to test the factor structure of the parent version of the Columbia Impairment Scale (CIS) in a sample of mothers who brought their children for community mental health (CMH) services (n = 280). Method: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test the fit of the hypothesized four-factor structure…

  15. Night shift and rotating shift in association with sleep problems, burnout and minor mental disorder in male and female employees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Wan-Ju; Cheng, Yawen

    2017-07-01

    Shift work is associated with adverse physical and psychological health outcomes. However, the independent health effects of night work and rotating shift on workers' sleep and mental health risks and the potential gender differences have not been fully evaluated. We used data from a nationwide survey of representative employees of Taiwan in 2013, consisting of 16 440 employees. Participants reported their work shift patterns 1 week prior to the survey, which were classified into the four following shift types: fixed day, rotating day, fixed night and rotating night shifts. Also obtained were self-reported sleep duration, presence of insomnia, burnout and mental disorder assessed by the Brief Symptom Rating Scale. Among all shift types, workers with fixed night shifts were found to have the shortest duration of sleep, highest level of burnout score, and highest prevalence of insomnia and minor mental disorders. Gender-stratified regression analyses with adjustment of age, education and psychosocial work conditions showed that both in male and female workers, fixed night shifts were associated with greater risks for short sleep duration (night shifts were also associated with increased risks for burnout and mental disorders, but after adjusting for insomnia, the associations between fixed night shifts and poor mental health were no longer significant. The findings of this study suggested that a fixed night shift was associated with greater risks for sleep and mental health problems, and the associations might be mediated by sleep disturbance. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

  16. Cortical activation during mental rotation in male-to-female and female-to-male transsexuals under hormonal treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carrillo, Beatriz; Gómez-Gil, Esther; Rametti, Giuseppina; Junque, Carme; Gomez, Angel; Karadi, Kazmer; Segovia, Santiago; Guillamon, Antonio

    2010-09-01

    There is strong evidence of sex differences in mental rotation tasks. Transsexualism is an extreme gender identity disorder in which individuals seek cross-gender treatment to change their sex. The aim of our study was to investigate if male-to-female (MF) and female-to-male (FM) transsexuals receiving cross-sex hormonal treatment have different patterns of cortical activation during a three-dimensional (3D) mental rotation task. An fMRI study was performed using a 3-T scan in a sample of 18 MF and 19 FM under chronic cross-sex hormonal treatment. Twenty-three males and 19 females served as controls. The general pattern of cerebral activation seen while visualizing the rotated and non-rotated figures was similar for all four groups showing strong occipito-parieto-frontal brain activation. However, compared to control males, the activation of MF transsexuals during the task was lower in the superior parietal lobe. Compared to control females, MF transsexuals showed higher activation in orbital and right dorsolateral prefrontal regions and lower activation in the left prefrontal gyrus. FM transsexuals did not differ from either the MF transsexual or control groups. Regression analyses between cerebral activation and the number of months of hormonal treatment showed a significant negative correlation in parietal, occipital and temporal regions in the MF transsexuals. No significant correlations with time were seen in the FM transsexuals. In conclusion, although we did not find a specific pattern of cerebral activation in the FM transsexuals, we have identified a specific pattern of cerebral activation during a mental 3D rotation task in MF transsexuals under cross-sex hormonal treatment that differed from control males in the parietal region and from control females in the orbital prefrontal region. The hypoactivation in MF transsexuals in the parietal region could be due to the hormonal treatment or could reflect a priori cerebral differences between MF transsexual

  17. Mental abilities and performance efficacy under a simulated 480 meters helium-oxygen saturation diving

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    gonglin ehou

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Stress in extreme environment severely disrupts human physiology and mental abilities. The present study investigated the cognition and performance efficacy of four divers during a simulated 480 meters helium-oxygen saturation diving. We analyzed the spatial memory, 2D/3D mental rotation functioning, grip strength, and hand-eye coordination ability in four divers during the 0 – 480 meters compression and decompression processes of the simulated diving. The results showed that except for its mild decrease on grip strength, the high atmosphere pressure condition significantly impaired the hand-eye coordination (especially at 300 meters, the reaction time and correct rate of mental rotation, as well as the spatial memory (especially as 410 meters, showing high individual variability. We conclude that the human cognition and performance efficacy are significantly affected during deep water saturation diving.

  18. Story Discourse and Use of Mental State Language between Mothers and School-Aged Children with and without Visual Impairment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tadic, Valerija; Pring, Linda; Dale, Naomi

    2013-01-01

    Background: Lack of sight compromises insight into other people's mental states. Little is known about the role of maternal language in assisting the development of mental state language in children with visual impairment (VI). Aims: To investigate mental state language strategies of mothers of school-aged children with VI and to compare…

  19. Prevalence of HIV among victims of sexual assault who were mentally impaired children (5 to 18 years in the Mthatha area of South Africa

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    Banwari L. Meel

    2009-04-01

    Method: This is a record review of attendees at the Sinawe Centre from 2001 to 2005. It is the only centre in the Mthatha area that provides care for sexually assaulted persons and it is affiliated to the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital. All mentally impaired victims of sexual assault were recorded on the register. Results: During the study period, 1,268 individuals, of whom 32 were profoundly mentally impaired, attended the Sinawe Centre following sexual assault. Of these mentally impaired individuals, 28 (87.5% were below the age of 18 years. Two were males while the rest were females, giving a male to female ratio of 1:15. A close relative was implicated in 29 (90.6% of the cases. Among the victims were six (18.7% epileptics who were on treatment. One was 13 years old and pregnant. Four were HIV positive on screening. Conclusion: Over 2% of the sexual assault victims attending the Sinawe Centre were mentally impaired. Of these, 12.5% were HIV seropositive.

  20. The Saint Louis University Mental Status Examination Is Better than the Mini-Mental State Examination to Determine the Cognitive Impairment in Turkish Elderly People.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaya, Derya; Isik, Ahmet Turan; Usarel, Cansu; Soysal, Pinar; Ellidokuz, Hulya; Grossberg, George T

    2016-04-01

    Presence of detailed screening instruments to detect cognitive impairment in the older adults' culture and language is very essential. The Saint Louis University Mental Status Examination (SLUMS) is one of cognitive screening scales used. The aim of the study was to establish the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of SLUMS (SLUMS-T). Two hundred seventy-four participants aged 60 years and older admitted to our geriatric clinic were screened for cognitive impairment using SLUMS-T and Mini-Mental State Examination. Internal consistency was analyzed with Cronbach α test. Area under curves of receiver operating characteristic analyses were used to test the predictive accuracy of the SLUMS-T for detecting amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and Alzheimer disease (AD) to set an appropriate cut-off point. The SLUMS-T scores were positively correlated with the Mini-Mental State Examination scores of the patients with aMCI and patients with AD and controls (r = 0.687, P < .001; r = 0.880, P < .001; respectively). Internal consistency of the SLUMS-T was Cronbach α = 0.85. It was found that SLUMS-T with a cut-off point of 23 had a sensitivity of 66.6% and a specificity of 72.3% for the diagnosis of aMCI, and with a cut-off point of 20 had a sensitivity of 83.8% and a specificity of 87.3% for the diagnosis of AD. SLUMS-T was demonstrated to have sufficient validity and reliability to evaluate cognitive impairment including MCI among Turkish elderly people. Copyright © 2016 AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. All rights reserved.

  1. Mental rotation: effects of gender, training and sleep consolidation.

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    Ursula Debarnot

    Full Text Available A wide range of experimental studies have provided evidence that a night of sleep contributes to memory consolidation. Mental rotation (MR skill is characterized by fundamental aspect of both cognitive and motor abilities which can be improved within practice sessions, but little is known about the effect of consolidation after MR practice. In the present study, we investigated the effect of MR training and the following corresponding day- and sleep-related time consolidations in taking into account the well-established gender difference in MR. Forty participants (20 women practiced a computerized version of the Vandenberg and Kuse MR task. Performance was evaluated before MR training, as well as prior to, and after a night of sleep or a similar daytime interval. Data showed that while men outperformed women during the pre-training test, brief MR practice was sufficient for women to achieve equivalent performance. Only participants subjected to a night of sleep were found to enhance MR performance during the retest, independently of gender. These results provide first evidence that a night of sleep facilitates MR performance compared with spending a similar daytime interval, regardless gender of the participants. Since MR is known to involve motor processes, the present data might contribute to schedule relevant mental practice interventions for fruitful applications in rehabilitation and motor learning processes.

  2. How crawling and manual object exploration are related to the mental rotation abilities of 9-month-old infants

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    Gudrun eSchwarzer

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available The present experiment examined whether the mental rotation ability of 9-month-old infants was related to their abilities to crawl and manually explore objects. Forty-eight 9-month-old infants were tested; half of them had been crawling for an average of 9.3 weeks. The infants were habituated to a video of a simplified Shepard-Metzler object rotating back and forth through a 240° angle around the longitudinal axis of the object. They were tested with videos of the same object rotating through a previously unseen 120° angle and with a mirror image of the display. All of the infants also participated in a manual object exploration task, in which they freely explored 5 toy blocks. The results showed that the crawlers looked significantly longer at the novel (mirror object than at the familiar object, independent of their manual exploration scores. The non-crawlers looking times, in contrast, were influenced by the manual exploration scores. The infants who did not spontaneously explore the toy blocks tended to show a familiarity preference, whereas those who explored the toy blocks preferred to look at the novel object. Thus, all of the infants were able to master the mental rotation task but it seemed to be the most complex process for infants who had no crawling experience and who did not spontaneously explore objects.

  3. Head and neck tumors and impaired mental function following scalp irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Modan, B.; Ron, E.; Werner, A.; Yaar, I.

    1977-01-01

    This is a second report of a comprehensive case-control study of 11,000 individuals subjected to scalp x-irradiation in childhood between 1949 and 1960. Follow up was conducted through the following national records: Tumor, Registry, Central Population Registry, Mental Health Registry, Nationwide High School Aptitude Test, Police, Ministry of Welfare and the Army. In addition, a sample of the cases and of the controls was brought in for clinical examinations, psychological testing and computerized EEG. The mean dose delivered to the brain, as determined by dosimetric studies, was 140r and to the thyroid 6-9r. Specific topics to be presented and discussed are as follows: an increased risk of head and neck tumors and the presence of a dose response relationship. The implication of the marked increase in risk for thyroid tumors, in view of the low dose delivered to this organ. Radiation effect on brain function as evidenced by a lower educational achievement, a lower basic intelligence level, somewhat impaired mental ability, and an increased rate of admissions to mental hospitals among cases, as compared to each of the two control groups, as well as the presence of a hyperactivity pattern on EEG

  4. The Effectiveness of a Group Counseling Program on the Mental Health of Parents of Hearing Impaired Children

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    Dr. Mahshid Foroughan

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available Background and Aim: Most of the studies indicates that the parents of the hearing impaired children show many mental health problems after the diagnosis of their children's hearing impairment. Counselling with the parents of the hearing impaired children is one of the most important goals of any early intervention program. This paper describes a study to determine the effectiveness of a group counselling programme for parents of hearing impaired children. Materials and Method: It was a semi-experimental study with a single group pretest-post test design. The participants were all the parents of hearing impaired children attending in an early intervention center. First the parents' mental health were assessed.Then the group counselling program was implemented. Program has involved six weekly 1.5 hour sessions. The format of each session included both lecture presentation and group discussion using cognitive behavioral procedure. Subjects were assessed before and immediately after group therapy by means of General Health Questionnaire(GHQ and Symptom Check List 90 (SCL-90 questionnaires. Resuts: The first part of the project had shown that over the half of the parents had considerable psychosocial morbidity. Comparisons showed a significant reduction from pretreatment to posttreatment in depression, anxiety and most of other psychological problems. Conclusion: The study supports the effectiveness of group therapy programs in the treatment of parents of hearing impaired children. Concerning the progress of early detection programs for the children's hearing impairment more studies should be done in the field of counseling with their parents.

  5. Mental disorders, functional impairment, and nerve growth factor

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    Salles FHM

    2016-12-01

    21.0 software. NGF serum levels were increased significantly in patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder compared with patients with no obsessive–compulsive disorder (P=0.015. An increase in serum NGF levels in generalized anxiety disorder patients was observed compared with patients with no generalized anxiety disorder (P=0.047. NGF was negatively associated with autonomy (P=0.024, r=–0.136, work (P=0.040, r=–0.124, and cognition (P=0.024, r=–0.137, thereby showing that changes in serum levels of NGF are associated with functionality in mental disorders. Keywords: NGF, mental disorders, functional impairment

  6. How Sex and College Major Relate to Mental Rotation Accuracy and Preferred Strategy: An Electroencephalographic (EEG) Investigation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yingli; O'Boyle, Michael

    2013-01-01

    The electroencephalogram (EEG) was used to investigate variation in mental rotation (MR) strategies between males and females and different college majors. Beta activation was acquired from 40 participants (10 males and 10 females in physical science; 10 males and 10 females in social science) when performing the Vandenberg and Kuse (1978) mental…

  7. Prolonged lateral steep position impairs respiratory mechanics during continuous lateral rotation therapy in respiratory failure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schellongowski, Peter; Losert, Heidrun; Locker, Gottfried J; Laczika, Klaus; Frass, Michael; Holzinger, Ulrike; Bojic, Andja; Staudinger, Thomas

    2007-04-01

    To establish whether prolonged lateral steep position during continuous rotation therapy leads to improvement on pulmonary gas exchange, respiratory mechanics and hemodynamics. Prospective observational study. Intensive care unit of a university hospital. Twelve consecutive patients suffering from acute lung injury or adult respiratory distress syndrome undergoing continuous rotation therapy. Blood gas analysis, static lung compliance, blood pressure, cardiac index and pulmonary shunt fraction were measured in supine as well as in left and right lateral steep position at 62 degrees during continuous rotation therapy (phase I). Rotation was then stopped for 30 min with the patients in supine position, left and right lateral steep position, and the same measurements were performed every 10 min (phase II). Phase I and II revealed no significant changes in PaO(2)/FiO(2) ratio, mean arterial blood pressure, pulmonary shunt fraction, or cardiac index. Significantly lower static compliance was observed in lateral steep position than in supine position (pposition than in left and right lateral steep position (ppositioning impairs the compliance of the respiratory system. Prolonged lateral steep position does not lead to benefits with respect to oxygenation or hemodynamics. Individual response to the different positions is unpredictable. The pauses in "extreme" positions should be as short as possible.

  8. Comparative Study of Features of Social Intelligence and Speech Behavior of Children of Primary School Age with Impaired Mental Function

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    Shcherban D.

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The article discusses the concept of social intelligence and its characteristics in children of primary school age with impaired mental functions. The concept and main features, including speech, are discussed, delays of mental development, the importance of detained development for social intelligence and speech behavior are also considered. Also, the concept of speech behavior is analyzed, the author defines the phenomenon, describes its specific features, which are distinguish its structure, and consist of six components: verbal, emotional, motivational, ethical (moral, prognostic, semantic (cognitive. Particular attention is paid to the position of social intelligence in the structure of speech behavior of children of primary school age with a impaired mental functions. Indicators of social intelligence were analyzed from the point of view of speech behavior of children with different rates of mental development and compared with its components at a qualitative level. The study used both author's and well-known techniques.

  9. The Comparison of the Effect of Mental Rotation and Phonological Awareness Training on Accuracy, Speed and Comprehension in Students with Dyslexia in City of Tabriz, 2015-2016

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    Ramin Habibi-Kaleybar

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background: The problem of learning disabilities is the reason of academic backwardness of students and dyslexia is considered the most common of these disorders.Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the comparison of the effectiveness of mental rotation and phonological awareness training on reading performance of students with dyslexia. Materials and Methods: The design of the study was quasi-experimental in pre-test and post- test with control group. Statistical population composed of all dyslexic students in the city of Tabriz in 2015-2016. The sample of present research consisted of 45 students with dyslexia who were selected via available sampling and then were assigned randomly to experimental phonological awareness and mental rotation training and control groups(n=15 in each. To collect data, revised Wechsler intelligence scale for children and reading improvement and dyslexia test were used. Multivariate Covariance (MANCOVA was used to analyze the data. Results: Findings indicated that scores of mental rotation and phonological awareness training have a significant effect on reading performance of dyslexic students compared with control group (p0.05. Conclusion: It can be concluded that mental rotation and phonological awareness training are effective on accuracy, speed and comprehension of reading in students with dyslexia.

  10. Screening an elderly hearing impaired population for mild cognitive impairment using Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lim, Magdalene Yeok Leng; Loo, Jenny Hooi Yin

    2018-07-01

    To determine if there is an association between hearing loss and poorer cognitive scores on Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and to determine if poor hearing acuity affects scoring on the cognitive screening tests of MMSE and MoCA. One hundred fourteen elderly patients (Singapore residents) aged between 55 and 86 years were sampled. Participants completed a brief history questionnaire, pure tone audiometry, and 2 cognitive screening tests-the MMSE and MoCA. Average hearing thresholds of the better ear in the frequencies of 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz were used for data analysis. Hearing loss was significantly associated with poorer cognitive scores in Poisson regression models adjusted for age. Mini-Mental State Examination scores were shown to decrease by 2.8% (P = .029), and MoCA scores by 3.5% (P = .013) for every 10 dB of hearing loss. Analysis of hearing-sensitive components of "Registration" and "Recall" in MMSE and MoCA using chi-square tests showed significantly poorer performance in the hearing loss group as compared to the normal hearing group. Phonetic analysis of target words with high error rates shows that the poor performance was likely contributed by decreased hearing acuity, on top of a possible true deficit in cognition in the hearing impaired. Hearing loss is associated with poorer cognitive scores on MMSE and MoCA, and cognitive scoring is likely confounded by poor hearing ability. This highlights an important, often overlooked aspect of sensory impairment during cognitive screening. Provisions should be made when testing for cognition in the hearing-impaired population to avoid over-referral and subsequent misdiagnoses of cognitive impairment. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  11. Implicit mentalizing persists beyond early childhood and is profoundly impaired in children with autism spectrum conditions

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    Tobias Schuwerk

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Implicit mentalizing, a fast, unconscious and rigid way of processing other's mental states has recently received much interest in typical social cognitive development in early childhood and in adults with autism spectrum conditions (ASC. This research suggests that already infants implicitly mentalize, and that adults with ASC have a sustained implicit mentalizing deficit. Yet, we have only sparse empirical evidence on implicit mentalizing beyond early childhood, and deviations thereof in children with ASC. Here, we administered an implicit mentalizing eye tracking task to assess the sensitivity to false beliefs to a group of 8-year-old children with and without ASC, matched for chronological age, verbal and nonverbal IQ. As previous research suggested that presenting outcomes of belief-based actions leads to fast learning from experience and false belief-congruent looking behavior in adults with ASC, we were also interested in whether already children with ASC learn from such information. Our results provide support for a persistent implicit mentalizing ability in neurotypical development beyond early childhood. Further, they confirmed an implicit mentalizing deficit in children with ASC, even when they are closely matched to controls for explicit mentalizing skills. In contrast to previous findings with adults, no experience-based modulation of anticipatory looking was observed. It seems that children with ASC have not yet developed compensatory general purpose learning mechanisms. The observed intact explicit, but impaired implicit mentalizing in ASC, and correlation patterns between mentalizing tasks and executive function tasks, are in line with theories on two dissociable mentalizing systems.

  12. Mental fatigue and impaired response processes: event-related brain potentials in a Go/NoGo task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kato, Yuichiro; Endo, Hiroshi; Kizuka, Tomohiro

    2009-05-01

    The effects of mental fatigue on the availability of cognitive resources and associated response-related processes were examined using event-related brain potentials. Subjects performed a Go/NoGo task for 60 min. Reaction time, number of errors, and mental fatigue scores all significantly increased with time spent on the task. The NoGo-P3 amplitude significantly decreased with time on task, but the Go-P3 amplitude was not modulated. The amplitude of error-related negativity (Ne/ERN) also decreased with time on task. These results indicate that mental fatigue attenuates resource allocation and error monitoring for NoGo stimuli. The Go- and NoGo-P3 latencies both increased with time on task, indicative of a delay in stimulus evaluation time due to mental fatigue. NoGo-N2 latency increased with time on task, but NoGo-N2 amplitude was not modulated. The amplitude of response-locked lateralized readiness potential (LRP) significantly decreased with time on task. Mental fatigue appears to slows down the time course of response inhibition, and impairs the intensity of response execution.

  13. Evaluating the Impact of Depth Cue Salience in Working Three-Dimensional Mental Rotation Tasks by Means of Psychometric Experiments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arendasy, Martin; Sommer, Markus; Hergovich, Andreas; Feldhammer, Martina

    2011-01-01

    The gender difference in three-dimensional mental rotation is well documented in the literature. In this article we combined automatic item generation, (quasi-)experimental research designs and item response theory models of change measurement to evaluate the effect of the ability to extract the depth information conveyed in the two-dimensional…

  14. Sex differences in mental rotation and line angle judgments are positively associated with gender equality and economic development across 53 nations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lippa, Richard A; Collaer, Marcia L; Peters, Michael

    2010-08-01

    Mental rotation and line angle judgment performance were assessed in more than 90,000 women and 111,000 men from 53 nations. In all nations, men's mean performance exceeded women's on these two visuospatial tasks. Gender equality (as assessed by United Nations indices) and economic development (as assessed by per capita income and life expectancy) were significantly associated, across nations, with larger sex differences, contrary to the predictions of social role theory. For both men and women, across nations, gender equality and economic development were significantly associated with better performance on the two visuospatial tasks. However, these associations were stronger for the mental rotation task than for the line angle judgment task, and they were stronger for men than for women. Results were discussed in terms of evolutionary, social role, and stereotype threat theories of sex differences.

  15. Body Context and Posture Affect Mental Imagery of Hands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ionta, Silvio; Perruchoud, David; Draganski, Bogdan; Blanke, Olaf

    2012-01-01

    Different visual stimuli have been shown to recruit different mental imagery strategies. However the role of specific visual stimuli properties related to body context and posture in mental imagery is still under debate. Aiming to dissociate the behavioural correlates of mental processing of visual stimuli characterized by different body context, in the present study we investigated whether the mental rotation of stimuli showing either hands as attached to a body (hands-on-body) or not (hands-only), would be based on different mechanisms. We further examined the effects of postural changes on the mental rotation of both stimuli. Thirty healthy volunteers verbally judged the laterality of rotated hands-only and hands-on-body stimuli presented from the dorsum- or the palm-view, while positioning their hands on their knees (front postural condition) or behind their back (back postural condition). Mental rotation of hands-only, but not of hands-on-body, was modulated by the stimulus view and orientation. Additionally, only the hands-only stimuli were mentally rotated at different speeds according to the postural conditions. This indicates that different stimulus-related mechanisms are recruited in mental rotation by changing the bodily context in which a particular body part is presented. The present data suggest that, with respect to hands-only, mental rotation of hands-on-body is less dependent on biomechanical constraints and proprioceptive input. We interpret our results as evidence for preferential processing of visual- rather than kinesthetic-based mechanisms during mental transformation of hands-on-body and hands-only, respectively. PMID:22479618

  16. Mental rotation versus invariant features in object perception from different viewpoints: an fMRI study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vanrie, Jan; Béatse, Erik; Wagemans, Johan; Sunaert, Stefan; Van Hecke, Paul

    2002-01-01

    It has been proposed that object perception can proceed through different routes, which can be situated on a continuum ranging from complete viewpoint-dependency to complete viewpoint-independency, depending on the objects and the task at hand. Although these different routes have been extensively demonstrated on the behavioral level, the corresponding distinction in the underlying neural substrate has not received the same attention. Our goal was to disentangle, on the behavioral and the neurofunctional level, a process associated with extreme viewpoint-dependency, i.e. mental rotation, and a process associated with extreme viewpoint-independency, i.e. the use of viewpoint-invariant, diagnostic features. Two sets of 3-D block figures were created that either differed in handedness (original versus mirrored) or in the angles joining the block components (orthogonal versus skewed). Behavioral measures on a same-different judgment task were predicted to be dependent on viewpoint in the rotation condition (same versus mirrored), but not in the invariance condition (same angles versus different angles). Six subjects participated in an fMRI experiment while presented with both conditions in alternating blocks. Both reaction times and accuracy confirmed the predicted dissociation between the two conditions. Neurofunctional results indicate that all cortical areas activated in the invariance condition were also activated in the rotation condition. Parietal areas were more activated than occipito-temporal areas in the rotation condition, while this pattern was reversed in the invariance condition. Furthermore, some areas were activated uniquely by the rotation condition, probably reflecting the additional processes apparent in the behavioral response patterns.

  17. Mental health problems in pre-school children with specific language impairment: Use of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Flapper, B.C.; Bos, A.C.; Jansen, D.E.

    2011-01-01

    The prevalence of mental health problems (MHP) in children with language disorders ranges from 11 to 55%, due to additional disabilities that have a significant relationship to psychosocial difficulties. Specialists assume that children with a selective disorder [selective language impairment

  18. Competency of Psychiatric Residents in the Treatment of People with Severe Mental Illness before and after a Community Psychiatry Rotation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Randall, Melinda; Romero-Gonzalez, Mauricio; Gonzalez, Gerardo; Klee, Anne; Kirwin, Paul

    2011-01-01

    Objective: Psychiatric rehabilitation is an evidence-based service with the goal of recovery for people with severe mental illness. Psychiatric residents should understand the services and learn the principles of psychiatric rehabilitation. This study assessed whether a 3-month rotation in a psychiatric rehabilitation center changes the competency…

  19. Dizzy people perform no worse at a motor imagery task requiring whole body mental rotation; a case-control comparison

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarah B Wallwork

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available We wanted to find out whether people who suffer from dizziness take longer than people who do not, to perform a motor imagery task that involves implicit whole body rotation. Our prediction was that people in the ‘dizzy’ group would take longer at a left/right neck rotation judgment task but not a left/right hand judgment task, because actually performing the former, but not the latter, would exacerbate their dizziness. Secondly, we predicted that when dizzy participants responded to neck rotation images, responses would be greatest when images were in the upside-down orientation; an orientation with greatest dizzy-provoking potential. To test this idea, we used a case-control comparison design. One hundred and eighteen participants who suffered from dizziness and 118 age, gender, arm pain and neck pain matched controls took part in the study. Participants undertook two motor imagery tasks; a left/right neck rotation judgment task and a left/right hand judgment task. The tasks were completed using the Recognise program; an on-line reaction time task program. Images of neck rotation were shown in four different orientations; 0°, 90°, 180° and 270°. Participants were asked to respond to each ‘neck’ image identifying it as either ‘right neck rotation’ or a ‘left neck rotation’, or for hands, a right or a left hand. Results showed that participants in the ‘dizzy’ group were slower than controls at both tasks (p= 0.015, but this was not related to task (p= 0.498. Similarly, ‘dizzy’ participants were not proportionally worse at images of different orientations (p= 0.878. Our findings suggest impaired performance in dizzy people, an impairment that may be confined to motor imagery or may extend more generally.

  20. Effect of Memo®, a natural formula combination, on Mini-Mental State Examination scores in patients with mild cognitive impairment

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    Yakoot M

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Mostafa Yakoot,1 Amel Salem,2 Sherine Helmy3 1Green Clinic and Research Center, 2Mabarrah Clinics, 3Pharco Pharmaceutical Industries, Alexandria, Egypt Background: Mild cognitive impairment encompasses the clinical continuum between physiologic age-related cognitive changes and dementia. A variety of medications, including herbal preparations (in particular Ginkgo biloba and Panax ginseng, have been advocated as treatments for cognitive impairment in the elderly. In this study, we investigated the effect of an already marketed dietary supplement (Memo® combining 750 mg of lyophilized royal jelly with standardized extracts of G. biloba 120 mg and P. ginseng 150 mg on Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE scores in patients with mild cognitive impairment. Methods: Sixty-six subjects presenting with forgetfulness and satisfying the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR clinical criteria for mild cognitive impairment were randomly divided into an experimental group treated with one Memo capsule before breakfast daily for 4 weeks and a control group who took placebo. The mean change in MMSE score from baseline and reported adverse effects were compared between the two groups. Results: The mean change in MMSE score in the group treated with Memo for 4 weeks was significantly greater than in the control group (+2.07 versus +0.13, respectively by the Student’s t-test (t = 6.485, P < 0.0001. This was also true after adjusting for age as a covariate and educational level as a factor nested within the treatment groups in a general linear model (analysis of covariance, F = 9.675 [corrected model], P < 0.0001. Conclusion: This combined triple formula may be beneficial in treating the cognitive decline that occurs during the aging process as well as in the early phases of pathologic cognitive impairment typical of insidious-onset vascular dementia and in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Larger

  1. Embodied mental rotation: A special link between egocentric transformation and the bodily self

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sandra eKaltner

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available This experiment investigated the influence of motor expertise on object-based versus egocentric transformations in a chronometric mental rotation task using images of either the own or another person’s body as stimulus material. According to the embodied cognition viewpoint, we hypothesized motor-experts to outperform non-motor experts specifically in the egocentric condition because of higher kinesthetic representation and motor simulations compared to object-based transformations. In line with this, we expected that images of the own body are solved faster than another person’s body stimuli. Results showed a benefit of motor expertise and representations of another person’s body, but only for the object-based transformation task. That is, this other-advantage diminishes in egocentric transformations. Since motor experts didn’t show any specific expertise in rotational movements, we concluded that using human bodies as stimulus material elicits embodied spatial transformations, which facilitates performance exclusively for egocentric transformations. Regarding stimulus material, the other-advantage ascribed to increased self-awareness-consciousness distracting attention-demanding resources, disappeared in the egocentric condition. This result may be due to the stronger link between the bodily self and motor representations compared to that emerging in object-based transformations.

  2. Influence of the mental health status on a new measure of objective functional impairment in lumbar degenerative disc disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stienen, Martin N; Smoll, Nicolas R; Joswig, Holger; Snagowski, Jan; Corniola, Marco V; Schaller, Karl; Hildebrandt, Gerhard; Gautschi, Oliver P

    2017-06-01

    The Timed Up and Go (TUG) test has recently been proposed as a simple and standardized measure for objective functional impairment (OFI) in patients with lumbar degenerative disc disease (DDD). The study aimed to explore the relationship between a patient's mental health status and both patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and TUG test results. This is a prospective institutional review board-approved two-center study. The sample was composed of 375 consecutive patients scheduled for lumbar spine surgery and a healthy cohort of 110 control subjects. Patients and control subjects were assessed with the TUG test and a comprehensive panel of subjective PROMs of pain intensity (visual analog scale [VAS]), functional impairment (Roland-Morris Disability Index [RMDI]), Oswestry Disability Index [ODI]), as well as health-related quality of life (hrQoL; Euro-Qol [EQ]-5D). Standardized age- and sex-adjusted TUG test T-scores were calculated. The dependent variable was the short-form (SF)-12 mental component summary (MCS) quartiles, and the independent variables were the TUG T-scores and PROMs. Direct and adjusted analyses of covariance were performed to estimate the interaction between the SF-12 MCS quartiles and the independent variables. In patients, there was a significant decrease in the subjective PROMs, notably the VAS back pain (p=.001) and VAS leg pain (p=.035), as well as significant increase in the RMDI (pmental hrQoL on subjective measures of pain, functional impairment, and hrQoL that might lead to bias when evaluating patients with lumbar DDD who suffer from reduced mental hrQoL. The TUG test appears to be a stable instrument and especially helpful in the evaluation of patients with lumbar DDD and mental health problems. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Visualizing Compound Rotations with Virtual Reality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flanders, Megan; Kavanagh, Richard C.

    2013-01-01

    Mental rotations are among the most difficult of all spatial tasks to perform, and even those with high levels of spatial ability can struggle to visualize the result of compound rotations. This pilot study investigates the use of the virtual reality-based Rotation Tool, created using the Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) together with…

  4. Mental Fatigue Alters Cortical Activation and Psychological Responses, Impairing Performance in a Distance-Based Cycling Trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Flávio O. Pires

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: We sought to verify if alterations in prefrontal cortex (PFC activation and psychological responses would play along with impairments in pacing and performance of mentally fatigued cyclists.Materials and Methods: Eight recreational cyclists performed two preliminary sessions to familiarize them with the rapid visual information processing (RVP test, psychological scales and 20 km cycling time trial (TT20km (session 1, as well as to perform a VO2MAX test (session 2. Thereafter, they performed a TT20km either after a RVP test (30 min or a time-matched rest control session (session 3 and 4 in counterbalanced order. Performance and psychological responses were obtained throughout the TT20km while PFC electroencephalography (EEG was obtained at 10 and 20 km of the TT20km and throughout the RVP test. Increases in EEG theta band power indicated a mental fatigue condition. Repeated-measures mixed models design and post-hoc effect size (ES were used in comparisons.Results: Cyclists completed the trial ~2.7% slower in mental fatigue (34.3 ± 1.3 min than in control (33.4 ± 1.1 min, p = 0.02, very large ES, with a lower WMEAN (224.5 ± 17.9 W vs. 240.2 ± 20.9 W, respectively; p = 0.03; extremely large ES. There was a higher EEG theta band power during RVP test (p = 0.03; extremely large ES, which remained during the TT20km (p = 0.01; extremely large ES. RPE increased steeper in mental fatigue than in control, together with isolated reductions in motivation at 2th km (p = 0.04; extremely large ES, felt arousal at the 2nd and 4th km (p = 0.01; extremely large ES, and associative thoughts to exercise at the 6th and 16th km (p = 0.02; extremely large ES of the TT20km.Conclusions: Mentally fatigued recreational cyclists showed impaired performance, altered PFC activation and faster increase in RPE during a TT20km.

  5. Pictorial Visual Rotation Ability of Engineering Design Graphics Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ernst, Jeremy Vaughn; Lane, Diarmaid; Clark, Aaron C.

    2015-01-01

    The ability to rotate visual mental images is a complex cognitive skill. It requires the building of graphical libraries of information through short or long term memory systems and the subsequent retrieval and manipulation of these towards a specified goal. The development of mental rotation skill is of critical importance within engineering…

  6. Addressing All Heads of the Hydra: Reframing Safeguards for Mentally Impaired Detainees in Immigration Removal Proceedings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, Amelia; Prokop, Natalie H; Robins, Stephanie

    2015-01-01

    This article concerns the constitutional rights of detained, mentally impaired non-citizens in defending against deportation. Due process requires that such detainees receive a full and fair hearing. However, until recently, they were not provided an attorney to assist them in navigating our extremely complicated immigration system. Mentally impaired detainees were expected to proceed alone in proving the elements of their claims against skilled government attorneys--a daunting task even for those unencumbered by a mental disorder. On December 31, 2013, the Department of Justice ("DOJ") released guidelines detailing new procedures for how immigration courts should handle these cases, including the provision of counsel upon a finding of mental incompetence. The guidelines were issued as a direct response to Franco-Gonzales v. Holder, a class action lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union in federal district court in California seeking appointed counsel for detained, unrepresented, mentally impaired non-citizens. The guidelines created a three-stage process for assessing competency. Only at the end of this process--and after an individual is declared incompetent--is counsel appointed. This article argues that the DOJ guidelines fall far short of Franco's promise of due process for this particularly vulnerable population. It proposes an alternative model wherein counsel is appointed the moment the court is presented with "indicia" of incompetence, rather than after an adjudication of incompetence. "Indicia" should create a presumption of incompetency that can be rebutted only after a forensic evaluation is conducted and the court holds a robust hearing into the matter. This article reveals, through empirical evidence, the critical role that counsel plays in the investigation of a respondent's ability to participate in the proceedings, and how an attorney is often the only party positioned to marshal all the evidence relevant to the question of competency

  7. Unemployment Impairs Mental Health: Meta-Analyses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paul, Karsten I.; Moser, Klaus

    2009-01-01

    The effect of unemployment on mental health was examined with meta-analytic methods across 237 cross-sectional and 87 longitudinal studies. The average overall effect size was d = 0.51 with unemployed persons showing more distress than employed persons. A significant difference was found for several indicator variables of mental health (mixed…

  8. Shared decision-making, stigma, and child mental health functioning among families referred for primary care-located mental health services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Butler, Ashley M

    2014-03-01

    There is growing emphasis on shared decision making (SDM) to promote family participation in care and improve the quality of child mental health care. Yet, little is known about the relationship of SDM with parental perceptions of child mental health treatment or child mental health functioning. The objectives of this preliminary study were to examine (a) the frequency of perceived SDM with providers among minority parents of children referred to colocated mental health care in a primary care clinic, (b) associations between parent-reported SDM and mental health treatment stigma and child mental health impairment, and (c) differences in SDM among parents of children with various levels of mental health problem severity. Participants were 36 Latino and African American parents of children (ages 2-7 years) who were referred to colocated mental health care for externalizing mental health problems (disruptive, hyperactive, and aggressive behaviors). Parents completed questions assessing their perceptions of SDM with providers, child mental health treatment stigma, child mental health severity, and level of child mental health impairment. Descriptive statistics demonstrated the majority of the sample reported frequent SDM with providers. Correlation coefficients indicated higher SDM was associated with lower stigma regarding mental health treatment and lower parent-perceived child mental health impairment. Analysis of variance showed no significant difference in SDM among parents of children with different parent-reported levels of child mental health severity. Future research should examine the potential of SDM for addressing child mental health treatment stigma and impairment among minority families.

  9. Why does interactional justice promote organizational loyalty, job performance, and prevent mental impairment? The role of social support and social stressors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Otto, Kathleen; Mamatoglu, Nihal

    2015-01-01

    Using social exchange theory as a conceptual framework, we investigated the relationship between interactional justice and the outcomes organizational loyalty (affective commitment, turnover intentions), perceived job performance (self-rated performance, personal accomplishment), and mental impairment (cognitive irritation, emotional exhaustion) in an online survey of 218 employees working in the field of computer technology. Specifically, we predicted that interactional justice would heighten the quality of social exchange relationships and therefore expected perceived social support (POS) and bullying to mediate the proposed relationships. We tested our hypotheses applying a latent structural equation model. Our findings revealed that POS mediated the relationship between interactional justice and organizational loyalty, whereas bullying mediated the relationship between interactional justice and mental impairment. Practical implications are discussed concerning how to foster interactional justice and POS and how to weaken bullying behavior.

  10. The Effects of Adding Coordinate Axes To a Mental Rotations Task in Measuring Spatial Visualization Ability in Introductory Undergraduate Technical Graphics Courses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Branoff, Ted

    1998-01-01

    Reports on a study to determine whether the presence of coordinate axes in a test of spatial-visualization ability affects scores and response times on a mental-rotations task for students enrolled in undergraduate introductory graphic communications classes. Based on Pavios's dual-coding theory. Contains 36 references. (DDR)

  11. Impairment in visual cognition in patients with Parkinson disease

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hirayama, Kazumi; Ishioka, Toshiyuki

    2007-01-01

    Neural pathway for visual information processing involves retina, lateral geniculate body, primary visual cortex, and higher visual cortical areas, all of which have been reported to be disordered either functionally or pathologically in Parkinson disease (PD). As elementary visual disorders, there have been studies that reported reduced contrast sensitivity for middle to high spatial frequencies and impaired blue color perception. Most of those studies suggested retina as the damaged cite that is responsible for the impairments, whereas some studies pointed to the possible cortical involvement. Impairments of higher visual functions also have been reported. In the dorsal stream, impairments of object localization, depth perception, and mental rotation have been reported. In the ventral stream, object perception and visual integration of objects have been found to be impaired. A meta-analysis study, however, concluded that although there may be impairments in higher order functions like attention and problem solving capacity there is no firm evidence for the impairments of higher visual functions. Neuroimaging studies have found a relationship between reduced metabolism centered in the parietal lobe and impaired performance in higher visual functions. Impaired identification of overlapping figures has been reported in dementia with Lewy bodies a disease that is akin to PD. Capacity to discriminate textured areas has been found to be damaged in PD. We conducted a fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) study to explore the relationship between brain metabolism and perception of overlapping figures, perception of shapes defined by texture differences and perception of subjective contours in PD. It revealed that there is a correlation between reduced activation in lateral occipital complex and impaired performance for these tasks, suggesting some compromised ventral rout functions. (author)

  12. Neglect Impairs Explicit Processing of the Mental Number Line

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zorzi, Marco; Bonato, Mario; Treccani, Barbara; Scalambrin, Giovanni; Marenzi, Roberto; Priftis, Konstantinos

    2012-01-01

    Converging evidence suggests that visuospatial attention plays a pivotal role in numerical processing, especially when the task involves the manipulation of numerical magnitudes. Visuospatial neglect impairs contralesional attentional orienting not only in perceptual but also in numerical space. Indeed, patients with left neglect show a bias toward larger numbers when mentally bisecting a numerical interval, as if they were neglecting its leftmost part. In contrast, their performance in parity judgments is unbiased, suggesting a dissociation between explicit and implicit processing of numerical magnitude. Here we further investigate the consequences of these visuospatial attention impairments on numerical processing and their interaction with task demands. Patients with right hemisphere damage, with and without left neglect, were administered both a number comparison and a parity judgment task that had identical stimuli and response requirements. Neglect patients’ performance was normal in the parity task, when processing of numerical magnitude was implicit, whereas they showed characteristic biases in the number comparison task, when access to numerical magnitude was explicit. Compared to patients without neglect, they showed an asymmetric distance effect, with slowing of the number immediately smaller than (i.e., to the left of) the reference and a stronger SNARC effect, particularly for large numbers. The latter might index an exaggerated effect of number-space compatibility after ipsilesional (i.e., rightward) orienting in number space. Thus, the effect of neglect on the explicit processing of numerical magnitude can be understood in terms of both a failure to orient to smaller (i.e., contralesional) magnitudes and a difficulty to disengage from larger (i.e., ipsilesional) magnitudes on the number line, which resembles the disrupted pattern of attention orienting in visual space. PMID:22661935

  13. Hypothetical neural mechanism that may play a role in mental rotation: an attractor neural network model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benusková, L; Estok, S

    1998-11-01

    We propose an attractor neural network (ANN) model that performs rotation-invariant pattern recognition in such a way that it can account for a neural mechanism being involved in the image transformation accompanying the experience of mental rotation. We compared the performance of our ANN model with the results of the chronometric psychophysical experiments of Cooper and Shepard (Cooper L A and Shepard R N 1973 Visual Information Processing (New York: Academic) pp 204-7) on discrimination of alphanumeric characters presented in various angular departures from their canonical upright position. Comparing the times required for pattern retrieval in its canonical upright position with the reaction times of human subjects, we found agreement in that (i) retrieval times for clockwise and anticlockwise departures of the same angular magnitude (up to 180 degrees) were not different, (ii) retrieval times increased with departure from upright and (iii) increased more sharply as departure from upright approached 180 degrees. The rotation-invariant retrieval of the activity pattern has been accomplished by means of the modified algorithm of Dotsenko (Dotsenko V S 1988 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 21 L783-7) proposed for translation-, rotation- and size-invariant pattern recognition, which uses relaxation of neuronal firing thresholds to guide the evolution of the ANN in state space towards the desired memory attractor. The dynamics of neuronal relaxation has been modified for storage and retrieval of low-activity patterns and the original gradient optimization of threshold dynamics has been replaced with optimization by simulated annealing.

  14. Inhibition: Mental Control Process or Mental Resource?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Im-Bolter, Nancie; Johnson, Janice; Ling, Daphne; Pascual-Leone, Juan

    2015-01-01

    The current study tested 2 models of inhibition in 45 children with language impairment and 45 children with normally developing language; children were aged 7 to 12 years. Of interest was whether a model of inhibition as a mental-control process (i.e., executive function) or as a mental resource would more accurately reflect the relations among…

  15. Mental states and activities in Danish narratives: children with autism and children with language impairment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Engberg-Pedersen, Elisabeth; Christensen, Rikke Vang

    2017-01-01

    This study focuses on the relationship between content elements and mental-state language in narratives from twenty-seven children with autism (ASD), twelve children with language impairment (LI), and thirty typically developing children (TD). The groups did not differ on chronological age...... (;–;) and non-verbal cognitive skills, and the groups with ASD and TD did not differ on language measures. The children with ASD and LI had fewer content elements of the storyline than the TD children. Compared with the TD children, the children with ASD used fewer subordinate clauses about the characters......’ thoughts, and preferred talking about mental states as reported speech, especially in the form of direct speech. The children with LI did not differ from the TD children on these measures. The results are discussed in the context of difficulties with socio-cognition in children with ASD and of language...

  16. 20 CFR 220.27 - What is needed to show an impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false What is needed to show an impairment. 220.27... is needed to show an impairment. A physical or mental impairment must result from anatomical... diagnostic techniques. A physical or mental impairment must be established by medical evidence consisting of...

  17. Cerebrovascular mental stress reactivity is impaired in hypertension

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Naqvi Tasneem Z

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Brachial artery reactivity in response to shear stress is altered in subjects with hypertension. Since endothelial dysfunction is generalized, we hypothesized that carotid artery (CA reactivity would also be altered in hypertension. Purpose To compare (CA endothelium-dependent vasodilation in response to mental stress in normal and hypertensive subjects. Methods We evaluated CA reactivity to mental stress in 10 young healthy human volunteers (aged 23 ± 4 years, 20 older healthy volunteers (aged 49 ± 11 years and in 28 patients with essential hypertension (aged 51 ± 13 years. In 10 healthy volunteers and 12 hypertensive subjects, middle cerebral artery (MCA PW transcranial Doppler was performed before and 3 minutes after mental stress. Results Mental stress by Stroop color word conflict, math or anger recall tests caused CA vasodilation in young healthy subjects (0.61 ± 0.06 to 0.65 ± 0.07 cm, p Conclusion Mental stress produces CA vasodilation and is accompanied by an increase in CA and MCA blood flow in healthy subjects. This mental stress induced CA vasodilation and flow reserve is attenuated in subjects with hypertension and may reflect cerebral vascular endothelial dysfunction. Assessment of mental stress induced CA reactivity by ultrasound is a novel method for assessing the impact of hypertension on cerebrovascular endothelial function and blood flow reserve.

  18. Stability of Early Identified Aggressive Victim Status in Elementary School and Associations with Later Mental Health Problems and Functional Impairments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burk, Linnea R.; Armstrong, Jeffrey M.; Park, Jong-Hyo; Zahn-Waxler, Carolyn; Klein, Marjorie H.; Essex, Marilyn J.

    2011-01-01

    Aggressive victims--children who are both perpetrators and victims of peer aggression--experience greater concurrent mental health problems and impairments than children who are only aggressive or only victimized. The stability of early identified aggressive victim status has not been evaluated due to the fact that most studies of aggressor/victim…

  19. Common Ground for Spatial Cognition? A Behavioral and fMRI Study of Sex Differences in Mental Rotation and Spatial Working Memory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarah L. Levin

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available Sex differences in spatial cognition are well documented; males typically outperform females on tasks dealing with mental rotation and spatial navigation, while females tend to outperform males on tasks dealing with object location, relational object location memory, or spatial working memory. Here we investigated both behavioral and neural sex differences in sex-specific spatial abilities. In Experiment 1, sixty-six (30 males, 36 females participants completed computerized mental rotation (MR and spatial working memory (SWM tasks. In Experiment 2, twelve (6 males, 6 females participants were given slightly modified versions of the same tasks during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI. In both experiments, males outperformed females on the MR task, but no behavioral sex difference was observed on the SWM task. Males showed more activation in left parahippocampal gyrus, right medial frontal gyrus, inferior parietal lobe, inferior frontal gyrus in the MR task. Females showed activation in the left parahippocampal gyrus only. For the study condition of the spatial working memory task, females showed activation in left inferior frontal gyrus, while males activated left inferior parietal and medial frontal areas. In the test conditions, females showed activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus, and left parahippocampal gyrus. Males activated right medial frontal gyrus and inferior parietal lobe. Interestingly, similar regions – parahippocampal gyrus, inferior parietal lobe, and middle temporal gyrus - were found to be active when males solved mental rotation tasks and females solved spatial working memory tasks. Further, performance was modulated by activation in the parahippocampal gyrus and middle temporal gyrus for males and the middle temporal gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus for females. These data extend previous claims for sex differences in sex specific spatial cognitive abilities by demonstrating

  20. Story discourse and use of mental state language between mothers and school-aged children with and without visual impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tadić, Valerija; Pring, Linda; Dale, Naomi

    2013-01-01

    Lack of sight compromises insight into other people's mental states. Little is known about the role of maternal language in assisting the development of mental state language in children with visual impairment (VI). To investigate mental state language strategies of mothers of school-aged children with VI and to compare these with mothers of comparable children with typically developing vision. To investigate whether the characteristics of mother-child discourse were associated with the child's socio-communicative competence. Mother-child discourse with twelve 6-12-year-old children with VI was coded during a shared book-reading narrative and compared with 14 typically sighted children matched in age and verbal ability. Mothers of children with VI elaborated more and made significantly more references to story characters' mental states and descriptive elaborations than mothers of sighted children. Mental state elaborations of mothers in the VI group related positively with the level produced by their children, with the association remaining after mothers' overall verbosity and children's developmental levels were controlled for. Frequency of maternal elaborations, including their mental state language, was related to socio-communicative competence of children with VI. The findings offer insights into the potential contribution of maternal verbal scaffolding to mentalistic language and social-communicative competences of children with VI. © 2013 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

  1. How work impairments and reduced work ability are associated with health care use in workers with musculoskeletal disorders, cardiovascular disorders or mental disorders

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    K.G. Reeuwijk (Kerstin); S.J.W. Robroek (Suzan); L. van Hakkaart-van Roijen (Leona); A. Burdorf (Alex)

    2014-01-01

    markdownabstract__Abstract__ The aim of this study was to explore how work impairments and work ability are associated with health care use by workers with musculoskeletal disorders (MSD), cardiovascular disorders (CVD), or mental disorders (MD). Methods in this cross-sectional study,

  2. Mental rotation task in a pilot during and after pregnancy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piccardi, Laura; Verde, Paola; Bianchini, Filippo; Morgagni, Fabio; Guariglia, Cecilia; Strollo, Felice

    2013-10-01

    Discordant findings have been reported about the change in pregnant women's cognitive test performance. Visuo-spatial abilities, which are crucial in terrestrial/flight navigation, could be influenced by hormonal variations. A 32-yr-old Italian Air Force pilot underwent a 2-D Mental Rotation Task (MRT) and hormonal assessment in the second trimester of pregnancy and 1 yr after delivery. Her performance was compared with that of two nonpregnant groups of women: one with flying experience and the other without. Estradiol and progesterone were significantly higher in pregnancy compared with postpartum, while testosterone was almost unchanged. During pregnancy, we observed a significant difference in the subject's response time compared with pilots (she was slower) and nonpilots (she was faster). One year after delivery, her performance was still better than the nonpilot group and was almost the same as the pilot group. Our data are consistent with an effect of pregnancy on visuo-spatial ability that can last for some time after delivery, even with the early recovery of the hormonal levels. MRT smoothly changed in our subject, supporting previous findings that women who are experts in flight navigation are less sensitive to hormonal fluctuations. In this case, visuospatial ability requiring effortful processing underwent variations during pregnancy and postpartum. Further studies are needed in order to confirm our observations in a wider population.

  3. The effectiveness of mental rehabilitation based on positive thinking skills training on increasing happiness in hearing impaired adolescents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad Rostami

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Background and Aim: Hearing impairment can have an impact on adolescents’ quality of life and can lead to their isolation and depression. The main purpose of this research was to study the effectiveness of a mental rehabilitation program based on positive thinking skills training on increasing happiness in a group of hearing impaired girls and boys.Methods: In this experimental study, pre- and post-test plan with a control group was used. All of the hearing impaired students (girls and boys in all high schools of southern parts of Tehran, Iran, in year 2012-13 were our statistical research community. 48 hearing impaired girls and boys were selected by multistage sampling including stratified, purposive, and random sampling. They were randomly divided into two groups of experimental and control. Each group consists of 12 boys and 12 girls. Positive thinking skills were trained to experimental groups during eight 45-minutes sessions, twice a week. We used the Oxford happiness questionnaire to assess the level of happiness.Results: Using analysis of covariance showed that positive thinking skills training had meaningful and positive effect on increasing happiness of hearing impaired boys and girls in the experimental groups (p<0.01. Also, the mean happiness scores of boys and girls were meaningfully different (p<0.01.Conclusion: Positive thinking skills training increases the happiness scores of hearing impaired adolescents. So, the approach taken in this study can be considered as an appropriate method for psychological-education interventions, counseling and treatment in hearing impaired adolescent.

  4. SCREENING FOR POSTSTROKE COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT VIA MINI MENTAL STATE EXAMINATION AND MONTREAL COGNITIVE ASSESSMENT SCALE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mirena Valkova

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Objective: The aim of our study is to examine cognitive performance after mild stroke via Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE and Montreal cognitive assessment scale (MoCA and to compare the results.Material and methods: We examined 54 patients with mild stroke (aged 52 to 72 (mean 63.17, SD 5.96; 34 males and 20 females and 54 controls, adjusted by age, sex and education level. All subjects were tested via MMSE (Bulgarian version and MoCa (Bulgarian version. Data was collected in the single step model at the 90th day after stroke incident for patients and at the day of obtaining informed consent for controls. Results: Patients have poorer performance on both MMSE and MoCa than controls. MoCa has comparatively good discriminative validity and sensitivity.Conclusions: Although MMSE is one of the classical screening tools for cognitive impairment widely used in Bulgaria, other screening tools should not be ignored. On the basis of our results, MoCa is also a good screening instrument, especially for poststroke cognitive impairment.

  5. Large sexual-orientation-related differences in performance on mental rotation and judgment of line orientation tasks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahman, Qazi; Wilson, Glenn D

    2003-01-01

    This study examined the performance of heterosexual and homosexual men and women on 2 tests of spatial processing, mental rotation (MR) and Benton Judgment of Line Orientation (JLO). The sample comprised 60 heterosexual men, 60 heterosexual women, 60 homosexual men, and 60 homosexual women. There were significant main effects of gender (men achieving higher scores overall) and Gender x Sexual Orientation interactions. Decomposing these interactions revealed large differences between the male groups in favor of heterosexual men on JLO and MR performance. There was a modest difference between the female groups on MR total correct scores in favor of homosexual women but no differences in MR percentage correct. The evidence suggests possible variations in the parietal cortex between homosexual and heterosexual persons.

  6. A key role for experimental task performance: effects of math talent, gender and performance on the neural correlates of mental rotation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoppe, Christian; Fliessbach, Klaus; Stausberg, Sven; Stojanovic, Jelena; Trautner, Peter; Elger, Christian E; Weber, Bernd

    2012-02-01

    The neurophysiological mechanisms underlying superior cognitive performance are a research area of high interest. The majority of studies on the brain-performance relationship assessed the effects of capability-related group factors (e.g. talent, gender) on task-related brain activations while only few studies examined the effect of the inherent experimental task performance factor. In this functional MRI study, we combined both approaches and simultaneously assessed the effects of three relatively independent factors on the neurofunctional correlates of mental rotation in same-aged adolescents: math talent (gifted/controls: 17/17), gender (male/female: 16/18) and experimental task performance (median split on accuracy; high/low: 17/17). Better experimental task performance of mathematically gifted vs. control subjects and male vs. female subjects validated the selected paradigm. Activation of the inferior parietal lobule (IPL) was identified as a common effect of mathematical giftedness, gender and experimental task performance. However, multiple linear regression analyses (stepwise) indicated experimental task performance as the only predictor of parietal activations. In conclusion, increased activation of the IPL represents a positive neural correlate of mental rotation performance, irrespective of but consistent with the obtained neurocognitive and behavioral effects of math talent and gender. As experimental performance may strongly affect task-related activations this factor needs to be considered in capability-related group comparison studies on the brain-performance relationship. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Early maladaptive schema-related impairment and co-occurring current major depressive episode-related enhancement of mental state decoding ability in borderline personality disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Unoka, Zsolt Szabolcs; Fogd, Dóra; Seres, Imola; Kéri, Szabolcs; Csukly, Gábor

    2015-04-01

    Disturbed interpersonal relationships specific to borderline personality disorder (BPD) suggest biased processing of social information. The goal of this study was to examine alterations in mental state decoding (MSD) and their associations with early maladaptive schemas (EMS) that may lead to the misinterpretation of incoming information. In addition, the authors' aim was to evaluate the effects of a co-occurring current major depressive episode (MDE) on the MSD performance of BPD patients. Seventy-eight BPD patients (34 with MDE) and 76 matched healthy controls (HC) were assessed for Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) and the level of EMS. The authors found that impairment in the total RMET performance, as well as specific impairment regarding the recognition of positive and neutral items, was associated with EMS, and enhanced vigilance to negative mental states was characteristic to BPD with MDE. Results suggest that MSD ability is altered in two independent ways in BPD.

  8. Do US Medical Licensing Applications Treat Mental and Physical Illness Equivalently?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gold, Katherine J; Shih, Elizabeth R; Goldman, Edward B; Schwenk, Thomas L

    2017-06-01

    State medical licensing boards are responsible for evaluating physician impairment. Given the stigma generated by mental health issues among physicians and in the medical training culture, we were interested in whether states asked about mental and physical health conditions differently and whether questions focused on current impairment. Two authors reviewed physician medical licensing applications for US physicians seeking first-time licensing in 2013 in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Questions about physical and mental health, as well as substance abuse, were identified and coded as to whether or not they asked about diagnosis and/or treatment or limited the questions to conditions causing physician impairment. Forty-three (84%) states asked questions about mental health conditions, 43 (84%) about physical health conditions, and 47 (92%) about substance use. States were more likely to ask for history of treatment and prior hospitalization for mental health and substance use, compared with physical health disorders. Among states asking about mental health, just 23 (53%) limited all questions to disorders causing functional impairment and just 6 (14%) limited to current problems. While most state medical licensing boards ask about mental health conditions or treatment, only half limited queries to disorders causing impairment. Differences in how state licensing boards assess mental health raise important ethical and legal questions about assessing physician ability to practice and may discourage treatment for physicians who might otherwise benefit from appropriate care.

  9. Revision of the ICIDH: mental health aspects. WHO/MNH Disability Working Group.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ustün, T B; Cooper, J E; van Duuren-Kristen, S; Kennedy, C; Hendershot, G; Sartorius, N

    1995-01-01

    This article reviews the key issues arising in the revision of the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities, and Handicaps (ICIDH) from a mental health perspective, and describes the work of the Disability Working Group of the WHO's Division of Mental Health. The ICIDH, which describes the consequences of disorders at three levels as impairments, disabilities, and handicaps, is generally applicable and useful for mental health purposes. While some impairments are mainly a consequence of 'mental' disorders (e.g. cognitive impairment), there should be no differences between mental and physical disorders in the classification scheme, to avoid a dichotomy between mind and body. There is also a need to improve the ways in which interference with the performance of social roles is described, since this is often the most obvious consequence of mental disorders. This article presents the potentials of the ICIDH in the field of mental health, and gives recommendations for the development of the revision process of the ICIDH. To stimulate the process of producing a 'common language' in the ICIDH related to mental health issues, former and potential users of the ICIDH are invited to give comments and suggestions.

  10. White matter microstructural damage in small vessel disease is associated with Montreal cognitive assessment but not with mini mental state examination performances: vascular mild cognitive impairment Tuscany study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pasi, Marco; Salvadori, Emilia; Poggesi, Anna; Ciolli, Laura; Del Bene, Alessandra; Marini, Sandro; Nannucci, Serena; Pescini, Francesca; Valenti, Raffaella; Ginestroni, Andrea; Toschi, Nicola; Diciotti, Stefano; Mascalchi, Mario; Inzitari, Domenico; Pantoni, Leonardo

    2015-01-01

    Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) has been proposed as a screening tool in vascular cognitive impairment. Diffusion tensor imaging is sensitive to white matter microstructural damage. We investigated if diffusion tensor imaging-derived indices are more strongly associated with performances on MoCA or on the widely used mini mental state examination in patients with mild cognitive impairment and small vessel disease. Mild cognitive impairment patients with moderate/severe degrees of white matter hyperintensities on MRI were enrolled. Lacunar infarcts, cortical atrophy, medial temporal lobe atrophy and median values of mean diffusivity and fractional anisotropy of the cerebral white matter were studied and correlated with cognitive tests performances. Seventy-six patients (mean age 75.1±6.8 years, mean years of education 8.0±4.3) were assessed. In univariate analyses, a significant association of both MoCA and mini mental state examination scores with age, education, cortical atrophy, and medial temporal lobe atrophy was found, whereas mean diffusivity and fractional anisotropy were associated with MoCA. In partial correlation analyses, adjusting for all demographic and neuroimaging variables, both mean diffusivity and fractional anisotropy were associated only with MoCA (mean diffusivity: r= -0.275, P=0.023; fractional anisotropy: r=0.246, P=0.043). In patients with mild cognitive impairment and small vessel disease, diffusion tensor imaging-measured white matter microstructural damage is more related to MoCA than mini mental state examination performances. MoCA is suited for the cognitive screening of patients with small vessel disease. © 2014 American Heart Association, Inc.

  11. Study of insomnia in rotating shift-workers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kaushik Chatterjee

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Shift-workers commonly suffer from insomnia. This study evaluates different domains of insomnia. Aim: This study was aimed to study sleep and insomnia in rotating shift-workers and compare with day-workers. Materials and Methods: This was case–control study. The sleep of rotating shift-workers is compared with day workers using Athens Insomnia Scale. Results: Rotating shift-workers had significantly higher scores on Athens insomnia scale on domains of initial, intermediate and terminal insomnia than day workers. Duration and quality of sleep and sense of well-being are lower in rotating shift-workers. Rotating shift-workers also experienced more day-time sleepiness than day workers. However, there was no difference in perceived physical and mental functioning between the two groups. Conclusion: Individuals working in rotating shifts for more than 15 days have significantly higher prevalence of insomnia than day-workers.

  12. Stereotype susceptibility narrows the gender gap in imagined self-rotation performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wraga, Maryjane; Duncan, Lauren; Jacobs, Emily C; Helt, Molly; Church, Jessica

    2006-10-01

    Three studies examined the impact of stereotype messages on men's and women's performance of a mental rotation task involving imagined self-rotations. Experiment 1 established baseline differences between men and women; women made 12% more errors than did men. Experiment 2 found that exposure to a positive stereotype message enhanced women's performance in comparison with that of another group of women who received neutral information. In Experiment 3, men who were exposed to the same stereotype message emphasizing a female advantage made more errors than did male controls, and the magnitude of error was similar to that for women from Experiment 1. The results suggest that the gender gap in mental rotation performance is partially caused by experiential factors, particularly those induced by sociocultural stereotypes.

  13. Predictors of mental health in female teachers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seibt, Reingard; Spitzer, Silvia; Druschke, Diana; Scheuch, Klaus; Hinz, Andreas

    2013-12-01

    Teaching profession is characterised by an above-average rate of psychosomatic and mental health impairment due to work-related stress. The aim of the study was to identify predictors of mental health in female teachers. A sample of 630 female teachers (average age 47 ± 7 years) participated in a screening diagnostic inventory. Mental health was surveyed with the General Health Questionnaire GHQ-12. The following parameters were measured: specific work conditions (teacher-specific occupational history), scales of the Effort-Reward-Imbalance (ERI) Questionnaire as well as cardiovascular risk factors, physical complaints (BFB) and personal factors such as inability to recover (FABA), sense of coherence (SOC) and health behaviour. First, mentally fit (MH(+)) and mentally impaired teachers (MH(-)) were differentiated based on the GHQ-12 sum score (MH(+): teachers showed evidence of mental impairment. There were no differences concerning work-related and cardiovascular risk factors as well as health behaviour between MH(+) and MH(-). Binary logistic regressions identified 4 predictors that showed a significant effect on mental health. The effort-reward-ratio proved to be the most relevant predictor, while physical complaints as well as inability to recover and sense of coherence were identified as advanced predictors (explanation of variance: 23%). Contrary to the expectations, classic work-related factors can hardly contribute to the explanation of mental health. Additionally, cardiovascular risk factors and health behaviour have no relevant influence. However, effort-reward-ratio, physical complaints and personal factors are of considerable influence on mental health in teachers. These relevant predictors should become a part of preventive arrangements for the conservation of teachers' health in the future.

  14. Cognitive profile of patients with rotated drawing at copy or recall: a controlled group study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molteni, Federica; Traficante, Debora; Ferri, Francesca; Isella, Valeria

    2014-03-01

    When copying or recalling a figure from memory, some patient with dementia or focal brain lesions may rotate the drawing through ±90° or 180°. We have tried to clarify the nature of this phenomenon by investigating the cognitive profile of 22 patients who rotated the copy of the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure and 27 who rotated (only) the recall, and two control groups of cases with the same neuropsychiatric diagnoses, but no misorientation deficit. Brain MRI and FDG-PET images were also analysed. Predictor of rotation at the copy versus rotation at the recall was visuospatial impairment as measured by the copy of the Rey Figure; predictors of rotation at the copy versus no rotation were, again, visuospatial deficits, in addition to an abnormal performance at the task of selective attention. No specific profile of cognitive impairment distinguished patients with and without rotation at the recall. Disproportionate temporo-parieto-occipital atrophy or hypometabolism were evident in cases with misorientation of the copy, while predominant frontal abnormalities were found in cases of rotated recall. Based on these findings, rotated drawing at the copy is interpreted as a dorsal visual stream deficit, whose occurrence is more probable when attentional control is impaired. Rotation at recall seems to have a distinct, more anterior, neural substrate, but its dysexecutive nature has yet to be demonstrated. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Use of a shoulder abduction brace after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair: A study on gait performance and falls.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sonoda, Yuma; Nishioka, Takashi; Nakajima, Ryo; Imai, Shinji; Vigers, Piers; Kawasaki, Taku

    2018-04-01

    Fall prevention is essential in patients after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair because of the high risk of re-rupture. However, there are no reports related to falls that occur during the early postoperative period, while the affected limb is immobilized. This study assessed gait performance and falls in patients using a shoulder abduction brace after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair. Prospective cohort and postoperative repeated measures. This study included 29 patients (mean age, 67.1 ± 7.4 years) who underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair followed by rehabilitation. The timed up and go test, Geriatric Depression Scale, and Falls Efficacy Scale were measured, and the numbers of falls were compared between those shoulder abduction brace users and patients who had undergone total hip or knee arthroplasty. In arthroscopic rotator cuff repair patients, there were significant improvements in timed up and go test and Geriatric Depression Scale, but no significant differences in Falls Efficacy Scale, between the second and fifth postoperative weeks ( p rotator cuff repair patients fell more often than patients with total hip arthroplasty or total knee arthroplasty during the same period. The findings suggest that rehabilitation in arthroscopic rotator cuff repair patients is beneficial, but decreased gait performance due to the immobilizing shoulder abduction brace can lead to falls. Clinical relevance Although rehabilitation helps motor function and mental health after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair, shoulder abduction brace use is associated with impaired gait performance, high Falls Efficacy Scale scores, and risk of falls, so awareness of risk factors including medications and lower limb dysfunctions is especially important after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair.

  16. Mapping of the Underlying Neural Mechanisms of Maintenance and Manipulation in Visuo-Spatial Working Memory Using An n-back Mental Rotation Task: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lamp, Gemma; Alexander, Bonnie; Laycock, Robin; Crewther, David P; Crewther, Sheila G

    2016-01-01

    Mapping of the underlying neural mechanisms of visuo-spatial working memory (WM) has been shown to consistently elicit activity in right hemisphere dominant fronto-parietal networks. However to date, the bulk of neuroimaging literature has focused largely on the maintenance aspect of visuo-spatial WM, with a scarcity of research into the aspects of WM involving manipulation of information. Thus, this study aimed to compare maintenance-only with maintenance and manipulation of visuo-spatial stimuli (3D cube shapes) utilizing a 1-back task while functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans were acquired. Sixteen healthy participants (9 women, M = 23.94 years, SD = 2.49) were required to perform the 1-back task with or without mentally rotating the shapes 90° on a vertical axis. When no rotation was required (maintenance-only condition), a right hemispheric lateralization was revealed across fronto-parietal areas. However, when the task involved maintaining and manipulating the same stimuli through 90° rotation, activation was primarily seen in the bilateral parietal lobe and left fusiform gyrus. The findings confirm that the well-established right lateralized fronto-parietal networks are likely to underlie simple maintenance of visuo-spatial stimuli. The results also suggest that the added demand of manipulation of information maintained online appears to require further neural recruitment of functionally related areas. In particular mental rotation of visuospatial stimuli required bilateral parietal areas, and the left fusiform gyrus potentially to maintain a categorical or object representation. It can be concluded that WM is a complex neural process involving the interaction of an increasingly large network.

  17. Age-Related Sensory Impairments and Risk of Cognitive Impairment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fischer, Mary E; Cruickshanks, Karen J.; Schubert, Carla R; Pinto, Alex A; Carlsson, Cynthia M; Klein, Barbara EK; Klein, Ronald; Tweed, Ted S.

    2016-01-01

    Background/Objectives To evaluate the associations of sensory impairments with the 10-year risk of cognitive impairment. Previous work has primarily focused on the relationship between a single sensory system and cognition. Design The Epidemiology of Hearing Loss Study (EHLS) is a longitudinal, population-based study of aging in the Beaver Dam, WI community. Baseline examinations were conducted in 1993 and follow-up exams have been conducted every 5 years. Setting General community Participants EHLS members without cognitive impairment at EHLS-2 (1998–2000). There were 1,884 participants (mean age = 66.7 years) with complete EHLS-2 sensory data and follow-up information. Measurements Cognitive impairment was a Mini-Mental State Examination score of impairment was a pure-tone average of hearing thresholds (0.5, 1, 2 and 4 kHz) of > 25 decibel Hearing Level in either ear. Visual impairment was Pelli-Robson contrast sensitivity of impairment was a San Diego Odor Identification Test score of impairment were independently associated with cognitive impairment risk [Hearing: Hazard Ratio (HR) = 1.90, 95% Confidence Interval (C.I.) = 1.11, 3.26; Vision: HR = 2.05, 95% C.I. = 1.24, 3.38; Olfaction: HR = 3.92, 95% C.I. = 2.45, 6.26]. However, 85% with hearing impairment, 81% with visual impairment, and 76% with olfactory impairment did not develop cognitive impairment during follow-up. Conclusion The relationship between sensory impairment and cognitive impairment was not unique to one sensory system suggesting sensorineural health may be a marker of brain aging. The development of a combined sensorineurocognitive measure may be useful in uncovering mechanisms of healthy brain aging. PMID:27611845

  18. Mental States in Moving Shapes: Distinct Cortical and Subcortical Contributions to Theory of Mind Impairments in Dementia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Synn, Artemis; Mothakunnel, Annu; Kumfor, Fiona; Chen, Yu; Piguet, Olivier; Hodges, John R; Irish, Muireann

    2018-01-01

    Impaired capacity for Theory of Mind (ToM) represents one of the hallmark features of the behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and is suggested to underpin an array of socioemotional disturbances characteristic of this disorder. In contrast, while social processing typically remains intact in Alzheimer's disease (AD), the cognitive loading of socioemotional tasks may adversely impact mentalizing performance in AD. Here, we employed the Frith-Happé animations as a dynamic on-line assessment of mentalizing capacity with reduced incidental task demands in 18 bvFTD, 18 AD, and 25 age-matched Controls. Participants viewed silent animations in which geometric shapes interact in Random, Goal-Directed, and ToM conditions. An exclusive deficit in ToM classification was observed in bvFTD relative to Controls, while AD patients were impaired in the accurate classification of both Random and ToM trials. Correlation analyses revealed robust associations between ToM deficits and carer ratings of affective empathy disruption in bvFTD, and with episodic memory dysfunction in AD. Voxel-based morphometry analyses further identified dissociable neural correlates contingent on patient group. A distributed network of medial prefrontal, frontoinsular, striatal, lateral temporal, and parietal regions were implicated in the bvFTD group, whereas the right hippocampus correlated with task performance in AD. Notably, subregions of the cerebellum, including lobules I-IV and V, bilaterally were implicated in task performance irrespective of patient group. Our findings reveal new insights into the mechanisms potentially mediating ToM disruption in dementia syndromes, and suggest that the cerebellum may play a more prominent role in social cognition than previously appreciated.

  19. Predictors of mental health in female teachers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Reingard Seibt

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Objective: Teaching profession is characterised by an above-average rate of psychosomatic and mental health impairment due to work-related stress. The aim of the study was to identify predictors of mental health in female teachers. Material and Methods: A sample of 630 female teachers (average age 47±7 years participated in a screening diagnostic inventory. Mental health was surveyed with the General Health Questionnaire GHQ-12. The following parameters were measured: specific work conditions (teacher-specific occupational history, scales of the Effort-Reward-Imbalance (ERI Questionnaire as well as cardiovascular risk factors, physical complaints (BFB and personal factors such as inability to recover (FABA, sense of coherence (SOC and health behaviour. Results: First, mentally fit (MH+ and mentally impaired teachers (MH- were differentiated based on the GHQ-12 sum score (MH+: < 5; MH-: ≥ 5; 18% of the teachers showed evidence of mental impairment. There were no differences concerning work-related and cardiovascular risk factors as well as health behaviour between MH+ and MH-. Binary logistic regressions identified 4 predictors that showed a significant effect on mental health. The effort-reward-ratio proved to be the most relevant predictor, while physical complaints as well as inability to recover and sense of coherence were identified as advanced predictors (explanation of variance: 23%. Conclusion: Contrary to the expectations, classic work-related factors can hardly contribute to the explanation of mental health. Additionally, cardiovascular risk factors and health behaviour have no relevant influence. However, effort-reward-ratio, physical complaints and personal factors are of considerable influence on mental health in teachers. These relevant predictors should become a part of preventive arrangements for the conservation of teachers' health in the future.

  20. Do Males and Females Conceptualise Work and Social Impairment Differently Following Treatment for Different Mental Health Problems?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, David; Fairweather-Schmidt, A Kate; Riley, Ben; Javidi, Zhila; Zabeen, Sara; Lawn, Sharon; Battersby, Malcolm

    2018-04-01

    The Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS) is used by psychiatric nurses for screening and evaluating patients' treatment outcomes for a variety of mental health problems. This study investigated longitudinal and gender measurement invariance of WSAS using structural equation modeling within a help-seeking problem gambling sample (n=445), and an intervention program for depression and anxiety sample (n=444). The concept of functional impairment was defined by all WSAS items in males and females at pre- and post-treatment assessments. These findings confirm that the WSAS is a robust and efficacious instrument for evaluating treatment outcomes in two differing populations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Enduring mental health morbidity and social function impairment in world trade center rescue, recovery, and cleanup workers: the psychological dimension of an environmental health disaster.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stellman, Jeanne Mager; Smith, Rebecca P; Katz, Craig L; Sharma, Vansh; Charney, Dennis S; Herbert, Robin; Moline, Jacqueline; Luft, Benjamin J; Markowitz, Steven; Udasin, Iris; Harrison, Denise; Baron, Sherry; Landrigan, Philip J; Levin, Stephen M; Southwick, Steven

    2008-09-01

    The World Trade Center (WTC) attacks exposed thousands of workers to hazardous environmental conditions and psychological trauma. In 2002, to assess the health of these workers, Congress directed the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to establish the WTC Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program. This program has established a large cohort of WTC rescue, recovery, and cleanup workers. We previously documented extensive pulmonary dysfunction in this cohort related to toxic environmental exposures. Our objective in this study was to describe mental health outcomes, social function impairment, and psychiatric comorbidity in the WTC worker cohort, as well as perceived symptomatology in workers' children. Ten to 61 months after the WTC attack, 10,132 WTC workers completed a self-administered mental health questionnaire. Of the workers who completd the questionnaire, 11.1% met criteria for probable post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 8.8% met criteria for probable depression, 5.0% met criteria for probable panic disorder, and 62% met criteria for substantial stress reaction. PTSD prevalence was comparable to that seen in returning Afghanistan war veterans and was much higher than in the U.S. general population. Point prevalence declined from 13.5% to 9.7% over the 5 years of observation. Comorbidity was extensive and included extremely high risks for impairment of social function. PTSD was significantly associated with loss of family members and friends, disruption of family, work, and social life, and higher rates of behavioral symptoms in children of workers. Working in 9/11 recovery operations is associated with chronic impairment of mental health and social functioning. Psychological distress and psychopathology in WTC workers greatly exceed population norms. Surveillance and treatment programs continue to be needed.

  2. Event-related potentials in homosexual and heterosexual men and women: sex-dimorphic patterns in verbal asymmetries and mental rotation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wegesin, D J

    1998-02-01

    To elucidate neurobiological factors related to gender and sexual orientation, event-related brain potentials of 20 heterosexual (HT) men, 20 HT women, 20 homosexual (HM) men, and 20 HM women were examined for neurophysiological differences. Cognitive tasks which typically elicit sex differences were administered. A mental rotation (MR) task assessed spatial ability, and a divided-visual-field lexical-decision/semantic monitoring task (LD/SM) assessed verbal ability and relative degrees of language lateralization. Slow wave activity recorded during MR was greater for HT men than for HT women and gay men. N400 asymmetries recorded during the LD/SM task revealed differences between men and women, but no intrasex differences. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.

  3. Annual research review : conceptualising functional impairment in children and adolescents

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rapee, R.M.; Bogels, S.M.; van der Sluis, Cathy .M.; Craske, M.G.; Ollendick, T.

    2012-01-01

    Functional impairment is a key factor in the clinical importance of mental health problems in children. Yet, the nature of impairment and criteria for defining and assessing impairment in childhood disorders has been surprisingly overlooked in much of the literature. The current article examines the

  4. Annual research review: conceptualising functional impairment in children and adolescents

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rapee, R.M.; Bögels, S.M.; van der Sluis, C.M.; Craske, M.G.; Ollendick, T.

    2012-01-01

    Functional impairment is a key factor in the clinical importance of mental health problems in children. Yet, the nature of impairment and criteria for defining and assessing impairment in childhood disorders has been surprisingly overlooked in much of the literature. The current article examines the

  5. Do compensation processes impair mental health? A meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elbers, Nieke A; Hulst, Liesbeth; Cuijpers, Pim; Akkermans, Arno J; Bruinvels, David J

    2013-05-01

    Victims who are involved in a compensation processes generally have more health complaints compared to victims who are not involved in a compensation process. Previous research regarding the effect of compensation processes has concentrated on the effect on physical health. This meta-analysis focuses on the effect of compensation processes on mental health. Prospective cohort studies addressing compensation and mental health after traffic accidents, occupational accidents or medical errors were identified using PubMed, EMBASE, PsycInfo, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library. Relevant studies published between January 1966 and 10 June 2011 were selected for inclusion. Ten studies were included. The first finding was that the compensation group already had higher mental health complaints at baseline compared to the non-compensation group (standardised mean difference (SMD)=-0.38; 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.66 to -0.10; p=.01). The second finding was that mental health between baseline and post measurement improved less in the compensation group compared to the non-compensation group (SMD=-0.35; 95% CI -0.70 to -0.01; p=.05). However, the quality of evidence was limited, mainly because of low quality study design and heterogeneity. Being involved in a compensation process is associated with higher mental health complaints but three-quarters of the difference appeared to be already present at baseline. The findings of this study should be interpreted with caution because of the limited quality of evidence. The difference at baseline may be explained by a selection bias or more anger and blame about the accident in the compensation group. The difference between baseline and follow-up may be explained by secondary gain and secondary victimisation. Future research should involve assessment of exposure to compensation processes, should analyse and correct for baseline differences, and could examine the effect of time, compensation scheme design, and claim settlement on

  6. An assessment of attitudes towards people with mental illness among medical students and physicians in Ibadan, Nigeria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ighodaro, Adesuwa; Stefanovics, Elina; Makanjuola, Victor; Rosenheck, Robert

    2015-06-01

    The authors surveyed attitudes towards mental illness among Nigerian medical personnel at three different levels of training and experience: medical students who had not completed their psychiatry rotation, medical students who had competed their psychiatry rotation, and graduate physicians. Six questions addressed beliefs about the effectiveness of treatments for four specific mental illnesses (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, and anxiety) and two medical illnesses (diabetes and hypertension) among the three groups. A self-report questionnaire including 56 dichotomous items was used to compare beliefs about and attitudes towards people with mental illness. Factor analysis was used to identify key attitudes and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to compare the groups adjusting for age and personal experience with people with mental illness. There were no significant trends in attitudes towards the effectiveness of medication. Exploratory factor analysis of the beliefs and attitudes items identified four factors: (1) comfort socializing with people with mental, illness; (2) non-superstitious beliefs about the causes of mental illness; (3) neighborly feelings towards people with mental illness; and (4) belief that stress and abuse are part of the etiology of mental illness. ANCOVA comparing attitudes among the three groups showed that on three (1, 2, and 4) of the four factors medical students who had completed a rotation in psychiatry had significantly higher scores than the medical students who had not completed a rotation in psychiatry. Graduate physicians showed a similar pattern scoring higher than the medical students who had not completed a rotation in psychiatry in two factors (1 and 4) but showed no differences from students who had completed their psychiatry rotation. While beliefs about medication effectiveness do not differ between medical trainees and graduate professionals, stigmatizing attitudes towards people with mental illness seem

  7. Experimental but not Sex Differences of a Mental Rotation Training Program on Adolescents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antonio Rodán-González

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Given the importance of visuospatial processing in areas related to the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics disciplines, where there is still a considerable gap in the area of sex differences, the interest in the effects of visuospatial skills training continues to grow. Therefore, we have evaluated the visuospatial improvement of adolescents after performing a computerized mental rotation (MR training program, as well as the relationship of this visuospatial ability with other cognitive, emotional factors and those factors based on the experience with videogames. The study, which was performed on students aged 14 and 15 years old, showed a significant improvement in this visuospatial skill for a training group (n = 21 compared to a control group (n = 24. Furthermore, no significant sex differences were obtained for spatial ability or for any of the other tasks evaluated, either before or after training. Regarding the relationship between skills, a significant correlation between experience with video games and spatial ability was found, as well as between mathematical reasoning and intelligence and with spatial ability in the initial phase for the total sample. These findings are discussed from a cognitive point of view and within the current sociocultural context, where the equal use of new technologies could help reduce the visuospatial gap between sexes.

  8. Impaired cognitive control and reduced cingulate activity during mental fatigue

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lorist, M.M.; Boksem, M.A.S.; Ridderinkhof, K.R.

    2005-01-01

    Neurocognitive mechanisms underlying the effects of mental fatigue are poorly understood. Here, we examined whether error-related brain activity, indexing performance monitoring by the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and strategic behavioural adjustments were modulated by mental fatigue, as induced

  9. Impaired cognitive control and reduced cingulate activity during mental fatigue

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lorist, MM; Boksem, MAS; Ridderinkhof, KR

    Neurocognitive mechanisms underlying the effects of mental fatigue are poorly understood. Here, we examined whether error-related brain activity, indexing performance monitoring by the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and strategic behavioural adjustments were modulated by mental fatigue, as induced

  10. The MentDis_ICF65+ study protocol: prevalence, 1-year incidence and symptom severity of mental disorders in the elderly and their relationship to impairment, functioning (ICF) and service utilisation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andreas, Sylke; Härter, Martin; Volkert, Jana; Hausberg, Maria; Sehner, Susanne; Wegscheider, Karl; Rabung, Sven; Ausín, Berta; Canuto, Alessandra; Da Ronch, Chiara; Grassi, Luigi; Hershkovitz, Yael; Lelliott, Paul; Muñoz, Manuel; Quirk, Alan; Rotenstein, Ora; Santos-Olmo, Ana Belén; Shalev, Arieh; Siegert, Jens; Weber, Kerstin; Wittchen, Hans-Ulrich; Koch, Uwe; Schulz, Holger

    2013-02-18

    The EU currently lacks reliable data on the prevalence and incidence of mental disorders in older people. Despite the availability of several national and international epidemiological studies, the size and burden of mental disorders in the elderly remain unclear due to various reasons. Therefore, the aims of the MentDis_ICF65+ study are (1) to adapt existing assessment instruments, and (2) to collect data on the prevalence, the incidence, and the natural course and prognosis of mental disorders in the elderly. Using a cross-sectional and prospective longitudinal design, this multi-centre study from six European countries and associated states (Germany, Great Britain, Israel, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland) is based on age-stratified, random samples of elderly people living in the community. The study program consists of three phases: (1) a methodological phase devoted primarily to the adaptation of age- and gender-specific assessment tools for older people (e.g., the Composite International Diagnostic Interview, CIDI) as well as psychometric evaluations including translation, back translation; (2) a baseline community study in all participating countries to assess the lifetime, 12 month and 1 month prevalence and comorbidity of mental disorders, including prior course, quality of life, health care utilization and helpseeking, impairments and participation and, (3) a 12 month follow-up of all baseline participants to monitor course and outcome as well as examine predictors. The study is an essential step forward towards the further development and improvement of harmonised instruments for the assessment of mental disorders as well as the evaluation of activity impairment and participation in older adults. This study will also facilitate the comparison of cross-cultural results. These results will have bearing on mental health care in the EU and will offer a starting point for necessary structural changes to be initiated for mental health care policy at the level of

  11. Impaired work functioning due to common mental disorders in nurses and allied health professionals: the Nurses Work Functioning Questionnaire.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gärtner, F R; Nieuwenhuijsen, K; van Dijk, F J H; Sluiter, J K

    2012-02-01

    Common mental disorders (CMD) negatively affect work functioning. In the health service sector not only the prevalence of CMDs is high, but work functioning problems are associated with a risk of serious consequences for patients and healthcare providers. If work functioning problems due to CMDs are detected early, timely help can be provided. Therefore, the aim of this study is to develop a detection questionnaire for impaired work functioning due to CMDs in nurses and allied health professionals working in hospitals. First, an item pool was developed by a systematic literature study and five focus group interviews with employees and experts. To evaluate the content validity, additional interviews were held. Second, a cross-sectional assessment of the item pool in 314 nurses and allied health professionals was used for item selection and for identification and corroboration of subscales by explorative and confirmatory factor analysis. The study results in the Nurses Work Functioning Questionnaire (NWFQ), a 50-item self-report questionnaire consisting of seven subscales: cognitive aspects of task execution, impaired decision making, causing incidents at work, avoidance behavior, conflicts and irritations with colleagues, impaired contact with patients and their family, and lack of energy and motivation. The questionnaire has a proven high content validity. All subscales have good or acceptable internal consistency. The Nurses Work Functioning Questionnaire gives insight into precise and concrete aspects of impaired work functioning of nurses and allied health professionals. The scores can be used as a starting point for purposeful interventions.

  12. 20 CFR 404.1508 - What is needed to show an impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false What is needed to show an impairment. 404... is needed to show an impairment. If you are not doing substantial gainful activity, we always look first at your physical or mental impairment(s) to determine whether you are disabled or blind. Your...

  13. 20 CFR 416.908 - What is needed to show an impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false What is needed to show an impairment. 416.908... is needed to show an impairment. If you are not doing substantial gainful activity, we always look first at your physical or mental impairment(s) to determine whether you are disabled or blind. Your...

  14. The impact of ageing and gender on visual mental imagery processes: A study of performance on tasks from the Complete Visual Mental Imagery Battery (CVMIB).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palermo, Liana; Piccardi, Laura; Nori, Raffaella; Giusberti, Fiorella; Guariglia, Cecilia

    2016-09-01

    In this study we aim to evaluate the impact of ageing and gender on different visual mental imagery processes. Two hundred and fifty-one participants (130 women and 121 men; age range = 18-77 years) were given an extensive neuropsychological battery including tasks probing the generation, maintenance, inspection, and transformation of visual mental images (Complete Visual Mental Imagery Battery, CVMIB). Our results show that all mental imagery processes with the exception of the maintenance are affected by ageing, suggesting that other deficits, such as working memory deficits, could account for this effect. However, the analysis of the transformation process, investigated in terms of mental rotation and mental folding skills, shows a steeper decline in mental rotation, suggesting that age could affect rigid transformations of objects and spare non-rigid transformations. Our study also adds to previous ones in showing gender differences favoring men across the lifespan in the transformation process, and, interestingly, it shows a steeper decline in men than in women in inspecting mental images, which could partially account for the mixed results about the effect of ageing on this specific process. We also discuss the possibility to introduce the CVMIB in clinical assessment in the context of theoretical models of mental imagery.

  15. [Evaluation of mental and communication functions in mapuche and non mapuche elderly subjects in rural communities in Southern Chile].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mella, Rebeca; Alvear, María; Carrillo, Berta; Caire, Victor

    2003-11-01

    The main predictors of functional impairment in the elderly are alterations in mental or communication functions. To study mental and communication functions in rural elderly subjects of Mapuche and non Mapuche origin. Elderly subjects coming from a rural Mapuche community and a non Mapuche community were studied. Subjects were interviewed at their homes. The communication and mental function assessments of the Functional Autonomy Measurement System were applied. Fifty one Mapuche and 49 non Mapuche subjects with a mean age of 71 +/- 7 and 74 +/- 8 years respectively, were studied. Fifty four percent were female and 31% were illiterate. Twenty six percent had impairment in mental functions. The item with the highest difficulty was memory. The visual function was the most severely impaired among communication items. Mapuche elderly subjects had significantly higher degrees of impairment in mental and communication functions. There is a higher degree of mental and communication impairment among rural Mapuche elderly subjects than in their non Mapuche counterparts.

  16. Different Patterns of Theory of Mind Impairment in Mild Cognitive Impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moreau, Noémie; Rauzy, Stéphane; Bonnefoi, Bernadette; Renié, Laurent; Martinez-Almoyna, Laurent; Viallet, François; Champagne-Lavau, Maud

    2015-01-01

    Theory of Mind refers to the ability to infer other’s mental states, their beliefs, intentions, or knowledge. To date, only two studies have reported the presence of Theory of Mind impairment in mild cognitive impairment (MCI). In the present study,we evaluated 20 MCI patients and compared them with 25 healthy control participants using two Theory of Mind tasks. The first task was a false belief paradigm as frequently used in the literature, and the second one was a referential communication task,assessing Theory of Mind in a real situation of interaction and which had never been used before in this population. The results showed that MCI patients presented difficulties inferring another person’s beliefs about reality and attributing knowledge to them in a situation of real-life interaction. Two different patterns of Theory of Mind emerged among the patients. In comparison with the control group, some MCI patients demonstrated impairment only in the interaction task and presented isolated episodicmemory impairment, while others were impaired in both Theory of Mind tasks and presented cognitive impairment impacting both episodic memory and executive functioning. Theory of Mind is thus altered in the very early stages of cognitive impairment even in real social interaction, which could impact precociously relationships in daily life.

  17. Mild cognitive impairment in early life and mental health problems in adulthood.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Chuan-Yu; Lawlor, John P; Duggan, Anne K; Hardy, Janet B; Eaton, William W

    2006-10-01

    We assessed the extent to which borderline mental retardation and mental retardation at preschool ages are related to emotional and behavioral problems in young adulthood. We also explored early risk factors for having mental health problems as a young adult that might be related to preschool differences in cognitive ability. We used data from a cohort of births studied in the Johns Hopkins Collaborative Perinatal Study and followed up in the Pathways to Adulthood Study. Preschool cognitive functioning was assessed at 4 years of age. Individual characteristics, psychosocial factors, and mental problems were prospectively evaluated from birth through young adulthood. Children with subaverage cognitive abilities were more likely to develop mental health problems than their counterparts with IQs above 80. Inadequate family interactions were shown to increase 2- to 4-fold the risk of emotional or behavioral problems among children with borderline mental retardation. Subaverage cognitive functioning in early life increases later risk of mental health problems. Future research may help to delineate possible impediments faced at different developmental stages and guide changes in supportive services to better address the needs of children with borderline mental retardation.

  18. The Role of Mental Health Professionals Contributes to Mental Health Promotion and Prevention: Innovative Programmes in Serbia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Milovancevic, Milica Pejovic; Jovicic, Milica

    2013-01-01

    It has been estimated that 9 to 13% of children and adolescents have a mental disorder that causes significant functioning impairment and that only one fifth of those who need mental health services actually receive them. The majority of children and adolescents are enrolled in schools, where they spend a considerable amount of time, and this is…

  19. New percepts via mental imagery?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fred Walter Mast

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available We are able to extract detailed information from mental images that we were not explicitly aware of during encoding. For example, we can discover a new figure when we rotate a previously seen image in our mind. However, such discoveries are not really new but just new interpretations. In two recent publications, we have shown that mental imagery can lead to perceptual learning (Tartaglia et al., 2009, 2012. Observers imagined the central line of a bisection stimulus for thousands of trials. This training enabled observers to perceive bisection offsets that were invisible before training. Hence, it seems that perceptual learning via mental imagery leads to new percepts. We will argue, however, that these new percepts can occur only within known models. In this sense, perceptual learning via mental imagery exceeds new discoveries in mental images. Still, the effects of mental imagery on perceptual learning are limited. Only perception can lead to really new perceptual experience.

  20. Visual perception and appraisal of persons with impairments: a randomised controlled field experiment using photo elicitation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reinhardt, Jan Dietrich; Ballert, Carolina Saskia; Fellinghauer, Bernd; Lötscher, Alexander; Gradinger, Felix; Hilfiker, Roger; Graf, Sibylle; Stucki, Gerold

    2011-01-01

    Visual cues from persons with impairments may trigger stereotypical generalisations that lead to prejudice and discrimination. The main objective of this pilot study is to examine whether visual stimuli of impairment activate latent prejudice against disability and whether this connection can be counteracted with priming strategies. In a field experiment, participants were asked to rate photographs showing models with mental impairments, wheelchair users with paraplegia, and persons without any visible impairment. Participants should appraise the models with regard to several features (e.g. communicativeness, intelligence). One hundred participants rated 12 photo models yielding a total of 1183 observations. One group of participants was primed with a cover story introducing visual perception of impairment as the study's gist, while controls received neutral information. Photo models with mental impairments were rated lowest and models without visible impairment highest. In participants who did not have prior contacts with persons with impairments, priming led to a levelling of scores of models with and without impairment. Prior contacts with persons with impairments created similar effects as the priming. Unexpectedly, a pattern of converse double discrimination to the disadvantage of men with mental impairments was revealed. Signs of stereotypical processing of visual cues of impairment have been found in participants of the Swiss general population. Personal contact with persons with impairments as well as priming participants seems to reduce stereotyping.

  1. Validity of the SF-36 five-item Mental Health Index for major depression in functionally impaired, community-dwelling elderly patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Friedman, Bruce; Heisel, Marnin; Delavan, Rachel

    2005-11-01

    To examine criterion and construct validity of the five-item Mental Health Index (MHI-5) of the 36-item Short Form health survey (SF-36) in relation to the presence of major depression in functionally impaired, community-dwelling elderly patients and of eight subsamples defined by cognitive functioning, levels of functional impairment, and proxy report versus self-report. Cross-sectional observational. Nineteen counties in western New York, West Virginia, and Ohio. One thousand four hundred forty-four functionally impaired, community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 and older who participated in the Medicare Primary and Consumer-Directed Care Demonstration. MHI-5, Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview Major Depressive Episode (MINI-MDE) module. The MHI-5 demonstrated sufficient criterion validity (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve=0.837; sensitivity=78.7% and specificity=72.1% using a cutpoint of 59/60) with respect to the presence of depression for the entire sample. A significant correlation between MHI-5 scores and presence of major depression as identified using the MINI-MDE (Spearman correlation=-0.426, Pvalidity. Additional evidence is provided by decline in mean MHI-5 score as level of formal education and number of close friends and relatives decreased. All eight subsamples demonstrated similar criterion and construct validity. A Cronbach alpha of 0.794 demonstrated internal consistency reliability. This study provides evidence for adequate criterion and construct validity of the MHI-5 in relation to the presence of major depression among functionally impaired, community-dwelling elderly Medicare patients.

  2. 20 CFR 404.1506 - When we will not consider your impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false When we will not consider your impairment... § 404.1506 When we will not consider your impairment. (a) Permanent exclusion of felony-related impairment. In determining whether you are under a disability, we will not consider any physical or mental...

  3. Modulating functional and dysfunctional mentalizing by transcranial magnetic stimulation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tobias eSchuwerk

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Mentalizing, the ability to attribute mental states to others and oneself, is a cognitive function with high relevance for social interactions. Recent neuroscientific research has increasingly contributed to attempts to decompose this complex social cognitive function into constituting neurocognitive building blocks. Additionally, clinical research that focuses on social cognition to find links between impaired social functioning and neurophysiological deviations has accumulated evidence that mentalizing is affected in most psychiatric disorders. Recently, both lines of research have started to employ transcranial magnetic stimulation: the first to modulate mentalizing in order to specify its neurocognitive components, the latter to treat impaired mentalizing in clinical conditions. This review integrates findings of these two different approaches to draw a more detailed picture of the neurocognitive basis of mentalizing and its deviations in psychiatric disorders. Moreover, we evaluate the effectiveness of hitherto employed stimulation techniques and protocols, paradigms and outcome measures. Based on this overview we highlight new directions for future research on the neurocognitive basis of functional and dysfunctional social cognition.

  4. Mental Fatigue and Spatial References Impair Soccer Players' Physical and Tactical Performances

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diogo Coutinho

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available This study examined the effects of mental fatigue and additional corridor and pitch sector lines on players' physical and tactical performances during soccer small-sided games. Twelve youth players performed four Gk+6vs6+Gk small-sided games. Prior to the game, one team performed a motor coordination task to induce mental fatigue, while the other one performed a control task. A repeated measures design allowed to compare players' performances across four conditions: (a with mental fatigue against opponents without mental fatigue in a normal pitch (MEN, (b with mental fatigue on a pitch with additional reference lines (#MEN; (c without mental fatigue against mentally fatigued opponents on a normal pitch (CTR; and (d without mental fatigue on a pitch with reference lines (#CTR. Player's physical performance was assessed by the distance covered per minute and the number of accelerations and decelerations (0.5–3.0 m/s2; > −3.0 m/s2. Positional data was used to determine individual (spatial exploration index, time synchronized in longitudinal and lateral directions and team-related variables (length, width, speed of dispersion and contraction. Unclear effects were found for the physical activity measures in most of the conditions. There was a small decrease in time spent laterally synchronized and a moderate decrease in the contraction speed when MEN compared to the CTR. Also, there was a small decrease in the time spent longitudinally synchronized during the #MEN condition compared to MEN. The results showed that mental fatigue affects the ability to use environmental information and players' positioning, while the additional reference lines may have enhanced the use of less relevant information to guide their actions during the #MEN condition. Overall, coaches could manipulate the mental fatigue and reference lines to induce variability and adaptation in young soccer players' behavior.

  5. Mental workload while driving: effects on visual search, discrimination, and decision making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Recarte, Miguel A; Nunes, Luis M

    2003-06-01

    The effects of mental workload on visual search and decision making were studied in real traffic conditions with 12 participants who drove an instrumented car. Mental workload was manipulated by having participants perform several mental tasks while driving. A simultaneous visual-detection and discrimination test was used as performance criteria. Mental tasks produced spatial gaze concentration and visual-detection impairment, although no tunnel vision occurred. According to ocular behavior analysis, this impairment was due to late detection and poor identification more than to response selection. Verbal acquisition tasks were innocuous compared with production tasks, and complex conversations, whether by phone or with a passenger, are dangerous for road safety.

  6. Some considerations of the energy spectrum of odd-odd deformed nuclei; Quelqes considerations sur le spectre d'energie des noyaux impair-impair deformes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alceanu-G, Pinho de; Picard, J [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

    1965-07-01

    The odd-odd deformed nuclei are described as a rotator plus two odd nucleons moving in orbitals {omega}{sub p} and {omega}{sub n} of the deformed potential. We investigate the energies and wave functions of the various states of the ({omega}{sub p}, {omega}{sub n}) configurations by calculating and numerically diagonalizing the Hamiltonian matrix (with R.P.C. and residual interactions). The Gallagher-Mosskowski coupling rules ana the abnormal K equals 0 rotational bands are discussed. (authors) [French] Les noyaux impair-impairs deformes sont decrits comme un rotateur plus deux nucleons non apparies dans les orbites {omega}{sub p} et {omega}{sub n} du potentiel deforme. Nous etudions le spectre d'energie et les fonctions d'onde des configurations ({omega}{sub p}, {omega}{sub n}) en tenant compte de l'interaction particule-rotation et de la force residuelle entre les deux nucleons celibataires.

  7. The gender difference on the Mental Rotations test is not due to performance factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masters, M S

    1998-05-01

    Men score higher than women on the Mental Rotations test (MRT), and the magnitude of this gender difference is the largest of that on any spatial test. Goldstein, Haldane, and Mitchell (1990) reported finding that the gender difference on the MRT disappears when "performance factors" are controlled--specifically, when subjects are allowed sufficient time to attempt all items on the test or when a scoring procedure that controls for the number of items attempted is used. The present experiment also explored whether eliminating these performance factors results in a disappearance of the gender difference on the test. Male and female college students were allowed a short time period or unlimited time on the MRT. The tests were scored according to three different procedures. The results showed no evidence that the gender difference on the MRT was affected by the scoring method or the time limit. Regardless of the scoring procedure, men scored higher than women, and the magnitude of the gender difference persisted undiminished when subjects completed all items on the test. Thus there was no evidence that performance factors produced the gender difference on the MRT. These results are consistent with the results of other investigators who have attempted to replicate Goldstein et al.'s findings.

  8. Impaired growth of denervated muscle contributes to contracture formation following neonatal brachial plexus injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nikolaou, Sia; Peterson, Elizabeth; Kim, Annie; Wylie, Christopher; Cornwall, Roger

    2011-03-02

    The etiology of shoulder and elbow contractures following neonatal brachial plexus injury is incompletely understood. With use of a mouse model, the current study tests the novel hypothesis that reduced growth of denervated muscle contributes to contractures following neonatal brachial plexus injury. Unilateral brachial plexus injuries were created in neonatal mice by supraclavicular C5-C6 nerve root excision. Shoulder and elbow range of motion was measured four weeks after injury. Fibrosis, cross-sectional area, and functional length of the biceps, brachialis, and subscapularis muscles were measured over four weeks following injury. Muscle satellite cells were cultured from denervated and control biceps muscles to assess myogenic capability. In a comparison group, shoulder motion and subscapularis length were assessed following surgical excision of external rotator muscles. Shoulder internal rotation and elbow flexion contractures developed on the involved side within four weeks following brachial plexus injury. Excision of the biceps and brachialis muscles relieved the elbow flexion contractures. The biceps muscles were histologically fibrotic, whereas fatty infiltration predominated in the brachialis and rotator cuff muscles. The biceps and brachialis muscles displayed reduced cross-sectional and longitudinal growth compared with the contralateral muscles. The upper subscapularis muscle similarly displayed reduced longitudinal growth, with the subscapularis shortening correlating with internal rotation contracture. However, excision of the external rotators without brachial plexus injury caused no contractures or subscapularis shortening. Myogenically capable satellite cells were present in denervated biceps muscles despite impaired muscle growth in vivo. Injury of the upper trunk of the brachial plexus leads to impaired growth of the biceps and brachialis muscles, which are responsible for elbow flexion contractures, and impaired growth of the subscapularis

  9. Using the Oxford Cognitive Screen to Detect Cognitive Impairment in Stroke Patients: A Comparison with the Mini-Mental State Examination

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mauro Mancuso

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available BackgroundThe Oxford Cognitive Screen (OCS was recently developed with the aim of describing the cognitive deficits after stroke. The scale consists of 10 tasks encompassing five cognitive domains: attention and executive function, language, memory, number processing, and praxis. OCS was devised to be inclusive and un-confounded by aphasia and neglect. As such, it may have a greater potential to be informative on stroke cognitive deficits of widely used instruments, such as the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE or the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, which were originally devised for demented patients.ObjectiveThe present study compared the OCS with the MMSE with regards to their ability to detect cognitive impairments post-stroke. We further aimed to examine performance on the OCS as a function of subtypes of cerebral infarction and clinical severity.Methods325 first stroke patients were consecutively enrolled in the study over a 9-month period. The OCS and MMSE, as well as the Bamford classification and NIHSS, were given according to standard procedures.ResultsAbout a third of patients (35.3% had a performance lower than the cutoff (<22 on the MMSE, whereas 91.6% were impaired in at least one OCS domain, indicating higher incidences of impairment for the OCS. More than 80% of patients showed an impairment in two or more cognitive domains of the OCS. Using the MMSE as a standard of clinical practice, the comparative sensitivity of OCS was 100%. Out of the 208 patients with normal MMSE performance 180 showed impaired performance in at least one domain of the OCS. The discrepancy between OCS and MMSE was particularly strong for patients with milder strokes. As for subtypes of cerebral infarction, fewer patients demonstrated widespread impairments in the OCS in the Posterior Circulation Infarcts category than in the other categories.ConclusionOverall, the results showed a much higher incidence of cognitive impairment with the OCS than with the

  10. Comorbid mental disorders among adults in the mental health surveillance survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forman-Hoffman, Valerie L; Batts, Kathryn R; Hedden, Sarra L; Spagnola, Kathy; Bose, Jonaki

    2018-03-09

    To examine the prevalence and correlates of mental disorder comorbidity in the adult U.S. household population. Data are from a nationally representative sample of noninstitutionalized, civilian adults aged 18 years or older (n = 5653) who participated in the 2008-2012 Mental Health Surveillance Study. Mental disorders, including substance use disorders, were assessed by clinical interviewers using a semistructured diagnostic instrument. Analyses examined co-occurrence of mental disorders and associations with sociodemographic, functional impairment, and treatment correlates. Approximately one-third of adults (31.1%, or more than 15 million) with a past-year mental disorder had a co-occurring mental disorder. Correlates of comorbidity in adjusted models included being of young age, being of non-Hispanic white race/ethnicity, having low family income, and living in a large metropolitan area. Adults with comorbid mental disorders had lower mean levels of functioning and were more likely to report past-year treatment than adults with a single disorder; they also had higher estimates of past-year perceived unmet need for care (21.7% vs. 11.6%, P mental disorder have a co-occurring mental disorder. Elucidating factors associated with co-occurrence may lend clues to shared etiologies, help improve prevention efforts, facilitate early identification, and improve treatment regimens. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Some considerations of the energy spectrum of odd-odd deformed nuclei; Quelqes considerations sur le spectre d'energie des noyaux impair-impair deformes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alceanu-G, Pinho de; Picard, J. [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

    1965-07-01

    The odd-odd deformed nuclei are described as a rotator plus two odd nucleons moving in orbitals {omega}{sub p} and {omega}{sub n} of the deformed potential. We investigate the energies and wave functions of the various states of the ({omega}{sub p}, {omega}{sub n}) configurations by calculating and numerically diagonalizing the Hamiltonian matrix (with R.P.C. and residual interactions). The Gallagher-Mosskowski coupling rules ana the abnormal K equals 0 rotational bands are discussed. (authors) [French] Les noyaux impair-impairs deformes sont decrits comme un rotateur plus deux nucleons non apparies dans les orbites {omega}{sub p} et {omega}{sub n} du potentiel deforme. Nous etudions le spectre d'energie et les fonctions d'onde des configurations ({omega}{sub p}, {omega}{sub n}) en tenant compte de l'interaction particule-rotation et de la force residuelle entre les deux nucleons celibataires.

  12. Exploratory study on the acceptance of the visually impaired ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The aim of the study was to find out the extent to which students with Mental Retardation, Visual Impairment and Hearing Impairment would accept the idea of mainstreaming programmes in Ghana. In carrying out the study, 90 students were selected randomly from three of the country\\'s special schools. A-15 item ...

  13. The impaired practitioner- scope of the problem and ethical challenges

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Practitioner impairment occurs when a physical, mental or substance-related disorder interferes with his or her ability to engage in professional activities competently and safely. The Health Professions Council of South Africa makes reporting of impaired colleagues and students mandatory. The ethical dilemma faced by ...

  14. Alcohol levels do not accurately predict physical or mental impairment in ethanol-tolerant subjects: relevance to emergency medicine and dram shop laws.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberts, James R; Dollard, Denis

    2010-12-01

    The human body and the central nervous system can develop tremendous tolerance to ethanol. Mental and physical dysfunctions from ethanol, in an alcohol-tolerant individual, do not consistently correlate with ethanol levels traditionally used to define intoxication, or even lethality, in a nontolerant subject. Attempting to relate observed signs of alcohol intoxication or impairment, or to evaluate sobriety, by quantifying blood alcohol levels can be misleading, if not impossible. We report a case demonstrating the disconnect between alcohol levels and generally assigned parameters of intoxication and impairment. In this case, an alcohol-tolerant man, with a serum ethanol level of 515 mg/dl, appeared neurologically intact and cognitively normal. This individual was without objective signs of impairment or intoxication by repeated evaluations by experienced emergency physicians. In alcohol-tolerant individuals, blood alcohol levels cannot always be predicted by and do not necessarily correlate with outward appearance, overt signs of intoxication, or physical examination. This phenomenon must be acknowledged when analyzing medical decision making in the emergency department or when evaluating the ability of bartenders and party hosts to identify intoxication in dram shop cases.

  15. Chronic stress induces a hyporeactivity of the autonomic nervous system in response to acute mental stressor and impairs cognitive performance in business executives.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Renata Roland Teixeira

    Full Text Available The present study examined the incidence of chronic stress in business executives (109 subjects: 75 male and 34 female and its relationship with cortisol levels, cognitive performance, and autonomic nervous system (ANS reactivity after an acute mental stressor. Blood samples were collected from the subjects to measure cortisol concentration. After the sample collection, the subjects completed the Lipp Inventory of Stress Symptoms for Adults and the Stroop Color-Word Test to evaluate stress and cognitive performance levels, respectively. Saliva samples were collected prior to, immediately after, and five minutes after the test. The results revealed that 90.1% of the stressed subjects experienced stress phases that are considered chronic stress. At rest, the subjects with chronic stress showed higher cortisol levels, and no gender differences were observed. No differences were found between the stressed and non-stressed subjects regarding salivary amylase activity prior to test. Chronic stress also impaired performance on the Stroop test, which revealed higher rates of error and longer reaction times in the incongruent stimulus task independently of gender. For the congruent stimulus task of the Stroop test, the stressed males presented a higher rate of errors than the non-stressed males and a longer reaction time than the stressed females. After the acute mental stressor, the non-stressed male group showed an increase in salivary alpha-amylase activity, which returned to the initial values five minutes after the test; this ANS reactivity was not observed in the chronically stressed male subjects. The ANS responses of the non-stressed vs stressed female groups were not different prior to or after the Stroop test. This study is the first to demonstrate a blunted reactivity of the ANS when male subjects with chronic psychological stress were subjected to an acute mental stressor, and this change could contribute to impairments in cognitive

  16. Chronic stress induces a hyporeactivity of the autonomic nervous system in response to acute mental stressor and impairs cognitive performance in business executives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teixeira, Renata Roland; Díaz, Miguel Mauricio; Santos, Tatiane Vanessa da Silva; Bernardes, Jean Tofoles Martins; Peixoto, Leonardo Gomes; Bocanegra, Olga Lucia; Neto, Morun Bernardino; Espindola, Foued Salmen

    2015-01-01

    The present study examined the incidence of chronic stress in business executives (109 subjects: 75 male and 34 female) and its relationship with cortisol levels, cognitive performance, and autonomic nervous system (ANS) reactivity after an acute mental stressor. Blood samples were collected from the subjects to measure cortisol concentration. After the sample collection, the subjects completed the Lipp Inventory of Stress Symptoms for Adults and the Stroop Color-Word Test to evaluate stress and cognitive performance levels, respectively. Saliva samples were collected prior to, immediately after, and five minutes after the test. The results revealed that 90.1% of the stressed subjects experienced stress phases that are considered chronic stress. At rest, the subjects with chronic stress showed higher cortisol levels, and no gender differences were observed. No differences were found between the stressed and non-stressed subjects regarding salivary amylase activity prior to test. Chronic stress also impaired performance on the Stroop test, which revealed higher rates of error and longer reaction times in the incongruent stimulus task independently of gender. For the congruent stimulus task of the Stroop test, the stressed males presented a higher rate of errors than the non-stressed males and a longer reaction time than the stressed females. After the acute mental stressor, the non-stressed male group showed an increase in salivary alpha-amylase activity, which returned to the initial values five minutes after the test; this ANS reactivity was not observed in the chronically stressed male subjects. The ANS responses of the non-stressed vs stressed female groups were not different prior to or after the Stroop test. This study is the first to demonstrate a blunted reactivity of the ANS when male subjects with chronic psychological stress were subjected to an acute mental stressor, and this change could contribute to impairments in cognitive performance.

  17. Socially Constructed Hierarchies of Impairments: The Case of Australian and Irish Workers' Access to Compensation for Injuries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harpur, Paul; Connolly, Ursula; Blanck, Peter

    2017-12-01

    Socially constructed hierarchies of impairment complicate the general disadvantage experienced by workers with disabilities. Workers with a range of abilities categorized as a "disability" are likely to experience less favourable treatment at work and have their rights to work discounted by laws and institutions, as compared to workers without disabilities. Value judgments in workplace culture and local law mean that the extent of disadvantage experienced by workers with disabilities additionally will depend upon the type of impairment they have. Rather than focusing upon the extent and severity of the impairment and how society turns an impairment into a recognized disability, this article aims to critically analyse the social hierarchy of physical versus mental impairment. Using legal doctrinal research methods, this paper analysis how Australian and Irish workers' compensation and negligence laws regard workers with mental injuries and impairments as less deserving of compensation and protection than like workers who have physical and sensory injuries or impairments. This research finds that workers who acquire and manifest mental injuries and impairments at work are less able to obtain compensation and protection than workers who have developed physical and sensory injuries of equal or lesser severity. Organizational cultures and governmental laws and policies that treat workers less favourably because they have mental injuries and impairments perpetuates unfair and artificial hierarchies of disability attributes. We conclude that these "sanist" attitudes undermine equal access to compensation for workplace injury as prohibited by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

  18. Mental depression and coping strategies among medical students of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ... psychosocial and health related stressors which predispose them to mental depression. This in turn impairs students' behavior, diminish learning and ultimately affect patient care. This study was carried out to ascertain the degrees of mental depression , predisposing factors and coping strategies in medical students.

  19. Drug Dependence, Mental Impairment and Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Florindo Stella

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available El objetivo del estudio fue evaluar la relación entre las condiciones mentales de dependientes de sustancias psicoativas y el vínculo escolar. Fueron evaluados 50 participantes atendidos en emergencias psiquiátricas por trastornos mentales asociados a la dependencia química. Luego del diagnóstico clínico, fueron realizadas las siguientes estrategias metodológicas: Entrevista Clínica, Escala Hospitalaria de Ansiedad y Depresión, Escala de Depresión de Hamilton y Escala Psiquiátrica Breve. La análisis estadístico se expresó mediante testes no-paramétricos como correlación de Spearman, Mann- Whitney, y t–Student test, con nivel de significación de 0,05. Todos los participantes hacían uso de cocaína o crack con otras sustancias. Apenas 13 (26% no interrumpen el vínculo escolar (grupo 1. Los demás, 37 participantes (74%, verificaron frecuencia irregular en aula, sucesivas reprobaciones y interrupción definitiva del vínculo escolar (grupo 2. Estos últimos participantes (con interrupción del vínculo escolar habían iniciado el uso de sustancias psicoativas más precozmente cuando los comparamos con los primeros (sin interrupción del vínculo escolar con diferencia significativa entre ambos (p=0,0001. En conclusión, los participantes que iniciaron tempranamente el uso de sustancias psicoativas presentaban tasas mayores de interrupción del vínculo escolar quando comparados con aquejes con inicio más tardío. Los fenómenos psicopatológicos eran frecuentes y graves en ambos grupos.

  20. Mental fatigue impairs soccer-specific decision-making skill

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Smith, Mitchell R.; Zeuwts, Linus; Lenoir, Matthieu; Hens, Nathalie; De Jong, Laura M. S.; Coutts, Aaron J.

    This study aimed to investigate the impact of mental fatigue on soccer-specific decision-making. Twelve well-trained male soccer players performed a soccer-specific decision-making task on two occasions, separated by at least 72 h. The decision-making task was preceded in a randomised order by 30

  1. Cognitive impairment and mortality among nonagenarians

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Kjeld; Nybo, Hanne; Gaist, David

    2002-01-01

    Cognitive impairment has been associated with increased mortality. Most studies, however, have only included small numbers, if at all, of the very old. In a large nationwide survey of all Danes born in 1905 and still alive in 1998, where the baseline examination was conducted, we examined...... the impact of cognitive impairment on mortality over a 2-year period. No cognitive impairment was defined as a score of 24-30 points on the Mini Mental State Examination, mild cognitive impairment was defined as a score of 18-23 points, and severe impairment was defined as a score of 0-17 points. Cox...... regression analysis was applied to adjust for a number of known and suspected factors known or suspected of being associated with cognition and mortality (e.g. sociodemographic factors, sex, smoking, alcohol consumption, depressive symptoms, and physical abilities), and yielded hazard ratios (95% confidence...

  2. Comparison between mini mental state examination (MMSE) and Montreal cognitive assessment Indonesian version (MoCA-Ina) as an early detection of cognitive impairments in post-stroke patients

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lestari, S.; Mistivani, I.; Rumende, C. M.; Kusumaningsih, W.

    2017-08-01

    Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is defined as cognitive impairment that may never develop into dementia. Cognitive impairment is one long-term complication of a stroke. The Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), which is commonly used as a screening tool for cognitive impairment, has a low sensitivity to detect cognitive impairment, especially MCI. Alternatively, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Indonesian version (MoCA-Ina) has been reported to have a higher sensitivity than the MMSE. The aim of this study was to compare the proportion of MCI identified between the MMSE and MoCA-Ina in stroke patients. This was a cross-sectional study of stroke outpatients who attended the Polyclinic Neuromuscular Division, Rehabilitation Department, and Polyclinic Stroke, Neurology Department Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital, Jakarta. The proportion of MCI identified using the MMSE was 31.03% compared to 72.41% when using the MoCA-Ina. This difference was statistically significant (Fisher’s exact test, p = 0.033). The proportion of MCI in stroke patients was higher when using the MoCA-Ina compared to the MMSE. The MoCA-Ina should be used as an alternative in the early detection of MCI in stroke patients, especially those undergoing rehabilitation.

  3. Continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS on left cerebellar hemisphere affects mental rotation tasks during music listening.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silvia Picazio

    Full Text Available Converging evidence suggests an association between spatial and music domains. A cerebellar role in music-related information processing as well as in spatial-temporal tasks has been documented. Here, we investigated the cerebellar role in the association between spatial and musical domains, by testing performances in embodied (EMR or abstract (AMR mental rotation tasks of subjects listening Mozart Sonata K.448, which is reported to improve spatial-temporal reasoning, in the presence or in the absence of continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS of the left cerebellar hemisphere. In the absence of cerebellar cTBS, music listening did not influence either MR task, thus not revealing a "Mozart Effect". Cerebellar cTBS applied before musical listening made subjects faster (P = 0.005 and less accurate (P = 0.005 in performing the EMR but not the AMR task. Thus, cerebellar inhibition by TBS unmasked the effect of musical listening on motor imagery. These data support a coupling between music listening and sensory-motor integration in cerebellar networks for embodied representations.

  4. The effects of sex, sexual orientation, and digit ratio (2D:4D) on mental rotation performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peters, Michael; Manning, John T; Reimers, Stian

    2007-04-01

    In spite of the reduced level of experimental control, this large scale study brought some clarity into the relation between mental rotation task (MRT) performance and a number of variables where contradictory associations had previously been reported in the literature. Clear sex differences in MRT were observed for a sample of 134,317 men and 120,783 women, with men outperforming women. There were also MRT differences as a function of sexual orientation: heterosexual men performed better than homosexual men and homosexual women performed better than heterosexual women. Although bisexual men performed better than homosexual men but less well than heterosexual men, no significant differences were observed between bisexual and homosexual women. MRT performance in both men and women peaked in the 20-30 year range, and declined significantly and markedly thereafter. Both men and women showed a significant negative correlation between left and right digit finger ratio and MRT scores, such that individuals with smaller digit ratios (relatively longer ring finger than index finger) performed better than individuals with larger digit ratios.

  5. Vaccine-induced inflammation attenuates the vascular responses to mental stress

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Paine, N.J.; Ring, C.; Bosch, J.A.; Drayson, M.T.; Aldred, S.; Veldhuijzen van Zanten, J.J.C.S.

    2014-01-01

    Inflammation is associated with poorer vascular function, with evidence to suggest that inflammation can also impair the vascular responses to mental stress. This study examined the effects of vaccine-induced inflammation on vascular responses to mental stress in healthy participants. Eighteen male

  6. Legal abortion for mental health indications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cook, R J; Ortega-Ortiz, A; Romans, S; Ross, L E

    2006-11-01

    Where legal systems allow therapeutic abortion to preserve women's mental health, practitioners often lack access to mental health professionals for making critical diagnoses or prognoses that pregnancy or childcare endangers patients' mental health. Practitioners themselves must then make clinical assessments of the impact on their patients of continued pregnancy or childcare. The law requires only that practitioners make assessments in good faith, and by credible criteria. Mental disorder includes psychological distress or mental suffering due to unwanted pregnancy and responsibility for childcare, or, for instance, anticipated serious fetal impairment. Account should be taken of factors that make patients vulnerable to distress, such as personal or family mental health history, factors that may precipitate mental distress, such as loss of personal relationships, and factors that may maintain distress, such as poor education and marginal social status. Some characteristics of patients may operate as both precipitating and maintaining factors, such as poverty and lack of social support.

  7. Does mental exertion alter maximal muscle activation?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vianney eRozand

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Mental exertion is known to impair endurance performance, but its effects on neuromuscular function remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that mental exertion reduces torque and muscle activation during intermittent maximal voluntary contractions of the knee extensors. Ten subjects performed in a randomized order three separate mental exertion conditions lasting 27 minutes each: i high mental exertion (incongruent Stroop task, ii moderate mental exertion (congruent Stroop task, iii low mental exertion (watching a movie. In each condition, mental exertion was combined with ten intermittent maximal voluntary contractions of the knee extensor muscles (one maximal voluntary contraction every 3 minutes. Neuromuscular function was assessed using electrical nerve stimulation. Maximal voluntary torque, maximal muscle activation and other neuromuscular parameters were similar across mental exertion conditions and did not change over time. These findings suggest that mental exertion does not affect neuromuscular function during intermittent maximal voluntary contractions of the knee extensors.

  8. Effects of stimulus type and strategy on mental rotation network:an Activation Likelihood Estimation meta-analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barbara eTomasino

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available We could predict how an object would look like if we were to see it from different viewpoints. The brain network governing mental rotation (MR has been studied using a variety of stimuli and tasks instructions. By using activation likelihood estimation (ALE meta-analysis we tested whether different MR networks can be modulated by the type of stimulus (body vs. non body parts or by the type of tasks instructions (motor imagery-based vs. non-motor imagery-based MR instructions. Testing for the bodily and non-bodily stimulus axis revealed a bilateral sensorimotor activation for bodily-related as compared to non bodily-related stimuli and a posterior right lateralized activation for non bodily-related as compared to bodily-related stimuli. A top-down modulation of the network was exerted by the MR tasks instructions frame with a bilateral (preferentially sensorimotor left network for motor imagery- vs. non-motor imagery-based MR instructions and the latter activating a preferentially posterior right occipito-temporal-parietal network. The present quantitative meta-analysis summarizes and amends previous descriptions of the brain network related to MR and shows how it is modulated by top-down and bottom-up experimental factors.

  9. Postoperative mental confusion--association with postoperative hypoxemia

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rosenberg, J; Kehlet, H

    1993-01-01

    under general anesthesia, were monitored for oxygen saturation (SpO2) with a pulse oximeter on a preoperative night and on the second night after operation (11:00 PM to 7:00 AM). All patients were tested with a mental test questionnaire (the Hodkinson modification of the original Roth-Hopkins test...... major surgery had decreased mental function on the third day (p operation, whereas minor surgery did not impair mental function. There was a significant correlation between mental function on the third day after operation and mean SpO2 on the second postoperative.......04). During stepwise multiple regression analysis in patients undergoing major surgery, a significant relationship was found between postoperative mental test score and SpO2 (p mental function and other perioperative variables (age, premedication dose, duration of operation...

  10. Mental juggling: when does multitasking impair reading comprehension?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cho, Kit W; Altarriba, Jeanette; Popiel, Maximilian

    2015-01-01

    The present study investigated the conditions under which multitasking impairs reading comprehension. Participants read prose passages (the primary task), some of which required them to perform a secondary task. In Experiment 1, we compared two different types of secondary tasks (answering trivia questions and solving math problems). Reading comprehension was assessed using a multiple-choice test that measured both factual and conceptual knowledge. The results showed no observable detrimental effects associated with multitasking. In Experiment 2, the secondary task was a cognitive load task that required participants to remember a string of numbers while reading the passages. Performance on the reading comprehension test was lower in the cognitive load conditions relative to the no-load condition. The present study delineates the conditions under which multitasking can impair or have no effect on reading comprehension. These results further our understanding of our capacity to multitask and have practical implications in our technologically advanced society in which multitasking has become commonplace.

  11. Advanced technology meets mental health: how smartphones, textile electronics, and signal processing can serve mental health monitoring, diagnosis, and treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valenza, Gaetano; Lanatà, Antonio; Paradiso, Rita; Scilingo, Enzo Pasquale

    2014-01-01

    Mental disorders, characterized by impaired emotional and mood balance, are common in the West. Recent surveys have found that millions of people (age 18?65) have experienced some kind of mental disorder, such as psychotic disorder, major depression, bipolar disorder, panic disorder, social phobia, and somatoform disorder [1]. Specifically, in 2010, 164.8 million people in Europe were affected by such illnesses [1].

  12. Antidopaminergic medication in healthy subjects provokes subjective and objective mental impairments tightly correlated with perturbation of biogenic monoamine metabolism and prolactin secretion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Veselinović T

    2018-04-01

    and subjective changes in general psychopathology scores, which correlated with individual increases in plasma homovanillic acid concentrations. Both objective and subjective impairments were significantly more pronounced in the subgroup with greatest increase of plasma prolactin. Subjects experiencing the most pronounced side effects under haloperidol, which compelled them to drop out, showed significantly higher prolactin concentration increases than those who tolerated haloperidol well.Conclusion: We found consistent associations between altered markers of dopamine transmission and several objective and subjective mental impairments in healthy volunteers after 1 week’s treatment with antidopaminergic medications. These findings should draw attention to a more intensive risk–benefit evaluation in cases of off-label prescription of antipsychotic medications. Keywords: catecholamine metabolites, HVA, prolactin, dopamine, reserpine, aripiprazole, haloperidol, off-label prescription

  13. Cognitive schemas among mental health professionals: Adaptive or maladaptive?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sahoo Saddichha

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: Maladaptive cognitive schemas can lead to biases during clinical assessment or psychotherapeutic interventions. This study aimed to explore the cognitive schemas among mental health professionals. Materials and Methods: 100 mental health professionals, of both genders, equally divided between psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and psychiatric nurses, were approached and administered the Young Schema Questionnaire - Short Form after written informed consent. Results: Males had higher maladaptive schemas than female respondents across all schema domains, viz., disconnection/rejection, impaired autonomy, impaired limits, other-directedness, and overvigilance (P ≤ 0.05. Psychiatrists had higher maladaptive schemas than psychologists (P ≤ 0.05. Age was weakly but positively corelated with the schemas of self-sacrifice (P = 0.038 and unrelenting standards (P = 0.002 . Conclusions: Mental health professionals also may have maladaptive schemas, which needs to be addressed through schema therapy.

  14. Mental Health Disorders. Adolescent Health Highlight. Publication #2013-1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murphey, David; Barry, Megan; Vaughn, Brigitte

    2013-01-01

    Mental disorders are diagnosable conditions characterized by changes in thinking, mood, or behavior (or some combination of these) that can cause a person to feel stressed out and impair his or her ability to function. These disorders are common in adolescence. This "Adolescent Health Highlight" presents the warning signs of mental disorders;…

  15. Through your eyes or mine? The neural correlates of mental state recognition in Huntington's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eddy, Clare M; Rickards, Hugh E; Hansen, Peter C

    2018-03-01

    Huntington's disease (HD) can impair social cognition. This study investigated whether patients with HD exhibit neural differences to healthy controls when they are considering mental and physical states relating to the static expressions of human eyes. Thirty-two patients with HD and 28 age-matched controls were scanned with fMRI during two versions of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task: The standard version requiring mental state judgments, and a comparison version requiring judgments about age. HD was associated with behavioral deficits on only the mental state eyes task. Contrasting the two versions of the eyes task (mental state > age judgment) revealed hypoactivation within left middle frontal gyrus and supramarginal gyrus in HD. Subgroup analyses comparing premanifest HD patients to age-matched controls revealed reduced activity in right supramarginal gyrus and increased activity in anterior cingulate during mental state recognition in these patients, while manifest HD was associated with hypoactivity in left insula and left supramarginal gyrus. When controlling for the effects of healthy aging, manifest patients exhibited declining activation within areas including right temporal pole. Our findings provide compelling evidence for a selective impairment of internal emotional status when patients with HD appraise facial features in order to make social judgements. Differential activity in temporal and anterior cingulate cortices may suggest that poor emotion regulation and emotional egocentricity underlie impaired mental state recognition in premanifest patients, while more extensive mental state recognition impairments in manifest disease reflect dysfunction in neural substrates underlying executive functions, and the experience and interpretation of emotion. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  16. The Impairing Effect of Mental Fatigue on Visual Sustained Attention under Monotonous Multi-Object Visual Attention Task in Long Durations: An Event-Related Potential Based Study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zizheng Guo

    Full Text Available The impairing effects of mental fatigue on visual sustained attention were assessed by event-related potentials (ERPs. Subjects performed a dual visual task, which includes a continuous tracking task (primary task and a random signal detection task (secondary task, for 63 minutes nonstop in order to elicit ERPs. In this period, the data such as subjective levels of mental fatigue, behavioral performance measures, and electroencephalograms were recorded for each subject. Comparing data from the first interval (0-25 min to that of the second, the following phenomena were observed: the subjective fatigue ratings increased with time, which indicates that performing the tasks leads to increase in mental fatigue levels; reaction times prolonged and accuracy rates decreased in the second interval, which indicates that subjects' sustained attention decreased.; In the ERP data, the P3 amplitudes elicited by the random signals decreased, while the P3 latencies increased in the second interval. These results suggest that mental fatigue can modulate the higher-level cognitive processes, in terms of less attentional resources allocated to the random stimuli, which leads to decreased speed in information evaluating and decision making against the stimuli. These findings provide new insights into the question that how mental fatigue affects visual sustained attention and, therefore, can help to design countermeasures to prevent accidents caused by low visual sustained attention.

  17. [Mental disease as disturbance of essential functions].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schramme, T

    2015-01-01

    The article defends an interpretation of mental illness as mental dysfunction. It develops a concept in line with the naturalistic viewpoint in the philosophy of medicine. The concept of mental function is scrutinized. Functions are regarded as effects of traits that enable an organism to live independently. The significance of this theoretical perspective for the psychiatric practice is discussed. Finally, the developed conceptualization is compared to the current edition of the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM). It is emphasized that the theoretical conceptualization of mental disorder determines what may justifiably and in a scientifically valid way be deemed a disease entity. Nevertheless, the practical perspective needs an additional element of individual well-being as not every mental dysfunction involves impairment in this respect. It is claimed that the DSM takes a perspective similar to the one defended in this article.

  18. Using the Oxford Cognitive Screen to Detect Cognitive Impairment in Stroke Patients: A Comparison with the Mini-Mental State Examination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mancuso, Mauro; Demeyere, Nele; Abbruzzese, Laura; Damora, Alessio; Varalta, Valentina; Pirrotta, Fabio; Antonucci, Gabriella; Matano, Alessandro; Caputo, Marina; Caruso, Maria Giovanna; Pontiggia, Giovanna Teresa; Coccia, Michela; Ciancarelli, Irene; Zoccolotti, Pierluigi

    2018-01-01

    The Oxford Cognitive Screen (OCS) was recently developed with the aim of describing the cognitive deficits after stroke. The scale consists of 10 tasks encompassing five cognitive domains: attention and executive function, language, memory, number processing, and praxis. OCS was devised to be inclusive and un-confounded by aphasia and neglect. As such, it may have a greater potential to be informative on stroke cognitive deficits of widely used instruments, such as the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) or the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, which were originally devised for demented patients. The present study compared the OCS with the MMSE with regards to their ability to detect cognitive impairments post-stroke. We further aimed to examine performance on the OCS as a function of subtypes of cerebral infarction and clinical severity. 325 first stroke patients were consecutively enrolled in the study over a 9-month period. The OCS and MMSE, as well as the Bamford classification and NIHSS, were given according to standard procedures. About a third of patients (35.3%) had a performance lower than the cutoff (cognitive domains of the OCS. Using the MMSE as a standard of clinical practice, the comparative sensitivity of OCS was 100%. Out of the 208 patients with normal MMSE performance 180 showed impaired performance in at least one domain of the OCS. The discrepancy between OCS and MMSE was particularly strong for patients with milder strokes. As for subtypes of cerebral infarction, fewer patients demonstrated widespread impairments in the OCS in the Posterior Circulation Infarcts category than in the other categories. Overall, the results showed a much higher incidence of cognitive impairment with the OCS than with the MMSE and demonstrated no false negatives for OCS vs MMSE. It is concluded that OCS is a sensitive screen tool for cognitive deficits after stroke. In particular, the OCS detects high incidences of stroke-specific cognitive impairments, not detected

  19. Do Different Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors Impair Rotator Cuff Healing in a Rabbit Model?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yi Lu

    2015-01-01

    Conclusions: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can delay tendon healing in the early stage after rotator cuff repair. Compared with nonselective COX inhibitors, selective COX-2 inhibitors significantly impact tendon healing.

  20. Changes in mental state and behaviour in Huntington's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eddy, Clare M; Parkinson, Ellice G; Rickards, Hugh E

    2016-11-01

    Changes in mental state and behaviour have been acknowledged in Huntington's disease since the original monograph in 1872 provided evidence of disinhibition and impaired social cognition. Behavioural problems can manifest before obvious motor symptoms and are frequently the most disabling part of the illness. Although pharmacological treatments are used routinely for psychiatric difficulties in Huntington's disease, the scientific evidence base for their use is somewhat sparse. Moreover, effective treatments for apathy and cognitive decline do not currently exist. Understanding the social cognitive impairments associated with Huntington's disease can assist management, but related therapeutic interventions are needed. Future research should aim to design rating scales for behaviour and mental state in Huntington's disease that can detect change in clinical trials. Generally, communication and understanding of behaviour and mental state in Huntington's would be enhanced by a clear conceptual framework that unifies ideas around movement, cognition, emotion, behaviour, and mental state, reflecting both the experience of the patient and their underlying neuropathology. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. A quasi-randomized feasibility pilot study of specific treatments to improve emotion recognition and mental-state reasoning impairments in schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marsh, Pamela Jane; Polito, Vince; Singh, Subba; Coltheart, Max; Langdon, Robyn; Harris, Anthony W

    2016-10-24

    Impaired ability to make inferences about what another person might think or feel (i.e., social cognition impairment) is recognised as a core feature of schizophrenia and a key determinant of the poor social functioning that characterizes this illness. The development of treatments to target social cognitive impairments as a causal factor of impaired functioning in schizophrenia is of high priority. In this study, we investigated the acceptability, feasibility, and limited efficacy of 2 programs targeted at specific domains of social cognition in schizophrenia: "SoCog" Mental-State Reasoning Training (SoCog-MSRT) and "SoCog" Emotion Recognition Training (SoCog-ERT). Thirty-one participants with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were allocated to either SoCog-MSRT (n = 19) or SoCog-ERT (n = 12). Treatment comprised 12 twice-weekly sessions for 6 weeks. Participants underwent assessments of social cognition, neurocognition and symptoms at baseline, post-training and 3-months after completing training. Attendance at training sessions was high with an average of 89.29 % attendance in the SoCog-MSRT groups and 85.42 % in the SoCog-ERT groups. Participants also reported the 2 programs as enjoyable and beneficial. Both SoCog-MSRT and SoCog-ERT groups showed increased scores on a false belief reasoning task and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test. The SoCog-MSRT group also showed reduced personalising attributional biases in a small number of participants, while the SoCog-ERT group showed improved emotion recognition. The results are promising and support the feasibility and acceptability of the 2 SoCog programs as well as limited efficacy to improve social cognitive abilities in schizophrenia. There is also some evidence that skills for the recognition of basic facial expressions need specific training. Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12613000978763 . Retrospectively registered 3/09/2013.

  2. Chronic medical conditions and mental health in older people : disability and psychosocial resources mediate specific mental health effects

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ormel, J; Kempen, GIJM; Penninx, BWJH; Brilman, EI; Beekman, ATF; VanSonderen, E

    Background. This study describes the differences in psychological distress, disability and psychosocial resources between types of major medical conditions and sensory impairments (collectively denoted as CMCs); and tests whether disability and psychosocial resources mediate CMC-specific mental

  3. National Estimates of Recovery-Remission From Serious Mental Illness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salzer, Mark S; Brusilovskiy, Eugene; Townley, Greg

    2018-05-01

    A broad range of estimates of recovery among previously institutionalized persons has been reported, but no current, community-based national estimate of recovery from serious mental illness exists. This study reports recovery rate results, based on a remission definition, and explores related demographic factors. A national, geographically stratified, and random cross-sectional survey conducted from September 2014 to December 2015 resulted in responses from more than 41,000 individuals. Lifetime prevalence of serious mental illness was assessed by asking about receipt of a diagnosis (major depression, bipolar disorder, manic depression, and schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder) and hospitalization and impairment associated with the diagnosis. Recovery was determined by asking about impairments over the past 12 months. Almost 17% reported receiving one of the diagnoses in their lifetime, 6% had a lifetime rate of a serious mental illness, and nearly 4% continued to experience interference associated with serious mental illness. One-third of those with a lifetime serious mental illness reported having been in remission for at least the past 12 months. Recovery rates were low until age 32 and then progressively increased. Lifetime estimates of diagnosed illness and current prevalence of serious mental illness are consistent with previous research. Results indicate that recovery is possible and is associated with age. Further research is needed to understand factors that promote recovery, and sustained evaluation efforts using similar parsimonious approaches may be useful in conducting timely assessments of national and local mental health policies.

  4. Visuomotor mental rotation: the reaction time advantage for anti-pointing is not influenced by perceptual experience with the cardinal axes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neely, Kristina A; Heath, Matthew

    2010-03-01

    In the visuomotor mental rotation (VMR) paradigm, participants execute a center-out reaching movement to a location that deviates from a visual cue by a predetermined instruction angle. Previous work has demonstrated a linear increase in reaction time (RT) as a function of the amplitude of the instruction angle (Georgopoulos and Massey in Exp Brain Res 65:361-370, 1987). In contrast, we recently reported a RT advantage for an instruction angle of 180 degrees relative to a 90 degrees angle (Neely and Heath in Neurosci Lett 463:194-198, 2009). It is possible, however, that perceptual expertise with the cardinal axes, which are perceptually familiar reference frames, influenced the results of our previous investigation. To address this issue, we employed a VMR paradigm identical to that of our previous work, with the exception that the stimulus array was shifted 45 degrees from the horizontal and vertical meridians. Our results demonstrated that RTs were fastest and least variable when the instruction angle was 0 degrees, followed by 180 degrees, which in turn, was faster than 90 degrees. Such findings establish that the RT advantage for the 180 degrees instruction angle is not influenced by perceptual expertise with the cardinal axes. Moreover, the present results provide convergent evidence that RT is not determined by the angle of rotation; instead, they indicate that response latencies reflect computational differences in the complexity of response remapping.

  5. Emergency surgery on mentally impaired patients: standard in consenting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mihai Paduraru

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Emergency surgery is often performed on the elderly and susceptible patients with significant comorbidities; as a consequence, the risk of death or severe complications are high. Consent for surgery is a fundamental part of medical practice, in line with legal obligations and ethical principles. Obtaining consent for emergency services (for surgical patients with chronic or acute mental incapacity, due to surgical pathology is particularly challenging, and meeting the standards requires an up-to-date understanding of legislation, professional body guidelines, and ethical or cultural aspects. The guidance related to consent requires physicians and other medical staff to work with patients according to the process of ‘supported decision-making’. Despite principles and guidelines that have been exhaustively established, the system is sometimes vulnerable in actual clinical practice. The combination of an ‘emergency’ setting and a patient without mental ‘capacity’ is a challenge between patient-centered and ‘paternalistic’ approaches, involving legislation and guidelines on ‘best interests’ of the patient.

  6. The combined effect of visual impairment and cognitive impairment on disability in older people.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whitson, Heather E; Cousins, Scott W; Burchett, Bruce M; Hybels, Celia F; Pieper, Carl F; Cohen, Harvey J

    2007-06-01

    To determine the risk of disability in individuals with coexisting visual and cognitive impairment and to compare the magnitude of risk associated with visual impairment, cognitive impairment, or the multimorbidity. Prospective cohort. North Carolina. Three thousand eight hundred seventy-eight participants in the North Carolina Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly with nonmissing visual status, cognitive status, and disability status data at baseline Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (cognitive impairment defined as > or =4 errors), self reported visual acuity (visual impairment defined as inability to see well enough to recognize a friend across the street or to read newspaper print), demographic and health-related variables, disability status (activities of daily living (ADLs), instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), mobility), death, and time to nursing home placement. Participants with coexisting visual and cognitive impairment were at greater risk of IADL disability (odds ratio (OR)=6.50, 95% confidence interval (CI)=4.34-9.75), mobility disability (OR=4.04, 95% CI=2.49-6.54), ADL disability (OR=2.84, 95% CI=1.87-4.32), and incident ADL disability (OR=3.66, 95%, CI=2.36-5.65). In each case, the estimated OR associated with the multimorbidity was greater than the estimated OR associated with visual or cognitive impairment alone, a pattern that was not observed for other adverse outcomes assessed. No significant interactions were observed between cognitive impairment and visual impairment as predictors of disability status. Individuals with coexisting visual impairment and cognitive impairment are at high risk of disability, with each condition contributing additively to disability risk. Further study is needed to improve functional trajectories in patients with this prevalent multimorbidity. When visual or cognitive impairment is present, efforts to maximize the other function may be beneficial.

  7. 78 FR 73696 - Extension of Expiration Date for Mental Disorders Body System Listings; Correction

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-12-09

    ... of Expiration Date for Mental Disorders Body System Listings; Correction AGENCY: Social Security... published a final rule document extending the expiration date of the Mental Disorders body system in the...) extending the expiration date of the Mental Disorders body system in the Listing of Impairments (listings...

  8. Children with Usher syndrome: mental and behavioral disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dammeyer, Jesper

    2012-03-27

    Mental and behavioral disorders among adults with Usher syndrome have been discussed and reported in some case studies but no research has been reported on children with Usher syndrome. This article investigates the prevalence and characteristics of mental and behavioral disorders among 26 children, 3-17 years of age, with Usher syndrome. Six of the 26 children were diagnosed with a mental or behavioral disorder (1 with schizophrenia and mild mental retardation, 1 with atypical autism and severe mental retardation, 1 with atypical autism and mild mental retardation, 1 with mild mental retardation, and 2 with conduct disorder). Another 3 children had had a mental or behavioral disorder previously in their childhood. Even though vision impairment first manifests in late childhood, some children with Usher syndrome seem to develop mental and behavioral disorders during childhood. The aetiology and treatment of mental and behavioral disorders among children with Usher syndrome are discussed. Children with Usher syndrome and their parents may need clinical support during early childhood to prevent development of mental and behavioral disorders.

  9. Children with Usher syndrome: mental and behavioral disorders

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dammeyer Jesper

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Mental and behavioral disorders among adults with Usher syndrome have been discussed and reported in some case studies but no research has been reported on children with Usher syndrome. Methods This article investigates the prevalence and characteristics of mental and behavioral disorders among 26 children, 3-17 years of age, with Usher syndrome. Results Six of the 26 children were diagnosed with a mental or behavioral disorder (1 with schizophrenia and mild mental retardation, 1 with atypical autism and severe mental retardation, 1 with atypical autism and mild mental retardation, 1 with mild mental retardation, and 2 with conduct disorder. Another 3 children had had a mental or behavioral disorder previously in their childhood. Conclusion Even though vision impairment first manifests in late childhood, some children with Usher syndrome seem to develop mental and behavioral disorders during childhood. The aetiology and treatment of mental and behavioral disorders among children with Usher syndrome are discussed. Children with Usher syndrome and their parents may need clinical support during early childhood to prevent development of mental and behavioral disorders.

  10. Theory of mind impairment: a distinct trait-marker for schizophrenia spectrum disorders and bipolar disorder?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bora, E; Yücel, M; Pantelis, C

    2009-10-01

    The aim of this study was to critically review the literature in order to determine if Theory of Mind (ToM) impairment can be considered a trait-marker for schizophrenia spectrum disorders and bipolar disorder (BD). After a thorough literature search, we reviewed the empirical studies investigating ToM impairments in remitted schizophrenia patients, first episode patients, subjects at high-risk (HR) for psychosis and first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients. Studies investigating ToM impairment in other schizophrenia spectrum conditions, affective psychosis and BD were also reviewed. ToM abnormalities exist at onset and continue throughout the course of schizophrenia, persist into remission, and while less severe, are apparent in HR populations. Mentalizing impairments are also observed in other forms of psychotic illness and BD. Mentalizing impairment in schizophrenia spectrum disorders and BD might reflect underlying general cognitive deficits and residual symptom expression, rather than representing a specific trait-marker.

  11. AUTISTIC FEATURES IN CHILDREN WITH MENTAL RETARDATION

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kar, Nilamadhab; Khanna, Rakesh; Kar, Gopal Chandra

    1997-01-01

    Most of the autistic disorder patients are also mentally retarded and many mentally retarded persons exhibit autistic symptoms. By using a standard instrument (Ritvo-Freeman Real Life Rating Scale) the autistic features of the mentally retarded children were studied. The study also examined the influence of age, sex and level of mental retardation on the occurrence of autistic symptoms. Children who came for consultation to child psychiatric unit were compared with those at a school for children with mental retardation receiving stimulation. Male children from child psychiatric unit had significantly higher scores than those from the school. Social and language impairment could be reliably identified and grouped. It was possible to diagnose the syndrome of autism in children with mental retardation in a significant number (9.6%)as compared to that was possible only clinically (1.9%). More number of children with severe/ profound mental retardation could be diagnosed as autistic. The autistic syndrome in children with mental retardation can be picked up more effectively by the use of structured instrument. PMID:21584097

  12. Are Differences Between Men and Women in Rotated Pattern Recognition Due to the Use of Different Cognitive Strategies?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Catherine Brandner

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available A recursive hypothesis suggests that gender differences in spatial abilities, including mental rotation tasks, are the result of differences in the strategies that men and women use to process information. To address this issue, we systematically explored men and women’s performance for rotated patterns by assessing recognition, confidence rating and response time, thought to be fundamental to spatial processing, with classical methods, and with signal detection theory (SDT parameters (d-prime and c-bias. Among our findings, we highlight d-prime as the most robust parameter to assess gender differences and predict group membership. Furthermore, we conclude that better performance by men is due to their strategy of transforming a mental rotation task into a simpler task comparing the alignment of test stimuli to the surrounding experimental environment.

  13. Coupling the effect of mental practice and Pilates on ambulation of individuals with multiple sclerosis: Five case studies

    OpenAIRE

    Darshpreet Kaur; Nidhi Billore; Kirandeep Kaur; Gunjan Kumar; Ajay Kumar Singh

    2016-01-01

    Pilates, a popular form of exercise, greatly emphasizes on the strengthening of the core muscles; however, the efficacy of exercise program can be impaired in patients with cognitive impairments. To bridge this gap, mental practice of a desired task can help to mentally simulate a given action and retain many properties of the corresponding real action. This study tries to gain preliminary understanding on the effectiveness of the combination of mental practice and core-strengthening Pilates ...

  14. Managing severe mental illness in the community using the Mental Health Act 1983: a comparison of Supervised Discharge and Guardianship in England.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hatfield, B; Shaw, J; Pinfold, V; Bindman, J; Evans, S; Huxley, P; Thornicroft, G

    2001-10-01

    Two measures in the English Mental Health Act allow requirements to be imposed upon patients living in the community. These are Guardianship (Section 7) and Supervised Discharge (Section 25A). The paper aims to compare patients with mental illnesses, made subject to Guardianship or Supervised Discharge. Data on patient characteristics, impairment, needs and interventions were collected from keyworkers in a random national sample of Trusts and local authorities. Ratings were obtained on standardised measures of disability, impairment and needs. Patients placed on Supervised Discharge were more likely to have problems of treatment compliance and drug misuse, whilst those on Guardianship were more likely to have problems of social welfare and higher ratings of disability and impairment. Supervised Discharge has a higher proportion of African-Caribbean patients. Interventions delivered are rated as effective for both measures. Legal changes proposed in England include a single power for supervision in the community. This should not mean a focus on risk management to the neglect of social welfare interventions.

  15. Reducing the silent burden of impaired mental health. Introduction

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Anderson, J.; Llopis, E.J.; Hosman, C.M.H.

    2011-01-01

    Mental and behavioural disorders account for about one-third of the world's disability due to all ill health amongst adults, with unipolar depressive disorders set to be the world's number one cause of ill health and premature death in 2030, affecting high- and low-income countries alike. There is a

  16. Analysis of failed rotator cuff repair – Retrospective survey of revisions after open rotator cuff repair

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rupert Schupfner

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Background Rotator cuff defects are frequently occurring shoulder pathologies associated with pain and movement impairment. Aims The aim of the study was to analyse the pathologies that lead to operative revisions after primary open rotator cuff repair. Methods In 216 patients who underwent primary rotator cuff repair and later required operative revision between 1996 to 2005, pathologies found intraoperatively during the primary operation and during revision surgery were collected, analysed and compared. Results The average age at the time of revision surgery was 54.3 years. The right shoulder (61.6 per cent was more often affected than the left, males (63.4 per cent more often than females. At primary operation – apart from rotator cuff repair – there were the following surgical procedures performed: 190 acromioplasty, 86 Acromiclavicular joint resections, 68 tenodesis, 40 adhesiolysis and 1 tenotomy. If an ACJ-resection had been performed in the primary operation, ACJ-problems were rare in revision surgery (p<0.01. Primary gleno-humeral adhesions were associated with a significant rise in re-tearing rate (p=0.049. Primary absence of adhesions went along with a significant lower rate of adhesions found at revision (p=0.018. Primary performed acromioplasty had no influence on re-tearing rate (p=0.408 or on the rate of subacromial impingement at revision surgery (p=0.709. Conclusion To avoid operative revision after rotator cuff repair relevant copathologies of the shoulder have to be identified before or during operation and treated accordingly. Therefore, even during open rotator cuff repair, the surgeon should initially start with arthroscopy of the shoulder joint and subacromial space to recognise co-pathologies.

  17. Measuring social disabilities in mental health

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wiersma, D

    Social functioning is important in relation to mental illness as it can limit the ability to funtion independently and because it may vary separately from symptoms. This paper summarises and critically reviews the development of the WHO Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps. The

  18. Visual perspective taking impairment in children with autistic spectrum disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamilton, Antonia F de C; Brindley, Rachel; Frith, Uta

    2009-10-01

    Evidence from typical development and neuroimaging studies suggests that level 2 visual perspective taking - the knowledge that different people may see the same thing differently at the same time - is a mentalising task. Thus, we would expect children with autism, who fail typical mentalising tasks like false belief, to perform poorly on level 2 visual perspective taking as well. However, prior data on this issue are inconclusive. We re-examined this question, testing a group of 23 young autistic children, aged around 8years with a verbal mental age of around 4years and three groups of typical children (n=60) ranging in age from 4 to 8years on a level 2 visual perspective task and a closely matched mental rotation task. The results demonstrate that autistic children have difficulty with visual perspective taking compared to a task requiring mental rotation, relative to typical children. Furthermore, performance on the level 2 visual perspective taking task correlated with theory of mind performance. These findings resolve discrepancies in previous studies of visual perspective taking in autism, and demonstrate that level 2 visual perspective taking is a mentalising task.

  19. Mental Health Service Use in Schools and Non-School-Based Outpatient Settings: Comparing Predictors of Service Use.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langer, David A; Wood, Jeffrey J; Wood, Patricia A; Garland, Ann F; Landsverk, John; Hough, Richard L

    2015-09-01

    Researchers have consistently documented a gap between the large number of US youth meeting criteria for a mental health disorder with significant associated impairment, and the comparatively few youth receiving services. School-based mental health care may address the need-services gap by offering services more equitably to youth in need, irrespective of family economic resources, availability of transportation, and other factors that can impede access to community clinics. However, diagnoses alone do not fully capture the severity of an individual's mental health status and need for services. Studying service use only in relation to diagnoses may restrict our understanding of the degree to which service use is reflective of service need, and inhibit our ability to compare school and non-school-based outpatient settings on their responsiveness to service need. The present study evaluated predictors of mental health service use in school- and community-based settings for youth who had had an active case in one of two public sectors of care, comparing empirically-derived dimensional measurements of youth mental health service need and impairment ratings against non-need variables (e.g., ethnicity, income). Three dimensions of youth mental health service need were identified. Mental health service need and non-need variables each played a significant predictive role. Parent-rated impairment was the strongest need-based predictor of service use across settings. The impact of non-need variables varied by service setting, with parental income having a particularly noticeable effect on school-based services. Across time, preceding service use and impairment each significantly predicted future service use.

  20. 20 CFR 416.976 - Impairment-related work expenses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ...; antidepressant medication for mental disorders; medication used to allay the side effects of certain treatments...; electroencephalograms and brain scans related to a disabling epileptic condition; tests to determine the efficacy of... physical examinations, optician services (unrelated to a disabling visual impairment) and dental...

  1. 20 CFR 404.1576 - Impairment-related work expenses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ...; antidepressant medication for mental disorders; medication used to allay the side effects of certain treatments...; electroencephalograms and brain scans related to a disabling epileptic condition; tests to determine the efficacy of... physical examinations, optician services (unrelated to a disabling visual impairment) and dental...

  2. Frequency and Correlates of Distant Visual Impairment in Patients with Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, and Major Depressive Disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, W; Tang, L R; Correll, C U; Ungvari, G S; Chiu, H F K; Xiang, Y Q; Xiang, Y T

    2015-09-01

    Distant visual impairment in the severely mentally ill is under-researched. This study aimed to assess the frequency and correlates of distant visual impairment in a cohort of Chinese psychiatric patients, including its effect on their quality of life. Adult psychiatric inpatients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder consecutively admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Beijing, China underwent assessments of psychopathology (Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, 16-item Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology [Self-Report]), quality of life (12-item Short-Form Medical Outcomes Study [SF-12], 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire [NEI-VFQ25]), adverse effects (Udvalg for Kliniske Undersøgelser Side Effect Rating Scale), and presenting (as opposed to uncorrected) distant visual acuity (Logarithm of the Minimum Angle of Resolution [LogMAR] chart with patients wearing spectacles, if they owned them). Distant visual impairment was defined as binocular distant visual acuity of a LogMAR score of ≥ 0.5 (visual impairment was 12.6% (15.2% with schizophrenia, 11.9% with bipolar disorder, 8.8% with major depressive disorder). In multiple logistic regression analysis, distant visual impairment was significantly associated with ocular disease only (p = 0.002, odds ratio = 3.2, 95% confidence interval = 1.5-6.7). Controlling for the confounding effect of ocular disease, patients with distant visual impairment had a lower quality of life in the general vision domain of the NEI-VFQ25 (F[2, 353] = 9.5, p = 0.002) compared with those without. No differences in the physical and mental domains of the SF-12 and in other domains of the NEI-VFQ25 were noted in these 2 groups. One-eighth of middle-aged severely mentally ill patients had distant visual impairment. Considering the impact of distant visual impairment on daily functioning, severely mentally ill patients need to be screened for impaired eyesight as part of their

  3. Cognitive impairment in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Cognitive impairment in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: Perspectives and ... may have a deteriorating effect on mental health including a decline in cognitive ... of Diabetes; Functional Foods and Human Diet; Quality of Life and Wellness ...

  4. Mini-mental Parkinson (MMP) as a dementia screening test: comparison with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larner, Andrew J

    2012-07-01

    As populations age, screening instruments for cognitive impairment and dementia will become of increasing importance in clinical practice. Mini-Mental Parkinson (MMP), a derivative of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), was originally described as a cognitive screening instrument for use in Parkinson's disease. Its item content addresses some of the acknowledged shortcomings of the MMSE. Pragmatic use of MMP in general cognitive clinics has not previously been examined. To compare the performance of two scales, Mini-Mental Parkinson (MMP) and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), as cognitive screening instruments for dementia in a memory clinic population. MMP was administered prospectively to 201 consecutive new patient referrals independent of other tests used to establish dementia diagnosis according to standard diagnostic criteria (DSM-IV). Diagnostic utility of MMP for dementia was measured and compared with MMSE. MMP proved easy to use and acceptable to patients. Optimal test accuracy (0.86) was at MMP cutoff of ≤ 17/32, with sensitivity 0.51, specificity 0.97, positive predictive value 0.83, negative predictive value 0.87, and area under Receiver Operating Characteristic curve 0.89. Using a higher cutoff (≤ 29/32), MMP sensitivity was 1.00 with specificity 0.70. MMP scores correlated with MMSE (r = 0.93) and diagnostic agreement was high (κ = 0.85). MMP is a useful screening instrument in the memory clinic setting, with patients who fall below the designated cutoff requiring further investigation to ascertain a cause for their cognitive impairment.

  5. Assessment of Mild Cognitive Impairment with Mini Mental State ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Background: Mild cognitive impairment is a recently described neuropsychiatric entity with the possibility of evolving into overt dementia. It has been found to respond to therapeutic intervention, thus halting or significantly retarding the progression to dementia. Resource.poor countries like Nigeria can hardly afford to ...

  6. Revisiting the Strange Stories: Revealing Mentalizing Impairments in Autism

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, Sarah; Hill, Elisabeth; Happe, Francesca; Frith, Uta

    2009-01-01

    A test of advanced theory of mind (ToM), first introduced by F. Happe (1994), was adapted for children (mental, human, animal, and nature stories plus unlinked sentences). These materials were closely matched for difficulty and were presented to forty-five 7- to 12-year-olds with autism and 27 control children. Children with autism who showed ToM…

  7. Environmental Noise Annoyance and Mental Health in Adults: Findings from the Cross-Sectional German Health Update (GEDA Study 2012

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Friederike Hammersen

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The health implications of environmental noise, especially cardiovascular effects, have been studied intensively. Research on associations between noise and mental health, however, has shown contradictory results. The present study examined associations between individual levels of noise annoyance due to noise from various sources in the living environment and mental health of adults in Germany. It evaluated whether these associations persisted after adjusting for potential covariates. Data were obtained from the cross-sectional “German Health Update” study 2012 (GEDA 2012, a national health interview survey among adults in Germany conducted by the Robert Koch Institute (n = 19,294. Noise annoyance questions referred to overall noise and that from road traffic, neighbours, and air traffic. Mental health was measured with the five-item Mental Health Inventory. Bivariate analysis showed associations between high levels of noise annoyance and impaired mental health for all noise sources except air traffic. After adjusting for covariates (sociodemographic factors, chronic disease, and social support, both men and women who reported high overall noise annoyance showed more than doubled odds of impaired mental health compared to those who were not annoyed. The odds of impaired mental health in the highest noise annoyance category from road traffic and neighbours were also significantly increased. These findings indicate that high noise annoyance is associated with impaired mental health and that this association can vary with the source of environmental noise. Further research on covariates of this association is necessary. Particularly, longitudinal data are required to establish the direction of associations and to address questions of causality.

  8. Siblings of the Hearing Impaired: Perspectives for Parents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atkins, Dale V.

    1987-01-01

    The author describes the concerns and needs of siblings of hearing-impaired children, offering practical suggestions for parents, educators, and mental health and community service workers. Examples of successful programs for siblings that provide emotional support, training and information about their siblings' disability, and effective…

  9. Deaf not Daft: The Deaf in Mental Subnormality Hospitals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, Chris

    1982-01-01

    Case studies of deaf or hearing impaired persons in institutions for the mentally retarded illustrate the ways in which the "invisible handicap" can mask cognitive ability, causing unnecessary institutionalization. (CL)

  10. Severe Impairments of Social Interaction and Associated Abnormalities in Children: Epidemiology and Classification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wing, Lorna; Gould, Judith

    1979-01-01

    The prevalence of severe impairments of social interaction, language abnormalities, and repetitive stereotyped behaviors was investigated in a group of 132 children under 15 years old, consisting of a socially impaired group (more than half of whom were severely retarded) and a comparison group of sociable severely mentally retarded. Author/DLS)

  11. Mentalizing and interpersonal problems in borderline personality disorder: The mediating role of identity diffusion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Meulemeester, Celine; Lowyck, Benedicte; Vermote, Rudi; Verhaest, Yannic; Luyten, Patrick

    2017-12-01

    Individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) are characterized by problems in interpersonal functioning and their long-term social integration often remains problematic. Extant theories have linked identity diffusion to many of the interpersonal problems characteristic of BPD patients. Recent theoretical accounts have suggested that identity diffusion results from problems with mentalizing or reflective functioning, that is, the capacity to understand oneself and others in terms of intentional mental states. In this study we tested these assumptions, i.e., whether identity diffusion plays a mediating role in the relationship between mentalizing difficulties and interpersonal problems, in a sample of 167 BPD patients. Highly significant correlations were found between mentalizing impairments, identity diffusion and interpersonal problems. Mediation analyses showed that identity diffusion fully mediated the relationship between mentalizing difficulties and interpersonal problems. This study provides preliminary evidence that impairments in mentalizing are related to identity diffusion, which in turn is related to interpersonal problems in BPD. Further longitudinal research is needed to further substantiate these conclusions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. 20 CFR 416.920a - Evaluation of mental impairments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... Impairments is used, we must follow a special technique at each level in the administrative review process. We... limitation on a standard document at the initial and reconsideration levels of the administrative review... limitation in the decision at the administrative law judge hearing and Appeals Council levels (in cases in...

  13. Misalignment Effect Function Measurement for Oblique Rotation Axes: Counterintuitive Predictions and Theoretical Extensions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellis, Stephen R.; Adelstein, Bernard D.; Yeom, Kiwon

    2013-01-01

    The Misalignment Effect Function (MEF) describes the decrement in manual performance associated with a rotation between operators' visual display frame of reference and that of their manual control. It now has been empirically determined for rotation axes oblique to canonical body axes and is compared with the MEF previously measured for rotations about canonical axes. A targeting rule, called the Secant Rule, based on these earlier measurements is derived from a hypothetical process and shown to describe some of the data from three previous experiments. It explains the motion trajectories determined for rotations less than 65deg in purely kinematic terms without the need to appeal to a mental rotation process. Further analysis of this rule in three dimensions applied to oblique rotation axes leads to a somewhat surprising expectation that the difficulty posed by rotational misalignment should get harder as the required movement is shorter. This prediction is confirmed. Geometry underlying this rule also suggests analytic extensions for predicting more generally the difficulty of making movements in arbitrary directions subject to arbitrary misalignments.

  14. Correlates of impaired function in older women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ensrud, K E; Nevitt, M C; Yunis, C; Cauley, J A; Seeley, D G; Fox, K M; Cummings, S R

    1994-05-01

    To determine the factors associated with impaired function in older women. Cross-sectional analysis of baseline data collected for a multicenter, prospective study of risk factors for osteoporotic fractures. Four clinical centers in Portland, Oregon, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Baltimore, Maryland, and the Monongahela Valley, Pennsylvania. A total of 9,704 ambulatory, non-black women, aged 65 years and older, recruited from population-based listings. Independent variables, including demographic and historical information (medical conditions, health habits, and medications) and physiologic measures (anthropometry, blood pressure, mental status, vision, and neuromuscular performance) were obtained from a baseline questionnaire, interview, and examination. Measurement of function was assessed by self-reported ability to perform six physical and instrumental activities of daily living (ADL) and impaired function (dependent variable) was defined as difficulty performing three or more physical and instrumental ADLs. In order of decreasing strength of association, hip fracture, osteoarthritis, parkinsonism, slower walking speed, lower hip abduction force, back pain, greater Quetelet index, osteoporosis, former alcohol use, stroke, never drinking alcohol, lower mental status, use of anxiolytics and/or sleeping medications, inability to hold the tandem position, postural dizziness, cataracts, greater waist to hip ratio, lower physical activity in the past year, greater lifetime cigarette consumption, and lower grip strength were independently associated with impaired function in multivariate analyses. Age, low educational level, diabetes, current heavy alcohol use, postural hypotension, depth perception, and contrast sensitivity were not independent predictors. A combination of neuromuscular performance measures, including decreased muscle strength and impaired balance and gait, appeared to account for the effect of age on disability. A combination of many factors, including

  15. Older people experiencing homelessness show marked impairment on tests of frontal lobe function.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rogoz, Astrid; Burke, David

    2016-03-01

    Reported rates of mild and moderate cognitive impairment in older people experiencing homelessness range from 5-80%. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and characteristics of cognitive impairment in older people experiencing homelessness in the inner city of Sydney, Australia. Men and women experiencing homelessness aged 45 years and over in the inner city were screened for cognitive impairment. Participants who scored 26 or below on the mini-mental state examination and/or were impaired on any one of the clock-drawing test, the verbal fluency test and the trail-making test, part B were then assessed with a semi-structured interview, including the 21-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scale and the 12-item General Health Questionnaire. Screening of 144 men and 27 women aged between 45 years and 93 years identified cognitive impairment in 78%. Subsequently, high rates of mental and physical illness were identified, and 75% of subjects who were cognitively impaired performed poorly on frontal lobe tests. The trail-making test, part B was the most sensitive measure of frontal function. This study demonstrated that a large majority of older people experiencing homelessness, in the inner city of a high-income country, showed impairment on tests of frontal lobe function, a finding that could have significant implications for any medical or psychosocial intervention. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  16. Higher risk of probable mental emotional disorder in low or severe vision subjects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lutfah Rif’ati

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Latar belakang: Gangguan penglihatan berat dan kebutaan, belum menjadi prioritas masalah kesehatan di Indonesia, dapat menimbulkan gangguan mental emosional. Pada tulisan ini disajikan penilaian gangguan mental emosional yang berkaitan dengan gangguan penglihatan berat. Metode: Analisis ini menggunakan sebagian data Riset Kesehatan Dasar (Riskesdas 2007. Subjek untuk keperluan analisis ini ialah yang berusia 15 tahun atau lebih. Gangguan mental emosional diukur dengan Self  Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ 20. Subjek yang mungkin menderita gangguan mental emosional, jika hasil SRQ sebesar 6 atau lebih, dan sebaliknya. Tajam penglihatan  ditentukan berdasarkan tes Snellen chart.  Visus normal/ringan ialah 20/20 to 20/60, visus rendah ialah kurang dari 20/60-3/60, sedangkan buta dengan visus kurang dari 3/60 sampai 0/0. Hasil: Di antara 972,989 subjek data Rskesdas 2007 terdapat 46,7% (554,886 yang berusia 15 tahun atau lebih. Subjek yang menderita gangguan mental emosional sebesar 11,4% (63,279/554,886,  prevalensi visus rendah sebesar 5,1% dan kebutaan 0,9%. Subjek yang menderita visus rendah dibandingkan subjek yang normal atau dengan gangguan tajam penglihatan ringan mempunyai 75% lebih besar menderita risiko gangguan mental emosional [risiko relatif (RRa=1,75; 95% interval kepercayaan (CI=1,71-1,79]. Sedangkan subjek yang buta dibandingkan subjek yang normal atau dengan gangguan tajam penglihatan ringan mempunyai risiko 2,7 kali lipat menderita gangguan mental emosional (RRa= 2,69; 95% (CI=2.60-2.78. Kesimpulan: Subjek dengan gangguan penglihatan makin berat mempunyai risiko menderita gangguan mental emosional. Oleh karena itu subjek yang menderita gangguan penglihatan berat perlu diperhatikan mental emosionalnya. (Health Science Indones 2011;2:9-13 Abstract Background: Severe visual impairments are able to induce psychological stress, especially among adults, which may stimulate mental emotional disorder (MED. Eye health problems are not a

  17. Hearing aid use and long-term health outcomes: hearing handicap, mental health, social engagement, cognitive function, physical health and mortality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dawes, Piers; Cruickshanks, Karen J.; Fischer, Mary E.; Klein, Barbara E.K.; Klein, Ronald; Nondahl, David M.

    2016-01-01

    Objective To clarify the impact of hearing aids on mental health, social engagement, cognitive function, and physical health outcomes in older adults with hearing impairment. Design We assessed hearing handicap (Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly; HHIE-S), cognition (Mini Mental State Exam, Trail Making, Auditory Verbal Learning, Digit-Symbol Substitution, Verbal Fluency, incidence of cognitive impairment), physical health (SF-12 physical component, basic and instrumental activities of daily living, mortality), social engagement (hours per week spent in solitary activities) and mental health (SF-12 mental component) at baseline, 5 years prior to baseline, and 5 and 11 years after baseline. Study sample Community-dwelling older adults with hearing impairment (N=666) from the Epidemiology of Hearing Loss Study cohort. Results There were no significant differences between hearing aid users and non-users in cognitive, social engagement or mental health outcomes at any time point. Aided HHIE-S was significantly better than unaided HHIE-S. At 11 years hearing aid users had significantly better SF-12 physical health scores (46.2 versus 41.2; p=0.03). There was no difference in incidence of cognitive impairment or mortality. Conclusion There was no evidence that hearing aids promote cognitive function, mental health, or social engagement. Hearing aids may reduce hearing handicap and promote better physical health. PMID:26140300

  18. Media portrayal of mental illness and its treatments: what effect does it have on people with mental illness?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stuart, Heather

    2006-01-01

    This article reviews dominant media portrayals of mental illness, the mentally ill and mental health interventions, and examines what social, emotional and treatment-related effects these may have. Studies consistently show that both entertainment and news media provide overwhelmingly dramatic and distorted images of mental illness that emphasise dangerousness, criminality and unpredictability. They also model negative reactions to the mentally ill, including fear, rejection, derision and ridicule. The consequences of negative media images for people who have a mental illness are profound. They impair self-esteem, help-seeking behaviours, medication adherence and overall recovery. Mental health advocates blame the media for promoting stigma and discrimination toward people with a mental illness. However, the media may also be an important ally in challenging public prejudices, initiating public debate, and projecting positive, human interest stories about people who live with mental illness. Media lobbying and press liaison should take on a central role for mental health professionals, not only as a way of speaking out for patients who may not be able to speak out for themselves, but as a means of improving public education and awareness. Also, given the consistency of research findings in this field, it may now be time to shift attention away from further cataloguing of media representations of mental illness to the more challenging prospect of how to use the media to improve the life chances and recovery possibilities for the one in four people living with mental disorders.

  19. Effects of Micronutrients during Pregnancy and Early Infancy on Mental and Psychomotor Development

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verhoef, H.; West, C.E.; Bleichrodt, N.; Dekker, P.H.; Born, M.P.

    2003-01-01

    The questions that are addressed in this chapter concern the extent to which a shortage of iodine and iron during fetal and infant development impairs mental development and the extent to which this impairment can be redressed by increasing the intake of these micronutrients

  20. Clinical usefulness of the clock drawing test applying rasch analysis in predicting of cognitive impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoo, Doo Han; Lee, Jae Shin

    2016-07-01

    [Purpose] This study examined the clinical usefulness of the clock drawing test applying Rasch analysis for predicting the level of cognitive impairment. [Subjects and Methods] A total of 187 stroke patients with cognitive impairment were enrolled in this study. The 187 patients were evaluated by the clock drawing test developed through Rasch analysis along with the mini-mental state examination of cognitive evaluation tool. An analysis of the variance was performed to examine the significance of the mini-mental state examination and the clock drawing test according to the general characteristics of the subjects. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed to determine the cutoff point for cognitive impairment and to calculate the sensitivity and specificity values. [Results] The results of comparison of the clock drawing test with the mini-mental state showed significant differences in according to gender, age, education, and affected side. A total CDT of 10.5, which was selected as the cutoff point to identify cognitive impairement, showed a sensitivity, specificity, Youden index, positive predictive, and negative predicive values of 86.4%, 91.5%, 0.8, 95%, and 88.2%. [Conclusion] The clock drawing test is believed to be useful in assessments and interventions based on its excellent ability to identify cognitive disorders.

  1. Clinical and radiological outcome of conservative vs. surgical treatment of atraumatic degenerative rotator cuff rupture : design of a randomized controlled trial

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Heerspink, Frederik O. Lambers; Hoogeslag, Roy A. G.; Diercks, Ron L.; van Eerden, Pepijn J. M.; van den Akker-Scheek, Inge; van Raay, Jos J. A. M.

    2011-01-01

    Background: Subacromial impingement syndrome is a frequently observed disorder in orthopedic practice. Lasting symptoms and impairment may occur when a subsequent atraumatic rotator cuff rupture is also present. However, degenerative ruptures of the rotator cuff can also be observed in asymptomatic

  2. Divided attention and mental effort after severe traumatic brain injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Azouvi, Philippe; Couillet, Josette; Leclercq, Michel; Martin, Yves; Asloun, Sybille; Rousseaux, Marc

    2004-01-01

    The aim of this study was to assess dual-task performance in TBI patients, under different experimental conditions, with or without explicit emphasis on one of two tasks. Results were compared with measurement of the subjective mental effort required to perform each task. Forty-three severe TBI patients at the subacute or chronic phase performed two tasks under single- and dual-task conditions: (a) random generation; (b) visual go-no go reaction time task. Three dual-task conditions were given, requiring either to consider both tasks as equally important or to focus preferentially on one of them. Patients were compared to matched controls. Subjective mental effort was rated on a visual analogic scale. TBI patients showed a disproportionate increase in reaction time in the go-no go task under the dual-task condition. However, they were just as able as controls to adapt performance to the specific instructions about the task to be emphasised. Patients reported significantly higher subjective mental effort, but the variation of mental effort according to task condition was similar to that of controls. These results suggest that the divided attention deficit of TBI patients is related to a reduction in available processing resources rather than an impairment of strategic processes responsible for attentional allocation and switching. The higher level of subjective mental effort may explain why TBI patients frequently complain of mental fatigue, although this subjective complaint seems to be relatively independent of cognitive impairment.

  3. The children of mentally ill parents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mattejat, Fritz; Remschmidt, Helmut

    2008-06-01

    The children of mentally ill parents have a higher risk of developing mental illnesses themselves over the course of their lives. This known risk must be taken into account in the practical provision of health care. Selective literature review. The increased psychiatric risk for children of mentally ill parents is due partly to genetic influences and partly to an impairment of the parent-child interaction because of the parent's illness. Furthermore, adverse factors are more frequent in these families, as well as a higher risk for child abuse. Genetic and psychosocial factors interact with one another. For example, genetic factors moderate environmental effects; that is, the effect of adverse environmental factors depends on the genetic substrate. Preventive measures for children of mentally ill parents urgently need improvement. In this article, positively evaluated programs of preventive measures are discussed. Essential prerequisites for success include appropriate, specialized treatment of the parental illness, psychoeducative measures, and special support (e.g. self-help groups) as indicated by the family's particular needs.

  4. Unemployment and Mental Disorders - An Empirical Analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Agerbo, Esben; Eriksson, Tor Viking; Mortensen, Preben Bo

    1998-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is also to analyze the importance of unemployment and other social factors as risk factors for impaired mental health. It departs from previous studies in that we make use of information about first admissions to a psychiatric hospital or ward as our measure of mental...... from the Psychiatric case register. Secondly, we estimate conditional logistic regression models for case-control data on first admissions to a psychiatric hospital. The explanatory variables in the empirical analysis include age, gender, education, marital status, income, wealth, and unemployment (and...

  5. Endodontic periapical lesion-induced mental nerve paresthesia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shadmehr, Elham; Shekarchizade, Neda

    2015-01-01

    Paresthesia is a burning or prickling sensation or partial numbness, resulting from neural injury. The symptoms can vary from mild neurosensory dysfunction to total loss of sensation in the innervated area. Only a few cases have described apical periodontitis to be the etiological factor of impaired sensation in the area innervated by the inferior alveolar and mental nerves. The aim of the present paper is to report a case of periapical lesion-induced paresthesia in the innervation area of the mental nerve, which was successfully treated with endodontic retreatment. PMID:25878687

  6. Effects of lower limb amputation on the mental rotation of feet

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Curtze, Carolin; Otten, Bert; Postema, Klaas

    What happens to the mental representation of our body when the actual anatomy of our body changes? We asked 18 able-bodied controls, 18 patients with a lower limb amputation and a patient with rotationplasty to perform a laterality judgment task. They were shown illustrations of feet in different

  7. Exclusion-Proneness in Borderline Personality Disorder Inpatients Impairs Alliance in Mentalization-Based Group Therapy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sebastian Euler

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Interpersonal sensitivity, particularly threat of potential exclusion, is a critical condition in borderline personality disorder (BPD which impairs patients’ social adjustment. Current evidence-based treatments include group components, such as mentalization-based group therapy (MBT-G, in order to improve interpersonal functioning. These treatments additionally focus on the therapeutic alliance since it was discovered to be a robust predictor of treatment outcome. However, alliance is a multidimensional factor of group therapy, which includes the fellow patients, and may thus be negatively affected by the exclusion-proneness of BPD patients. The aim of this pilot study was to examine the predictive value of threat of social exclusion for the therapeutic alliance in MBT-G. In the first part of the study, social exclusion was experimentally induced in 23 BPD inpatients and 28 healthy subjects using the Cyberball paradigm, a virtual ball tossing game. The evoked level of threat was measured with the Need-Threat Scale (NTS which captures four dimensions of fundamental human needs, i.e., the need for belongingness, for self-esteem, for control, and for a meaningful existence. In the second part of the study, therapeutic alliance was measured on three dimensions, the therapists, the fellow patients and the group as a whole, using the Group-Questionnaire (GQ-D. BPD patients scored higher in their level of threat according to the NTS in both, the inclusion and the exclusion condition. The level of threat after exclusion predicted impairments of the therapeutic alliance in MBT-G. It was associated with more negative relationships, lower positive bonding and a lower positive working alliance with the fellow patients and lower positive bonding to the group as a whole whilst no negative prediction of the alliance to the therapists was found. Consequently, our translational study design has shown that Cyberball is an appropriate tool to use as an approach

  8. Comparing profiles of mental disorder across birth cohorts: results from the 2007 Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sunderland, Matthew; Carragher, Natacha; Buchan, Heather; Batterham, Philip J; Slade, Tim

    2014-05-01

    To describe and compare individuals with any DSM-IV mental disorder from three different birth cohorts - young (16-34 years), middle age (35-59 years) and older age (60-85 years) - on a range of clinically relevant factors. Data were derived from the 2007 Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. Individuals from three birth cohorts with a range of mental health and substance use disorders were identified using DSM-IV criteria and compared using regression analysis. The specific factors that were compared include: (1) type of disorder/disorders present; (2) suicidality; (3) number of co-occurring disorders; (4) levels of distress and impairment; (5) self-assessed physical and mental health; (6) presence of physical conditions; (7) size and quality of social support/network; and (8) treatment-seeking behaviour. The birth cohorts differed dramatically in terms of the specific disorders that were present. The older cohort were significantly more likely to experience internalising disorders and significantly less likely to experience externalising disorders in comparison to the young cohort. The older cohort were significantly more likely to experience co-morbid physical conditions as well as lower life satisfaction, poorer self-rated physical health, increased functional impairment, and more days out of role. The younger cohort had a significantly larger peer group that they could confide in and rely on in comparison to the older cohort. Clinicians and researchers need to be cognisant that mental disorders manifest as highly heterogeneous constructs. The presentation of a disorder in a younger individual could be vastly different from the presentation of the same disorder in an older individual. The additional burden associated with these factors and how they apply to different birth cohorts must be taken into consideration when planning mental health services and effective treatment for the general population.

  9. Improvement of Screening Accuracy of Mini-Mental State Examination for Mild Cognitive Impairment and Non-Alzheimer's Disease Dementia by Supplementation of Verbal Fluency Performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jee Wook; Lee, Dong Young; Seo, Eun Hyun; Sohn, Bo Kyung; Choe, Young Min; Kim, Shin Gyeom; Park, Shin Young; Choo, Il Han; Youn, Jong Chul; Jhoo, Jin Hyeong; Kim, Ki Woong; Woo, Jong Inn

    2014-01-01

    THIS STUDY AIMED TO INVESTIGATE WHETHER THE SUPPLEMENTATION OF VERBAL FLUENCY: Animal category test (VF) performance can improve the screening ability of Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) for mild cognitive impairment (MCI), dementia and their major subtypes. Six hundred fifty-five cognitively normal (CN), 366 MCI [282 amnestic MCI (aMCI); 84 non-amnestic MCI (naMCI)] and 494 dementia [346 Alzheimer's disease (AD); and 148 non-Alzheimer's disease dementia (NAD)] individuals living in the community were included (all aged 50 years and older) in the study. The VF-supplemented MMSE (MMSE+VF) score had a significantly better screening ability for MCI, dementia and overall cognitive impairment (MCI plus dementia) than the MMSE raw score alone. MMSE+VF showed a significantly better ability than MMSE for both MCI subtypes, i.e., aMCI and naMCI. In the case of dementia subtypes, MMSE+VF was better than the MMSE alone for NAD screening, but not for AD screening. The results support the usefulness of VF-supplementation to improve the screening performance of MMSE for MCI and NAD.

  10. Electrophysiological potentials reveal cortical mechanisms for mental imagery, mental simulation, and grounded (embodied cognition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haline E. Schendan

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Grounded cognition theory proposes that cognition, including meaning, is grounded in sensorimotor processing. The mechanism for grounding cognition is mental simulation, which is a type of mental imagery that re-enacts modal processing. To reveal top-down, cortical mechanisms for mental simulation of shape, event-related potentials were recorded to face and object pictures preceded by mental imagery of a picture. Mental imagery of the identical face or object (congruous condition facilitated not only categorical perception (VPP/N170 but also later visual knowledge (N3[00] complex and linguistic knowledge (N400 for faces more than objects, and strategic semantic analysis (late positive complex between 200 and 700 ms. The later effects resembled semantic congruity effects with pictures. Mental imagery also facilitated category decisions, as a P3(00 peaked earlier for congruous than incongruous (other category pictures, resembling the case when identical pictures repeat immediately. Thus mental imagery mimics semantic congruity and immediate repetition priming processes with pictures. Perception control results showed the opposite for faces and were in the same direction for objects: Perceptual repetition adapts (and so impairs processing of perceived faces from categorical perception onwards, but primes processing of objects during categorical perception, visual knowledge processes, and strategic semantic analysis. For both imagery and perception, differences between faces and objects support domain-specificity and indicate that cognition is grounded in modal processing. Altogether, this direct neural evidence reveals that top-down processes of mental imagery sustain an imagistic representation that mimics perception well enough to prime subsequent perception and cognition. This also suggests that automatic mental simulation of the visual shape of faces and objects operates between 200 and 400 ms, and strategic mental simulation operates between

  11. Mental healthcare need and service utilization in older adults living in public housing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simning, Adam; van Wijngaarden, Edwin; Fisher, Susan G; Richardson, Thomas M; Conwell, Yeates

    2012-05-01

    Anxiety and depression in socioeconomically disadvantaged older adults frequently go unrecognized and untreated. This study aims to characterize mental illness and its treatment in older adult public housing residents who have many risk factors for anxiety and depression. Cross-sectional study. Public housing high-rises in Rochester, New York. One hundred ninety residents aged 60 years and older. Anxiety and depression were assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, GAD-7, and Patient Health Questionnaire. We obtained information on mental healthcare from medication review and self-report. Participants had a median age of 66 years, 58% were women, 80% were black, and 92% lived alone. Many participants (31%) were in need of mental healthcare: 21% had syndromal and 11% had subsyndromal anxiety or depression. Mental healthcare need was associated with younger age; intact cognitive functioning; impairments in instrumental activities of daily living (IADL); more medical illness; decreased mobility; smaller social network size; more severe life events; and increased utilization of medical, human, and informal services. Of those with mental healthcare need, most were not receiving it. Compared with residents receiving mental healthcare, residents with untreated need were more likely to be men and have less IADL impairment, medical illness, severe life events, onsite social worker use, and human services utilization. Mental illness was common and largely untreated in public housing residents. Increasing collaboration between medical, mental, and human services is needed to improve identification, treatment, and ultimately prevention of late-life mental illness in this community setting.

  12. Predictors of impaired work functioning in employees with major depression in remission.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Vries, Gabe; Koeter, Maarten W J; Nieuwenhuijsen, Karen; Hees, Hiske L; Schene, Aart H

    2015-10-01

    This study aims to (i) assess work functioning in employees returning to work with a major depression in remission, (ii) study the predictors of impaired work functioning. Participants diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD), on long term sick leave (mean 27 weeks) and treated in a specialized mental healthcare setting, were selected from an intervention study sample. They were eligible for this study if they were remitted from their depression and had returned to work for at least 50% of their contract hours at 18 month follow-up. Work functioning was assessed with the Work Limitations Questionnaire (WLQ) and the Need For Recovery scale (NFR). Potential predictors of impaired work functioning were demographic characteristics (assessed at baseline), health characteristics (assessed at baseline, six and twelve month follow-up), and personality- and work characteristics (assessed at 18 month follow-up). After their return to work with MDD in remission, employees were on average still impaired in their work functioning. Personality characteristics were the strongest predictor of this impaired work functioning, followed by health and work characteristics. In the final prediction model, only a passive reaction coping style remained as predictor. We used self-report data with respect to work functioning and work characteristics and not an assessment by a supervisor. Personality trait, coping style, and ability to manage the work environment should be addressed in mental health and return-to-work interventions. Subsequent improved work functioning may be beneficial for mental health and may reduce societal costs. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Clock Drawing Test and the diagnosis of amnestic mild cognitive impairment: can more detailed scoring systems do the work?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rubínová, Eva; Nikolai, Tomáš; Marková, Hana; Siffelová, Kamila; Laczó, Jan; Hort, Jakub; Vyhnálek, Martin

    2014-01-01

    The Clock Drawing Test is a frequently used cognitive screening test with several scoring systems in elderly populations. We compare simple and complex scoring systems and evaluate the usefulness of the combination of the Clock Drawing Test with the Mini-Mental State Examination to detect patients with mild cognitive impairment. Patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (n = 48) and age- and education-matched controls (n = 48) underwent neuropsychological examinations, including the Clock Drawing Test and the Mini-Mental State Examination. Clock drawings were scored by three blinded raters using one simple (6-point scale) and two complex (17- and 18-point scales) systems. The sensitivity and specificity of these scoring systems used alone and in combination with the Mini-Mental State Examination were determined. Complex scoring systems, but not the simple scoring system, were significant predictors of the amnestic mild cognitive impairment diagnosis in logistic regression analysis. At equal levels of sensitivity (87.5%), the Mini-Mental State Examination showed higher specificity (31.3%, compared with 12.5% for the 17-point Clock Drawing Test scoring scale). The combination of Clock Drawing Test and Mini-Mental State Examination scores increased the area under the curve (0.72; p Drawing Test did not differentiate between healthy elderly and patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment in our sample. Complex scoring systems were slightly more efficient, yet still were characterized by high rates of false-positive results. We found psychometric improvement using combined scores from the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Clock Drawing Test when complex scoring systems were used. The results of this study support the benefit of using combined scores from simple methods.

  14. Autistic adolescents show atypical activation of the brain's mentalizing system even without a prior history of mentalizing problems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, Sarah J; Frith, Uta; Rellecke, Julian; Al-Noor, Zainab; Gilbert, Sam J

    2014-04-01

    Some autistic children pass classic Theory of Mind (ToM) tasks that others fail, but the significance of this finding is at present unclear. We identified two such groups of primary school age (labelled ToM+ and ToM-) and a matched comparison group of typically developing children (TD). Five years later we tested these participants again on a ToM test battery appropriate for adolescents and conducted an fMRI study with a story based ToM task. We also assessed autistic core symptoms at these two time points. At both times the ToM- group showed more severe social communication impairments than the ToM+ group, and while showing an improvement in mentalizing performance, they continued to show a significant impairment compared to the NT group. Two independent ROI analyses of the BOLD signal showed activation of the mentalizing network including medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate and lateral temporal cortices. Strikingly, both ToM+ and ToM- groups showed very similar patterns of heightened activation in comparison with the NT group. No differences in other brain regions were apparent. Thus, autistic adolescents who do not have a history of mentalizing problems according to our ToM battery showed the same atypical neurophysiological response during mentalizing as children who did have such a history. This finding indicates that heterogeneity at the behavioural level may nevertheless map onto a similar phenotype at the neuro-cognitive level. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  15. Fellow travellers: Working memory and mental time travel in rodents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dere, Ekrem; Dere, Dorothea; de Souza Silva, Maria Angelica; Huston, Joseph P; Zlomuzica, Armin

    2017-03-19

    The impairment of mental time travel is a severe cognitive symptom in patients with brain lesions and a number of neuropsychiatric disorders. Whether animals are also able to mentally travel in time both forward and backward is still a matter of debate. In this regard, we have proposed a continuum of mental time travel abilities across different animal species, with humans being the species with the ability to perform most sophisticated forms of mental time travel. In this review and perspective article, we delineate a novel approach to understand the evolution, characteristics and function of human and animal mental time travel. Furthermore, we propose a novel approach to measure mental time travel in rodents in a comprehensive manner using a test battery composed of well-validated and easy applicable tests. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  16. Mental disorder prevalence among U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs outpatients with spinal cord injuries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDonald, Scott D; Mickens, Melody N; Goldberg-Looney, Lisa D; Mutchler, Brian J; Ellwood, Michael S; Castillo, Teodoro A

    2017-03-13

    Depression and other mental disorders are more prevalent among individuals living with spinal cord injury (SCI) than in the community at large, and have a strong association with quality of life. Yet little is known about the prevalence and predictors of mental disorders among U.S. military Veterans living with SCI. The primary aim of this study was to present an estimate of mental disorder point prevalence in this population. The secondary aim was to examine the relationship of mental disorders to demographics, injury characteristics, and other clinically relevant features such as impairment from mental health problems and life satisfaction. Cross-sectional. A SCI & Disorders Center at a U.S. Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Administrative and medical records of 280 Veterans who attended annual comprehensive SCI evaluations were evaluated. Demographics, injury characteristics, self-reported mental and emotional functioning (i.e. SF-8 Health Survey), and clinician-determined mental disorder diagnoses were attained. Overall, 40% of patients received at least one mental disorder diagnosis, most commonly depressive disorders (19%), posttraumatic stress disorder (12%), and substance or alcohol use disorders (11%). Several patient characteristics predicted mental disorders, including age, racial minority identity, non-traumatic SCI etiology, and incomplete (i.e. AIS D) vs. complete injury. Mental disorders were associated with greater impairment from health and mental health-related problems and less satisfaction with life. Mental disorders are common among outpatients receiving VA specialty care for SCI. These findings highlight the importance of having adequate and effective available mental health services available for Veterans with SCI.

  17. Sense of agency and mentalizing: dissociation of subdomains of social cognition in patients with schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schimansky, Jenny; David, Nicole; Rössler, Wulf; Haker, Helene

    2010-06-30

    The sense of agency, i.e., the sense that "I am the one who is causing an action", and mentalizing, the ability to understand the mental states of other individuals, are key domains of social cognition. It has been hypothesized that an intact sense of agency is an important precondition for higher-level mentalizing abilities. A substantial body of evidence shows that both processes rely on similar brain areas and are severely impaired in schizophrenia, suggesting a close link between agency and mentalizing. Yet this relationship has not been explicitly tested. We investigated 40 individuals with schizophrenia and 40 healthy controls on an agency and mentalizing task. On the agency task, participants carried out simple mouse movements and judged the partially manipulated visual feedback as either self- or other-generated. On the mentalizing task, participants inferred mental states from pictures that depicted others' eyes ("Reading the mind in the eyes test"). Neuropsychological, psychopathological and social functioning levels were also evaluated. Both sense of agency and mentalizing were impaired in schizophrenia patients compared to healthy controls. However, testing for a relationship revealed no significant correlations between the two processes, either in the schizophrenia or the control group. The present findings demonstrate a dissociation of agency and mentalizing deficits in schizophrenia, suggesting that the multifaceted construct of social cognition consists of independent subdomains in healthy and psychiatrically ill individuals.

  18. Understanding child protection decisions involving parents with mental illness and substance abuse.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roscoe, Joseph N; Lery, Bridgette; Chambers, Jaclyn E

    2018-07-01

    Among children investigated for maltreatment, those with parents experiencing mental illness or substance abuse are more likely to be placed out-of-home; however, little is known about why these children are at greater risk. Using a sample of 2488 Structured Decision Making ® assessments administered in San Francisco county from 2011 to 2015, we identified a profile of safety threats that accounts for why workers are more likely to determine children of parents with mental illness and/or substance abuse unsafe in the home. Eight percent of assessments in our sample involved parents with current mental illness only and 10% had comorbid substance abuse. The odds of an unsafe determination more than doubled among parents with mental illness (OR = 2.52, p mental illness on safety determination: caretaking impairment due to emotional stability/developmental status/cognitive deficiency (57%), failure to meet a child's immediate needs (30%), and threats of harm (14%). Three safety threats accounted for 55% of the effect of comorbid mental illness and substance abuse on safety determination: failure to meet a child's immediate needs (21%), presence of a drug-exposed infant (21%), and caretaking impairment due to emotional stability/developmental status/cognitive deficiency (14%). Results suggest that sustained linkage to effective mental health services and material resources at the outset of a child welfare case may help to promote faster and more likely reunification, and prevent future maltreatment. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Validity of eyeball estimation for range of motion during the cervical flexion rotation test compared to an ultrasound-based movement analysis system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schäfer, Axel; Lüdtke, Kerstin; Breuel, Franziska; Gerloff, Nikolas; Knust, Maren; Kollitsch, Christian; Laukart, Alex; Matej, Laura; Müller, Antje; Schöttker-Königer, Thomas; Hall, Toby

    2018-08-01

    Headache is a common and costly health problem. Although pathogenesis of headache is heterogeneous, one reported contributing factor is dysfunction of the upper cervical spine. The flexion rotation test (FRT) is a commonly used diagnostic test to detect upper cervical movement impairment. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate concurrent validity of detecting high cervical ROM impairment during the FRT by comparing measurements established by an ultrasound-based system (gold standard) with eyeball estimation. Secondary aim was to investigate intra-rater reliability of FRT ROM eyeball estimation. The examiner (6 years experience) was blinded to the data from the ultrasound-based device and to the symptoms of the patients. FRT test result (positive or negative) was based on visual estimation of range of rotation less than 34° to either side. Concurrently, range of rotation was evaluated using the ultrasound-based device. A total of 43 subjects with headache (79% female), mean age of 35.05 years (SD 13.26) were included. According to the International Headache Society Classification 23 subjects had migraine, 4 tension type headache, and 16 multiple headache forms. Sensitivity and specificity were 0.96 and 0.89 for combined rotation, indicating good concurrent reliability. The area under the ROC curve was 0.95 (95% CI 0.91-0.98) for rotation to both sides. Intra-rater reliability for eyeball estimation was excellent with Fleiss Kappa 0.79 for right rotation and left rotation. The results of this study indicate that the FRT is a valid and reliable test to detect impairment of upper cervical ROM in patients with headache.

  20. Effects of wheelchair Tai Chi on physical and mental health among elderly with disability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yong Tai; Li, Zhanghua; Yang, Yi; Zhong, Yaping; Lee, Shih-Yu; Chen, Shihui; Chen, Yu-Ping

    2016-01-01

    A 12-week Wheelchair Tai Chi 10 Form (WTC10) intervention was conducted among elderly with disability to examine the effect of this WTC10 intervention on selected physical and mental health variables. Thirteen (age 87.23 ± 6.71) in the WTC10 intervention group and 15 (age 89.73 ± 6.31) in the control group completed the study. Independent t-tests and paired t-tests were employed to examine the differences between groups and within groups, respectively, at pretest and post-test. The WTC10 intervention group showed significant improvements in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, shoulder external rotation, left trunk rotation and total trunk rotation after the intervention. A 12-week WTC10 intervention had positive effects on blood pressure, range of motion at the shoulder and trunk, physical activity, and mental health among the elderly with disability. WTC10 is a feasible and safe exercise for the elderly with disability.

  1. Task rotation in an underground coal mine: A pilot study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Olivia F; James, Carole L

    2018-01-01

    Task rotation is used to decrease the risk of workplace injuries and improve work satisfaction. To investigate the feasibility, benefits and challenges of implementing a task rotation schedule within an underground coalmine in NSW, Australia. A mixed method case control pilot study with the development and implementation of a task rotation schedule for 6 months with two work crews. A questionnaire including The Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire, The Need for Recovery after Work Scale, and The Australian WHOQOL- BREF Australian Edition was used to survey workers at baseline, 3 and 6 months. A focus group was completed with the intervention crew and management at the completion of the study. In total, twenty-seven participants completed the survey. Significant improvements in the psychological and environmental domains of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire were found in the intervention crew. Musculoskeletal pain was highest in the elbow, lower back and knee, and fatigue scores improved, across both groups. The intervention crew felt 'mentally fresher', 'didn't do the same task twice in a row', and 'had more task variety which made the shift go quickly'. Task rotation was positively regarded, with psychological benefits identified. Three rotations during a 9-hour shift were feasible and practical in this environment.

  2. Predictors of Impaired Mental Health and Support Seeking in Adults With Inflammatory Bowel Disease: An Online Survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knowles, Simon; Andrews, Jane M; Porter, Anna

    This study explored the possible factors associated with psychological distress in adults with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and also engagement in mental health services (MHS) in those reporting distress in a large Australian cohort. Participants with IBD completed an online survey assessing perceived IBD activity (Manitoba Index; MI), mental health status (K10), demographic details, and engagement with MHS for IBD-associated issues. Of 336 participants, 76.5% perceived themselves as having active disease over the past 6 months, and on K10 scores, 51.8% had a mental health issue. Of participants with a mental health issue, only 21.3% were currently receiving mental health support. A stepwise logistic regression analysis correctly classified 78.7% of the status of receiving mental health support, with lower income (mental health support. The data show that in individuals with ongoing symptoms attributed to active IBD, mental health issues are highly prevalent, with older age and higher income being additional drivers of mental health issues. The greater challenge, however, seems not to be identifying mental health issues, but in getting those in need to engage in MHS.

  3. ORIGINAL ARTICLES DSM-IV-defined common mental disorders ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    mental disorders may increase HIV risk (e.g. by impairing risk perception and impulse control), ... analysis of the South African Stress and Health (SASH) study, a nationally ... taking more care over things touched; (iv) avoiding certain ... individually to assess potential differences between appropriate .... Gender (%). Male.

  4. The association between suicide ideation and sensory impairment among elderly Koreans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Yoonjung; Kwak, Yeunhee; Kim, Ji-Su

    2015-07-01

    The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine the relationship between sensory impairment and suicide ideation among elderly Koreans. Data from the 2010-2012 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey V was used. Participants included 3636 older adults (≥65 years) who received hearing and vision tests; participants also completed assessments of covariates and suicide ideation. The risk of suicide ideation was 1.43-1.65 times higher among participants with visual impairment than in those without impairment. Moreover, the risk was 1.60-1.76 times higher among those with both auditory and visual impairments than the risk for those without any impairment. This study found an association between sensory impairment and suicide ideation in elderly individuals. Therefore, it seems necessary that interventions that reduce or prevent sensory impaired elders' suicide ideation are needed, which may be an indicator of mental health problems or poor quality of life.

  5. Functional status and all-cause mortality in serious mental illness.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Richard D Hayes

    Full Text Available Serious mental illness can affect many aspects of an individual's ability to function in daily life. The aim of this investigation was to determine if the environmental and functional status of people with serious mental illness contribute to the high mortality risk observed in this patient group.We identified cases of schizophrenia, schizoaffective and bipolar disorder aged ≥ 15 years in a large secondary mental healthcare case register linked to national mortality tracing. We modelled the effect of activities of daily living (ADLs, living conditions, occupational and recreational activities and relationship factors (Health of the Nation Outcome Scale [HoNOS] subscales on all-cause mortality over a 4-year observation period (2007-10 using Cox regression.We identified 6,880 SMI cases (242 deaths in the observation period. ADL impairment was associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality (adjusted HR 1.9; 95% CI 1.3-2.8; p = 0.001, p for trend across ADL categories = 0.001 after controlling for a broad range of covariates (including demographic factors, physical health, mental health symptoms and behaviours, socio-economic status and mental health service contact. No associations were found for the other three exposures. Stratification by age indicated that ADLs were most strongly associated with mortality in the youngest (15 to <35 years and oldest (≥ 55 years groups.Functional impairment in people with serious mental illness diagnoses is a marker of increased mortality risk, possibly in younger age groups as a marker of negative symptomatology.

  6. Comparison of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment and the Mini-Mental State Examination in detecting multi-domain mild cognitive impairment in a Chinese sub-sample drawn from a population-based study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, YanHong; Yean Lee, Wah; Hilal, Saima; Saini, Monica; Wong, Tien Yin; Chen, Christopher Li-Hsian; Venketasubramanian, Narayanaswamy; Ikram, Mohammad Kamran

    2013-11-01

    We examined the discriminant validity of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) in detecting multiple-domain mild cognitive impairment (md-MCI) in a Chinese sub-sample drawn from elderly population-based study. This study included Chinese participants from the Epidemiology of Dementia in Singapore (EDIS) study aged ≥ 60 years who underwent cognitive screening with the Abbreviated Mental Test and Progressive Forgetfulness Questionnaire. Screen-positive participants subsequently underwent MoCA, MMSE, and a comprehensive formal neuropsychological battery. MCI was defined by Petersen's criteria and further classified into single-domain MCI (sd-MCI) and md-MCI. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) was computed for the MoCA and the MMSE in detecting md-MCI. A total of 300 participants were recruited: 128 (42.7%) were diagnosed with no cognitive impairment (NCI), 47 (15.7%) with sd-MCI, and 83 (28.0%) with md-MCI. Forty-one participants were excluded, 7 (2.3%) had dementia, and 34 (11.3%) had only objective cognitive impairment without subjective complaints. Although the MoCA had a significantly larger AUC than the MMSE (0.94 (95% CI = 0.91-0.97) vs. 0.91 (95% CI = 0.86-0.95), p= 0.04), at optimal cut-off points, the MoCA (19/20) was equivalent to the MMSE (25/26) in detecting md-MCI (sensitivity: 0.80 vs. 0.87, specificity: 0.92 vs. 0.80). Both screening tests had good discriminant validity and can be used in detecting md-MCI in a sub-sample of Chinese drawn from a population-based study.

  7. Childhood Hearing Impairment: How do Parents Feel about it?

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    DATONYE ALASIA

    burden of hearing impairment on the children and their ... The Nigerian Health Journal, Vol. 12, No 4 ... certain cultural misconception and. 9,10 ... school. Information collected included parents age, sex and questions related to the perception ... routine care needed to avoid hearing loss due to. 15 ... Mental health: New.

  8. Object versus spatial visual mental imagery in patients with schizophrenia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aleman, André; de Haan, Edward H.F.; Kahn, René S.

    2005-01-01

    Objective Recent research has revealed a larger impairment of object perceptual discrimination than of spatial perceptual discrimination in patients with schizophrenia. It has been suggested that mental imagery may share processing systems with perception. We investigated whether patients with schizophrenia would show greater impairment regarding object imagery than spatial imagery. Methods Forty-four patients with schizophrenia and 20 healthy control subjects were tested on a task of object visual mental imagery and on a task of spatial visual mental imagery. Both tasks included a condition in which no imagery was needed for adequate performance, but which was in other respects identical to the imagery condition. This allowed us to adjust for nonspecific differences in individual performance. Results The results revealed a significant difference between patients and controls on the object imagery task (F1,63 = 11.8, p = 0.001) but not on the spatial imagery task (F1,63 = 0.14, p = 0.71). To test for a differential effect, we conducted a 2 (patients v. controls) х 2 (object task v. spatial task) analysis of variance. The interaction term was statistically significant (F1,62 = 5.2, p = 0.026). Conclusions Our findings suggest a differential dysfunction of systems mediating object and spatial visual mental imagery in schizophrenia. PMID:15644999

  9. The Relationship Between Mental State and Functional Status in Elderly Residents of Kahrizak

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hadi Kazemi

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: The current study was performed to investigate the relationship between mental impairment and each component of activity of daily living (ADL in elderly residents of the Kahrizak Charity Foundation. Methods & Materials: Standardized Iranian Mini Mental examination and Barthel index were used to assest cognitive status and ADL in 184 elderly residents of Kahrizak, respectively. Results: Data showed that 31.7% of participants had normal cognitive status and 63.3% had cognitive impairment. There was significant relationship between cognitive status and ADL after adjustment for confounding factors (P=0.01, r=0.2. By using multiple logistic regression analysis, the relation between cognitive impairment and functional status was examined (P=0.05. Odd ratio of functional disability showed an increasing trend with increasing severity of cognitive impairment [Odd Ratio (OR mild cognitive impairment: 1.13, Confidence Interval (CI: 0.54-2.37 OR moderate to severe cognitive impairment: 3.67, CI: 0.39-34.35]. Regarding the relation between Barthel components and cognitive status it was showed that there was a significant association between independent bathing and cognitive status (OR: 2.33, CI: 1.14-4.72 as well as movementability with cognitive impairment (OR: 2.96, CI: 1.30-6.75. Conclusion: Cognitive status can be a predictive factor of ADL inelderly subjects.

  10. Disability and functional burden of disease because of mental in comparison to somatic disorders in general practice patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Linden, M; Linden, U; Schwantes, U

    2015-09-01

    Severity of illness is not only depending on the symptom load, but also on the burden in life. Mental disorders are among those illnesses, which in particular cause suffering to the individual and society. To study burden of disease for mental in comparison to somatic disorders, 2099 patients from 40 general practitioners filled in (a) the Burvill scale which measures acute and chronic illnesses in ten different body systems and (b) the IMET scale which measures impairment in ten different areas of life. Patients were suffering on average from acute and/or chronic illness in 3.5 (SD: 2.0) body systems and 56.6% of patients complained about acute and/or chronic mental disorders. The most significant negative impact on the IMET total score have acute and chronic mental disorders, followed by chronic neurological and musculoskeletal and acute respiratory and gastrointestinal disorders, while cardiovascular, metabolic, urogenital, haematological and ear/eye disorders have no greater impact. Acute as well as chronic mental disorders cause impairment across all areas of life and most burden of disease (functional burden of disease 1.69), followed by musculoskeletal disorders (1.62). Mental disorders are among the most frequent health problems with high negative impact across all areas of life. When combining frequency and impairment mental disorders cause most burden of disease in comparison to other illnesses. This should be reflected in the organization of medical care including family medicine. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  11. The relationship between diabetic retinopathy and cognitive impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crosby-Nwaobi, Roxanne R; Sivaprasad, Sobha; Amiel, Stephanie; Forbes, Angus

    2013-10-01

    Recent studies have shown an increased risk for cognitive impairment and dementia in patients with diabetes. An association between diabetic retinopathy (DR) and retinal microvasculature disease and cognitive impairment has been reported as potential evidence for a microvascular component to the cognitive impairment. It was hypothesized that severity of DR would be associated with cognitive impairment in individuals with type 2 diabetes. Three hundred eighty patients with type 2 diabetes were recruited from a population-based eye screening program and grouped by severity of DR as follows: no/mild DR (n=252) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) (n=128). Each participant underwent psychosocial assessment; depression screening; ophthalmic and physical examination, including blood assays; and cognitive assessment with the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination-Revised (ACE-R), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and the Mini-Cog. General linear modeling was used to examine severity of DR and cognitive impairment, adjusting for confounders. Severity of DR demonstrated an inverse relationship with cognitive impairment (fully adjusted R2=0.415, Pcognitive impairment scores on ACE-R (adjusted mean±SE 77.0±1.9) compared with the PDR group (82.5±2.2, Pcognitive impairment compared with 5% in the PDR group (n=6). Patients with minimal DR demonstrated more cognitive impairment than those with advanced DR. Therefore, the increased prevalence of cognitive impairment in diabetes may be associated with factors other than evident retinal microvascular disease.

  12. Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy on Self-Concept of Visually Impaired Adolescents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mahmood Yaghotian

    2016-03-01

    Discussion: Cognitive-behavioral group counseling sessions can improve the self-concept of visually impaired adolescents. Moreover, positive self-concept will increase their social interaction and mental health.

  13. Violence Exposure and the Development of School-Related Functioning: Mental Health, Neurocognition, and Learning

    OpenAIRE

    Perkins, Suzanne; Graham-Bermann, Sandra

    2012-01-01

    The relation between history of violence exposure and the development of academic and mental health problems is explored. Violence exposed children have an increased risk of developing school-related problems including: mental health problems, learning disabilities, language impairments, and other neurocognitive problems. These problems interact to create a complex web of deficits and disabilities where intervention access points are difficult to assess. Often mental health problems and acade...

  14. Impaired visuospatial transformation but intact sequence processing in Parkinson disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leek, E Charles; Kerai, Julie H; Johnston, Stephen J; Hindle, John V; Bracewell, R Martyn

    2014-09-01

    We examined whether visuospatial deficits in Parkinson disease (PD) can be explained by a domain-general, nonspatial impairment in the sequencing or serial chaining of mental operations. PD has been shown to be associated with impaired visuospatial processing, but the mechanisms of this impairment remain unclear. Thirteen patients with PD and 20 age-matched, neurologically normal controls performed a visuospatial grid navigation task requiring sequential spatial transformations. The participants also performed a control task of serial number subtraction designed to assess their nonvisuospatial sequencing. The tasks were matched in structure and difficulty. The patients were impaired on the visuospatial task but not in serial number subtraction. This finding suggests that visuospatial processing impairments in PD do not derive from a general impairment affecting sequencing or serial chaining. We argue that visuospatial deficits in PD result from impairments to spatial transformation routines involved in the computation of mappings between spatial locations. These routines are mediated by dopaminergic pathways linking the basal ganglia, prefrontal cortex, supplementary motor area, and parietal cortex.

  15. Vestibulosympathetic reflex during mental stress

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carter, Jason R.; Ray, Chester A.; Cooke, William H.

    2002-01-01

    Increases in sympathetic neural activity occur independently with either vestibular or mental stimulation, but it is unknown whether sympathetic activation is additive or inhibitive when both stressors are combined. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the combined effects of vestibular and mental stimulation on sympathetic neural activation and arterial pressure in humans. Muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA), arterial pressure, and heart rate were recorded in 10 healthy volunteers in the prone position during 1) head-down rotation (HDR), 2) mental stress (MS; using arithmetic), and 3) combined HDR and MS. HDR significantly (P < 0.05) increased MSNA (9 +/- 2 to 13 +/- 2 bursts/min). MS significantly increased MSNA (8 +/- 2 to 13 +/- 2 bursts/min) and mean arterial pressure (87 +/- 2 to 101 +/- 2 mmHg). Combined HDR and MS significantly increased MSNA (9 +/- 1 to 16 +/- 2 bursts/min) and mean arterial pressure (89 +/- 2 to 100 +/- 3 mmHg). Increases in MSNA (7 +/- 1 bursts/min) during the combination trial were not different from the algebraic sum of each trial performed alone (8 +/- 2 bursts/min). We conclude that the interaction for MSNA and arterial pressure is additive during combined vestibular and mental stimulation. Therefore, vestibular- and stress-mediated increases of MSNA appear to occur independently in humans.

  16. A Qualitative Analysis of Medical Students Views of Their First Psychiatry Rotation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nagesh B. Pai

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Objective: The importance of student’s perspectives in informing curricula and pedagogy has long been recognised. However, student’s perspectives are rarely reported in the academic literature. Therefore this study explores and reports on medical student’s perspectives of their first psychiatry clinical rotation in a ‘new’ era medical school in Australia. Method: Seventy-three graduate entry medical students completed a semi-structured questionnaire about their experiences during a mental health rotation. The responses were analysed and coded into thematic categories. Results: The following thematic categories were evident; staff, breadth of experience, attitudes towards mental health, course materials and structure, and professional development. Conclusion: The results are discussed in the context of the current academic recommendations for the teaching of psychiatry and behavioural science to medical students. Although the use of student feedback is recommended by the literature, pragmatically it is rarely utilised and if it is utilised it is not reported in the academic literature. It is recommended that educators embrace the use of student’s perspectives to evaluate and inform their teaching.

  17. Dysfunctions of decision-making and cognitive control as transdiagnostic mechanisms of mental disorders: advances, gaps, and needs in current research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goschke, Thomas

    2014-01-01

    Disadvantageous decision-making and impaired volitional control over actions, thoughts, and emotions are characteristics of a wide range of mental disorders such as addiction, eating disorders, depression, and anxiety disorders and may reflect transdiagnostic core mechanisms and possibly vulnerability factors. Elucidating the underlying neurocognitive mechanisms is a precondition for moving from symptom-based to mechanism-based disorder classifications and ultimately mechanism-targeted interventions. However, despite substantial advances in basic research on decision-making and cognitive control, there are still profound gaps in our current understanding of dysfunctions of these processes in mental disorders. Central unresolved questions are: (i) to which degree such dysfunctions reflect transdiagnostic mechanisms or disorder-specific patterns of impairment; (ii) how phenotypical features of mental disorders relate to dysfunctional control parameter settings and aberrant interactions between large-scale brain systems involved in habit and reward-based learning, performance monitoring, emotion regulation, and cognitive control; (iii) whether cognitive control impairments are consequences or antecedent vulnerability factors of mental disorders; (iv) whether they reflect generalized competence impairments or context-specific performance failures; (v) whether not only impaired but also chronic over-control contributes to mental disorders. In the light of these gaps, needs for future research are: (i) an increased focus on basic cognitive-affective mechanisms underlying decision and control dysfunctions across disorders; (ii) longitudinal-prospective studies systematically incorporating theory-driven behavioural tasks and neuroimaging protocols to assess decision-making and control dysfunctions and aberrant interactions between underlying large-scale brain systems; (iii) use of latent-variable models of cognitive control rather than single tasks; (iv) increased focus on

  18. Testing the tests--an empirical evaluation of screening tests for the detection of cognitive impairment in aviators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stokes, A F; Banich, M T; Elledge, V C

    1991-08-01

    The FAA has expressed concern that flight safety could be compromised by undetected cognitive impairment in pilots due to conditions such as substance abuse, mental illness, and neuropsychological problems. Interest has been shown in the possibility of adding a brief "mini-mental exam," or a simple automated test-battery to the standard flight medical to screen for such conditions. The research reported here involved the empirical evaluation of two "mini-mental exams," two paper-and-pencil test batteries, and a prototype version of an automated screening battery. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value were calculated for each sub-task in a discriminant study of 54 pilots and 62 individuals from a heterogeneous clinical population. Results suggest that the "mini-mental exams" are poor candidates for a screening test. The automated battery showed the best discrimination performance, in part because of the incorporation of dual-task tests of divided attention performance. These tests appear to be particularly sensitive to otherwise difficult-to-detect cognitive impairments of a mild or subtle nature. The use of an automated battery of tests as a screening instrument does appear to be feasible in principle, but the practical success of a screening program is heavily dependent upon the actual prevalence of cognitive impairment in the medical applicant population.

  19. The Effects of Mental Fatigue on Physical Performance: A Systematic Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Cutsem, Jeroen; Marcora, Samuele; De Pauw, Kevin; Bailey, Stephen; Meeusen, Romain; Roelands, Bart

    2017-08-01

    Mental fatigue is a psychobiological state caused by prolonged periods of demanding cognitive activity. It has recently been suggested that mental fatigue can affect physical performance. Our objective was to evaluate the literature on impairment of physical performance due to mental fatigue and to create an overview of the potential factors underlying this effect. Two electronic databases, PubMed and Web of Science (until 28 April 2016), were searched for studies designed to test whether mental fatigue influenced performance of a physical task or influenced physiological and/or perceptual responses during the physical task. Studies using short (mental fatigue. Maximal strength, power, and anaerobic work were not affected by mental fatigue. The duration and intensity of the physical task appear to be important factors in the decrease in physical performance due to mental fatigue. The most important factor responsible for the negative impact of mental fatigue on endurance performance is a higher perceived exertion.

  20. The Mental Number Line in Dyscalculia: Impaired Number Sense or Access from Symbolic Numbers?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lafay, Anne; St-Pierre, Marie-Catherine; Macoir, Joël

    2017-01-01

    Numbers may be manipulated and represented mentally over a compressible number line oriented from left to right. According to numerous studies, one of the primary reasons for dyscalculia is related to improper understanding of the mental number line. Children with dyscalculia usually show difficulty when they have to place Arabic numbers on a…

  1. Mental Spatial Transformations in 14-and 16-Month-Old Infants: Effects of Action and Observational Experience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frick, Andrea; Wang, Su-hua

    2014-01-01

    Infants' ability to mentally track the orientation of an object during a hidden rotation was investigated (N = 28 in each experiment). A toy on a turntable was fully covered and then rotated 90°. When revealed, the toy had turned with the turntable (probable event), remained at its starting orientation (improbable event in Experiment 1), or…

  2. Piracetam treatment in patients with cognitive impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rao, Mukund G; Holla, Bharath; Varambally, Shivarama; Raveendranathan, Dhanya; Venkatasubramanian, Ganesan; Gangadhar, Bangalore N

    2013-01-01

    Piracetam is a cognitive-enhancing agent that is used for the treatment of cognitive impairments of various etiologies. Little is known about its side effect profile, especially in those with psychiatric illness. We herewith present two cases with cognitive impairment who had contrasting responses to piracetam. One of them with organic amnestic syndrome had significant improvement, whereas the other who had an organic personality change as well as a family history of mental illness had significant worsening of behavioral problems after piracetam was introduced. This report highlights the need for caution in the use of piracetam, especially in those with past or family history of psychiatric illness. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. A Belief Rule Based Expert System to Assess Mental Disorder under Uncertainty

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hossain, Mohammad Shahadat; Afif Monrat, Ahmed; Hasan, Mamun

    2016-01-01

    to ignorance, incompleteness, and randomness. So, a belief rule-based expert system (BRBES) has been designed and developed with the capability of handling the uncertainties mentioned. Evidential reasoning works as the inference engine and the belief rule base as the knowledge representation schema......Mental disorder is a change of mental or behavioral pattern that causes sufferings and impairs the ability to function in ordinary life. In psychopathology, the assessment methods of mental disorder contain various types of uncertainties associated with signs and symptoms. This study identifies...

  4. Combined effect of mental disorder and low social support on care service use for mental health problems in the Dutch general population

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ten Have, M; Vollebergh, W; Bijl, R; Ormel, J

    Background. People with a mental disorder have high rates of service utilization for emotional or addiction problems. Little is known about the role of functional impairments and low social support in such service use. This article investigates: (1) whether the presence of multiple functional

  5. Combined effect of mental disorder and low social support on care service use for mental health problems in de Dutch general population

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Have, M.L. ten; Vollebergh, W.A.M.; Bijl, R.V.; Ormel, J.

    2002-01-01

    Background. People with a mental disorder have high rates of service utilization for emotional or addiction problems. Little is known about the role of functional impairments and low social support in such service use. This article investigates: (1) whether the presence of multiple functional

  6. Caregiver perceptions of mental health problems and treatment utilisation in siblings of children with mental health problems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Nylanda; Furber, Gareth; Roberts, Rachel; Winefield, Helen

    2016-01-01

    Siblings of children with mental health problems (MHPs) have been found to have higher rates of psychopathology and impaired psychosocial functioning compared to control children. It is not yet known how these siblings are managed within the clinical service context (e.g., are they assessed for mental health problems? Do they receive appropriate psychological treatment?). The following brief report describes a pilot study which aimed to explore (a) the rate of caregiver-identified MHPs in siblings and (b) the proportion of siblings receiving psychiatric or psychosocial treatment or support (i.e., treatment utilisation). Eighty-five caregivers of children receiving treatment at CAMHS were interviewed about the mental health and treatment utilisation of their siblings. The findings revealed a high rate of caregiver-identified MHPs in siblings (34.1%) and a high rate of treatment utilisation (85.7%). The findings suggest that, for the vast majority, when siblings of children with MHPs are identified by their caregivers as having MHPs, they are receiving some kind of support and treatment. Implications for mental health service costs are discussed and recommendations for future research are outlined.

  7. Evaluating low-resolution tomography neurofeedback by single dissociation of mental grotation task from stop signal task performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Getter, Nir; Kaplan, Zeev; Todder, Doron

    2015-10-01

    Electroencephalography source localization neurofeedback, i.e Standardized low-resolution tomography (sLORETA) neurofeedback are non-invasive method for altering region specific brain activity. This is an improvement over traditional neurofeedback which were based on recordings from a single scalp-electrode. We proposed three criteria clusters as a methodological framework to evaluate electroencephalography source localization neurofeedback and present relevant data. Our objective was to evaluate standardized low resolution EEG tomography neurofeedback by examining how training one neuroanatomical area effects the mental rotation task (which is related to the activity of bilateral Parietal regions) and the stop-signal test (which is related to frontal structures). Twelve healthy participants were enrolled in a single session sLORETA neurofeedback protocol. The participants completed both the mental rotation task and the stop-signal test before and after one sLORETA neurofeedback session. During sLORETA neurofeedback sessions participants watched one sitcom episode while the picture quality co-varied with activity in the superior parietal lobule. Participants were rewarded for increasing activity in this region only. Results showed a significant reaction time decrease and an increase in accuracy after sLORETA neurofeedback on the mental rotation task but not after stop signal task. Together with behavioral changes a significant activity increase was found at the left parietal brain after sLORETA neurofeedback compared with baseline. We concluded that activity increase in the parietal region had a specific effect on the mental rotation task. Tasks unrelated to parietal brain activity were unaffected. Therefore, sLORETA neurofeedback could be used as a research, or clinical tool for cognitive disorders. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. The change of music preferences following the onset of a mental disorder

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stefan Gebhardt

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available A psychiatric population (n=123 was examined on changed music preferences after onset of a mental disorder. Most patients did not change their previous music preference; they considered music helpful for their mental state, showed more attractivity and enforcement as personality traits and used music more for emotion modulation. Patients who have undergone a preference shift reported that music has impaired them during the time of illness; these patients showed less ego-strength, less conficence and less enforcement and used music less for arousal modulation. A third subgroup stopped listening to music completely after the onset of the mental disorder; these patients attached less importance to music and also reported that music has impaired their mental state. They showed more ego-strength and used music less for emotion modulation. The results suggest that the use of music in everyday life can be helpful as an emotion modulation strategy. However, some patients might need instructions how to use music in a functional, and not dysfunctional, way. Psychiatrists and psychotherapists as well as music therapists should be aware of emotion modulation strategies, subjective valence of music and personality traits of their patients.

  9. Effects of problem solving therapy on mental health outcomes in family caregivers of persons with a new diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment or early dementia: a randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garand, Linda; Rinaldo, Donna E; Alberth, Mary M; Delany, Jill; Beasock, Stacey L; Lopez, Oscar L; Reynolds, Charles F; Dew, Mary Amanda

    2014-08-01

    Interventions directed at the mental health of family dementia caregivers may have limited impact when focused on caregivers who have provided care for years and report high burden levels. We sought to evaluate the mental health effects of problem-solving therapy (PST), designed for caregivers of individuals with a recent diagnosis of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or early dementia. Seventy-three (43 MCI and 30 early dementia) family caregivers were randomly assigned to receive PST or a comparison condition (nutritional education). Depression, anxiety, and problem-solving orientation were assessed at baseline and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months post intervention. In general, the PST caregiver intervention was feasible and acceptable to family caregivers of older adults with a new cognitive diagnosis. Relative to nutritional education, PST led to significantly reduced depression symptoms, particularly among early dementia caregivers. PST also lowered caregivers' anxiety levels, and led to lessening of negative problem orientation. Enhanced problem-solving skills, learned early after a loved one's cognitive diagnosis (especially dementia), results in positive mental health outcomes among new family caregivers. Copyright © 2014 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Social Anxiety and Mental Health Service Use Among Asian American High School Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brice, Chad; Masia Warner, Carrie; Okazaki, Sumie; Ma, Pei-Wen Winnie; Sanchez, Amanda; Esseling, Petra; Lynch, Chelsea

    2015-10-01

    Asian American adults endorse more symptoms of social anxiety (SA) on self-report measures than European Americans, but demonstrate lower prevalence rates of SA disorder in epidemiological studies. These divergent results create ambiguity concerning the mental health needs of Asian Americans. The present study is the first to investigate this issue in adolescents through assessment of self-reported SA in Asian American high school students. Parent and self-ratings of impairment related to SA and self-reported mental health service use for SA were also measured. Asian American students endorsed a greater number of SA symptoms and scored in the clinical range more frequently than other ethnic groups. Also, Asian American and Latino students endorsed more school impairment related to SA than other ethnic groups. No differences in parent-reported impairment or service utilization were identified. Implications for future research and treatment for SA among Asian American adolescents are discussed.

  11. Effect of a steam foot spa on geriatric inpatients with cognitive impairment: a pilot study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koike, Yoshihisa; Kondo, Hideki; Kondo, Satoshi; Takagi, Masayuki; Kano, Yoshio

    2013-01-01

    Purpose To investigate whether a steam foot spa improves cognitive impairment in geriatric inpatients. Methods Geriatric inpatients with cognitive impairment were given a steam foot spa treatment at 42°C for 20 minutes for 2 weeks (5 days/week). Physiological indicators such as blood pressure, percutaneous oxygen saturation, pulse, tympanic temperature, and sleep time and efficiency were assessed. Cognitive function and behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia were assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination, Dementia Mood Assessment Scale, and Dementia Behavior Disturbance scale. Results Significant decreases in systolic (P steam foot spas. A significant improvement was seen in the Mini-Mental State Examination score (P steam foot baths. In this study, a control group was not used. Raters and enforcers were not blinded. Conclusion The results of this pilot study suggest that steam foot spas mitigate cognitive impairment in geriatric inpatients. PMID:23717038

  12. [Mini-Mental State Examination: Screening and Diagnosis of Cognitive Decline, Using New Normative Data].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santana, Isabel; Duro, Diana; Lemos, Raquel; Costa, Vanessa; Pereira, Miguel; Simões, Mário R; Freitas, Sandra

    2016-04-01

    The Mini-Mental State Examination is the most commonly used cognitive screening test. In Portugal, the cut-off scores are defined according to literacy groups, but different proposals have been recommended by more representative studies. We therefore propose to confirm the influence of demographical variables, such as age and education, in the subjectâs performance; evaluating the discriminant ability of the new normative data; and to further examine the diagnostic acuity of the validated cut-off scoring for mild cognitive impairment and for the most prevalent types of dementia. Our study includes 1 441 educated subjects, divided into seven subgroups: Mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, community-controls and memory clinic-controls. Altogether age and education explain 10.4% of the Mini-Mental State Examination results variance, with both variables contributing significantly to the resultsâ prediction. The diagnostic acuity based on the most recent normative data was always higher than the one obtained through the validation cut-off scoring, revealing an overall excellent specificity (superior to 90%) and different sensitivity values: excellent for mild Alzheimer's disease (91%), good for dementia with Lewy Bodies (78%) and low for mild cognitive impairment (65%), frontotemporal dementia and vascular dementia (55%). The performance on the Mini-Mental State Examination is influenced by age and education, supporting the use of normative data that consider those variables. With this approach, the Mini-Mental State Examination could be a sensitive and specific instrument for the Alzheimer's disease screening among all healthcare levels. Nevertheless, its diagnostic acuity is limited in other conditions frequently seen in memory clinics, such as Mild Cognitive Impairment and other types of dementia.

  13. Visuo-Spatial Imagery Impairment in Posterior Cortical Atrophy: A Cognitive and SPECT Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simona Gardini

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available This study investigated the cognitive profile and the cerebral perfusion pattern in a highly educated 70 year old gentleman with posterior cortical atrophy (PCA. Visuo-perceptual abilities, spatial memory, spatial representation and navigation, visuo-spatial mental imagery, semantic and episodic-autobiographical memory were assessed. Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF was imaged with SPECT. Cognitive testing showed visual-perceptual impairment, apperceptive visual and landmark agnosia, topographical disorientation with way-finding deficits, impaired map learning and poor mental image generation. Semantic memory was normal, while episodic-autobiographical memory was impaired. Reduced rCBF was found mainly in the right hemisphere, in the precentral gyrus, posterior cingulate and middle temporal gyri, cuneus and precuneus, in the left superior temporal and lingual gyri and in the parahippocampus bilaterally. Hypoperfusion in occipito-parietal regions was associated with visuo-spatial deficits, whereas deficits in visuo-spatial mental imagery might reflect dysfunction related to hypoperfusion in the parahippocampus and precuneus, structures which are responsible for spatial and imagery processing. Dissociating performance between preserved semantic memory and poor episodic-autobiographical recall is consistent with a pattern of normal perfusion in frontal and anterior temporal regions but abnormal rCBF in the parahippocampi. The present findings indicate that PCA involves visuo-spatial imagery deficits and provide further validation to current neuro-cognitive models of spatial representation and topographical disorientation.

  14. Semantic memory impairment in the earliest phases of Alzheimer's disease

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vogel, Asmus; Gade, Anders; Stokholm, Jette

    2005-01-01

    The presence and the nature of semantic memory dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease (AD) have been widely debated. This study aimed to determine the frequency of impaired semantic test performances in mild AD and to study whether incipient semantic impairments could be identified in predementia AD....... Five short neuropsychological tests sensitive to semantic memory and easily applicable in routine practice were administered to 102 patients with mild AD (Mini-Mental State Examination score above 19), 22 predementia AD patients and 58 healthy subjects. 'Category fluency' and 'naming of famous faces......' were the most frequently impaired tests in both patient groups. The study demonstrated that impairments on semantically related tests are common in mild AD and may exist prior to the clinical diagnosis. The results imply that assessment of semantic memory is relevant in the evaluation of patients...

  15. The cross-national epidemiology of specific phobia in the World Mental Health Surveys

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wardenaar, Klaas J.; Lim, Carmen C.W.; Al-Hamzawi, Ali O.; Alonso, Jordi; Andrade, Laura H.; Benjet, Corina; Bunting, Brendan; de Girolamo, Giovanni; Demyttenaere, Koen; Florescu, Silvia E.; Gureje, Oye; Hisateru, Tachi; Hu, Chiyi; Huang, Yueqin; Karam, Elie; Kiejna, Andrzej; Lepine, Jean Pierre; Navarro-Mateu, Fernando; Browne, Mark Oakley; Piazza, Maria; Posada-Villa, José; ten Have, Margreet L.; Torres, Yolanda; Xavier, Miguel; Zarkov, Zahari; Kessler, Ronald C.; Scott, Kate M.; de Jonge, Peter

    2017-01-01

    Background Although specific phobia is highly prevalent, associated with impairment, and an important risk factor for the development of other mental disorders, cross-national epidemiological data are scarce, especially from low and middle-income countries. This paper presents epidemiological data from 22 low, lower-middle, upper-middle and high-income countries. Method Data came from 25 representative population-based surveys conducted in 22 countries (2001–2011) as part of the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys initiative (N=124,902). The presence of specific phobia as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition was evaluated using the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Results The cross-national lifetime and 12-month prevalence rates of specific phobia were, respectively, 7.4% and 5.5%, being higher in females (9.8% and 7.7%) than in males (4.9% and 3.3%) and higher in high and higher-middle income countries than in low/lower-middle income countries. The median age of onset was young (8 years). Of the 12-month patients, 18.7% reported severe role impairment (13.3%–21.9% across income groups) and 23.1% reported any treatment (9.6%–30.1% across income groups). Lifetime comorbidity was observed in 60.2% of those with lifetime specific phobia, with the onset of specific phobia preceding the other disorder in most cases (72.6%). Interestingly, rates of impairment, treatment-use and comorbidity increased with the number of fear subtypes. Conclusion Specific phobia is common and associated with impairment in a considerable percentage of cases. Importantly, specific phobia often precedes the onset of other mental disorders, making it a possible early-life indicator of psychopathology vulnerability. PMID:28222820

  16. A mentally retarded patient with schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rabia, K; Khoo, Em

    2008-01-01

    Schizophrenia is one of the most incapacitating forms of mental disorder that runs a chronic and relapsing course. It typically starts in adolescence or early adulthood and can be life-long. It is more common in people with learning disabilities than in the general population. Its prodromal features include depression, anxiety, suspiciousness, social isolation and bizarre behaviour. It may result in significant functional, social and economic impairments. The care of patients with schizophrenia places a considerable burden on all carers including patient's family, health and social services. Treatment includes pharmacotherapy and psychosocial interventions. In this case report we describe a thirteen-year-old patient with schizophrenia who has a background history of mental retardation.

  17. A MENTALLY RETARDED PATIENT WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    KHOO EM

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Schizophrenia is one of the most incapacitating forms of mental disorder that runs a chronic and relapsing course. It typically starts in adolescence or early adulthood and can be life-long. It is more common in people with learning disabilities than in the general population. Its prodromal features include depression, anxiety, suspiciousness, social isolation and bizarre behaviour. It may result in significant functional, social and economic impairments. The care of patients with schizophrenia places a considerable burden on all carers including patient’s family, health and social services. Treatment includes pharmacotherapy and psychosocial interventions. In this case report we describe a thirteen-year-old patient with schizophrenia who has a background history of mental retardation.

  18. Fish fatty acids and mental health in older people

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rest, van de O.

    2009-01-01

    Background
    It has been suggested that the intake of fish and marine n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids could protect against age-related cognitive decline and impaired mental well-being. However, results from observational studies are inconclusive and data from randomized controlled trials in

  19. [Impaired theory of mind in anorexia nervosa].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gál, Zita; Egyed, Katalin; Pászthy, Bea; Németh, Dezsö

    2011-01-01

    Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a severe mental illness, which is characterized by a continuously growing occurrence in the population and by the shift of the onset for earlier ages. The understanding of factors playing role in AN and the importance of effective prevention is an essential issue in science as well as in the society. AN also affects the social domain of life, patients with AN may exhibit impaired social interaction, social isolation, difficulties in emotion recognition and egocentric thinking in cognitive processing. Therefore, the aim of present study was to investigate the theory of mind (ToM) deficits is anorexia nervosa. Although previous studies have reported ToM deficits in autism and in schizophrenia, the number of studies investigating ToM functioning in eating disorders are particularly low. Even though ToM difficulties, such as the affective ToM impairments were found in AN, however, the evidence of cognitive ToM deficits in anorexia patients is still lacking. Twenty anorexia nervosa patients and 20 healthy control adolescent girls participated in the experiment. EDI, BAT, Fallon-Rozin Test and Anamoprhic Micro Body Image Assesment Programme questionnaires and body-image tests were applied to discriminate anorexia nervosa group from healthy control group. The Hungarian version of Faux Pas Recognition Test was applied to evaluate ToM functioning. Compared to healthy control group, impairment in ToM functioning was found in AN group, especially in affective mental state attribution. Our results can raise new aspects for research, therapy and prevention of anorexia nervosa.

  20. [Mental health impact of stalking in men and women].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuehner, Christine; Gass, Peter; Dressing, Harald

    2006-08-01

    Using data from the Mannheim stalking study, the present report analyses gender differences with regard to various mental health indicators and potential mediator effects of stalking victimization. Furthermore, we were interested in whether the impact of stalking on mental health was comparable for men and women. The study included a postal survey of 675 community residents on the experience of intruding harassment and on mental health indicators. In the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-D, Lowe et al. 2001), women scored higher on most of the subscales (depression, anxiety, somatic complaints, stress, psychosocial impairment) than men. Furthermore, more women fulfilled criteria for at least one threshold or subthreshold mental disorder syndrome according to DSM-IV, and more women were under psychotropic medication. However, the identified associations were completely mediated by the higher prevalence of stalking victims in women. In contrast, the associations of stalking victimization with poor mental health, psychosocial functioning, and use of medication were largely comparable across gender.

  1. Contextualizing mental health: gendered experiences in a Mumbai slum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parkar, Shubhangi R; Fernandes, Johnson; Weiss, Mitchell G

    2003-12-01

    Urban mental health programmes in developing countries remain in their infancy. To serve low-income communities, research needs to consider the impact of common life experience in slums, including poverty, bad living conditions, unemployment, and crowding. Our study in the Malavani slum of Mumbai examines afflictions of the city affecting the emotional well-being and mental health of women and men with respect to gender. This is a topic for which mental health studies have been lacking, and for which psychiatric assumptions based on middle-class clinical experience may be most tenuous. This study employs ethnographic methods to show how environmental and social contexts interact in shaping local experience with reference to common mental health problems. Focusing on the social and environmental context of the mental health of communities, rather than psychiatric disorders affecting individuals, findings are broadly applicable and sorely needed to guide the development of locally appropriate community mental health programmes. Identified afflictions affecting mental health include not only access to health care, but also sanitation, addictions, criminality, domestic violence, and the so-called bar-girl culture. Although effective clinical interventions are required for mental health services to treat psychiatric disorders, they cannot directly affect the conditions of urban slums that impair mental health.

  2. External ear anomalies and hearing impairment in Noonan Syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Trier, Dorothée C; van Nierop, Josephine; Draaisma, Jos M Th; van der Burgt, Ineke; Kunst, Henricus; Croonen, Ellen A; Admiraal, Ronald J C

    2015-06-01

    This is the first cohort in which hearing impairment and external ear anomalies in Noonan Syndrome are described extensively. Retrospective analysis of the otorhinolaryngological and clinical genetic data from 97 Noonan Syndrome (NS) patients. Forty-four NS patients were seen by an otorhinolaryngologist for the analysis of hearing impairment. In our cohort 80 of the 97 patients were genetically tested. In 71 of these mutations were found: in 48 patients a mutation in PTPN11, in 10 patients in SOS1, in 5 patients in SHOC2, in 5 patients in RAF1, in 1 patient in MAP2K2, in 1 patient in KRAS and in 1 patient in A2ML1. External ear anomalies were reported in 75 NS patients (77%). In 69 patients the ears were low-set, 28 patients had posteriorly rotated ears, 14 patients showed protruding ears and 18 had thickened helices. Hearing impairment was detected in 34 NS patients. Nine patients had sensorineural hearing impairment, two a permanent conductive hearing impairment, two other patients had mixed hearing impairment and 20 patients had conductive hearing impairment in the past, caused by otitis media with effusion. Their temporary conductive hearing impairment resolved between the ages of 2 and 18 years. Sensorineural hearing impairment varied between mild high-frequency hearing impairment and profound (uni- and bilateral) hearing impairment and was progressive in three patients. Four NS patients received cochlear implants for their severe sensorineural hearing impairment. The cohort is small for genotype-phenotype correlations, but sensorineural hearing impairment, especially the bilateral severe hearing impairment, was only seen in patients with a PTPN11 mutation. NS is characterized by dysmorphic external ear anomalies and both sensorineural and conductive hearing impairment. Audiological examinations are recommended in all patients with Noonan Syndrome. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Management of the Severely Mentally Ill and Its Effects on Homeland Security

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-09-01

    the type of antisocial acts that resulted in their incarceration. However, prisons and jails have become hotbeds for the radicalization of segments...study has found that Kendra’s Law has lowered risk of violent behaviours , reduced thoughts about suicide and enhanced capacity to function despite...mental, emotional or physical harm that significantly impairs judgment, reason, behavior or capacity to recognize reality. (b) Substantially impairs

  4. Impaired emotional empathy and related social network deficits in cocaine users.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Preller, Katrin H; Hulka, Lea M; Vonmoos, Matthias; Jenni, Daniela; Baumgartner, Markus R; Seifritz, Erich; Dziobek, Isabel; Quednow, Boris B

    2014-05-01

    Chronic cocaine users consistently display neurochemical and functional alterations in brain areas involved in social cognition (e.g. medial and orbitofrontal cortex). Although social functioning plays a crucial role in the development and treatment of drug dependence, studies investigating social cognition in cocaine users are lacking. Therefore, we investigated mental perspective taking ('theory of mind') and emotional and cognitive empathy in recreational (RCU) and dependent (DCU) cocaine users. Furthermore, we related these measures to real-life indicators of social functioning. One-hundred cocaine users (69 RCU, 31 DCU) and 68 stimulant-naïve healthy controls were tested with the Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET), Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC) and Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET). The Social Network Questionnaire was conducted to assess social network size. Furthermore, participants provided information on committed criminal offenses. RCU and DCU showed less emotional empathy compared to controls (MET), whereas cognitive empathy was not impaired (MET, RMET). Additionally, DCU made more errors in mental perspective taking (MASC). Notably, cocaine users committed more criminal offenses and displayed a smaller social network and higher cocaine use was correlated with less social contacts. Diminished mental perspective taking was tentatively correlated with more intense cocaine use as well. Finally, younger age of onset of cocaine use was associated with more pronounced empathy impairment. In conclusion, social cognition impairments in cocaine users were related to real-life social functioning and should therefore be considered in therapy and prevention strategies. © 2013 Society for the Study of Addiction.

  5. The Change of Music Preferences Following the Onset of a Mental Disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gebhardt, Stefan; von Georgi, Richard

    2015-02-24

    A psychiatric population (n=123) was examined on how music preferences had changed after the onset of a mental disorder. Most patients did not change their previous music preference; this group of patients considered music helpful for their mental state, showed more attractivity and enforcement as personality traits and used music more for emotion modulation. Patients who experienced a preference shift reported that music had impaired them during the time of illness; these patients showed less ego-strength, less confidence and less enforcement and used music less for arousal modulation. A third subgroup stopped listening to music completely after the onset of the mental disorder; these patients attribute less importance to music and also reported that music had impaired their mental state. They showed more ego-strength and used music less for emotion modulation. The results suggest that the use of music in everyday life can be helpful as an emotion modulation strategy. However, some patients might need instructions on how to use music in a functional way and not a dysfunctional one. Psychiatrists and psychotherapists as well as music therapists should be aware of emotion modulation strategies, subjective valence of music and personality traits of their patients. Due to the ubiquity of music, psychoeducative instructions on how to use music in everyday life plays an increasing role in the treatment of mental illness.

  6. The Change of Music Preferences Following the Onset of a Mental Disorder

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gebhardt, Stefan; von Georgi, Richard

    2015-01-01

    A psychiatric population (n=123) was examined on how music preferences had changed after the onset of a mental disorder. Most patients did not change their previous music preference; this group of patients considered music helpful for their mental state, showed more attractivity and enforcement as personality traits and used music more for emotion modulation. Patients who experienced a preference shift reported that music had impaired them during the time of illness; these patients showed less ego-strength, less confidence and less enforcement and used music less for arousal modulation. A third subgroup stopped listening to music completely after the onset of the mental disorder; these patients attribute less importance to music and also reported that music had impaired their mental state. They showed more ego-strength and used music less for emotion modulation. The results suggest that the use of music in everyday life can be helpful as an emotion modulation strategy. However, some patients might need instructions on how to use music in a functional way and not a dysfunctional one. Psychiatrists and psychotherapists as well as music therapists should be aware of emotion modulation strategies, subjective valence of music and personality traits of their patients. Due to the ubiquity of music, psychoeducative instructions on how to use music in everyday life plays an increasing role in the treatment of mental illness. PMID:26266024

  7. Comparison of the number of supervisors on medical student satisfaction during a child and adolescent psychiatry rotation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mascioli KJ

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Kelly J Mascioli,1 Catharine J Robertson,1,2 Alan B Douglass1,31Department of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada; 2Department of Psychiatry, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, ON, Canada; 3Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research, Ottawa, ON, Canada Background: Traditionally, third-year medical students are assigned to one supervisor during their 1-week rotation in child and adolescent psychiatry. However, the majority of supervisory staff in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry opted to switch the supervision schedule to one in which some medical students are assigned to two primary supervisors.Objective: The aim of the study was to determine if students assigned to two primary supervisors had greater rotation satisfaction compared with students assigned to one primary supervisor during a 1-week clerkship rotation in child and adolescent psychiatry.Methods: A satisfaction questionnaire was sent to 110 third-year medical students who completed their child and adolescent clerkship rotation. Based on the responses, students were divided into groups depending on their number of supervisors. Questionnaire responses were compared between the groups using independent t-tests.Results: When students who had one primary supervisor were compared to students who had two primary supervisors, the lone item showing a statistically significant difference was regarding improvement of assessment reports/progress notes.Conclusion: The number of supervisors does not significantly affect the satisfaction of students during a 1-week clerkship rotation in child and adolescent psychiatry. Other factors are important in rotation satisfaction.Keywords: medical students, clerkship, child psychiatry

  8. Interaction Model of Mental Disability (IMMD) based on ICIDH

    OpenAIRE

    YAMANE, Hiroshi

    2001-01-01

    I propose an "Interaction Model of Mental Disability (IMMD)". Several models based on ICIDH are being proposed and tested around the world focusing on different aspects of disability. Though ICIDH is an inclusive model in health services, social security, insurance, education, and so on, the remarkable point of IMMD is to visualize the mutual relation of mental disability (impairment, disability and handicap) and other factors (environmental factors, personal factors). IMMD is a practical reh...

  9. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depressed individuals improves suppression of irrelevant mental-sets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greenberg, Jonathan; Shapero, Benjamin G; Mischoulon, David; Lazar, Sara W

    2017-04-01

    An impaired ability to suppress currently irrelevant mental-sets is a key cognitive deficit in depression. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) was specifically designed to help depressed individuals avoid getting caught in such irrelevant mental-sets. In the current study, a group assigned to MBCT plus treatment-as-usual (n = 22) exhibited significantly lower depression scores and greater improvements in irrelevant mental-set suppression compared to a wait-list plus treatment-as-usual (n = 18) group. Improvements in mental-set-suppression were associated with improvements in depression scores. Results provide the first evidence that MBCT can improve suppression of irrelevant mental-sets and that such improvements are associated with depressive alleviation.

  10. MK-801 impairs cognitive coordination on a rotating arena (Carousel and contextual specificity of hippocampal immediate-early gene expression in a rat model of psychosis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Štěpán eKubík

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Flexible behavior in dynamic, real-world environments requires more than static spatial learning and memory. Discordant and unstable cues must be organized in coherent subsets to give rise to meaningful spatial representations. We model this form of cognitive coordination on a rotating arena - Carousel where arena- and room-bound spatial cues are dissociated. Hippocampal neuronal ensemble activity can repeatedly switch between multiple representations of such an environment. Injection of tetrodotoxin into one hippocampus prevents cognitive coordination during avoidance of a stationary room-defined place on the Carousel and increases coactivity of previously unrelated neurons in the uninjected hippocampus. Place avoidance on the Carousel is impaired after systemic administration of non-competitive NMDAr blockers (MK-801 used to model schizophrenia in animals and people. We tested if this effect is due to cognitive disorganization or other effect of NMDAr antagonism such as hyperlocomotion, spatial memory impairment, or general learning deficit. We also examined if the same dose of MK-801 alters patterns of immediate-early gene (IEG expression in the hippocampus. IEG expression is triggered in neuronal nuclei in a context-specific manner after behavioral exploration and it is used to map activity in neuronal populations. IEG expression is critical for maintenance of synaptic plasticity and memory consolidation. We show that the same dose of MK-801 that impairs spatial coordination of rats on the Carousel also eliminates contextual specificity of IEG expression in hippocampal CA1 ensembles. This effect is due to increased similarity between ensembles activated in different environments, consistent with the idea that it is caused by increased coactivity between neurons, which did not fire together before. Our data support the proposition of the Hypersynchrony theory that cognitive disorganization in psychosis is due to increased coactivity between

  11. MK-801 Impairs Cognitive Coordination on a Rotating Arena (Carousel) and Contextual Specificity of Hippocampal Immediate-Early Gene Expression in a Rat Model of Psychosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kubík, Stěpán; Buchtová, Helena; Valeš, Karel; Stuchlík, Aleš

    2014-01-01

    Flexible behavior in dynamic, real-world environments requires more than static spatial learning and memory. Discordant and unstable cues must be organized in coherent subsets to give rise to meaningful spatial representations. We model this form of cognitive coordination on a rotating arena - Carousel where arena- and room-bound spatial cues are dissociated. Hippocampal neuronal ensemble activity can repeatedly switch between multiple representations of such an environment. Injection of tetrodotoxin into one hippocampus prevents cognitive coordination during avoidance of a stationary room-defined place on the Carousel and increases coactivity of previously unrelated neurons in the uninjected hippocampus. Place avoidance on the Carousel is impaired after systemic administration of non-competitive NMDAr blockers (MK-801) used to model schizophrenia in animals and people. We tested if this effect is due to cognitive disorganization or other effect of NMDAr antagonism such as hyperlocomotion, spatial memory impairment, or general learning deficit. We also examined if the same dose of MK-801 alters patterns of immediate-early gene (IEG) expression in the hippocampus. IEG expression is triggered in neuronal nuclei in a context-specific manner after behavioral exploration and it is used to map activity in neuronal populations. IEG expression is critical for maintenance of synaptic plasticity and memory consolidation. We show that the same dose of MK-801 that impairs spatial coordination of rats on the Carousel also eliminates contextual specificity of IEG expression in hippocampal CA1 ensembles. This effect is due to increased similarity between ensembles activated in different environments, consistent with the idea that it is caused by increased coactivity between neurons, which did not previously fire together. Our data support the proposition of the Hypersynchrony theory that cognitive disorganization in psychosis is due to increased coactivity between unrelated

  12. MK-801 Impairs Cognitive Coordination on a Rotating Arena (Carousel) and Contextual Specificity of Hippocampal Immediate-Early Gene Expression in a Rat Model of Psychosis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kubík, Štěpán; Buchtová, Helena; Valeš, Karel; Stuchlík, Aleš

    2014-01-01

    Flexible behavior in dynamic, real-world environments requires more than static spatial learning and memory. Discordant and unstable cues must be organized in coherent subsets to give rise to meaningful spatial representations. We model this form of cognitive coordination on a rotating arena – Carousel where arena- and room-bound spatial cues are dissociated. Hippocampal neuronal ensemble activity can repeatedly switch between multiple representations of such an environment. Injection of tetrodotoxin into one hippocampus prevents cognitive coordination during avoidance of a stationary room-defined place on the Carousel and increases coactivity of previously unrelated neurons in the uninjected hippocampus. Place avoidance on the Carousel is impaired after systemic administration of non-competitive NMDAr blockers (MK-801) used to model schizophrenia in animals and people. We tested if this effect is due to cognitive disorganization or other effect of NMDAr antagonism such as hyperlocomotion, spatial memory impairment, or general learning deficit. We also examined if the same dose of MK-801 alters patterns of immediate-early gene (IEG) expression in the hippocampus. IEG expression is triggered in neuronal nuclei in a context-specific manner after behavioral exploration and it is used to map activity in neuronal populations. IEG expression is critical for maintenance of synaptic plasticity and memory consolidation. We show that the same dose of MK-801 that impairs spatial coordination of rats on the Carousel also eliminates contextual specificity of IEG expression in hippocampal CA1 ensembles. This effect is due to increased similarity between ensembles activated in different environments, consistent with the idea that it is caused by increased coactivity between neurons, which did not previously fire together. Our data support the proposition of the Hypersynchrony theory that cognitive disorganization in psychosis is due to increased coactivity between unrelated

  13. Recreational cocaine polydrug use impairs cognitive flexibility but not working memory

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Colzato, L.S.; Huizinga, M.; Hommel, B.

    2009-01-01

    Rationale: Chronic use of cocaine is associated with dysfunctions in frontal brain regions and dopamine D2 receptors, with poorer mental flexibility and a reduced ability to inhibit manual and attentional responses. Little is known, however, about cognitive impairments in the upcoming type of

  14. Rotator cuff tendon connections with the rotator cable.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahu, Madis; Kolts, Ivo; Põldoja, Elle; Kask, Kristo

    2017-07-01

    The literature currently contains no descriptions of the rotator cuff tendons, which also describes in relation to the presence and characteristics of the rotator cable (anatomically known as the ligamentum semicirculare humeri). The aim of the current study was to elucidate the detailed anatomy of the rotator cuff tendons in association with the rotator cable. Anatomic dissection was performed on 21 fresh-frozen shoulder specimens with an average age of 68 years. The rotator cuff tendons were dissected from each other and from the glenohumeral joint capsule, and the superior glenohumeral, coracohumeral, coracoglenoidal and semicircular (rotator cable) ligaments were dissected. Dissection was performed layer by layer and from the bursal side to the joint. All ligaments and tendons were dissected in fine detail. The rotator cable was found in all specimens. It was tightly connected to the supraspinatus (SSP) tendon, which was partly covered by the infraspinatus (ISP) tendon. The posterior insertion area of the rotator cable was located in the region between the middle and inferior facets of the greater tubercle of the humerus insertion areas for the teres minor (TM), and ISP tendons were also present and fibres from the SSP extended through the rotator cable to those areas. The connection between the rotator cable and rotator cuff tendons is tight and confirms the suspension bridge theory for rotator cuff tears in most areas between the SSP tendons and rotator cable. In its posterior insertion area, the rotator cable is a connecting structure between the TM, ISP and SSP tendons. These findings might explain why some patients with relatively large rotator cuff tears can maintain seamless shoulder function.

  15. Reverse shoulder arthroplasty leads to significant biomechanical changes in the remaining rotator cuff

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Perka Carsten

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Objective After reverse shoulder arthroplasty (RSA external and internal rotation will often remain restricted. A postoperative alteration of the biomechanics in the remaining cuff is discussed as a contributing factor to these functional deficits. Methods In this study, muscle moment arms as well as origin-to-insertion distance (OID were calculated using three-dimensional models of the shoulder derived from CT scans of seven cadaveric specimens. Results Moment arms for humeral rotation are significantly smaller for the cranial segments of SSC and all segments of TMIN in abduction angles of 30 degrees and above (p ≤ 0.05. Abduction moment arms were significantly decreased for all segments (p ≤ 0.002. OID was significantly smaller for all muscles at the 15 degree position (p ≤ 0.005, apart from the cranial SSC segment. Conclusions Reduced rotational moment arms in conjunction with the decrease of OID may be a possible explanation for the clinically observed impaired external and internal rotation.

  16. Mental Health Service Utilization Among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Questioning or Queer College Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dunbar, Michael S; Sontag-Padilla, Lisa; Ramchand, Rajeev; Seelam, Rachana; Stein, Bradley D

    2017-09-01

    College students are at high risk for mental health problems, yet many do not receive treatment even when services are available. Treatment needs may be even higher among sexual minority students, but little is known about how these students differ from heterosexual peers in terms of mental health needs and service utilization. A total of 33,220 California college students completed an online survey on mental health needs (e.g., current serious psychological distress and mental health-related academic impairment) and service utilization. Using logistic regressions, we examined differences in student characteristics, mental health service use, and perceived barriers to using on-campus services by sexual minority status. Approximately 7% of students self-identified as sexual minorities. Compared with heterosexual students, sexual minority students endorsed higher rates of psychological distress (18% vs. 26%, p mental health-related academic impairment (11% vs. 17%, p mental health services. Sexual minority students were also more likely to report using off-campus services and to endorse barriers to on-campus service use (e.g., embarrassed to use services and uncertainty over eligibility for services). Sexual minority individuals represent a sizeable minority of college students; these students use mental health services at higher rates than heterosexual peers but have high rates of unmet treatment need. Efforts to address commonly reported barriers to on-campus service use, foster sexual minority-affirmative campus environments, and promote awareness of campus services may help reduce unmet treatment need in this population. Copyright © 2017 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Does Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in the Context of a Rural School Mental Health Programme Have an Impact on Academic Outcomes?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michael, Kurt D.; Albright, Abby; Jameson, John Paul; Sale, Rafaella; Massey, Cameron; Kirk, Alex; Egan, Theresa

    2013-01-01

    Given the prevalence of mental health difficulties among children and adolescents, schools have become a suitable context for providing psychological services to those who may otherwise go untreated. The co-occurrence of mental health impairments and academic problems has been widely cited, and many school mental health (SMH) programmes have begun…

  18. Mini-mental state examination as a predictor of mortality among older people referred to secondary mental healthcare.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Su, Yu-Ping; Chang, Chin-Kuo; Hayes, Richard D; Perera, Gayan; Broadbent, Matthew; To, David; Hotopf, Matthew; Stewart, Robert

    2014-01-01

    Lower levels of cognitive function have been found to be associated with higher mortality in older people, particularly in dementia, but the association in people with other mental disorders is still inconclusive. Data were analysed from a large mental health case register serving a geographic catchment of 1.23 million residents, and associations were investigated between cognitive function measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and survival in patients aged 65 years old and over. Cox regressions were carried out, adjusting for age, gender, psychiatric diagnosis, ethnicity, marital status, and area-level socioeconomic index. A total of 6,704 subjects were involved, including 3,368 of them having a dementia diagnosis and 3,336 of them with depression or other diagnoses. Descriptive outcomes by Kaplan-Meier curves showed significant differences between those with normal and impaired cognitive function (MMSE scoremental health services regardless of a dementia diagnosis. Causal pathways between this exposure and outcome (for example, suboptimal healthcare) need further investigation.

  19. [Homicide and major mental disorder: what are the social, clinical, and forensic differences between murderers with a major mental disorder and murderers without any mental disorder?].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richard-Devantoy, S; Chocard, A-S; Bourdel, M-C; Gohier, B; Duflot, J-P; Lhuillier, J-P; Garré, J-B

    2009-09-01

    ,6 versus 76,7%, p=0,008). The most major mental disorders' homicide was more likely to be against intimates than strangers. The application of the former article 64 or the present article 122-1 of the French Criminal Code are envisaged more often in the major mental disorder group than in the no mental disorder group. The main difference between murderers with a major mental disorder and murderers without any mental disorder is the psychopathology of the morbid process which underlies the homicide. Impairment of judgment at the time of the crime should be taken into account. As a clinician, we should focus our attention on general risk factors of violence and homicide (male, young, underprivileged class, abuse of alcohol) and on more specific factors (mental disorder co-morbidities...). To these factors should be added the dynamic characteristics of the meeting of the protagonists.

  20. Peak oxygen uptake and left ventricular ejection fraction, but not depressive symptoms, are associated with cognitive impairment in patients with chronic heart failure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steinberg, Gerrit; Lossnitzer, Nicole; Schellberg, Dieter; Mueller-Tasch, Thomas; Krueger, Carsten; Haass, Markus; Ladwig, Karl Heinz; Herzog, Wolfgang; Juenger, Jana

    2011-01-01

    The aim of the present study was to assess cognitive impairment in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and its associations with depressive symptoms and somatic indicators of illness severity, which is a matter of controversy. Fifty-five patients with CHF (mean age 55.3 ± 7.8 years; 80% male; New York Heart Association functional class I-III) underwent assessment with an expanded neuropsychological test battery (eg, memory, complex attention, mental flexibility, psychomotor speed) to evaluate objective and subjective cognitive impairment. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (SCID) and a self-report inventory (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [HADS]). A comprehensive clinical dataset, including left ventricular ejection fraction, peak oxygen uptake, and a 6-minute walk test, was obtained for all patients. Neuropsychological functioning revealed impairment in 56% of patients in at least one measure of our neuropsychological test battery. However, the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) could only detect cognitive impairment in 1.8% of all patients, 24% had HADS scores indicating depressive symptoms, and 11.1% met SCID criteria for a depressive disorder. No significant association was found between depressive symptoms and cognitive impairment. Left ventricular ejection fraction was related to subjective cognitive impairment, and peak oxygen uptake was related to objective cognitive impairment. Cognitive functioning was substantially reduced in patients with CHF and should therefore be diagnosed and treated in routine clinical practice. Caution is advised when the MMSE is used to identify cognitive impairment in patients with CHF.

  1. Consequences and Possible Predictors of Health-damaging Behaviors and Mental Health Problems in Pregnancy - A Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ulrich, F; Petermann, F

    2016-11-01

    In recent decades, the understanding of the short and longer term effects of health-damaging behaviors and mental health problems in pregnant women and the underlying mechanisms of these behaviors and illnesses has significantly increased. In contrast, little is known about the factors affecting individual pregnant women which contribute to health-damaging behaviors and mental illness. The aim of this paper was therefore to summarize the current state of research into the consequences of nicotine and alcohol consumption, malnutrition, excessive weight gain or obesity, and impaired mental health (depression and anxiety) during pregnancy. In addition, the characteristics of pregnant women which increase their risk of developing such behaviors or mental disorders are described. A better knowledge of these risks should make it easier for clinicians to identify cases at risk early on and put measures of support in place. A review of the literature has shown that certain characteristics of pregnant women (e.g. her relationship with her partner, a previous history of mental illness prior to pregnancy) are associated with various health-damaging behaviors as well as with impaired mental health. Affected women often show an accumulated psychosocial stress which was already present prior to the pregnancy and which may persist even after the birth of the child.

  2. Contributions of muscle imbalance and impaired growth to postural and osseous shoulder deformity following brachial plexus birth palsy: a computational simulation analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Wei; Cornwall, Roger; Crouch, Dustin L; Li, Zhongyu; Saul, Katherine R

    2015-06-01

    Two potential mechanisms leading to postural and osseous shoulder deformity after brachial plexus birth palsy are muscle imbalance between functioning internal rotators and paralyzed external rotators and impaired longitudinal growth of paralyzed muscles. Our goal was to evaluate the combined and isolated effects of these 2 mechanisms on transverse plane shoulder forces using a computational model of C5-6 brachial plexus injury. We modeled a C5-6 injury using a computational musculoskeletal upper limb model. Muscles expected to be denervated by C5-6 injury were classified as affected, with the remaining shoulder muscles classified as unaffected. To model muscle imbalance, affected muscles were given no resting tone whereas unaffected muscles were given resting tone at 30% of maximal activation. To model impaired growth, affected muscles were reduced in length by 30% compared with normal whereas unaffected muscles remained normal in length. Four scenarios were simulated: normal, muscle imbalance only, impaired growth only, and both muscle imbalance and impaired growth. Passive shoulder rotation range of motion and glenohumeral joint reaction forces were evaluated to assess postural and osseous deformity. All impaired scenarios exhibited restricted range of motion and increased and posteriorly directed compressive glenohumeral joint forces. Individually, impaired muscle growth caused worse restriction in range of motion and higher and more posteriorly directed glenohumeral forces than did muscle imbalance. Combined muscle imbalance and impaired growth caused the most restricted joint range of motion and the highest joint reaction force of all scenarios. Both muscle imbalance and impaired longitudinal growth contributed to range of motion and force changes consistent with clinically observed deformity, although the most substantial effects resulted from impaired muscle growth. Simulations suggest that treatment strategies emphasizing treatment of impaired longitudinal

  3. [Effectiveness of the Mini-Mental State for detection of cognitive impairment in primary care].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carnero Pardo, Cristóbal; Cruz Orduña, Isabel; Espejo Martínez, Beatriz; Cárdenas Viedma, Salvador; Torrero García, Pedro; Olazarán Rodríguez, Javier

    2013-10-01

    To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy (DA) of the Mini-Mental State (MMS) for the detection of cognitive impairment (CI) in Primary Care (PC) and to determine the best conditions of use for that purpose. Pooled analysis of two prospective, double blind, studies on the evaluation of diagnostic tools with complete verification that were conducted in Madrid and Granada (Spain). The MMS was administered in PC and the final cognitive diagnosis (gold standard) was made in Specialized Care. Subjects with cognitive complaints or suspected of having CI were consecutively recruited in the PC clinic. The DA of the MMS was evaluated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC). The best cut-off point was selected according to the ratio of cases correctly classified (RCC) and to the kappa index. Direct (MMSd) and age- and education-adjusted (MMSa) total scores were analyzed separately. In the total sample of 360 subjects (214 CI), the DA of the MMSd was significantly superior to that of the MMSa (0.84±0.02 vs 0.82±0.02, p≤.001). The yield obtained by the best cut-off point of the MMSd (22/23) was modest (RCC 0.77, kappa 0.52±0.05) and was not improved by any MMSa cut-off point. The DA of the MMS for detection of CI in PC was modest and did not improve with adjustment of the score by age and education. The best cut-off point was 22/23, inferior to the usually recommended cut-off. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.

  4. Wave-driven Rotation in Supersonically Rotating Mirrors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    A. Fetterman and N.J. Fisch

    2010-02-15

    Supersonic rotation in mirrors may be produced by radio frequency waves. The waves produce coupled diffusion in ion kinetic and potential energy. A population inversion along the diffusion path then produces rotation. Waves may be designed to exploit a natural kinetic energy source or may provide the rotation energy on their own. Centrifugal traps for fusion and isotope separation may benefit from this wave-driven rotation.

  5. Wave-driven Rotation in Supersonically Rotating Mirrors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fetterman, A.; Fisch, N.J.

    2010-01-01

    Supersonic rotation in mirrors may be produced by radio frequency waves. The waves produce coupled diffusion in ion kinetic and potential energy. A population inversion along the diffusion path then produces rotation. Waves may be designed to exploit a natural kinetic energy source or may provide the rotation energy on their own. Centrifugal traps for fusion and isotope separation may benefit from this wave-driven rotation.

  6. Perceived fitness protects against stress-based mental health impairments among police officers who report good sleep.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerber, Markus; Kellmann, Micheal; Elliot, Catherine; Hartmann, Tim; Brand, Serge; Holsboer-Trachsler, Edith; Pühse, Uwe

    2014-01-01

    This study examined a cognitive stress-moderation model that posits that the harmful effects of chronic stress are decreased in police officers who perceive high levels of physical fitness. It also determined whether the stress-buffering effect of perceived fitness is influenced by officers' self-reported sleep. A total of 460 police officers (n=116 females, n=344 males, mean age: M=40.7; SD=9.7) rated their physical fitness and completed a battery of self-report stress, mental health, and sleep questionnaires. Three-way analyses of covariance were performed to examine whether officers' self-reported mental health status depends on the interaction between stress, perceived fitness and sleep. Highly stressed officers perceived lower mental health and fitness and were overrepresented in the group of poor sleepers. Officers with high fitness self-reports revealed increased mental health and reported good sleep. In contrast, poor sleepers scored lower on the mental health index. High stress was more closely related to low mental health among poor sleepers. Most importantly, perceived fitness revealed a stress-buffering effect, but only among officers who reported good sleep. High perceived fitness and good sleep operate as stress resilience resources among police officers. The findings suggest that multimodal programs including stress management, sleep hygiene and fitness training are essential components of workplace health promotion in the police force.

  7. Effectiveness of the second-stage rehabilitation in stroke patients with cognitive impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Milinavičienė, Eglė; Rastenytė, Daiva; Kriščiūnas, Aleksandras

    2011-01-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate the recovery of functional status and effectiveness of the second-stage rehabilitation depending on the degree of cognitive impairment in stroke patients. The study sample comprised 226 stroke patients at the Viršužiglis Hospital of rehabilitation, Hospital of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. Functional status was evaluated with the Functional Independence Measure, cognitive function with the Mini-Mental Status Examination scale, and severity of neurologic condition with the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale. The patients were divided into 4 study groups based on cognitive impairment: severe, moderate, mild, or no impairment. More than half (53%) of all cases were found to have cognitive impairment, while patients with different degree of cognitive impairment were equally distributed: mild impairment (18%), moderate impairment (17%), and severe impairment (18%). Improvement of functional status was observed in all study groups (Prehabilitation of stroke patients, functional status as well as cognitive and motor skills were improved both in patients with and without cognitive impairment; however, the patients who were diagnosed with severe or moderate cognitive impairment at the beginning of second-stage rehabilitation showed worse neurological and functional status during the whole second-stage rehabilitation than the patients with mild or no cognitive impairment.

  8. A methodology for the characterization and diagnosis of cognitive impairments-Application to specific language impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oliva, Jesús; Serrano, J Ignacio; del Castillo, M Dolores; Iglesias, Angel

    2014-06-01

    The diagnosis of mental disorders is in most cases very difficult because of the high heterogeneity and overlap between associated cognitive impairments. Furthermore, early and individualized diagnosis is crucial. In this paper, we propose a methodology to support the individualized characterization and diagnosis of cognitive impairments. The methodology can also be used as a test platform for existing theories on the causes of the impairments. We use computational cognitive modeling to gather information on the cognitive mechanisms underlying normal and impaired behavior. We then use this information to feed machine-learning algorithms to individually characterize the impairment and to differentiate between normal and impaired behavior. We apply the methodology to the particular case of specific language impairment (SLI) in Spanish-speaking children. The proposed methodology begins by defining a task in which normal and individuals with impairment present behavioral differences. Next we build a computational cognitive model of that task and individualize it: we build a cognitive model for each participant and optimize its parameter values to fit the behavior of each participant. Finally, we use the optimized parameter values to feed different machine learning algorithms. The methodology was applied to an existing database of 48 Spanish-speaking children (24 normal and 24 SLI children) using clustering techniques for the characterization, and different classifier techniques for the diagnosis. The characterization results show three well-differentiated groups that can be associated with the three main theories on SLI. Using a leave-one-subject-out testing methodology, all the classifiers except the DT produced sensitivity, specificity and area under curve values above 90%, reaching 100% in some cases. The results show that our methodology is able to find relevant information on the underlying cognitive mechanisms and to use it appropriately to provide better

  9. Factors associated with the referral of anxious children to mental health care: the influence of family functioning, parenting, parental anxiety and child impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jongerden, Loes; Simon, Ellin; Bodden, Denise H M; Dirksen, Carmen D; Bögels, Susan M

    2015-03-01

    This study aims to identify factors that predict the mental health care referral of anxious children. In total, 249 children and families, aged 8-13 years, participated: 73 children were referred with anxiety disorders to mental health care [mean (M) age = 10.28, standard deviation (SD) = 1.35], 176 non-referred anxious children recruited in primary schools (M age = 9.94, SD = 1.22). Child anxiety and other disorders were assessed with semi-structured interviews. Child anxiety symptoms, behavioural problems, parental anxiety, the parenting styles overprotection, autonomy encouragement, rejection, and the family functioning dimensions control and relational functioning, were assessed with child, father and mother report on questionnaires. The summed interference rating of children's anxiety disorders was a predictor of referral, consistent over child and parent reports, but not comorbidity. Most family and parenting variables did not predict referral, nor differed between the referred and non-referred sample. Contrary to our hypothesis, maternal self-reported anxiety decreased the odds of referral and child reported parental autonomy granting increased, while child reported overprotection decreased the odds of referral. The impairment for the child due to the number and severity of their anxiety disorder(s) is, based on child, mother and father report associated with referral. This indicates that those who need it most, receive clinical treatment. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  10. Parietal and early visual cortices encode working memory content across mental transformations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christophel, Thomas B; Cichy, Radoslaw M; Hebart, Martin N; Haynes, John-Dylan

    2015-02-01

    Active and flexible manipulations of memory contents "in the mind's eye" are believed to occur in a dedicated neural workspace, frequently referred to as visual working memory. Such a neural workspace should have two important properties: The ability to store sensory information across delay periods and the ability to flexibly transform sensory information. Here we used a combination of functional MRI and multivariate decoding to indentify such neural representations. Subjects were required to memorize a complex artificial pattern for an extended delay, then rotate the mental image as instructed by a cue and memorize this transformed pattern. We found that patterns of brain activity already in early visual areas and posterior parietal cortex encode not only the initially remembered image, but also the transformed contents after mental rotation. Our results thus suggest that the flexible and general neural workspace supporting visual working memory can be realized within posterior brain regions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Intersection of reality and fiction in art perception: pictorial space, body sway and mental imagery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ganczarek, Joanna; Ruggieri, V; Nardi, D; Olivetti Belardinelli, M

    2015-09-01

    The thesis of embodied cognition claims that perception of the environment entails a complex set of multisensory processes which forms a basis for the agent's potential and immediate actions. However, in the case of artworks, an agent becomes an observer and action turns into a reaction. This raises questions about the presence of embodied or situated cognition involved in art reception. The study aimed to assess the bodily correlates of perceiving fictional pictorial spaces in the absence of a possibility of an actual physical immersion or manipulation of represented forms. The subjects were presented with paintings by Vermeer and De Hooch, whilst their body sway and eye movements were recorded. Moreover, test and questionnaires on mental imagery (MRT, VVIQ and OSIQ) were administered. Three major results were obtained: (1) the degree of pictorial depth did not influence body sway; (2) fixations to distant elements in paintings (i.e. backgrounds) were accompanied by an increase in body sway; and (3) mental rotation test scores correlated positively with body sway. Our results suggest that in certain cases--despite the fictional character of art--observers' reactions resemble reactions to real stimuli. It is proposed that these reactions are mediated by mental imagery (e.g. mental rotation) that contributes to the act of representing alternative to real artistic spaces.

  12. Violence Exposure and the Development of School-Related Functioning: Mental Health, Neurocognition, and Learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perkins, Suzanne; Graham-Bermann, Sandra

    2012-01-01

    The relation between history of violence exposure and the development of academic and mental health problems is explored. Violence exposed children have an increased risk of developing school-related problems including: mental health problems, learning disabilities, language impairments, and other neurocognitive problems. These problems interact to create a complex web of deficits and disabilities where intervention access points are difficult to assess. Often mental health problems and academic problems develop in parallel. Timing of violence exposure and the developmental stage of the child during exposure complicate our understanding of the underlying mechanism. A model is presented that explores pathways linking violence exposure to aspects of school-related functioning, both academically and behaviorally. Early life stress, in the form of violence exposure, is related to neurocognitive deficits, including executive functioning and problems in self-regulation. Deficits in self-regulation at the level of behavior, and cognitive control and executive functioning, at the level of brain processing, are related to both academic and mental health problems, suggesting a possible psychological mechanism. Biological mechanisms are also included in the model to illustrate the contribution of the stress response, neuroendocrine system response, and neuroanatomical structural and functional impairments associated with violence exposure.

  13. Rotating flow

    CERN Document Server

    Childs, Peter R N

    2010-01-01

    Rotating flow is critically important across a wide range of scientific, engineering and product applications, providing design and modeling capability for diverse products such as jet engines, pumps and vacuum cleaners, as well as geophysical flows. Developed over the course of 20 years' research into rotating fluids and associated heat transfer at the University of Sussex Thermo-Fluid Mechanics Research Centre (TFMRC), Rotating Flow is an indispensable reference and resource for all those working within the gas turbine and rotating machinery industries. Traditional fluid and flow dynamics titles offer the essential background but generally include very sparse coverage of rotating flows-which is where this book comes in. Beginning with an accessible introduction to rotating flow, recognized expert Peter Childs takes you through fundamental equations, vorticity and vortices, rotating disc flow, flow around rotating cylinders and flow in rotating cavities, with an introduction to atmospheric and oceanic circul...

  14. Rotational seismology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, William H K.

    2016-01-01

    Rotational seismology is an emerging study of all aspects of rotational motions induced by earthquakes, explosions, and ambient vibrations. It is of interest to several disciplines, including seismology, earthquake engineering, geodesy, and earth-based detection of Einstein’s gravitation waves.Rotational effects of seismic waves, together with rotations caused by soil–structure interaction, have been observed for centuries (e.g., rotated chimneys, monuments, and tombstones). Figure 1a shows the rotated monument to George Inglis observed after the 1897 Great Shillong earthquake. This monument had the form of an obelisk rising over 19 metres high from a 4 metre base. During the earthquake, the top part broke off and the remnant of some 6 metres rotated about 15° relative to the base. The study of rotational seismology began only recently when sensitive rotational sensors became available due to advances in aeronautical and astronomical instrumentations.

  15. Maternal mental disorders in pregnancy and the puerperium and risks to infant health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pereira, Priscila Krauss; Lima, Lúcia Abelha; Legay, Letícia Fortes; de Cintra Santos, Jacqueline Fernandes; Lovisi, Giovanni Marcos

    2012-12-08

    Prenatal and postnatal period presents the highest prevalence of mental disorders in women's lives and depression is the most frequent one, affecting approximately one in every five mothers. The aggravating factor here is that during this period psychiatric symptoms affect not only women's health and well-being but may also interfere in the infant's intra and extra-uterine development. Although the causes of the relationship between maternal mental disorders and possible risks to a child's health and development remain unknown, it is suspected that these risks may be related to the use of psychotropic drugs during pregnancy, to substance abuse and the mother's lifestyle. Moreover, after delivery, maternal mental disorders may also impair the ties of affection (bonding) with the newborn and the maternal capacity of caring in the post-partum period thus increasing the risk for infant infection and malnutrition, impaired child growth that is expressed in low weight and height for age, and even behavioral problems and vulnerability to presenting mental disorders in adulthood. Generally speaking, research on this theme can be divided into the type of mental disorder analyzed: studies that research minor mental disorders during pregnancy such as depression and anxiety find an association between these maternal disorders and obstetric complications such as prematurity and low birth weight, whereas studies that evaluate severe maternal mental disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have found not only an association with general obstetric complications as well as with congenital malformations and perinatal mortality. Therefore, the success of infant growth care programs also depends on the mother's mental well being. Such findings have led to the need for new public policies in the field of maternal-infant care geared toward the population of mothers. However, more research is necessary so as to confirm the association between all factors with greater

  16. Adolescent ADHD and adult physical and mental health, work performance, and financial stress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brook, Judith S; Brook, David W; Zhang, Chenshu; Seltzer, Nathan; Finch, Stephen J

    2013-01-01

    There is a scarcity of longitudinal studies of adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) followed until adulthood. We studied the relationship between ADHD in adolescence and impaired general physical health, impaired general mental health, antisocial personality disorder, impaired work performance, and high financial stress in adulthood. A prospective design incorporated 6 assessments of participants spanning mean ages from 14 to 37 years. Two baseline assessments were taken between ages 14 and 16 years, and 5 outcome assessments were taken at mean age 37 years. Participants were assessed with structured interviews and questionnaires. The participants were from a community sample of individuals initially drawn in 1975 and followed to a mean age of 37 years in 2009. The adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for ADHD in adolescence as related to internal stress in adulthood were 1.82 (95% CI = 1.01-3.25; P health, 2.36 (95% CI = 1.23-4.51; P mental health, and 3.28 (95% CI = 1.51-7.13; P stress were 2.46 (95% CI = 1.37-4.43; P work performance and 3.33 (95% CI = 1.70-6.55; P stress. Clinicians should focus on early diagnosis and treatment of adolescent ADHD because it is a major predictor of an array of physical, mental, work, and financial problems in adulthood.

  17. Serum Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 and Cognitive Impairment After Acute Ischemic Stroke.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhong, Chongke; Bu, Xiaoqing; Xu, Tan; Guo, Libing; Wang, Xuemei; Zhang, Jintao; Cui, Yong; Li, Dong; Zhang, Jianhui; Ju, Zhong; Chen, Chung-Shiuan; Chen, Jing; Zhang, Yonghong; He, Jiang

    2018-01-06

    The impact of serum matrix metalloproteinases-9 (MMP-9) on cognitive impairment after ischemic stroke is unclear. We aimed to investigate the association between serum MMP-9 in the short-term acute phase of ischemic stroke and cognitive impairment at 3 months. Our study was based on a subsample from the CATIS (China Antihypertensive Trial in Acute Ischemic Stroke); a total of 558 patients with serum MMP-9 levels from 7 of 26 participating sites of the trial were included in this analysis. Cognitive impairment severity was categorized as severe, mild, or none (Mini-Mental State Examination score, impairment was defined as a score of impairment and 153 (27.4%) had severe cognitive impairment at 3 months. After adjustment for age, National Institutes of Health stroke score, education, and other covariates, the odds ratio for the highest quartile of serum MMP-9 compared with the lowest quartile was 3.20 (95% confidence interval, 1.87-5.49) for cognitive impairment. Multiple-adjusted spline regression model showed a linear association between MMP-9 levels and cognitive impairment ( P impairment was defined by Montreal Cognitive Assessment score. Increased serum MMP-9 levels in the short-term phase of ischemic stroke were associated with 3-month cognitive impairment, independently of established risk factors. © 2018 The Authors. Published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wiley.

  18. Interrelationship between Mini-Mental State Examination scores and biochemical parameters in patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vasantharekha, Ramasamy; Priyanka, Hannah P; Swarnalingam, Thangavel; Srinivasan, Avathvadi Venkatesan; ThyagaRajan, Srinivasan

    2017-10-01

    The aim of the present study was to provide first-hand information about the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) in Tamil Nadu, a southern state in India, and examine if there exists a relationship between cognitive functions and biochemical parameters in these patients. Surveys were collected from adults, older men and women (n = 3126) from different regions of Tamil Nadu, which were followed up after 12 months for 1337 participants. Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores, lipid profile, and liver function tests were carried out in the elderly, MCI and AD patients. Based on the MMSE scores, the elderly population was classified into old control (28.97 ± 1.49; n = 1868), MCI (19.58 ± 1.17; n = 734) and AD (7.18 ± 1.38; n = 304) groups. Peripheral blood samples were collected after overnight fast from both male and female volunteers (n = 40 per group) who were categorized as young adult control, old control, MCI and AD. AD patients showed lower MMSE scores compared with the young adults, old and MCI groups, and MMSE further decreased at follow-up examination a year later. In the serum of AD patients, high-density lipoprotein, alkaline phosphatase activity and bilirubin levels were lower, whereas low-density lipoprotein, total cholesterol and triglycerides levels were higher. MMSE was positively correlated with high-density lipoprotein, and negatively correlated with other lipid parameters in AD. Hypercholesterolemia is a risk factor for AD that might result in neurotoxicity and cognitive impairment. Dysfunction of lipoprotein and heme metabolism might also provide additional targets for AD diagnosis. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 1737-1745. © 2016 Japan Geriatrics Society.

  19. Glucose metabolism during rotational shift-work in healthcare workers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Anu; Laurenti, Marcello C; Dalla Man, Chiara; Varghese, Ron T; Cobelli, Claudio; Rizza, Robert A; Matveyenko, Aleksey; Vella, Adrian

    2017-08-01

    Shift-work is associated with circadian rhythm disruption and an increased risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. We sought to determine the effect of rotational shift-work on glucose metabolism in humans. We studied 12 otherwise healthy nurses performing rotational shift-work using a randomised crossover study design. On each occasion, participants underwent an isotope-labelled mixed meal test during a simulated day shift and a simulated night shift, enabling simultaneous measurement of glucose flux and beta cell function using the oral minimal model. We sought to determine differences in fasting and postprandial glucose metabolism during the day shift vs the night shift. Postprandial glycaemic excursion was higher during the night shift (381±33 vs 580±48 mmol/l per 5 h, pshift. While insulin action did not differ between study days, the beta cell responsivity to glucose (59±5 vs 44±4 × 10 -9  min -1 ; pshift. Impaired beta cell function during the night shift may result from normal circadian variation, the effect of rotational shift-work or a combination of both. As a consequence, higher postprandial glucose concentrations are observed during the night shift.

  20. Predictors of cognitive impairment assessed by Mini Mental State Examination in community-dwelling older adults: relevance of the step test.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muscari, Antonio; Spiller, Ilaria; Bianchi, Giampaolo; Fabbri, Elisa; Forti, Paola; Magalotti, Donatella; Pandolfi, Paolo; Zoli, Marco

    2018-07-15

    Several predictors of cognitive impairment assessed by Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) have previously been identified. However, which predictors are the most relevant and what is their effect on MMSE categories remains unclear. Cross-sectional and longitudinal study using data from 1116 older adults (72.6 ± 5.6 years, 579 female), 350 of whom were followed for 7 years. At baseline, the following variables were collected: personal data, marital status, occupation, anthropometric measures, risk factors, previous cardiovascular events, self-rated health and physical activity during the last week. Furthermore, routine laboratory tests, abdominal echography and a step test (with measurement of the time needed to ascend and descend two steps 20 times) were performed. The associations of these variables with cross-sectional cognitive deficit (MMSE cognitive decline (decrease of MMSE score over 7 years of follow-up) were investigated using logistic regression models. Cross-sectional cognitive deficit was independently associated with school education ≤ 5 years, prolonged step test duration, having been blue collar or housewife (P ≤ 0.0001 for all) and, with lower significance, with advanced age, previous stroke and poor recent physical activity (P cognitive decline was mainly associated with step test duration (P = 0.0001) and diastolic blood pressure (P = 0.0002). The MMSE categories mostly associated with step test duration were orientation, attention, calculation and language, while memory appeared to be poorly or not affected. In our cohort of older adults, step test duration was the most relevant predictor of cognitive impairment. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Use of days of the week in a modified mini-mental state exam (M-MMSE) for detecting geriatric cognitive impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamrick, Irene; Hafiz, Razia; Cummings, Doyle M

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to compare a modified version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) with the standard MMSE and the Mini-Cog in patients ≥65 years old, stratified by education and literacy level. This cross-sectional exploratory study enrolled a convenience sample of 219 patients with a complaint of memory loss or a diagnosis of dementia from a geriatric outpatient clinic, nursing home, senior center, and university hospital. The MMSE was administered, and in addition to spelling and serial 7s backward, patients were asked to recite the days of the week backward with the intent to reduce educational bias. Scores on the modified MMSE were compared with scores of the MMSE and the Mini-Cog. Of the 219 patients, 157 were identified with cognitive impairment by the Mini-Cog. Using a cutoff of ≤23, the MMSE identified 118 patients and the modified MMSE identified 91 patients with cognitive impairment, and with a cutoff of ≤27 the MMSE identified 168 and the modified MMSE 149 patients. All cognitively intact subjects correctly recited the days of the week backward. Specificity of the modified MMSE was higher than the MMSE for most groups. The highest sensitivity and specificity (94% and 88%, respectively) as well as positive and negative predictive values (96% and 81%, respectively) were in patients with low levels of education for the modified MMSE using a cut off of ≤27. Using the days of the week in the MMSE among illiterate and semiliterate participants and with education less than high school, and using a cutoff of 27 of 30, correlates better with Mini-Cog for dementia screening, with fewer false positives.

  2. The change of music preferences following the onset of a mental disorder

    OpenAIRE

    Stefan Gebhardt; Richard von Georgi

    2015-01-01

    A psychiatric population (n=123) was examined on how music preferences had changed after the onset of a mental disorder. Most patients did not change their previous music preference; this group of patients considered music helpful for their mental state, showed more attractivity and enforcement as personality traits and used music more for emotion modulation. Patients who experienced a preference shift reported that music had impaired them during the time of illness; these patients showed les...

  3. Intrauterine radiation exposures and mental retardation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miller, R.W.

    1988-01-01

    Small head size and mental retardation have been known as effects of intrauterine exposure to ionizing radiation since the 1920s. In the 1950s, studies of Japanese atomic-bomb survivors revealed that at 4-17 wk of gestation, the greater the dose, the smaller the brain (and head size), and that beginning at 0.5 Gy (50 rad) in Hiroshima, mental retardation increased in frequency with increasing dose. No other excess of birth defects was observed. Otake and Schull (1984) pointed out that the period of susceptibility to mental retardation coincided with that for proliferation and migration of neuronal elements from near the cerebral ventricles to the cortex. Mental retardation could be the result of interference with this process. Their analysis indicated that exposures at 8-15 wk to 0.01-0.02 Gy (1-2 rad) doubled the frequency of severe mental retardation. This estimate was based on small numbers of mentally retarded atomic-bomb survivors. Although nuclear accidents have occurred recently, new cases will hopefully be too rare to provide further information about the risk of mental retardation. It may be possible, however, to learn about lesser impairment. New psychometric tests may be helpful in detecting subtle deficits in intelligence or neurodevelopmental function. One such test is PEERAMID, which is being used in schools to identify learning disabilities due, for example, to deficits in attention, short- or long-term memory, or in sequencing information. This and other tests could be applied in evaluating survivors of intrauterine exposure to various doses of ionizing radiation. The results could change our understanding of the safety of low-dose exposures

  4. The economic impact of subthreshold and clinical childhood mental disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fatori, Daniel; Salum, Giovanni; Itria, Alexander; Pan, Pedro; Alvarenga, Pedro; Rohde, Luis Augusto; Bressan, Rodrigo; Gadelha, Ary; de Jesus Mari, Jair; Conceição do Rosário, Maria; Manfro, Gisele; Polanczyk, Guilherme; Miguel, Euripedes Constantino; Graeff-Martins, Ana Soledade

    2018-04-28

    Mental disorders are common health problems associated with serious impairment and economic impact. To estimate the costs of clinical and subthreshold mental disorders in a sample of Brazilian children. The High Risk Cohort Study is a community study conducted in two major Brazilian cities. Subjects were 6-14 years old children being registered at school. From an initial pool of 9937 children, two subgroups were further investigated using a random-selection (n = 958) and high-risk group selection procedure (n = 1554), resulting in a sample of 2512 subjects. Mental disorder assessment was made using the Development and Well-Being Assessment. Costs for each child were estimated from the following components: mental health and social services use, school problems and parental loss of productivity. Child subthreshold and clinical mental disorders showed lifetime mean total cost of $1750.9 and $3141.2, respectively. National lifetime cost estimate was $9.9 billion for subthreshold mental disorders and $11.6 billion for clinical mental disorders (values in US$ purchasing power parity). This study provides evidence that child mental disorders have a great economic impact on society. There is an urgent need to plan an effective system of care with cost-effective programs of treatment and prevention to reduce economic burden.

  5. Planning-related motor processes underlie mental practice and imitation learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bach, Patric; Allami, Bassem Khalaf; Tucker, Mike; Ellis, Rob

    2014-06-01

    It is still controversial whether mental practice-the internal rehearsal of movements to improve later performance-relies on processes engaged during physical motor performance and, if so, which processes these are. We report data from 5 experiments, in which participants mentally practiced complex rhythms with either feet or hands while using the same or different body parts to respond to unrelated sounds. We found that responses were impaired for those body parts that were concurrently used in mental practice, suggesting a binding of body-part-specific motor processes to action plans. This result was found when participants mentally trained to memorize the rhythms, to merely improve their performance, when mental practice and execution directly followed one another and when separated by a different task. Finally, it was found irrespective of whether participants practiced on the basis of a symbolic rhythm description and when they practiced by watching somebody perform the rhythms (imitation learning). The effect was eliminated only when the requirement for mental practice was eliminated from the task while keeping visual stimulation identical. These data link mental practice not to execution but planning related motor processes and reveal that these planning processes underlie both mental practice and imitation learning. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

  6. Changes in higher mental functions in persons with late sequels of exposure to small ionizing radiation doses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Turuspekova, S.

    2002-01-01

    This is a report on the results of studies on the state of higher mental function in individuals with a previous history of exposure to small doses ionizing radiations. The disorders observed are assigned under several groups as follows: dyspraxia, gnostic, visual-spatial agnosia, mnestic, mental processes impairment, neurodynamic. Mnestic and acoustic-gnostical disturbances, and those of the mental processes are rather markedly expressed. Mnestic derangements play a major role in the general pattern of cognitive disorders, being characterized by both modal-specific, and modal-nonspecific features. The topical principle of the classification proposed enables to distinguish the syndrome of middle nonspecific brain structures involvement and the cortical syndromes among the higher mental function disorders, invariably encountered in combination and not isolated. The aforementioned points to the diffuse nature of the neuropsychological disorders, with involvement in the process of both nonspecific and specific structures, characterized by predomination of the frontal and temporal brain cortex sections. Impairment of the higher mental functions in young persons of active age with a past history of exposure to small doses ionizing radiations, necessitate to work out effective measures precluding occurrence and intensification of the cognitive defect. (author)

  7. Frequency of Depressive Syndromes in Elderly Individuals with No Cognitive Impairment, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Alzheimer's Disease Dementia in a Memory Clinic Setting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jun Ho; Byun, Min Soo; Yi, Dahyun; Choe, Young Min; Choi, Hyo Jung; Baek, Hyewon; Sohn, Bo Kyung; Kim, Hyun Jung; Lee, Younghwa; Woo, Jong Inn; Lee, Dong Young

    2016-01-01

    The aims of this study were to investigate the frequency of various depressive syndromes in elderly individuals with no cognitive impairment (NC), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer's disease dementia (AD) in a memory clinic setting, and then to test whether severe and milder forms of depressive syndromes are differentially associated with the cognitive groups. For 216 NC, 478 MCI, and 316 AD subjects, we investigated the frequency of depressive syndromes, defined by three different categories: major and minor depressive disorder (MaDD and MiDD) according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, as well as depression according to the National Institute of Mental Health provisional diagnostic criteria for depression in Alzheimer's disease (NIMH-dAD). The frequency of MaDD did not show any significant difference among NC, MCI, and AD. In contrast, the frequencies of MiDD and NIMH-dAD were higher than those of MaDD and showed significant group differences with a gradual increase from NC to AD. The findings suggest that the degenerative process of Alzheimer's disease contributes to the occurrence of mild depressive conditions, but not to severe depression. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  8. The amusic brain: lost in music, but not in space.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barbara Tillmann

    Full Text Available Congenital amusia is a neurogenetic disorder of music processing that is currently ascribed to a deficit in pitch processing. A recent study challenges this view and claims the disorder might arise as a consequence of a general spatial-processing deficit. Here, we assessed spatial processing abilities in two independent samples of individuals with congenital amusia by using line bisection tasks (Experiment 1 and a mental rotation task (Experiment 2. Both amusics and controls showed the classical spatial effects on bisection performance and on mental rotation performance, and amusics and controls did not differ from each other. These results indicate that the neurocognitive impairment of congenital amusia does not affect the processing of space.

  9. Children of mentally ill parents—a pilot study of a group intervention program

    OpenAIRE

    Christiansen, Hanna; Anding, Jana; Schrott, Bastian; Röhrle, Bernd

    2015-01-01

    Objective: The transgenerational transmission of mental disorders is one of the most prominent risk factors for the development of psychological disorders. Children of mentally ill parents are a vulnerable high risk group with overall impaired development and high rates of psychological disorders. To date there are only a few evidence based intervention programs for this group overall and hardly any in Germany. We translated the evidence based Family Talk Intervention by Beardslee (2009) and ...

  10. Physical activity and depression in older adults with and without cognitive impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuenyongchaiwat, Kornanong; Pongpanit, Khajonsak; Hanmanop, Somrudee

    2018-01-01

    Low physical activity and depression may be related to cognitive impairment in the elderly. To determine depression and physical activity (PA) among older adults with and without cognitive impairment. 156 older adults, both males and females, aged ≥60 years, were asked to complete the Thai Mini-Mental State Examination (Thai-MMSE), a global cognitive impairment screening tool. Seventy-eight older adults with cognitive impairment and 78 older adults without cognitive impairment were then separately administered two questionnaires (i.e., the Thai Geriatric Depression Scale; TGDS and Global Physical Activity Questionnaire; GPAQ). Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the risk of developing cognitive impairment in the groups of older individuals with and without cognitive impairment. A cross-sectional study of elderly with a mean age of 74.47 ± 8.14 years was conducted. There were significant differences on the depression scale and in PA between older adults with and without cognitive impairment. Further, participants with low PA and high level of depressive symptoms had an increased risk of cognitive impairment (Odds ratio = 4.808 and 3.298, respectively). Significant differences were noted in PA and on depression scales between older adults with and without cognitive impairment. Therefore, increased PA and decreased depressive symptoms (i.e., having psychological support) are suggested to reduce the risks of cognitive impairment in older adults.

  11. Global rotation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rosquist, K.

    1980-01-01

    Global rotation in cosmological models is defined on an observational basis. A theorem is proved saying that, for rigid motion, the global rotation is equal to the ordinary local vorticity. The global rotation is calculated in the space-time homogeneous class III models, with Godel's model as a special case. It is shown that, with the exception of Godel's model, the rotation in these models becomes infinite for finite affine parameter values. In some directions the rotation changes sign and becomes infinite in a direction opposite to the local vorticity. The points of infinite rotation are identified as conjugate points along the null geodesics. The physical interpretation of the infinite rotation is discussed, and a comparison with the behaviour of the area distance at conjugate points is given. (author)

  12. Mentalization in adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: Comparison with controls and patients with borderline personality disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perroud, Nader; Badoud, Deborah; Weibel, Sébastien; Nicastro, Rosetta; Hasler, Roland; Küng, Anne-Lise; Luyten, Patrick; Fonagy, Peter; Dayer, Alexandre; Aubry, Jean-Michel; Prada, Paco; Debbané, Martin

    2017-10-01

    Emotion dysregulation and interpersonal hardships constitute core features of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Research has established the link between these core dysregulations and fluctuations in the capacity to appreciate the mental states that underlie behavior (mentalizing, operationalized as reflective functioning (RF)). As emotion dysregulation and interpersonal hardships also characterize adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), this study sought to examine the potential RF impairments affecting this population. 101 adults with ADHD, 108 with BPD and 236 controls were assessed using the RF questionnaire (RFQ), evaluating how individuals employ information about mental states to better understand their own and others' behaviors. The RFQ comprises two dimensions, certainty (RF_c) and uncertainty (RF_u) about mental states. RF scores helped distinguish ADHD from controls, but also from BPD (F = 48.1 (2/441) ; p attentional and hyperactive/impulsive symptoms) was correlated with RF impairments. In conclusion, RF may constitute an important process underlying attentional, hyperactive/impulsive as well as emotional symptoms in ADHD; it should therefore be considered in the assessment of these patients. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Mental transformations of spatial stimuli in humans and in monkeys: Rotation vs. translocation

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Nekovářová, Tereza; Nedvídek, J.; Klement, Daniel; Rokyta, R.; Bureš, Jan

    2013-01-01

    Roč. 240, Mar 1 (2013), s. 182-191 ISSN 0166-4328 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GAP304/12/0259; GA ČR(CZ) GAP303/12/1464; GA MZd(CZ) NT13386 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z50110509 Institutional support: RVO:67985823 Keywords : rhesus monkey * cognition * spatial task * rotation Subject RIV: FH - Neurology Impact factor: 3.391, year: 2013

  14. Prevalence of mental health problems in children and adolescents from the outskirts of Sao Paulo City: treatment needs and service capacity evaluation Prevalência de problemas de saúde mental em crianças e adolescentes da região metropolitana de São Paulo: necessidade de tratamento e capacidade de atendimento

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristiane S Paula

    2007-03-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of mental health problems in children and adolescents, with or without considering global impairment, within a low-income urban community; to estimate the public service delivery capacity in terms of mental healthcare; and to determine the relationship between delivery capacity and treatment demand. METHOD: Cross-sectional study. Probabilistic sample of clusters including all eligible households (low-income community - Embu, Southeastern Brazil. Participants: 479 children and adolescents (aged 6-17 years; attrition rate: 18.8%. Measurement: 1 Clinical mental health problems in children and adolescents using the Child Behavior Checklist and/or Youth Self-Report total problem scales; 2 Global impairment: positive score in the Brief Impairment Scale (total score > 15.5; 3 Care service capacity: total number of cases annually seen by psychologists/psychiatrists in the health, education, juvenile justice, and child welfare sectors. RESULTS: Prevalence of mental health problems in children and adolescents: 24.6% (20.7-28.5 without considering global impairment; 7.3% (5.0-9.6 with global impairment (cases in need of treatment. Current annual service capacity can only provide care for 14.0% of impaired cases; approximately seven years would be necessary for all to be treated. CONCLUSIONS: Mental health problems in children and adolescents are frequent in the studied community, and the current structure of the community's public service system is not prepared to treat impaired cases in an adequate timeframe.OBJETIVO: Estimar a prevalência de problemas de saúde mental em crianças e adolescentes, com e sem prejuízo funcional global, em comunidade urbana de baixa renda; estimar a capacidade de assistência da rede pública de serviços do município; e relacionar a capacidade de assistência à necessidade de tratamento em saúde mental da infância/adolescência. MÉTODO: Estudo transversal. Amostra probabil

  15. Prevalence of DSM-IV disorders in a population-based sample of 5- to 8-year-old children : the impact of impairment criteria

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rijlaarsdam, Jolien; Stevens, Gonneke W J M; van der Ende, Jan; Hofman, Albert; Jaddoe, Vincent W V; Verhulst, Frank C.; Tiemeier, Henning

    2015-01-01

    This study determined the impact of impairment criteria on the prevalence and patterns of comorbidity of child DSM-IV disorders. The validity of these impairment criteria was tested against different measures of mental health care referral and utilization. We interviewed parents of 1,154 children

  16. Prevalence of DSM-IV disorders in a population-based sample of 5- to 8-year-old children: the impact of impairment criteria

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    J. Rijlaarsdam (Jolien); G. Stevens (Gonneke); J. van der Ende (Jan); A. Hofman (Albert); V.W.V. Jaddoe (Vincent); F.C. Verhulst (Frank); H.W. Tiemeier (Henning)

    2015-01-01

    textabstractThis study determined the impact of impairment criteria on the prevalence and patterns of comorbidity of child DSM-IV disorders. The validity of these impairment criteria was tested against different measures of mental health care referral and utilization. We interviewed parents of 1,154

  17. [The importance of sleep in the mental health].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hashizume, Yuji

    2014-02-01

    Japanese average sleeping time is decreasing year by year. The National Sleep Foundation of United States of America released that Japan reports the least amount of sleep. Japanese reports sleeping about 30 to 40 minutes less on workdays than those in the other countries surveyed, averaging 6 hours 22 minutes of sleep. There are many reports that insomnia has been suggested to cause depression and other mental disorders. And epidemiological evidence supports a link between sleep loss and obesity. Obesity is one of risk factors of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome which causes cognitive dysfunction, mood disorders and so on. Sleep loss and sleep insufficiency can cause mental disorders and be impaired cognitive function and performance.

  18. THE CLINICAL AND PATHOGENETIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BEHCET'S DISEASE AND MENTAL DISORDERS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daria Anatolyevna Ishchenko

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper analyzes the results of an investigation into the relationship between Behcet's disease (BB and mental disorders. It establishes the importance of an emotional stress factor for developing the clinical symptoms and disease. In its turn, the systemic immune inflammatory disease and its complications become a source of mental disorders. The literature describes different variants of BB, but anxiety-depressive spectrum disorders and moderate cognitive impairments are most common. The presence of depression contributes significantly to lower quality of life in patients with BB.

  19. A mental health needs assessment of children and adolescents in post-conflict Liberia: results from a quantitative key-informant survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borba, Christina P.C.; Ng, Lauren C.; Stevenson, Anne; Vesga-Lopez, Oriana; Harris, Benjamin L.; Parnarouskis, Lindsey; Gray, Deborah A.; Carney, Julia R.; Domínguez, Silvia; Wang, Edward K.S.; Boxill, Ryan; Song, Suzan J.; Henderson, David C.

    2016-01-01

    Between 1989 and 2004, Liberia experienced a devastating civil war that resulted in widespread trauma with almost no mental health infrastructure to help citizens cope. In 2009, the Liberian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare collaborated with researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital to conduct a rapid needs assessment survey in Liberia with local key informants (n = 171) to examine the impact of war and post-war events on emotional and behavioral problems of, functional limitations of, and appropriate treatment settings for Liberian youth aged 5–22. War exposure and post-conflict sexual violence, poverty, infectious disease and parental death negatively impacted youth mental health. Key informants perceived that youth displayed internalizing and externalizing symptoms and mental health-related functional impairment at home, school, work and in relationships. Medical clinics were identified as the most appropriate setting for mental health services. Youth in Liberia continue to endure the harsh social, economic and material conditions of everyday life in a protracted post-conflict state, and have significant mental health needs. Their observed functional impairment due to mental health issues further limited their access to protective factors such as education, employment and positive social relationships. Results from this study informed Liberia's first post-conflict mental health policy. PMID:26807147

  20. Prevalence, predictors and covariates of functional status impairment among Finnish Second World War veterans during 1992-2004.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leskinen, Riitta; Laatikainen, Tiina; Peltonen, Markku; Levälahti, Esko; Antikainen, Riitta

    2013-07-01

    the functional status is one of the most important health measurements in the elderly. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of self-reported physical and mental conditions among Finnish Second World War veterans during 1992-2004. We also aimed to study the ability of these conditions in 1992 to predict the functional status impairment in 2004 and to determine whether the worsening of symptoms or the onset of new diseases during 1992-2004 was associated with impaired basic activities of daily living (BADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) in 2004. the study population was 4,999 veterans living in Finland participating in both the Veteran Project 1992 and 2004. Logistic regression models were employed to identify predictors for impaired BADL and IADL. Analyses were conducted separately for men with and without disability and for women. the highest risk estimate for impaired BADL in 2004 was in men without disability who had a neurological disease in 1992 [odds ratios (OR): 5.78, 95% CI: 2.49-13.43], in men with disability with walking difficulties in 1992 (OR: 2.41, 95% CI: 1.79-3.25) and in women with a musculoskeletal disease in 1992 (OR: 2.39, 95% CI: 1.58-3.62). For impaired IADL, walking difficulties had the highest risk estimate in all veteran groups. mental and physical conditions, especially walking difficulties, can predict veterans' future functional impairment even 12 years in advance, and worsening of these conditions is associated with impaired ADL.

  1. Barriers to and facilitators of the acceptance process for individuals with serious mental illness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mizock, Lauren; Russinova, Zlatka; Millner, Uma Chandrika

    2014-09-01

    The process of acceptance of mental illness is a central component of recovery and has been linked to functioning, illness management, and quality of life. A number of barriers and facilitators have been theorized as impacting this process. This study was conducted with 30 participants with serious mental illness (a major psychiatric disorder with impairment in multiple areas of functioning) to elicit the barriers to and facilitators of the acceptance of mental illness. Grounded theory methodology was utilized to analyze the 30 semistructured interviews. Results revealed barriers to and facilitators of acceptance of mental illness at the micro level (cognitive, emotional, behavioral, identity-related), meso level (relational), and macro level (cultural, systemic). Clinical and research implications are discussed with regard to facilitating acceptance of mental illness. © The Author(s) 2014.

  2. Differential Patterns of Dysconnectivity in Mirror Neuron and Mentalizing Networks in Schizophrenia

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schilbach, Leonhard; Derntl, Birgit; Aleman, Andre; Caspers, Svenja; Clos, Mareike; Diederen, Kelly M J; Gruber, Oliver; Kogler, Lydia; Liemburg, Edith J; Sommer, Iris E; Müller, Veronika I; Cieslik, Edna C; Eickhoff, Simon B

    Impairments of social cognition are well documented in patients with schizophrenia (SCZ), but the neural basis remains poorly understood. In light of evidence that suggests that the "mirror neuron system" (MNS) and the "mentalizing network" (MENT) are key substrates of intersubjectivity and joint

  3. Violence Exposure and the Development of School-Related Functioning: Mental Health, Neurocognition, and Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perkins, Suzanne; Graham-Bermann, Sandra

    2012-01-01

    The relation between history of violence exposure and the development of academic and mental health problems is explored. Violence exposed children have an increased risk of developing school-related problems including: mental health problems, learning disabilities, language impairments, and other neurocognitive problems. These problems interact to create a complex web of deficits and disabilities where intervention access points are difficult to assess. Often mental health problems and academic problems develop in parallel. Timing of violence exposure and the developmental stage of the child during exposure complicate our understanding of the underlying mechanism. A model is presented that explores pathways linking violence exposure to aspects of school-related functioning, both academically and behaviorally. Early life stress, in the form of violence exposure, is related to neurocognitive deficits, including executive functioning and problems in self-regulation. Deficits in self-regulation at the level of behavior, and cognitive control and executive functioning, at the level of brain processing, are related to both academic and mental health problems, suggesting a possible psychological mechanism. Biological mechanisms are also included in the model to illustrate the contribution of the stress response, neuroendocrine system response, and neuroanatomical structural and functional impairments associated with violence exposure. PMID:22837647

  4. Family characteristics oF NigeriaN womeN with severe meNtal illNess

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2011-06-06

    Jun 6, 2011 ... East African Medical Journal Vol. 88 No. 6 June ... mental illnesses like schizophrenia impair ability or potential to ... from relatives, in which case institutional caregivers ... overload; physical and emotional burnouts may make.

  5. Cognitive Impairment and Pain Among Nursing Home Residents With Cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dubé, Catherine E; Mack, Deborah S; Hunnicutt, Jacob N; Lapane, Kate L

    2018-06-01

    The prevalence of pain and its management has been shown to be inversely associated with greater levels of cognitive impairment. To evaluate whether the documentation and management of pain varies by level of cognitive impairment among nursing home residents with cancer. Using a cross-sectional study, we identified all newly admitted U.S. nursing home residents with a cancer diagnosis in 2011-2012 (n = 367,462). Minimum Data Set 3.0 admission assessment was used to evaluate pain/pain management in the past five days and cognitive impairment (assessed via the Brief Interview for Mental Status or the Cognitive Performance Scale for 91.6% and 8.4%, respectively). Adjusted prevalence ratios with 95% CI were estimated from robust Poisson regression models. For those with staff-assessed pain, pain prevalence was 55.5% with no/mild cognitive impairment and 50.5% in those severely impaired. Pain was common in those able to self-report (67.9% no/mild, 55.9% moderate, and 41.8% severe cognitive impairment). Greater cognitive impairment was associated with reduced prevalence of any pain (adjusted prevalence ratio severe vs. no/mild cognitive impairment; self-assessed pain 0.77; 95% CI 0.76-0.78; staff-assessed pain 0.96; 95% CI 0.93-0.99). Pharmacologic pain management was less prevalent in those with severe cognitive impairment (59.4% vs. 74.9% in those with no/mild cognitive impairment). In nursing home residents with cancer, pain was less frequently documented in those with severe cognitive impairment, which may lead to less frequent use of treatments for pain. Techniques to improve documentation and treatment of pain in nursing home residents with cognitive impairment are needed. Copyright © 2018 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Attachment, Neurobiology, and Mentalizing along the Psychosis Continuum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Debbané, Martin; Salaminios, George; Luyten, Patrick; Badoud, Deborah; Armando, Marco; Solida Tozzi, Alessandra; Fonagy, Peter; Brent, Benjamin K

    2016-01-01

    In this review article, we outline the evidence linking attachment adversity to psychosis, from the premorbid stages of the disorder to its clinical forms. To better understand the neurobiological mechanisms through which insecure attachment may contribute to psychosis, we identify at least five neurobiological pathways linking attachment to risk for developing psychosis. Besides its well documented influence on the hypothalamic-pituary-adrenal (HPA) axis, insecure attachment may also contribute to neurodevelopmental risk through the dopaminergic and oxytonergic systems, as well as bear influence on neuroinflammation and oxidative stress responses. We further consider the neuroscientific and behavioral studies that underpin mentalization as a suite of processes potentially moderating the risk to transition to psychotic disorders. In particular, mentalization may help the individual compensate for endophenotypical impairments in the integration of sensory and metacognitive information. We propose a model where embodied mentalization would lie at the core of a protective, resilience response mitigating the adverse and potentially pathological influence of the neurodevelopmental cascade of risk for psychosis.

  7. Attachment, Neurobiology, and Mentalizing along the Psychosis Continuum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Debbané, Martin; Salaminios, George; Luyten, Patrick; Badoud, Deborah; Armando, Marco; Solida Tozzi, Alessandra; Fonagy, Peter; Brent, Benjamin K.

    2016-01-01

    In this review article, we outline the evidence linking attachment adversity to psychosis, from the premorbid stages of the disorder to its clinical forms. To better understand the neurobiological mechanisms through which insecure attachment may contribute to psychosis, we identify at least five neurobiological pathways linking attachment to risk for developing psychosis. Besides its well documented influence on the hypothalamic-pituary-adrenal (HPA) axis, insecure attachment may also contribute to neurodevelopmental risk through the dopaminergic and oxytonergic systems, as well as bear influence on neuroinflammation and oxidative stress responses. We further consider the neuroscientific and behavioral studies that underpin mentalization as a suite of processes potentially moderating the risk to transition to psychotic disorders. In particular, mentalization may help the individual compensate for endophenotypical impairments in the integration of sensory and metacognitive information. We propose a model where embodied mentalization would lie at the core of a protective, resilience response mitigating the adverse and potentially pathological influence of the neurodevelopmental cascade of risk for psychosis. PMID:27597820

  8. Ethical Aspects of Evaluating a Patient's Mental Capacity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howe, Edmund

    2009-07-01

    When a patient's mental capacity to make decisions is open to question, the physician often calls in a psychiatrist to help make the determination. The psychiatrist's conclusions may be taken to a court to determine the patient's legal competency. In this article, the author presents several clinical criteria psychiatrists may use when determining patients' mental capacities. The author discusses two critical ethical questions psychiatrists should consider when they use this criteria: (1) whether they should use a fixed or sliding standard and (2) if they adopt a sliding standard, what clinical factors should be given the greatest weight. The author also discusses whether psychiatrists should take initiative to obtain a second opinion from another psychiatrist or mental health professional. Finally, the author discusses research regarding patients who are likely to have more impaired capacity for performing executive functions, patients requesting surgical procedures that are ethically without precedent, and patients possibly having inner awareness under conditions that previously were not considered possible.

  9. Mental health of Russian population: new tendencies and old problems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Мihail М. Reshetnikov

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Contemporary situation with mental health is reviewed, and developments in psychiatry, psychotherapy and clinical psychology are monitored. Russian experience is discussed in the context of the world tendencies. In the situation of the unprecedented increase in psychopathology, insufficient attention has been paid to the crisis phenomena in psychiatry and psychology as well as the development of mental health institutions, which are still in need of specialists, and facilitation of health care programs for population. The author writes about the increase in the number of patients who need psychiatric or psychological care, lack of experts in the mental health system, low psychological culture of the population, lack of early diagnosis of predisposition to psychopathology. Multiple hypotheses on the causes of mental disorders are outlined in the paper. Among them, the theory of nervous exhaustion, the hypothesis that mental disorders are associated with impaired brain electrical activity, the theory of the special role of the frontal lobes in the emergence of psychopathology, the hypothesis of an imbalance of hormones, as an etiological factor of mental illness and others, are given account. The paper raises issues of mental disorders classification. The author also discusses the issue of chemical treatment and its isolated and uncontrolled use within mental disorders. However, the review is incomplete and tends to be an invitation for mental health specialists to further discuss the issues mentioned in the paper.

  10. Violent victimization of adult patients with severe mental illness: a systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Latalova, Klara; Kamaradova, Dana; Prasko, Jan

    2014-01-01

    The aims of this paper are to review data on the prevalence and correlates of violent victimization of persons with severe mental illness, to critically evaluate the literature, and to explore possible approaches for future research. PubMed/MEDLINE and PsycINFO databases were searched using several terms related to severe mental illness in successive combinations with terms describing victimization. The searches identified 34 studies. Nine epidemiological studies indicate that patients with severe mental illness are more likely to be violently victimized than other community members. Young age, comorbid substance use, and homelessness are risk factors for victimization. Victimized patients are more likely to engage in violent behavior than other members of the community. Violent victimization of persons with severe mental illness has long-term adverse consequences for the course of their illness, and further impairs the quality of lives of patients and their families. Victimization of persons with severe mental illness is a serious medical and social problem. Prevention and management of victimization should become a part of routine clinical care for patients with severe mental illness.

  11. Selective impairment of masculine gender processing: evidence from a German aphasic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seyboth, Margret; Blanken, Gerhard; Ehmann, Daniela; Schwarz, Falke; Bormann, Tobias

    2011-12-01

    The present single case study describes the performance of the German aphasic E.M. who exhibited a severe impairment of grammatical gender processing in masculine nouns but relatively spared performance regarding feminine and neuter ones. This error pattern was assessed with tests of gender assignment to orally or visually presented words, with oral or written responses, and with tests of gender congruency decision on noun phrases. The pattern occurred across tasks and modalities, thus suggesting a gender-specific impairment at a modality-independent level of processing. It was sensitive to frequency, thus supporting the assumption that access to gender features as part of grammatical processing is frequency sensitive. Besides being the first description of a gender-specific impairment in an aphasic subject, the data therefore have implications regarding the modelling of representation and processing of grammatical gender information within the mental lexicon.

  12. Can walking motions improve visually induced rotational self-motion illusions in virtual reality?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riecke, Bernhard E; Freiberg, Jacob B; Grechkin, Timofey Y

    2015-02-04

    Illusions of self-motion (vection) can provide compelling sensations of moving through virtual environments without the need for complex motion simulators or large tracked physical walking spaces. Here we explore the interaction between biomechanical cues (stepping along a rotating circular treadmill) and visual cues (viewing simulated self-rotation) for providing stationary users a compelling sensation of rotational self-motion (circular vection). When tested individually, biomechanical and visual cues were similarly effective in eliciting self-motion illusions. However, in combination they yielded significantly more intense self-motion illusions. These findings provide the first compelling evidence that walking motions can be used to significantly enhance visually induced rotational self-motion perception in virtual environments (and vice versa) without having to provide for physical self-motion or motion platforms. This is noteworthy, as linear treadmills have been found to actually impair visually induced translational self-motion perception (Ash, Palmisano, Apthorp, & Allison, 2013). Given the predominant focus on linear walking interfaces for virtual-reality locomotion, our findings suggest that investigating circular and curvilinear walking interfaces offers a promising direction for future research and development and can help to enhance self-motion illusions, presence and immersion in virtual-reality systems. © 2015 ARVO.

  13. Mental Status as a Predictor of Daily Function in Progressive Dementia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reed, Bruce R.; And Others

    1989-01-01

    Compared Mini Mental Status Exam (MMSE) scores and activities of daily living (ADL) scores from 59 patients with progressive dementias. MMSE scores explained approximately one-third of variance in both instrumental and physical ADLs. Findings suggest that cognitive losses and functional impairments are 2 distinct aspects of dementia severity which…

  14. Systematic review of women veterans' mental health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Runnals, Jennifer J; Garovoy, Natara; McCutcheon, Susan J; Robbins, Allison T; Mann-Wrobel, Monica C; Elliott, Alyssa

    2014-01-01

    Given recent, rapid growth in the field of women veterans' mental health, the goal of this review was to update the status of women veterans' mental health research and to identify current themes in this literature. The scope of this review included women veterans' unique mental health needs, as well as gender differences in veterans' mental health needs. Database searches were conducted for relevant articles published between January 2008 and July 2011. Searches were supplemented with bibliographic reviews and consultation with subject matter experts. The database search yielded 375 titles; 32 met inclusion/exclusion criteria. The women veterans' mental health literature crosses over several domains, including prevalence, risk factors, health care utilization, treatment preferences, and access barriers. Studies were generally cross-sectional, descriptive, mixed-gender, and examined Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care users from all service eras. Results indicate higher rates of specific disorders (e.g., depression) and comorbidities, with differing risk factors and associated medical and functional impairment for female compared with male veterans. Although satisfaction with VA health care is generally high, unique barriers to care and indices of treatment satisfaction exist for women. There is a breadth of descriptive knowledge in many content areas of women veterans' mental health; however, the research base examining interventional and longitudinal designs is less developed. Understudied content areas and targets for future research and development include certain psychiatric disorders (e.g., schizophrenia), the effects of deployment on woman veterans' families, and strategies to address treatment access, attrition, and provision of gender-sensitive care. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  15. Mini-mental state exam for children (MMC) in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moura, Ricardo; Andrade, Peterson Marco Oliveira; Fontes, Patrícia Lemos Bueno; Ferreira, Fernanda Oliveira; Salvador, Larissa de Souza; Carvalho, Maria Raquel Santos; Haase, Vitor Geraldi

    2017-01-01

    Cognitive impairment is frequent in cerebral palsy (CP) and there is a lack of multiprofessional screening instruments. The aim of this study was to investigate the utility of the Mini-Mental State Examination for Children (MMC), an adapted version of the Mini-Mental State Examination, in screening for cognitive impairments in children with CP. We assessed 397 Brazilian children, 310 with typical development and 87 with CP (hemiplegic and quadriplegic forms), aged 5-16 years. Association between the MMC and general intelligence was assessed by the Colored Progressive Matrices instrument. Psychometric indexes for the MMC were adequate. ROC analyses revealed effective diagnostic accuracy in all ages assessed. Cut-off values are reported. Major difficulties on the MMC were observed in children with CP, particularly individuals with the quadriplegic form. Moreover, the MMC showed moderate correlation with the intelligence test, and was reliable in discriminating, among clinical cases, those with poorer cognitive abilities. The MMC could be useful as a multiprofessional screening instrument for cognitive impairment in children with hemiplegic CP. Results of the MMC in quadriplegic CP children should be interpreted with caution. Diagnosis should be confirmed by further psychological testing.

  16. Memory Functioning and Mental Verbs Acquisition in Children with Specific Language Impairment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spanoudis, George C.; Natsopoulos, Demetrios

    2011-01-01

    Memory and language operate in synergy. Recent literature stresses the importance of memory functioning in interpreting language deficits. Two groups of 50 children each, ages 8-12 were studied. The first group included children with specific language impairment, while the participants in the second group were typically developing children. The…

  17. Sleep deprivation specifically impairs short-term olfactory memory in Drosophila.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xinjian; Yu, Feng; Guo, Aike

    2009-11-01

    Sleep is crucial to memory consolidation in humans and other animals; however, the effect of insufficient sleep on subsequent learning and memory remains largely elusive. Learning and memory after 1-day sleep deprivation (slpD) was evaluated using Pavlovian olfactory conditioning in Drosophila, and locomotor activity was measured using the Drosophila Activity Monitoring System in a 12:12 light-dark cycle. We found that slpD specifically impaired 1-h memory in wild type Canton-S flies, and this effect could persist for at least 2 h. However, alternative stresses (heat stress, oxidative stress, starvation, and rotation stress) did not result in a similar effect and left the flies' memory intact. Mechanistic studies demonstrated that flies with either silenced transmission of the mushroom body (MB) during slpD or down-regulated cAMP levels in the MB demonstrated no slpD-induced 1-h memory impairment. We found that slpD specifically impaired 1-h memory in Drosophila, and either silencing of MB transmission during slpD or down-regulation of the cAMP level in the MB protected the flies from slpD-induced impairment.

  18. Cognitive impairments in patients with low grade gliomas and high grade gliomas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eliane C. Miotto

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: The relationship between brain tumors and cognitive deficits is well established in the literature. However, studies investigating the cognitive status in low and high-grade gliomas patients are scarce, particularly in patients with average or lower educational level. This study aimed at investigating the cognitive functioning in a sample of patients with low and high-grade gliomas before surgical intervention. METHOD: The low-grade (G1, n=19 and high-grade glioma (G2, n=8 patients underwent a detailed neuropsychological assessment of memory, executive functions, visuo-perceptive and visuo-spatial abilities, intellectual level and language. RESULTS: There was a significant impairment on verbal and visual episodic memory, executive functions including mental flexibility, nominal and categorical verbal fluency and speed of information processing in G2. G1 showed only specific deficits on verbal and visual memory recall, mental flexibility and processing speed. CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrated different levels of impairments in the executive and memory domains in patients with low and high grade gliomas.

  19. Dispositional Optimism and Incidence of Cognitive Impairment in Older Adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gawronski, Katerina A B; Kim, Eric S; Langa, Kenneth M; Kubzansky, Laura D

    2016-09-01

    Higher levels of optimism have been linked with positive health behaviors, biological processes, and health conditions that are potentially protective against cognitive impairment in older adults. However, the association between optimism and cognitive impairment has not been directly investigated. We examined whether optimism is associated with incident cognitive impairment in older adults. Data are from the Health and Retirement Study. Optimism was measured by using the Life Orientation Test-R and cognitive impairment with a modified version of the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status derived from the Mini-Mental State Examination. Using multiple logistic regression models, we prospectively assessed whether optimism was associated with incident cognitive impairment in 4624 adults 65 years and older during a 4-year period. Among participants, 312 women and 190 men developed cognitive impairment during the 4-year follow-up. Higher optimism was associated with decreased risk of incident cognitive impairment. When adjusted for sociodemographic factors, each standard deviation increase in optimism was associated with reduced odds (odds ratio [OR] = 0.70, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.61-0.81) of becoming cognitively impaired. A dose-response relationship was observed. Compared with those with the lowest levels of optimism, people with moderate levels had somewhat reduced odds of cognitive impairment (OR = 0.78, 95% CI = 0.59-1.03), whereas people with the highest levels had the lowest odds of cognitive impairment (OR = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.36-0.74). These associations remained after adjusting for health behaviors, biological factors, and psychological covariates that could either confound the association of interest or serve on the pathway. Optimism was prospectively associated with a reduced likelihood of becoming cognitively impaired. If these results are replicated, the data suggest that potentially modifiable aspects of positive psychological functioning such

  20. Detection of memory impairment in a community-based system: a collaborative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kiral, Kahraman; Ozge, Aynur; Sungur, Mehmet Ali; Tasdelen, Bahar

    2013-05-01

    The ability to distinguish between older people with cognitive impairment and those who age in a healthy manner is crucial because cognitive impairment may be a precursor to full-blown dementia. Therefore, an early diagnosis of cognitive impairment is important. However, patients are often admitted to a hospital only when they already have a serious cognitive impairment. Consequently, cooperative studies between clinics and community-based organizations may assist hospitals in detecting early cognitive impairment. This article examines how community-based organizations can contribute to the early diagnosis of dementia. A cooperation model between the Neurology Department of Mersin University Hospital and the Mersin branch of the Alzheimer's Association was developed. Trained professionals used a neuropsychological battery to evaluate 50 individuals at the Mersin branch of the Alzheimer's Association in Turkey. Individuals whose performance fell below the average (1 standard deviation or less) were subsequently referred to the hospital. On the basis of the neurological and neuropsychological assessments, 11 participants were placed in the mild cognitive impairment group and 39 were placed in the healthy group. The results suggest that the Standardized Mini-Mental State Examination and the Three Words-Three Shapes Test are useful tools for detecting early memory impairments in a community-based setting.

  1. Informed consent in experimentation involving mentally impaired persons: ethical issues

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlo Petrini

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available The problem of experimentation involving subjects whose mental condition prevents them from understanding information and providing proper informed consent has been addressed in various codes, declarations, conventions, treaties and regulations adopted by national, international and supranational institutions and authorities. This article summarizes the basic ethical criteria these documents provide and stresses the historical development from the nearly total exclusion of incapacitated subjects, established in the mid-twentieth century, to their contemporary inclusion in clinical trials on certain ethical conditions. The problem of proxy consent by legal representatives for participation in clinical trials is addressed particularly in reference to current Italian regulations. Exceptions to human experimentation requirements in emergency situations are also briefly discussed.

  2. Problematic mobile phone use of Swiss adolescents: is it linked with mental health or behaviour?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roser, Katharina; Schoeni, Anna; Foerster, Milena; Röösli, Martin

    2016-04-01

    To investigate the associations between problematic mobile phone use and mental health and behavioural problems in 412 Swiss adolescents owning a mobile phone while controlling for amount of mobile phone use. Problematic mobile phone use was determined by the MPPUS-10 (Mobile Phone Problem Use Scale) and related to health and behavioural problems by means of multivariable regression modelling. MPPUS-10 was 4.7 (95 % CI 1.8, 7.6) units higher in girls than in boys, increased significantly with age and was significantly decreased with increasing educational level of the parents. Furthermore, problematic mobile phone use was associated with impaired psychological well-being, impaired parent and school relationships and more behavioural problems but was not related to peer support and social acceptance. Our study indicates that problematic mobile phone use is associated with external factors such as worse home and school environment and internal factors such as impaired mental health and behavioural problems of the adolescents and thus problematic mobile phone use should be addressed, in particular when dealing with adolescents showing behavioural or emotional problems.

  3. Relationship between chewing ability and cognitive impairment in the rural elderly.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Eun-Kyong; Lee, Sung Kook; Choi, Youn-Hee; Tanaka, Makiko; Hirotsu, Kimiko; Kim, Hyeon Chang; Lee, Hee-Kyung; Jung, Yun-Sook; Amano, Atsuo

    Relationship between masticatory function and cognitive impairment had been suggested but still understudied. We investigated the association between chewing ability and cognitive impairment among the elderly living in a rural region. A total of 295 elderly individuals aged ≥70 years in a rural city of Korea participated in a cross-sectional study. Trained nurses conducted interviews and assessed chewing ability using gum that changed color based on chewing performance. Cognitive impairment was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination for Dementia Screening (MMSE-DS) of Korean vesrsion. Socio-demographic characteristics, activities of daily living (ADL), Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA) were also assessed using questionnaires as potential confounders. The mean age of the participants was 81.4 (ranged 70-102) years and 67.8% of them were female. Participants with low chewing ability were significantly older, dependent, and had lower MNA and MMSE-DS scores. The elderly with middle or low chewing ability had significantly higher risk for having cognitive impairment than those with higher chewing ability. Our findings suggest that poor chewing ability is associated with cognitive impairment or dementia in the elderly living in rural area. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Cognitive impairments in young people with opioid addiction and their correction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Lazarevna Chukhlovina

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective: to evaluate cognitive functions and drug correction of identified impairments in heroin users. Patients and methods. Thirty-two patients (7 women and 25 men aged 18 to 45 years who had used heroin for 1—3 years were examined using the mini-mental state examination (MMSE, the techniques of «memorizing words» and «excluding words», the tests of «information-memory-concentration», quantitative assessment of clock drawing, and the frontal assessment battery. The detected cognitive impairments were corrected with the standardized Ginkgo Biloba extract (EGb 761 ®, Tanakan ®. Results. Cognitive impairments were found in all the patients: moderate cognitive disorders in 68.8% and mild dementia in 31.2%; thinking disorders were most noticeable; decreased attention, frontal lobe dysfunction, and visual spatial impairments were detectable. After a course of therapy with tanakan (120—240 g/day according to the degree of cognitive impairments for 3 months, there was a significant improvement in MMSE scores, thought, concentration, memory; however, they failed to achieve the scores in the control group consisting of 10 apparently healthy individuals of the same age and sex.

  5. Working memory and attention are still impaired after three years in patients with stress-related exhaustion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jonsdottir, Ingibjörg H; Nordlund, Arto; Ellbin, Susanne; Ljung, Thomas; Glise, Kristina; Währborg, Peter; Sjörs, Anna; Wallin, Anders

    2017-12-01

    Cognitive impairment is one of the most pronounced symptoms reported by patients with stress-related mental health problems. Impairments related to executive function and to some extent speed and attention are therefore common in patients with stress-related burnout/exhaustion. In this paper we present a follow-up of cognitive performance in patients with stress-related exhaustion several years after they initially sought medical care. Thirty patients and 27 healthy controls, mean age 49 years (SD 6.5) and 55 years (SD 6.7) respectively, were included, all of whom had undergone baseline measurements of neuropsychological functioning. The mean follow-up time was three years. Half of the patients still reported mental health problems at follow-up and over time no major changes in cognitive performance were noted. The patients still performed significantly poorer than controls with regard to cognitive functions, mainly related to speed, attention and memory function. Long-lasting impairment of cognitive functions related to speed, attention and memory function noted in patients with stress-related exhaustion should be acknowledged and taken into consideration during treatment and when discussing a return to work. Follow-up periods longer than three years are needed to explore the persistence of the cognitive impairment. © 2017 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  6. Preliminary study of visual perspective in mental time travel in schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Ya; Wang, Yi; Zhao, Qing; Cui, Ji-Fang; Hong, Xiao-Hong; Chan, Raymond Ck

    2017-10-01

    This study explored specificity and visual perspective of mental time travel in schizophrenia. Fifteen patients with schizophrenia and 18 controls were recruited. Participants were asked to recall or imagine specific events according to cue words. Results showed that schizophrenia patients generated fewer specific events than controls, the recalled events were more specific than imagined events. Schizophrenia adopted less field perspective and more observer perspective than controls. These results suggested that patients with schizophrenia were impaired in mental time travel both in specificity and visual perspective. Further studies are needed to identify the underlying mechanisms. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Sarcopenia and cognitive impairment in elderly women: results from the EPIDOS cohort.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abellan van Kan, Gabor; Cesari, Matteo; Gillette-Guyonnet, Sophie; Dupuy, Charlotte; Nourhashémi, Fati; Schott, Anne-Marie; Beauchet, Olivier; Annweiler, Cédric; Vellas, Bruno; Rolland, Yves

    2013-03-01

    common pathophysiological pathways are shared between age-related body composition changes and cognitive impairment. evaluate whether current operative sarcopenia definitions are associated with cognition in community-dwelling older women. cross-sectional analyses. a total of 3,025 women aged 75 years and older. body composition (assessed by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry) and cognition (measured by short portable mental status questionnaire) were obtained in all participants. Multivariate logistic regression models assessed the association of six operative definitions of sarcopenia with cognitive impairment. Gait speed (GS, measured over a 6-meter track at usual pace) and handgrip strength (HG, measured by a hand-held dynamometer) were considered additional factors of interest. a total of 492 (16.3%) women were cognitively impaired. The prevalence of sarcopenia ranged from 3.3 to 18.8%. No sarcopenia definition was associated with cognitive impairment after controlling for potential confounders. To proof consistency, the analyses were performed using GS and HG, two well-established predictors of cognitive impairment. Low GS [odds ratio (OR) 2.42, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.72-3.40] and low HG (OR: 1.81, 95% CI: 1.33-2.46) were associated with cognitive impairment. no significant association was evidenced between different operative sarcopenia definitions and cognitive impairment. The study suggests that the association between physical performance and cognitive impairment in not mediated by sarcopenia.

  8. Validation of the Dutch version of the quick mild cognitive impairment screen (Qmci-D).

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Bunt, Steven

    2015-10-01

    Differentiating mild cognitive impairment (MCI) from dementia is important, as treatment options differ. There are few short (<5 min) but accurate screening tools that discriminate between MCI, normal cognition (NC) and dementia, in the Dutch language. The Quick Mild Cognitive Impairment (Qmci) screen is sensitive and specific in differentiating MCI from NC and mild dementia. Given this, we adapted the Qmci for use in Dutch-language countries and validated the Dutch version, the Qmci-D, against the Dutch translation of the Standardised Mini-Mental State Examination (SMMSE-D).

  9. Evidence for cognitive vestibular integration impairment in idiopathic scoliosis patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mercier Pierre

    2009-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis is characterized by a three-dimensional deviation of the vertebral column and its etiopathogenesis is unknown. Various factors cause idiopathic scoliosis, and among these a prominent role has been attributed to the vestibular system. While the deficits in sensorimotor transformations have been documented in idiopathic scoliosis patients, little attention has been devoted to their capacity to integrate vestibular information for cognitive processing for space perception. Seated idiopathic scoliosis patients and control subjects experienced rotations of different directions and amplitudes in the dark and produced saccades that would reproduce their perceived spatial characteristics of the rotations (vestibular condition. We also controlled for possible alteration of the oculomotor and vestibular systems by measuring the subject's accuracy in producing saccades towards memorized peripheral targets in absence of body rotation and the gain of their vestibulo-ocular reflex. Results Compared to healthy controls, the idiopathic scoliosis patients underestimated the amplitude of their rotations. Moreover, the results revealed that idiopathic scoliosis patients produced accurate saccades to memorized peripheral targets in absence of body rotation and that their vestibulo-ocular reflex gain did not differ from that of control participants. Conclusion Overall, results of the present study demonstrate that idiopathic scoliosis patients have an alteration in cognitive integration of vestibular signals. It is possible that severe spine deformity developed partly due to impaired vestibular information travelling from the cerebellum to the vestibular cortical network or alteration in the cortical mechanisms processing the vestibular signals.

  10. Visual impairment and depression among socially vulnerable older adults in Armenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giloyan, Aida; Harutyunyan, Tsovinar; Petrosyan, Varduhi

    2015-01-01

    Visual impairment in older adults is a major public health problem. Untreated visual impairment might negatively impact physical and psychological health. This study assessed the association between visual impairment and depression among socially vulnerable older adults (those aged 50 and above) in Armenia. The survey and eye screenings were carried out among 339 participants who were the residents of retirement homes and single older adults in the households. The study team used Golovin-Sivtsev chart and cycloplegic skiascopy to measure visual impairment and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale to measure depression. The prevalence of visual impairment in the sample was 13.3%. Almost 24.0% of participants reported depression symptoms. Participants living in the retirement homes had substantially higher rates of visual impairment (21.5%) and depression (28.0%) than those living in households (9.3% and 15.0%, respectively). The odds of having depression were higher among those with visual impairment compared to those without after adjusting for confounders (OR = 2.75; 95% CI: 1.29-5.87). Having at least one non-communicable disease was associated with depression (OR = 2.47; 95% CI: 1.28-4.75). Living in the retirement home was marginally significantly associated with having depression. Other confounders included age, gender, education, physical activity, and smoking. Visual impairment was significantly associated with depression in socially vulnerable older adults in Armenia. Timely eye screenings in similar population groups could lead to early detection of visual impairment and prevention of visual loss and associated mental health problems.

  11. Impairments in quality of life and cognitive functions in long-term survivors of glioblastoma

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chirag Solanki

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: The incidence of long-term survival in glioblastoma (GBM, i.e., >3 years, ranges from 3% to 5%. Although extensive research is performed in novel therapies for prolonging survival, there is a scarcity of research focusing on the impact of tumor and treatment on cognitive, psychological, and social status of survivors. This study is an attempt to look into this poorly addressed important issue. Materials and Methods: Nine patients (six adults and three children with GBM who had survived >3 years were included in the study. The quality of life (QOL functions were assessed with the World Health Organization QOL Questionnaire BREF questionnaire. The neuropsychological assessment was done using the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences neuropsychology battery for adults and children. The scores were compared with normative data. Results: The physical and psychological health-related QOL of long-term GBM survivors were affected considerably due to fatigue, poor quality of sleep, inability to concentrate, presence of depression, financial burden with impaired personal and social relationships (P < 0.05. Different domains of cognitions such as motor speed (P = 0.0173, mental speed (P = 0.0022, sustained attention (P = 0.0001, long-term memory (P = 0.0431, mental flexibility (P < 0.05, and planning and executive functions (P < 0.05 were significantly impaired affecting personal, social, and professional lives. Conclusion: The health-related QOL and cognition are significantly impaired in GBM long-term survivors. As the incidence of long-term survival is very less, there is a need for larger multicenter studies to come up with definitive results, which in turn can help in formatting the rehabilitative and support programs for these patients.

  12. On Averaging Rotations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gramkow, Claus

    1999-01-01

    In this article two common approaches to averaging rotations are compared to a more advanced approach based on a Riemannian metric. Very offten the barycenter of the quaternions or matrices that represent the rotations are used as an estimate of the mean. These methods neglect that rotations belo...... approximations to the Riemannian metric, and that the subsequent corrections are inherient in the least squares estimation. Keywords: averaging rotations, Riemannian metric, matrix, quaternion......In this article two common approaches to averaging rotations are compared to a more advanced approach based on a Riemannian metric. Very offten the barycenter of the quaternions or matrices that represent the rotations are used as an estimate of the mean. These methods neglect that rotations belong...

  13. The mini-mental Parkinson's (MMP) as a cognitive screening tool in people with Parkinson's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caslake, Robert; Summers, Fiona; McConachie, Douglas; Ferris, Catriona; Gordon, Joanna; Harris, Clare; Caie, Linda; Counsell, Carl

    2013-12-01

    Cognitive decline is common in Parkinson's disease (PD) but may not be adequately identified by the mini-mental state examination (MMSE), which is better suited to Alzheimer's disease. The mini-mental Parkinson (MMP) examination is a cognitive screening tool designed in French specifically for PD. We aimed to establish the validity and reliability of the English language version of the MMP compared with the MMSE. People with various stages of PD underwent testing with the MMP and MMSE, which was then compared with a reference standard battery of neuropsychological tests to identify those with significant cognitive impairment. Forty-nine patients were recruited. Both the MMP and MMSE were significantly correlated with scores on all the neuropsychological tests in the validation battery. The median MMP score was proportionally lower (80% of maximum) than the MMSE (90% of maximum) in PD patients with cognitive impairment and those with prior neuropsychiatric complications but there was no difference between the MMP and MMSE in areas under the curves (0.84) for detecting cognitive impairment. Test-retest reliability of the MMP was good (intra-class correlation coefficient 0.793). An MMP of 28 or lower out of 32 detected cognitive impairment with 87% sensitivity and 76% specificity. The English language version of the MMP has now been validated. It detects more cognitive deficits in PD patients than the MMSE and identifies significant cognitive impairment in those with PD at least as well as the MMSE.

  14. Sex Differences in Mental Abilities: "g" Masks the Dimensions on Which They Lie

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Wendy; Bouchard, Thomas J., Jr.

    2007-01-01

    Empirical data suggest that there is at most a very small sex difference in general mental ability, but men clearly perform better on visuospatial tasks while women clearly perform better on tests of verbal usage and perceptual speed. In this study, we integrated these overall findings with predictions based on the Verbal-Perceptual-Rotation (VPR)…

  15. Enhancing performance in numerical magnitude processing and mental arithmetic using transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tobias U. Hauser

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available The ability to accurately process numerical magnitudes and solve mental arithmetic is of highest importance for schooling and professional career. Although impairments in these domains in disorders such as developmental dyscalculia (DD are highly detrimental, remediation is still sparse. In recent years, transcranial brain stimulation methods such as transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS have been suggested as a treatment for various neurologic and neuropsychiatric disorders. The posterior parietal cortex (PPC is known to be crucially involved in numerical magnitude processing and mental arithmetic. In this study, we evaluated whether tDCS has a beneficial effect on numerical magnitude processing and mental arithmetic. Due to the unclear lateralization, we stimulated the left, right as well as both hemispheres simultaneously in two experiments. We found that left anodal tDCS significantly enhanced performance in a number comparison and a subtraction task, while bilateral and right anodal tDCS did not induce any improvements compared to sham. Our findings demonstrate that the left PPC is causally involved in numerical magnitude processing and mental arithmetic. Furthermore, we show that these cognitive functions can be enhanced by means of tDCS. These findings encourage to further investigate the beneficial effect of tDCS in the domain of mathematics in healthy and impaired humans.

  16. Association between oxidized low-density lipoprotein and cognitive impairment in patients with ischemic stroke.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, A; Liu, J; Meng, X; Li, J; Wang, H; Wang, Y; Su, Z; Zhang, N; Dai, L; Wang, Y; Wang, Y

    2018-01-01

    The association between oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) and cognitive impairment is unclear. This study aimed to investigate the potential association between oxLDL and cognitive impairment among patients with acute ischemic stroke. We measured the levels of oxLDL and recorded the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score in patients with acute ischemic stroke who were recruited from the Study of Oxidative Stress in Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke. Cognitive impairment was defined as an MMSE score of impairment was assessed by multivariate logistic or linear regression analysis. Other clinical variables of interest were also studied. A total of 3726 patients [1287 (34.54%) female] were included in this study, with a mean age of 63.62 ± 11.96 years. After adjusting for potential confounders in our logistic regression model, each SD increase in oxLDL was associated with a 26% increase in the prevalence of cognitive impairment (odds radio, 1.26; 95% confidence interval, 1.13-1.39; P impairment (all interactions, P > 0.05). Elevated levels of oxLDL were associated with a higher prevalence of cognitive impairment in patients with ischemic stroke. © 2017 EAN.

  17. Theory of Mind Impairments in Women With Cocaine Addiction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanvicente-Vieira, Breno; Kluwe-Schiavon, Bruno; Corcoran, Rhiannon; Grassi-Oliveira, Rodrigo

    2017-03-01

    This study investigates the Theory of Mind performance of female cocaine-dependent users (CDUs) and possible associations between theory of mind performance and features of cocaine use. Sixty women controlled for age, education, individual income, and IQ participated in this study: 30 in the CDU group and 30 in the healthy control group. Participants were assessed for theory of mind with the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET), a test of understanding of first-order and second-order false beliefs, and the Hinting task. Drug use parameters, clinical symptoms, and neuropsychological functioning were also assessed. Analyses of covariance indicated Theory of Mind impairments in negative mental states within the RMET and second-order false-belief understanding of Theory of Mind stories. In addition, Theory of Mind impairment was associated with drug use characteristics, including craving and number of hospitalizations. High-demand Theory of Mind is suggested to be impaired in CDU women, and the deficits appear to be related to drug addiction severity. We found associations between Theory of Mind deficits and worse clinical and social outcomes.

  18. Putting theory of mind in its place: psychological explanations of the socio-emotional-communicative impairments in autistic spectrum disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boucher, Jill

    2012-05-01

    In this review, the history of the theory of mind (ToM) theory of autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) is outlined (in which ToM is indexed by success on false belief tasks), and the explanatory power and psychological causes of impaired ToM in ASD are critically discussed. It is concluded that impaired ToM by itself has only limited explanatory power, but that explorations of the psychological precursors of impaired ToM have been fruitful in increasing understanding of mindreading impairments in ASD (where 'mindreading' refers those abilities that underlie triadic interaction as well as ToM). It is argued that early explanations of impaired mindreading are untenable for various reasons, but that impairments of dyadic interaction in ASD that could lead to impaired ability to represent others' mental states may be the critical psychological cause, or causes, of impaired ToM. The complexity of causal routes to impaired ToM is emphasized.

  19. The Association among Default Mode Network Functional Connectivity, Mentalization, and Psychopathology in a Nonclinical Sample: An eLORETA Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farina, Benedetto; Della Marca, Giacomo; Maestoso, Giulia; Amoroso, Noemi; Valenti, Enrico Maria; Carbone, Giuseppe Alessio; Massullo, Chiara; Contardi, Anna; Imperatori, Claudio

    2018-01-01

    We investigated default mode network (DMN) electroencephalography (EEG) functional connectivity differences between individuals with self-reported high mentalization capability and low psychopathological symptoms, versus participants with mentalization impairments and high psychopathological symptoms. Forty-nine students (35 women) with a mean age of 22.92 ± 2.53 years were administered the Mentalization Questionnaire (MZQ) and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised. Five minutes of EEG during resting state were also recorded for each participant. DMN functional connectivity analyses were conducted by means of the exact Low Resolution Electric Tomography software (eLORETA). Compared to the individuals with high mentalization capability and lower self-reported psychopathological symptoms, participants with mentalization impairments and high psychopathological symptoms showed a decrease of EEG beta connectivity between: (i) the right and left medial frontal lobe, and (ii) the left medial frontal lobe and the right anterior cingulate cortex. Furthermore, while MZQ total score was positively associated with DMN network connections (i.e., right and left medial frontal lobes), several psychopathological symptoms (i.e., interpersonal sensitivity, depression, and psychoticism) were negatively associated with DMN connectivity. Our results may reflect a top-down emotion regulation deficit which is associated with both internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. © 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  20. An experimental evaluation of a new designed apparatus (NDA) for the rapid measurement of impaired motor function in rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jarrahi, M; Sedighi Moghadam, B; Torkmandi, H

    2015-08-15

    Assessment of the ability of rat to balance by rotarod apparatus (ROTA) is frequently used as a measure of impaired motor system function. Most of these methods have some disadvantages, such as failing to sense motor coordination rather than endurance and as the sensitivity of the method is low, more animals are needed to obtain statistically significant results. We have designed and tested a new designed apparatus (NDA) to measure motor system function in rats. Our system consists of a glass box containing 4 beams which placed with 1cm distance between them, two electrical motors for rotating the beams, and a camera to record the movements of the rats. The RPM of the beams is adjustable digitally between 0 and 50 rounds per minute. We evaluated experimentally the capability of the NDA for the rapid measurement of impaired motor function in rats. Also we demonstrated that the sensitivity of the NDA increases by faster rotation speeds and may be more sensitive than ROTA for evaluating of impaired motor system function. Compared to a previous version of this task, our NDA provides a more efficient method to test rodents for studies of motor system function after impaired motor nervous system. In summary, our NDA will allow high efficient monitoring of rat motor system function and may be more sensitive than ROTA for evaluating of impaired motor system function in rats. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Understanding Conservation Delays in Children with Specific Language Impairment: Task Representations Revealed in Speech and Gesture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mainela-Arnold, Elina; Evans, Julia L.; Alibali, Martha W.

    2006-01-01

    Purpose: The authors investigated mental representations of Piagetian conservation tasks in children with specific language impairment (SLI) and typically developing peers. Children with SLI have normal nonverbal intelligence; however, they exhibit difficulties in Piagetian conservation tasks. The authors tested the hypothesis that conservation…

  2. Delineating the trajectories of social and occupational functioning of young people attending early intervention mental health services in Australia: a longitudinal study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iorfino, Frank; Hermens, Daniel F; Cross, Shane Pm; Zmicerevska, Natalia; Nichles, Alissa; Badcock, Caro-Anne; Groot, Josine; Scott, Elizabeth M; Hickie, Ian B

    2018-03-27

    Mental disorders typically emerge during adolescence and young adulthood and put young people at risk for prolonged socioeconomic difficulties. This study describes the longitudinal course of social and occupational functioning of young people attending primary care-based, early intervention services. A longitudinal study of young people receiving mental healthcare. Data were collected between January 2005 and August 2017 from a designated primary care-based mental health service. 554 young people (54% women) aged 12-32 years. A systematic medical file audit collected clinical and functional information at predetermined time intervals (ie, 3 months to 5+ years) using a clinical pro forma. Group-based trajectory modelling (GBTM) was used to identify distinct trajectories of social and occupational functioning over time (median number of observations per person=4; median follow-up time=23 months). Between first clinical contact and time last seen, 15% of young people had reliably deteriorated, 23% improved and 62% did not demonstrate substantive change in function. Of the whole cohort, 69% had functional scores less than 70 at time last seen, indicative of ongoing and substantive impairment. GBTM identified six distinct functional trajectories whereby over 60% had moderate-to-serious functional impairment at entry and remained chronically impaired over time; 7% entered with serious impairment and deteriorated further; a quarter were mildly impaired at entry and functionally recovered and only a small minority (4%) presented with serious impairments and functionally improved over time. Not being in education, employment or training, previous hospitalisation and a younger age at baseline emerged as significant predictors of these functional trajectories. Young people with emerging mental disorders have significant functional impairment at presentation for care, and for the majority, it persists over the course of clinical care. In addition to providing clinical care

  3. A clinical study on cognitive impairment in post-ischemic stroke patients with metabolic syndrome

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    LI Chen

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available Objective To explore the relation between metabolic syndrome (MetS and cognitive impairment after ischemic stroke. Methods Ninety-four cases of first ischemic stroke patients were divided into stroke without MetS group (n = 54 and stroke with MetS group (n = 40 according to the diagnostic criteria for MetS defined by Metabolic Syndrome Researching Group of Chinese Diabetes Society. All patients underwent Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE, Clock Drawing Test (CDT, animal Verbal Fluency Test (aVFT, Trial Making Test-A (TMT-A at 2 weeks and 3 months after stroke to evaluate mental state such as verbal learning memory, and executive, attentional and visuospatial abilities. The incidence and development of cognitive impairment were also assessed. Results At 2 weeks and 3 months after stroke, the incidence of cognitive impairment were 24.47% (23/94 and 22.34% (21/94, respectively, and in the cognitive impairment patients the incidence of non-dementia were 21.28% (20/94 and 19.15% (18/94, while the incidence of dementia were 3.19% (3/94 and 3.19% (3/94, respectively. The incidence of cognitive impairment was higher in the stroke patients with MetS than the stroke patients without MetS, 37.50% (15/40 vs 14.81% (8/54 (Z = 2.500, P = 0.012 at 2 weeks after stroke and 35.00% (14/40 vs 12.96% (7/54 (Z = 2.513, P = 0.012 at 3 months after stroke. In the scores of MMSE, delay recall and CDT of the stroke patients with MetS were all lower than those without MetS at 2 weeks after stroke and at 3 months after stroke (P < 0.05, for all. The stroke patients with MetS had more cognition deterioration than the stroke patients without MetS at 3 months after stroke, the difference was significant (Z = 2.134, P = 0.033. Conclusion MetS can increase the incidence of cognitive impairment, especially non-dementia cognitive impairment in post ischemic stroke. Executive dysfunction and hypomnesis are often seen. The development of cognitive impairment in stroke patients

  4. Psychological well-being of parents and family caregivers of children with hearing impairment in south India: influence of behavioural problems in children and social support.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Driessche, Anne; Jotheeswaran, A T; Murthy, G V S; Pilot, Eva; Sagar, Jayanthi; Pant, Hira; Singh, Vivek; Dpk, Babu

    2014-08-01

    Parents of children with hearing impairment are at increased risk of mental health morbidities. We examined the predictive factors associated with caregiver's strain and psychological morbidities in parents and family caregivers of children with hearing impairment. In total, n = 201 parents and family caregivers of children with and without hearing impairment aged 3 to 16 years were recruited. Caregiver's strain and psychological morbidities were measured using the Zarit Burden scale and the World Health Organization's Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20). Presence of behavioural problems in children was measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. After adjustment, low educational attainment and domestic violence were found to be associated with caregiving strain, whereas dissatisfaction with social support from family, behavioural problems in children, and domestic violence strongly predicted psychological morbidities. Addressing the mental healthcare needs of parents may help in downsizing the impact of psychological morbidities on the well-being of children with hearing impairment.

  5. Theory of mind impairments in social anxiety disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hezel, Dianne M; McNally, Richard J

    2014-07-01

    Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a common psychiatric disorder characterized by a persistent, excessive fear and avoidance of social and performance situations. Research on cognitive biases indicates individuals with SAD may lack an accurate view of how they are perceived by others, especially in social situations when they allocate important attentional resources to monitoring their own actions as well as external threat. In the present study, we explored whether socially anxious individuals also have impairments in theory of mind (ToM), or the ability to comprehend others' mental states, including emotions, beliefs, and intentions. Forty socially anxious and 40 non-socially-anxious comparison participants completed two ToM tasks: the Reading the Mind in the Eyes and the Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition. Participants with SAD performed worse on ToM tasks than did non-socially-anxious participants. Relative to comparison participants, those with SAD were more likely to attribute more intense emotions and greater meaning to what others were thinking and feeling. These group differences were not due to interpretation bias. The ToM impairments in people with SAD are in the opposite direction of those in people with autism spectrum conditions whose inferences about the mental states of other people are absent or very limited. This association between SAD and ToM may have important implications for our understanding of both the maintenance and treatment of social anxiety disorder. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  6. Preparing for the European Championships: A six-step mental skills training program in disability sports

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Carsten Hvid

    2014-01-01

    with the woman's national goalball team in Denmark (high-performance athletes with visual impairment). The author provides a detailed description of six steps from initiation of the program, group sessions, and action plans, to on-court training and evaluation of the program across six months, and finishes......This article presents a case example and six-step mental-skills training program for high-performance athletes in disability sports. Starting out with a basic description about applied sport psychology in disability sports, the author proceeds to describe the mental skills training program...... with reviewing coach and player reflections on the application of the mental-skills training program....

  7. Adaptive modulation of adult brain gray and white matter to high altitude: structural MRI studies.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiaxing Zhang

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to investigate brain structural alterations in adult immigrants who adapted to high altitude (HA. Voxel-based morphometry analysis of gray matter (GM volumes, surface-based analysis of cortical thickness, and Tract-Based Spatial Statistics analysis of white matter fractional anisotropy (FA based on MRI images were conducted on 16 adults (20-22 years who immigrated to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (2300-4400 m for 2 years. They had no chronic mountain sickness. Control group consisted of 16 matched sea level subjects. A battery of neuropsychological tests was also conducted. HA immigrants showed significantly decreased GM volumes in the right postcentral gyrus and right superior frontal gyrus, and increased GM volumes in the right middle frontal gyrus, right parahippocampal gyrus, right inferior and middle temporal gyri, bilateral inferior ventral pons, and right cerebellum crus1. While there was some divergence in the left hemisphere, surface-based patterns of GM changes in the right hemisphere resembled those seen for VBM analysis. FA changes were observed in multiple WM tracts. HA immigrants showed significant impairment in pulmonary function, increase in reaction time, and deficit in mental rotation. Parahippocampal and middle frontal GM volumes correlated with vital capacity. Superior frontal GM volume correlated with mental rotation and postcentral GM correlated with reaction time. Paracentral lobule and frontal FA correlated with mental rotation reaction time. There might be structural modifications occurred in the adult immigrants during adaptation to HA. The changes in GM may be related to impaired respiratory function and psychological deficits.

  8. Attachment, neurobiology, and mentalizing along the psychosis continuum

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martin Debbané

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available In this review article, we outline the evidence linking attachment adversity to the psychosis, from the premorbid stages of the disorder to its clinical forms. To better understand the neurobiological mechanisms through which insecure attachment may contribute to psychosis, we identify at least five neurobiological pathways linking attachment to risk for developing psychosis. Besides its well documented influence on the hypothalamic-pituary-adrenal (HPA axis, insecure attachment may also contribute to neurodevelopmental risk through the dopaminergic and oxytonergic systems, as well as bear influence on neuroinflammation and oxidative stress responses. We further consider the neuroscientific and behavioural studies that underpin mentalization as a suite of processes potentially moderating the risk to transition to psychotic disorders. In particular, mentalization may help the individual compensate for endophenotypical impairments in the integration of sensory and metacognitive information. We propose a model where embodied mentalization would lie at the core of a protective, resilience response mitigating the adverse and potentially pathological influence of the neurodevelopmental cascade of risk for psychosis.

  9. Cognitive impairment associated with locomotive syndrome in community-dwelling elderly women in Japan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nakamura M

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Misa Nakamura,1 Fumie Tazaki,1 Kazuki Nomura,1 Taeko Takano,1 Masashi Hashimoto,1 Hiroshi Hashizume,2 Ichiro Kamei1 1Department of Rehabilitation, Osaka Kawasaki Rehabilitation University, Kaizuka, Osaka, Japan; 2Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Wakayama Medical University, Wakayama, Japan Abstract: In our worldwide aging society, elderly people should maintain cognitive and physical function to help avoid health problems. Dementia is a major brain disease among elderly people, and is caused by cognitive impairment. The locomotive syndrome (LS refers to a condition in which people require healthcare services because of problems associated with locomotion. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between cognitive impairment and LS. Study participants were 142 healthy elderly female volunteers living in a rural area in Japan. Cognitive function was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE. A score of ≤26 points on the MMSE was used to indicate categorically defined poor cognitive performance (cognitive impairment. The LS was defined by a score ≥16 points, and non-LS as <16 points, on the 25-question Geriatric Locomotive Function Scale (GLFS-25. Twenty-one participants (14.8% had an MMSE score ≤26, and 19.0% were found to have LS. Compared with the MMSE >26 group, the ≤26 group was significantly older, had a higher percentage of body fat, and a higher GLFS-25 score. Those with LS were significantly older, had a higher body mass index, a higher percentage of body fat, and a lower MMSE score. Participants in the LS group had higher odds of cognitive impairment than those without LS [odds ratio (OR =3.08] by logistic regression analysis adjusted for age. Furthermore, participants with GLFS-25 scores ≥6 had higher odds of cognitive impairment than those with a GLFS-25 score <6 by logistic regression analysis adjusted for both age (OR =4.44, and age and percent body fat (OR =4.12. These findings

  10. Factors Affecting Mental Health Service Utilization Among California Public College and University Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sontag-Padilla, Lisa; Woodbridge, Michelle W; Mendelsohn, Joshua; D'Amico, Elizabeth J; Osilla, Karen Chan; Jaycox, Lisa H; Eberhart, Nicole K; Burnam, Audrey M; Stein, Bradley D

    2016-08-01

    Unmet need for mental health treatment among college students is a significant public health issue. Despite having access to campus mental health providers and insurance to cover services, many college students do not receive necessary services. This study examined factors influencing college students' use of mental health services. Online survey data for 33,943 students and 14,018 staff and faculty at 39 college campuses in California were analyzed by using logistic regressions examining the association between students' use of mental health services and student characteristics, campus environment, and the presence of a formal network of campus mental health clinics. Nineteen percent of students reported current serious psychological distress in the past 30 days, and 11% reported significant mental health-related academic impairment in the past year. Twenty percent reported using mental health services while at their current college, 10% by using campus services and 10% off-campus services. Students on campuses with a formal network of mental health clinics were more likely than students at community colleges to receive mental health services (odds ratio [OR] range=1.68-1.69), particularly campus services (OR=3.47-5.72). Students on campuses that are supportive of mental health issues were more likely to receive mental health services (OR=1.22), particularly on campus (OR=1.65). Students with active (versus low) coping skills were consistently more likely to use mental health services. Establishing more campus mental health clinics, fostering supportive campus environments, and increasing students' coping skills may reduce unmet need for mental health services among college students.

  11. Comorbid visual and cognitive impairment: relationship with disability status and self-rated health among older Singaporeans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whitson, Heather E; Malhotra, Rahul; Chan, Angelique; Matchar, David B; Østbye, Truls

    2014-05-01

    The objective of this study was to examine the prevalence and consequences of coexisting vision and cognitive impairments in an Asian population. Data were collected from 4508 community-dwelling Singaporeans aged 60 years and older. Cognition was assessed by the Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire whereas vision, disability, and self-rated health (SRH) were determined by self-report. Vision impairment was present in 902 (18.5%) participants and cognitive impairment in 835 (13.6%), with 232 (3.5%) participants experiencing both impairments. Persons with the comorbidity experienced higher odds of disability than persons with either single impairment. The association of vision impairment with SRH was stronger among women (odds ratio [OR] = 6.79, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 4.64-9.92) than among men (OR = 1.71, 95% CI = 1.21-2.41). Concurrent cognitive and vision impairment is prevalent in older Singaporeans and is associated with high rates of disability. Gender differences in vision-dependent roles may affect the patient-perceived impact of this comorbidity. © 2012 APJPH.

  12. Asteroid rotation rates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Binzel, R.P.; Farinella, P.

    1989-01-01

    Within the last decade the data base of asteroid rotation parameters (rotation rates and lightcurve amplitudes) has become sufficiently large to identify some definite rends and properties which can help us to interpret asteroid collisional evolution. Many significant correlations are found between rotation parameters and diameter, with distinct changes occurring near 125 km. The size range, which is also the diameter above which self-gravity may become important, perhaps represents a division between surviving primordial asteroids and collisional fragments. A Maxwellian is able to fit the observed rotation rate distributions of asteroids with D>125 km, implying that their rotation rates may be determined by collisional evolution. Asteroids with D<125 km show an excess of slow rotators and their non-Maxwellian distributions suggests that their rotation rates are more strongly influenced by other processes, such as the distribution resulting from their formation in catastrophic disruption events. Other correlations observed in the data set include different mean rotation rates for C, S and M type asteroids implying that their surface spectra are indicative of bulk properties

  13. On Averaging Rotations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gramkow, Claus

    2001-01-01

    In this paper two common approaches to averaging rotations are compared to a more advanced approach based on a Riemannian metric. Very often the barycenter of the quaternions or matrices that represent the rotations are used as an estimate of the mean. These methods neglect that rotations belong ...... approximations to the Riemannian metric, and that the subsequent corrections are inherent in the least squares estimation.......In this paper two common approaches to averaging rotations are compared to a more advanced approach based on a Riemannian metric. Very often the barycenter of the quaternions or matrices that represent the rotations are used as an estimate of the mean. These methods neglect that rotations belong...

  14. Young Malawians on the interaction between mental health and HIV/AIDS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wright, Jerome; Lubben, Fred; Mkandawire, Mac Bain

    2007-11-01

    Previous research has identified high levels of mental health problems among people affected by HIV. This study surveys specifically adolescents in southern Malawi on their experience of the impacts of living with HIV or AIDS on one's mental health. At the same time, the study explores the link between mental health problems and subsequent HIV-risk behaviour. Short texts relating everyday scenarios that depicted symptoms of three mental health problems (i.e.depression, anxiety and HIV-related brain impairment) formed the basis of in-depth discussions in 12 existing groups of secondary school students, orphans and vulnerable children, teenage mothers, and out-of-school youths, in both rural and urban settings. The responses show that these young people recognised the mental health sequelae of HIV/AIDS as impacting upon many aspects of one's life. The young people traced these 'interruptions' and 'disruptions' through deteriorating psychological and socio-economic conditions. They showed awareness of a two-way interaction between HIV/AIDS and mental illness, indicating that the latter can increase thoughts of suicide and HIV risk-taking behaviour. More importantly, they identified a number of locally derived community interventions, which if supported by statutory health and education services, can significantly ameliorate their situations. The findings provide avenues for practical integration of mental health provision within HIV prevention, education and care initiatives.

  15. STRESS AND MENTAL DISORDERS IN HEMODIALYSIS PATIENTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    SH AKOOCHEKIAN

    2002-12-01

    Full Text Available Introduction. Chronic renal failure and dialysis are complicated situations that affect on somatic and mental status of patients. In this study, relation between stress, renal diseas, dialysis and mental disorders was determined. Methods. In a case control study in Noor hospital"s dialysis ward (affiliated to Isfahan University of Medical Sciences and Health Services the mental status of 30 end stage renal disease (ESRD patients were compaired with well matched control group by MMPI. Results. Hypochondriasis (Hs, depression (D, hysteria (Hy psychastenia (Pt and schizophrenia (Sc were observed in ESRD patients more than controls (P < 0.05. Means of sociopathy (Pd, paranoia (Pa and hypomania (Ma had no difference between groups (P > 0.05. Realy sadness and dysphoria, rumintion with illness, obsession, anxiety, compulsion, impaired process of thinking, isolation tendency and odd sensation in patients were more than control group (P < 0.05. Discussion. Chronic diseases have psychological complication and as a stress must cope and adjust with it. So, these patients and their families must be educated about coping mechanism. When the patients and their families have good coping mechanism, they would be able tolerate these streses.

  16. Brief screening for mild cognitive impairment in subcortical ischemic vascular disease: a comparison study of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment with the Mini-Mental State Examination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Qun; Cao, Wen-wei; Mi, Jian-hua; Yu, Ling; Lin, Yan; Li, Yan-sheng

    2014-01-01

    To assess the validity of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) in the detection of vascular mild cognitive impairment (VaMCI) in patients with subcortical ischemic vascular disease (SIVD). Among 102 SIVD patients, both cutoff scores of the MMSE and MoCA for differentiating VaMCI from no cognitive impairment (NCI) or differentiating VaMCI from vascular dementia (VaD) were determined by the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis. Optimal sensitivity with specificity of cutoff scores was obtained after the raw scores were adjusted for education. After adjusting for education, the MoCA cutoff score for differentiating VaMCI from NCI was at 24/25 and that for differentiating VaMCI from VaD was at 18/19. After applying the adjusted MoCA scores from 19 to 24 to identify VaMCI in all SIVD patients, sensitivity was at 76.7% and specificity was at 81.4% (κ = 0.579). The adjusted cutoff score of the MMSE for differentiating VaMCI from NCI was at 28/29 and that for differentiating VaMCI from VaD was at 25/26. The sensitivity and specificity of the adjusted MMSE was at 58.1 and 71.2%, respectively, when using the score from 26 to 28 to identify VaMCI in SIVD patients (κ = 0.294). The MoCA detected subcortical VaMCI better than the MMSE. © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  17. How Can We Best Screen for Cognitive Impairment in Malaysia? A Pilot of the IDEA Cognitive Screen and Picture-Based Memory Impairment Scale and Comparison of Criterion Validity with the Mini Mental State Examination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosli, Roshaslina; Tan, Maw Pin; Gray, William K; Subramanian, Pathmawathi; Mohd Hairi, Noran Naqiah; Chin, Ai-Vyrn

    2017-01-01

    To pilot two new cognitive screening tools for use in an urban Malaysian population and to compare their criterion validity against a gold standard, the well-established Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). The IDEA cognitive screen, Picture-based Memory Impairment Scale (PMIS), and MMSE were administered to a convenience sample of elderly (≥ 65 years) from the community and outpatient clinics at an urban teaching hospital. Consensus diagnosis was performed by two geriatricians blinded to PMIS and IDEA cognitive screen scores using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-V) clinical criteria. The MMSE performance was used as a reference. The study enrolled 66 participants, with a median age of 78.5 years (interquartile range [IQR], 72.5-83.0) years and 11.0 median years of education (IQR, 9.0-13.0). Forty-three (65.2%) were female, and 32 (48.4%) were Chinese. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve values were .962 (IDEA cognitive screen), .970 (PMIS), and .935 (MMSE). The optimal cutoff values for sensitivity and specificity were: IDEA cognitive screen: ≤ 11, 90.9% and 89.7%; PMIS: ≤ 6, 97.3% and 69.0%; and MMSE: ≤ 23, 84.6% and 76.0%. Although the sample size was small, multivariable logistic regression modelling suggested that all three screen scores did not appear to be educationally biased. The IDEA and PMIS tools are potentially valid screening tools for dementia in urban Malaysia, and perform at least as well as the MMSE. Further work on larger representative, cohorts is needed to further assess the psychometric properties. Study provides alternative screening tools for dementia for both non-specialists and specialists.

  18. Attention and inhibition in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Clara Zancada-Menéndez

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Mild cognitive impairment is understood as a cognitive deficit of insufficient severity to fulfil the criteria for Alzheimer’s disease. Many studies have attempted to identify which cognitive functions are most affected by this type of impairment and which is the most sensitive neuropsychological test for early detection. This study investigated sustained and selective attention, processing speed, and the inhibition process using a sample of people divided into three groups mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer disease and cognitively healthy controls selected and grouped based on their scores in the Mini Mental State Examination and Cambridge Cognitive Examination-revised. Three tests from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (Motor Screening Task, Stop Signal Task and Reaction time were used as well as the d2 attention test. The results show that that participants with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer disease showed lower levels of concentration compared with the cognitively healthy controls group in the d2 test and longer reaction times in the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery, although the differences were not marked in the latter test. The impairments in basic cognitive processes, such as reaction time and sustained attention, indicate the need to take these functions into account in the test protocols when discriminating between normal aging and early and preclinical dementia processes.

  19. Ammonium-induced impairment of axonal growth is prevented through glial creatine.

    OpenAIRE

    Braissant, O.; Henry, H.; Villard, A.M.; Zurich, M.G.; Loup, M.; Eilers, B.; Parlascino, G.; Matter, E.; Boulat, O.; Honegger, P.; Bachmann, C.

    2002-01-01

    Hyperammonemia in neonates and infants affects brain development and causes mental retardation. We report that ammonium impaired cholinergic axonal growth and altered localization and phosphorylation of intermediate neurofilament protein in rat reaggregated brain cell primary cultures. This effect was restricted to the phase of early maturation but did not occur after synaptogenesis. Exposure to NH4Cl decreased intracellular creatine, phosphocreatine, and ADP. We demonstrate that creatine cot...

  20. Impaired Processing of Serial Order Determines Working Memory Impairments in Alzheimer's Disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Belder, Maya; Santens, Patrick; Sieben, Anne; Fias, Wim

    2017-01-01

    Working memory (WM) problems are commonly observed in Alzheimer's disease (AD), but the affected mechanisms leading to impaired WM are still insufficiently understood. The ability to efficiently process serial order in WM has been demonstrated to be fundamental to fluent daily life functioning. The decreased capability to mentally process serial position in WM has been put forward as the underlying explanation for generally compromised WM performance. Determine which mechanisms, such as order processing, are responsible for deficient WM functioning in AD. A group of AD patients (n = 32) and their partners (n = 25), assigned to the control group, were submitted to an extensive battery of neuropsychological and experimental tasks, assessing general cognitive state and functioning of several aspects related to serial order WM. The results revealed an impaired ability to bind item information to serial position within WM in AD patients compared to controls. It was additionally observed that AD patients experienced specific difficulties with directing spatial attention when searching for item information stored in WM. The processing of serial order and the allocation of attentional resources are both disrupted, explaining the generally reduced WM functioning in AD patients. Further studies should now clarify whether this observation could explain disease-related problems for other cognitive functions such as verbal expression, auditory comprehension, or planning.

  1. Peak oxygen uptake and left ventricular ejection fraction, but not depressive symptoms, are associated with cognitive impairment in patients with chronic heart failure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Steinberg G

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Gerrit Steinberg1,2*, Nicole Lossnitzer2*, Dieter Schellberg2, Thomas Mueller-Tasch2, Carsten Krueger3, Markus Haass4, Karl Heinz Ladwig5, Wolfgang Herzog2, Jana Juenger21University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; 2Department of Psychosomatic and General Internal Medicine, Medical Hospital, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, 3Department of Cardiology, Josefs Hospital, Heidelberg, 4Department of Cardiology, Theresien Hospital, Mannheim, 5Institute of Epidemiology, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Munich, Germany*both authors contributed equally to this paperBackground: The aim of the present study was to assess cognitive impairment in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF and its associations with depressive symptoms and somatic indicators of illness severity, which is a matter of controversy.Methods and results: Fifty-five patients with CHF (mean age 55.3 ± 7.8 years; 80% male; New York Heart Association functional class I–III underwent assessment with an expanded neuropsychological test battery (eg, memory, complex attention, mental flexibility, psychomotor speed to evaluate objective and subjective cognitive impairment. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (SCID and a self-report inventory (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [HADS]. A comprehensive clinical dataset, including left ventricular ejection fraction, peak oxygen uptake, and a 6-minute walk test, was obtained for all patients. Neuropsychological functioning revealed impairment in 56% of patients in at least one measure of our neuropsychological test battery. However, the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE could only detect cognitive impairment in 1.8% of all patients, 24% had HADS scores indicating depressive symptoms, and 11.1% met SCID criteria for a depressive disorder. No significant association was found

  2. Health-related quality of life among people aged ≥65 years with self-reported visual impairment: findings from the 2006-2010 behavioral risk factor surveillance system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crews, John E; Chou, Chiu-Fang; Zhang, Xinzhi; Zack, Matthew M; Saaddine, Jinan B

    2014-10-01

    To examine the association between health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and visual impairment among people aged ≥65 years. We used cross-sectional data from the 2006-2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to examine six HRQoL measures: self-reported health, physically unhealthy days, mentally unhealthy days, activity limitation days, life satisfaction, and disability. Visual impairment was categorized as no, a little, and moderate/severe. We examined the association between self-reported visual impairment and HRQoL using logistic regression accounting for the survey's complex design. People with self-reported moderate/severe visual impairment had more frequent (≥14) physically unhealthy days, mentally unhealthy days, and activity limitation days in the last 30 days compared to those reporting a little or no visual impairment. After controlling for all covariates (age, sex, marital status, race/ethnicity, education, income, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, heart attack, body mass index, leisure time activity, smoking, and medical care cost concerns) and comparing to those with no self-reported visual impairment, people reporting a little visual impairment were more likely to have fair/poor health (odds ratio, OR, 1.2, 95% confidence interval, CI, 1.1-1.3), life dissatisfaction (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.3-2.0), and disability (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.3-1.6), and those with self-reported moderate/severe visual impairment had more fair/poor health (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.6-2.0), life dissatisfaction (OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.8-2.9), and disability (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.8-2.2). They also had more frequent physically unhealthy days (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.7-2.1), mentally unhealthy days (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.5-2.1), and activity limitations days (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.6-2.2). Poor HRQoL is strongly associated with the severity of self-reported visual impairment among people aged ≥65 years.

  3. Rotator cuff exercises

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... 25560729 . Read More Frozen shoulder Rotator cuff problems Rotator cuff repair Shoulder arthroscopy Shoulder CT scan Shoulder MRI scan Shoulder pain Patient Instructions Rotator cuff - self-care Shoulder surgery - discharge Using your ...

  4. Decision-making in Sport under Mental and Physical Stress

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Teri J. Hepler

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Background: Successful decision-making in sport requires good decisions to be made quickly, but little is understood about the decision process under stress. Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare decision outcomes and the Take the First (TTF heuristic under conditions of mental, physical, and no stress.  Method:  Participants (N=112 were divided into 3 stress groups:  mental stress (mental serial subtraction, physical stress (running on treadmill at 60-70% of maximum effort, and no stress (counting backwards by 1. Participants were exposed to 30 seconds of stress and then watched a video depicting an offensive situation in basketball requiring them to decide what the player with the ball should do next. Each participant performed 10 trials of the video decision-making task.  Results: No differences were found between the 3 stress groups on decision quality, TTF frequency, number of options generated, or quality of first generated option.  However, participants in the no stress and physical stress conditions were faster in generating their first option and making their final decision as compared to the mental stress group.  Conclusion: Overall, results suggest that mental stress impairs decision speed and that TTF is an ecologically rationale heuristic in dynamic, time-pressured situations.  Keywords: Take the first, Heuristic, Pressure, Cognitive performance

  5. Study protocol for the development of a European measure of best practice for people with long term mental health problems in institutional care (DEMoBinc)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Killaspy, Helen; King, Michael; Wright, Christine; White, Sarah; McCrone, Paul; Kallert, Thomas; Cervilla, Jorge; Raboch, Jiri; Onchev, Georgi; Mezzina, Roberto; Wiersma, Durk; Kiejna, Andrzej; Ploumpidis, Dimitris; Caldas de Almeida, Jose Miguel

    2009-01-01

    Background: This study aims to build a measure for assessing and reviewing the living conditions, care and human rights of people with longer term mental health problems in psychiatric and social care institutions. Protection of their human rights is imperative since impaired mental capacity

  6. Individual-level factors associated with mental health in Rwandan youth affected by HIV/AIDS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scorza, Pamela; Duarte, Cristiane S; Stevenson, Anne; Mushashi, Christine; Kanyanganzi, Fredrick; Munyana, Morris; Betancourt, Theresa S

    2017-07-01

    Prevention of mental disorders worldwide requires a greater understanding of protective processes associated with lower levels of mental health problems in children who face pervasive life stressors. This study aimed to identify culturally appropriate indicators of individual-level protective factors in Rwandan adolescents where risk factors, namely poverty and a history of trauma, have dramatically shaped youth mental health. The sample included 367 youth aged 10-17 in rural Rwanda. An earlier qualitative study of the same population identified the constructs "kwihangana" (patience/perseverance) and "kwigirira ikizere" (self-esteem) as capturing local perceptions of individual-level characteristics that helped reduce risks of mental health problems in youth. Nine items from the locally derived constructs were combined with 25 items from an existing scale that aligned well with local constructs-the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). We assessed the factor structure of the CD-RISC expanded scale using exploratory factor analysis and determined the correlation of the expanded CD-RISC with depression and functional impairment. The CD-RISC expanded scale displayed high internal consistency (α = 0.93). Six factors emerged, which we labeled: perseverance, adaptability, strength/sociability, active engagement, self-assuredness, and sense of self-worth. Protective factor scale scores were significantly and inversely correlated with depression and functional impairment (r = -0.49 and r = - 0.38, respectively). An adapted scale displayed solid psychometric properties for measuring protective factors in Rwandan youth. Identifying culturally appropriate protective factors is a key component of research associated with the prevention of mental health problems and critical to the development of cross-cultural strength-based interventions for children and families.

  7. Impaired reasoning and problem-solving in individuals with language impairment due to aphasia or language delay

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baldo, Juliana V.; Paulraj, Selvi R.; Curran, Brian C.; Dronkers, Nina F.

    2015-01-01

    The precise nature of the relationship between language and thought is an intriguing and challenging area of inquiry for scientists across many disciplines. In the realm of neuropsychology, research has investigated the inter-dependence of language and thought by testing individuals with compromised language abilities and observing whether performance in other cognitive domains is diminished. One group of such individuals is patients with aphasia who have an impairment in speech and language arising from a brain injury, such as a stroke. Our previous research has shown that the degree of language impairment in these individuals is strongly associated with the degree of impairment on complex reasoning tasks, such as the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST) and Raven’s Matrices. In the current study, we present new data from a large group of individuals with aphasia that show a dissociation in performance between putatively non-verbal tasks on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) that require differing degrees of reasoning (Picture Completion vs. Picture Arrangement tasks). We also present an update and replication of our previous findings with the WCST showing that individuals with the most profound core language deficits (i.e., impaired comprehension and disordered language output) are particularly impaired on problem-solving tasks. In the second part of the paper, we present findings from a neurologically intact individual known as “Chelsea” who was not exposed to language due to an unaddressed hearing loss that was present since birth. At the age of 32, she was fitted with hearing aids and exposed to spoken and signed language for the first time, but she was only able to acquire a limited language capacity. Chelsea was tested on a series of standardized neuropsychological measures, including reasoning and problem-solving tasks. She was able to perform well on a number of visuospatial tasks but was disproportionately impaired on tasks that required

  8. Parental Cognitive Impairment, Mental Health, and Child Outcomes in a Child Protection Population

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feldman, Maurice; McConnell, David; Aunos, Marjorie

    2012-01-01

    Parents with cognitive impairments (CI) are overrepresented in child custody cases and their children are at risk for adverse outcomes. Ecological-transactional researchers propose that child outcomes are a function of the interaction of multiple distal, intermediate, and proximal risk and resilience factors. This study tested the fit of, and…

  9. 20 CFR 416.934 - Impairments which may warrant a finding of presumptive disability or presumptive blindness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... Blindness Presumptive Disability and Blindness § 416.934 Impairments which may warrant a finding of presumptive disability or presumptive blindness. We may make findings of presumptive disability and... school, because of mental deficiency or is unable to attend any type of school (or if beyond school age...

  10. Chronopathological aspects of sleep disorders and cognitive dysfunctions in children with visual impairments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. A. Kelmanson

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The most important and noticeable rhythmical phenomenon observed in the human body is a sleep-wake rhythm and related physical and mental changes. The so-called circadian rhythms that vary over a period of approximately 24 hours are most important. The suprachi-asmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus is a primary circadian pacemaker in mammals; and light pulses out of all stimuli obtained by this structure have been mostly studied. The light pulses unrelated to visual perception serve as the most important synchronizers of circadian rhythms. Children with visual impairments lack adequate photic stimulation and hence circadian rhythm disorders develop and cognitive impairments worsen with a high probability. The most important types of sleep disorders in children with visual impairments are considered; their negative impact on a child's cognitive functions is discussed; possible correction approaches are laid down.

  11. Coupling the effect of mental practice and Pilates on ambulation of individuals with multiple sclerosis: Five case studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Darshpreet Kaur

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Pilates, a popular form of exercise, greatly emphasizes on the strengthening of the core muscles; however, the efficacy of exercise program can be impaired in patients with cognitive impairments. To bridge this gap, mental practice of a desired task can help to mentally simulate a given action and retain many properties of the corresponding real action. This study tries to gain preliminary understanding on the effectiveness of the combination of mental practice and core-strengthening Pilates exercises. To explore the effectiveness of mental practice and Pilates-based training on core strength, balance and mobility in multiple sclerosis (MS patients. This study highlights a single center case series describing the outcomes in ambulant patients with MS treated with mental practice and Pilates. Five volunteer ambulant individuals with stable relapsing-remitting MS participated in 20 individualized sessions, spread over 10-week duration. Pilates with mental practice session was delivered by a physiotherapist. Each session comprised 20 min of mental practice followed by 40 min of core-strengthening Pilates exercises. All the included patients were screened with Movement Imagery Questionnaire-Revised Second Version to determine if they are were able to effectively engage in imagery practice. A range of outcomes were measured: Timed up and go, chair stand test, curl-ups, the abdominal angle through leg raises, and the Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale before and after the intervention. Group data analysis indicated significant improvement between baseline and post-intervention phases for all the tested parameters. This study provides preliminary insight into this novel combination technique to improve balance and mobility in ambulant people with MS. Mental practice played an important role in keeping the patient's compliance, which was analyzed through structured interviews. Variations in response to the intervention are evident.

  12. Moderators of Coronary Vasomotion during Mental Stress in Coronary Artery Disease Patients: Stress Reactivity, Serum Lipoproteins, and Severity of Atherosclerosis

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Howell, Robert H

    1996-01-01

    Impaired coronary artery vasomotion in response to behavioral triggers such as mental stress may be an important pathophysiological process involved in acute manifestations of coronary artery disease...

  13. Stress in Mothers of Hearing Impaired Children Compared to Mothers of Normal and Other Disabled Children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mahnaz Aliakbari Dehkordi

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available Background and Aim: Stress is associated with life satisfaction and also development of some physical diseases. Birth of a disabled child with mental or physical disability (especially deaf or blind children, impose an enormous load of stress on their parents especially the mothers. This study compared stress levels of mothers with hearing impaired children and mothers of normal children or with other disabilities.Methods: In this study, cluster random sampling was performed in Karaj city. 120 mothers in four groups of having a child with mental retardation, low vision, hearing impairment and with normal children were included. Family inventory of life events (FILE of Mc Cubbin et al. was used to determine stress level in four groups of mothers.Results: The results of this research indicated a significant difference (p<0.05 between stress levels of mothers with hearing impaired children and mothers of other disabled and normal children in subscales of intra-family stress, finance and business strains, stress of job transitions, stress of illness and family care and family members "in and out''. There was no difference between compared groups in other subscales.Conclusion: Since deafness is a hidden inability, the child with hearing impairment has a set of social and educational problems causing great stress for parents, especially to mother. In order to decrease mother’s stress, it is suggested to provide more family consultation, adequate social support and to run educational classes for parents to practice stress coping strategies.

  14. Burden of mental disorders and unmet needs among street homeless people in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fekadu, Abebaw; Hanlon, Charlotte; Gebre-Eyesus, Emebet; Agedew, Melkamu; Solomon, Haddis; Teferra, Solomon; Gebre-Eyesus, Tsehaysina; Baheretibeb, Yonas; Medhin, Girmay; Shibre, Teshome; Workneh, Abraham; Tegegn, Teketel; Ketema, Alehegn; Timms, Philip; Thornicroft, Graham; Prince, Martin

    2014-08-20

    The impact of mental disorders among homeless people is likely to be substantial in low income countries because of underdeveloped social welfare and health systems. As a first step towards advocacy and provision of care, we conducted a study to determine the burden of psychotic disorders and associated unmet needs, as well as the prevalence of mental distress, suicidality, and alcohol use disorder among homeless people in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among street homeless adults. Trained community nurses screened for potential psychosis and administered standardized measures of mental distress, alcohol use disorder and suicidality. Psychiatric nurses then carried out confirmatory diagnostic interviews of psychosis and administered a locally adapted version of the Camberwell Assessment of Needs Short Appraisal Schedule. We assessed 217 street homeless adults, about 90% of whom had experienced some form of mental or alcohol use disorder: 41.0% had psychosis, 60.0% had hazardous or dependent alcohol use, and 14.8% reported attempting suicide in the previous month. Homeless people with psychosis had extensive unmet needs with 80% to 100% reporting unmet needs across 26 domains. Nearly 30% had physical disability (visual and sensory impairment and impaired mobility). Only 10.0% of those with psychosis had ever received treatment for their illness. Most had lived on the streets for over 2 years, and alcohol use disorder was positively associated with chronicity of homelessness. Psychoses and other mental and behavioural disorders affect most people who are street homeless in Addis Ababa. Any programme to improve the condition of homeless people should include treatment for mental and alcohol use disorders. The findings have significant implications for advocacy and intervention programmes, particularly in similar low income settings.

  15. [Disease versus disorder. Medical and socio-environmental aspects of mental suffering].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heinz, A

    2015-01-01

    A disease concept should be broad enough to provide social protection for all subjects suffering from this malady but at the same time it needs to be narrow enough to avoid pathologization of behavior that is merely socially undesirable. From a medical perspective a"disease" is present if functions are impaired that are relevant for individual survival. In the field of psychiatry and psychotherapy, such medically relevant functions include the ability to be alert and fully oriented, to ascribe one's own intentions to oneself and to modulate affects according to the situation. Beyond such medically relevant symptoms of a disease, any clinically relevant dysfunction should also be harmful for the individual if a mental malady is to be diagnosed. One such harmful consequence of a disease can be that the person feels ill and suffers from this state, another negative consequence for the individual can be due to an impairment of activities of daily living and social participation. These harmful consequences of a disease are usually discussed under the heading of the"illness experience" and the"sickness aspect" of any disorder. Beyond mental maladies characterized by disease symptoms that are accompanied either by an illness experience or impaired activities of daily living and social participation (sickness), there are many states of human suffering which can be objectified and classified but do not constitute a disease in the medical sense and should more aptly be named a disorder.

  16. Association between cognitive impairment and eating habits in elderly Chinese subjects over 90 years of age.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Lingyun; Dong, Birong; Hao, Qiu Kui; Ding, Xiang

    2013-08-01

    Eating habits may have a key influence on cognitive function, however, the relationship between dietary intake and cognitive impairment in the elderly Chinese population has not been explored. The present study investigated the association between cognitive impairment and eating habits in elderly Chinese subjects >90 years of age. This study comprised data from subjects included in the 2005 Project of Longevity and Ageing in Dujiangyan, China. Subjects were divided into two groups: cognitive impairment group and normal group. Sociodemographic and dietary habit data were collected and cognitive function was assessed in all subjects using the Mini-Mental State Examination. Data from 763 subjects (249 men, 514 women) were included. There was no statistically significant difference in eating habits between the two groups. Education level in the cognitive impairment group was significantly lower than in the normal group. Significant between-group differences were detected in factors relating to subjects' professions. Eating habits were not related to cognitive impairment in elderly Chinese people >90 years of age.

  17. Mental Health among Children and Young Adults with Visual Impairments: A Systematic Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Augestad, Liv Berit

    2017-01-01

    Introduction: The purpose of this study was to summarize current scientific knowledge relating to the occurrence of mood disorders among children with visual impairments. Methods: A systematic review was conducted of articles published between January1998 and July 2016, inclusive. A total of 17 publications met the inclusion criteria, of which 15…

  18. Measuring physical and mental health using the SF-12: implications for community surveys of mental health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Windsor, Timothy D; Rodgers, Bryan; Butterworth, Peter; Anstey, Kaarin J; Jorm, Anthony F

    2006-09-01

    The effects of using different approaches to scoring the SF-12 summary scales of physical and mental health were examined with a view to informing the design and interpretation of community-based survey research. Data from a population-based study of 7485 participants in three cohorts aged 20-24, 40-44 and 60-64 years were used to examine relationships among measures of physical and mental health calculated from the same items using the SF-12 and RAND-12 approaches to scoring, and other measures of chronic physical conditions and psychological distress. A measure of physical health constructed using the RAND-12 scoring showed a monotonic negative association with psychological distress as measured by the Goldberg depression and anxiety scales. However, a non-monotonic association was evident in the relationship between SF-12 physical health scores and distress, with very high SF-12 physical health scores corresponding with high levels of distress. These relationships highlight difficulties in interpretation that can arise when using the SF-12 summary scales in some analytical contexts. It is recommended that community surveys that measure physical and mental functioning using the SF-12 items generate summary scores using the RAND-12 protocol in addition to the SF-12 approach. In general, researchers should be wary of using factor scores based on orthogonal rotation, which assumes that measures are uncorrelated, to represent constructs that have an actual association.

  19. Implicit self-other discrimination affects the interplay between multisensory affordances of mental representations of faces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeugin, David; Arfa, Norhan; Notter, Michael; Murray, Micah M; Ionta, Silvio

    2017-08-30

    Face recognition is an apparently straightforward but, in fact, complex ability, encompassing the activation of at least visual and somatosensory representations. Understanding how identity shapes the interplay between these face-related affordances could clarify the mechanisms of self-other discrimination. To this aim, we exploited the so-called "face inversion effect" (FIE), a specific bias in the mental rotation of face images (of other people): with respect to inanimate objects, face images require longer time to be mentally rotated from the upside-down. Via the FIE, which suggests the activation of somatosensory mechanisms, we assessed identity-related changes in the interplay between visual and somatosensory affordances between self- and other-face representations. Methodologically, to avoid the potential interference of the somatosensory feedback associated with musculoskeletal movements, we introduced the tracking of gaze direction to record participants' response. Response times from twenty healthy participants showed the larger FIE for self- than other-faces, suggesting that the impact of somatosensory affordances on mental representation of faces varies according to identity. The present study lays the foundations of a quantifiable method to implicitly assess self-other discrimination, with possible translational benefits for early diagnosis of face processing disturbances (e.g. prosopagnosia), and for neurophysiological studies on self-other discrimination in ethological settings. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Formal Thought Disorder and language impairment in schizophrenia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcia Radanovic

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Schizophrenia is a psychiatric illness in which disorders of thought content are a prominent feature. The disruption of normal flow of thought, or “Formal Thought Disorder” (FTD, has been traditionally assessed through the content and form of patients’ speech, and speech abnormalities in schizophrenia were considered as a by-product of the disruption in conceptual structures and associative processes related to psychosis. This view has been changed due to increasing evidence that language per se is impaired in schizophrenia, especially its semantic, discursive, and pragmatic aspects. Schizophrenia is currently considered by some authors as a “language related human specific disease” or “logopathy”, and the neuroanatomical and genetic correlates of the language impairment in these patients are under investigation. Such efforts may lead to a better understanding about the pathophysiology of this devastating mental disease. We present some current concepts related to FTD as opposed to primary neurolinguistic abnormalities in schizophrenia.

  1. Developmental Dyscalculia in Adults: Beyond Numerical Magnitude Impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Visscher, Alice; Noël, Marie-Pascale; Pesenti, Mauro; Dormal, Valérie

    2017-09-01

    Numerous studies have tried to identify the core deficit of developmental dyscalculia (DD), mainly by assessing a possible deficit of the mental representation of numerical magnitude. Research in healthy adults has shown that numerosity, duration, and space share a partly common system of magnitude processing and representation. However, in DD, numerosity processing has until now received much more attention than the processing of other non-numerical magnitudes. To assess whether or not the processing of non-numerical magnitudes is impaired in DD, the performance of 15 adults with DD and 15 control participants was compared in four categorization tasks using numerosities, lengths, durations, and faces (as non-magnitude-based control stimuli). Results showed that adults with DD were impaired in processing numerosity and duration, while their performance in length and face categorization did not differ from controls' performance. Our findings support the idea of a nonsymbolic magnitude deficit in DD, affecting numerosity and duration processing but not length processing.

  2. Health-Related Quality of Life Among People Aged ≥65 Years with Self-reported Visual Impairment: Findings from the 2006–2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crews, John E.; Chou, Chiu-Fang; Zhang, Xinzhi; Zack, Matthew M.; Saaddine, Jinan B.

    2016-01-01

    Purpose To examine the association between health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and visual impairment among people aged ≥65 years. Methods We used cross-sectional data from the 2006–2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to examine six HRQoL measures: self-reported health, physically unhealthy days, mentally unhealthy days, activity limitation days, life satisfaction, and disability. Visual impairment was categorized as no, a little, and moderate/severe. We examined the association between self-reported visual impairment and HRQoL using logistic regression accounting for the survey’s complex design. Results People with self-reported moderate/severe visual impairment had more frequent (≥14) physically unhealthy days, mentally unhealthy days, and activity limitation days in the last 30 days compared to those reporting a little or no visual impairment. After controlling for all covariates (age, sex, marital status, race/ethnicity, education, income, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, heart attack, body mass index, leisure time activity, smoking, and medical care cost concerns) and comparing to those with no self-reported visual impairment, people reporting a little visual impairment were more likely to have fair/poor health (odds ratio, OR, 1.2, 95% confidence interval, CI, 1.1–1.3), life dissatisfaction (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.3–2.0), and disability (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.3–1.6), and those with self-reported moderate/severe visual impairment had more fair/poor health (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.6–2.0), life dissatisfaction (OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.8–2.9), and disability (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.8–2.2). They also had more frequent physically unhealthy days (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.7–2.1), mentally unhealthy days (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.5–2.1), and activity limitations days (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.6–2.2). Conclusion Poor HRQoL is strongly associated with the severity of self-reported visual impairment among people aged ≥65 years. PMID:24955821

  3. Spinal Cord Injury Functional Impairment and Caregiver Mental Health in a colombian sample: An exploratory study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephen K. Trapp

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Poca literatura ha examinado las relaciones entre salud mental del cuidador y funcionamiento físico y psicosocial de las personas con traumatismo de médula espinal en América Latina, a pesar de la escasez de servicios y necesidades únicas de esta población. El propósito del presente estudio fue examinar las relaciones entre la salud mental del cuidador (ansiedad, sobrecarga, depresión, satisfacción con la vida y autoestima y las discapacidades físicas y psicosociales de personas con traumatismo de médula espinal en una muestra colombiana. Cuarenta cuidadores de personas con traumatismo de médula espinal fueron reclutados en Neiva, Colombia, quienes completaron medidas de discapacidad del traumatismo de médula espinal y de su propia salud mental. Mayores niveles de discapacidad en personas con traumatismo de médula espinal y niveles de estrés del cuidador debido a esas discapacidades, fueron asociadas con mayores niveles de depresión y ansiedad en el cuidador, aunque sólo las discapacidades psicosociales de los pacientes y el estrés relacionado con el cuidador fueron asociados con la depresión en el cuidador. Debido a la naturaleza colectivista y la importancia de la familia en la mayoría de las culturas latinas, las intervenciones centradas en la salud mental de los familiares que cuidan de personas con traumatismo de la medula espinal pueden ser particularmente importantes.

  4. Anterior temporal white matter lesions in myotonic dystrophy with intellectual impairment: an MRI and neuropathological study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ogata, A.; Tashiro, K.; Terae, S.; Fujita, M.

    1998-01-01

    We studied 12 patients with myotonic dystrophy using MRI and the Mini-mental state examination (MMSE), to see it specific MRI findings were associated with intellectual impairment. We also compared them with the neuropathological findings in an autopsy case of MD with intellectual impairment. Mild intellectual impairment was found in 8 of the 12 patients. On T 2-weighted and proton density-weighted images, high-intensity areas were seen in cerebral white matter in 10 of the 12 patients. In seven of these, anterior temporal white-matter lesions (ATWML) were found; all seven had mild intellectual impairment (MMSE 22-26), whereas none of the four patients with normal mentation had ATWML. In only one of the eight patients with intellectual impairment were white-matter lesions not found. Pathological findings were severe loss and disordered arrangement of myelin sheaths and axons in addition to heterotopic neurons within anterior temporal white matter. Bilateral ATWML might be a factor for intellectual impairment in MD. The retrospective pathological study raised the possibility that the ATWML are compatible with focal dysplasia of white matter. (orig.)

  5. Related factors of cognitive impairment in community-dwelling older adults in Beijing Longitudinal Study of Aging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Rui; Tang, Zhe; Ma, Lina

    2018-04-09

    To investigate the prevalence and related factors of cognitive impairment in community-dwelling older residents in Beijing, China. This is a cross-sectional study. A total of 2017 older individuals aged ≥ 60 years from Beijing Longitudinal Study of Aging were included in this study. Information on demographic characteristics, life style, chronic disease and geriatric syndromes was collected. Cognitive function was assessed by Mini-Mental State Examination. The prevalence of cognitive impairment was 13.6% in community-dwelling older residents in Beijing. The prevalence of cognitive impairment was higher in women than it was in men and in rural areas than it was in urban areas, and increased with age. Logistic regression showed that older age [odds ratio (OR) = 1.496-3.033, P cognitive impairment. The prevalence of cognitive impairment among the older adults in Beijing was high. More attention should be paid to the identification of and intervention for factors influencing cognitive impairment, and health education should be carried out to improve the quality of life of the older adults.

  6. Rotational motion in nuclei

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bohr, A.

    1976-01-01

    Nuclear structure theories are reviewed concerned with nuclei rotational motion. The development of the deformed nucleus model facilitated a discovery of rotational spectra of nuclei. Comprehensive verification of the rotational scheme and a successful classification of corresponding spectra stimulated investigations of the rotational movement dynamics. Values of nuclear moments of inertia proved to fall between two marginal values corresponding to rotation of a solid and hydrodynamic pattern of an unrotating flow, respectively. The discovery of governing role of the deformation and a degree of a symmetry violence for determining rotational degrees of freedon is pointed out to pave the way for generalization of the rotational spectra

  7. Effect of a steam foot spa on geriatric inpatients with cognitive impairment: a pilot study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Koike Y

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Yoshihisa Koike,1 Hideki Kondo,2 Satoshi Kondo,1 Masayuki Takagi,1 Yoshio Kano31Department of Occupational Therapy, Prefectural University of Hiroshima, Mihara, Japan; 2Yoshiigawa Hospital, Okayama, Japan; 3Department of Occupational Therapy, Kibi International University, Takahashi, JapanPurpose: To investigate whether a steam foot spa improves cognitive impairment in geriatric inpatients.Methods: Geriatric inpatients with cognitive impairment were given a steam foot spa treatment at 42°C for 20 minutes for 2 weeks (5 days/week. Physiological indicators such as blood pressure, percutaneous oxygen saturation, pulse, tympanic temperature, and sleep time and efficiency were assessed. Cognitive function and behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia were assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination, Dementia Mood Assessment Scale, and Dementia Behavior Disturbance scale.Results: Significant decreases in systolic (P < 0.01 and diastolic blood pressure (P < 0.05 along with a significant increase in tympanic temperature (P < 0.01 were observed after the steam foot spas. A significant improvement was seen in the Mini-Mental State Examination score (P < 0.01 and the overall dementia severity items in Dementia Mood Assessment Scale (P < 0.05.Limitations: Japanese people are very fond of foot baths. However, it is difficult to understand why inpatients cannot receive steam foot baths. In this study, a control group was not used. Raters and enforcers were not blinded.Conclusion: The results of this pilot study suggest that steam foot spas mitigate cognitive impairment in geriatric inpatients.Keywords: steam foot spa, geriatric inpatients, cognitive impairment, tympanic temperature

  8. Prediabetes is associated with post-stroke cognitive impairment in ischaemic stroke patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Qiongzhang; Zhao, Kai; Cai, Yan; Tu, Xinjie; Liu, Yuntao; He, Jincai

    2018-05-15

    Diabetes mellitus is associated with post-stroke cognitive impairment. To the best of our knowledge, no study has explored the relationship between prediabetes and post-stroke cognitive impairment. The purpose of this study is to explore the association between prediabetes and cognitive impairment in ischaemic stroke patients at 1 month. Two hundred one acute ischaemic stroke patients were consecutively recruited within the first 24 h after admission and were followed up for 1 month. Patients were divided into a diabetes mellitus group, prediabetes group and non-diabetes mellitus group by fasting glucose levels, 2-h postprandial blood glucose levels and glycosylated haemoglobin levels at admission. Cognitive function was evaluated by the Mini-Mental State Examination at 1 month after stroke. The prediabetes group had a higher risk of post-stroke cognitive impairment than the non-diabetes group (35.7% vs. 18.1%, χ 2  = 4.252, P = .039). In logistical analyses, prediabetes was associated with post-stroke cognitive impairment after adjusting for potential confounding factors (odds ratio 3.062, 95% confidence interval 1.130-8.299, P = .028). Our findings show that prediabetes is associated with post-stroke cognitive impairment and may predict its development at 1 month post-stroke. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Someone Else Can Use This Time More than Me: Working with College Students with Impaired Siblings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caplan, Roberta

    2011-01-01

    This article discusses and illustrates with case examples the impact on the college experience for students who have impaired--medically or mentally ill, substance abusing, developmentally disabled--siblings. Although these students often show resilience and a well-developed sense of compassion, they may also struggle with developmental tasks of…

  10. Violent victimization of adult patients with severe mental illness: a systematic review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Latalova K

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Klara Latalova,1,2 Dana Kamaradova,1,2 Jan Prasko1,2 1Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacky University Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic; 2Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic Abstract: The aims of this paper are to review data on the prevalence and correlates of violent victimization of persons with severe mental illness, to critically evaluate the literature, and to explore possible approaches for future research. PubMed/MEDLINE and PsycINFO databases were searched using several terms related to severe mental illness in successive combinations with terms describing victimization. The searches identified 34 studies. Nine epidemiological studies indicate that patients with severe mental illness are more likely to be violently victimized than other community members. Young age, comorbid substance use, and homelessness are risk factors for victimization. Victimized patients are more likely to engage in violent behavior than other members of the community. Violent victimization of persons with severe mental illness has long-term adverse consequences for the course of their illness, and further impairs the quality of lives of patients and their families. Victimization of persons with severe mental illness is a serious medical and social problem. Prevention and management of victimization should become a part of routine clinical care for patients with severe mental illness. Keywords: victimization, violence, severe mental illness, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder

  11. The influence of music on mental effort and driving performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ünal, Ayça Berfu; Steg, Linda; Epstude, Kai

    2012-09-01

    The current research examined the influence of loud music on driving performance, and whether mental effort mediated this effect. Participants (N=69) drove in a driving simulator either with or without listening to music. In order to test whether music would have similar effects on driving performance in different situations, we manipulated the simulated traffic environment such that the driving context consisted of both complex and monotonous driving situations. In addition, we systematically kept track of drivers' mental load by making the participants verbally report their mental effort at certain moments while driving. We found that listening to music increased mental effort while driving, irrespective of the driving situation being complex or monotonous, providing support to the general assumption that music can be a distracting auditory stimulus while driving. However, drivers who listened to music performed as well as the drivers who did not listen to music, indicating that music did not impair their driving performance. Importantly, the increases in mental effort while listening to music pointed out that drivers try to regulate their mental effort as a cognitive compensatory strategy to deal with task demands. Interestingly, we observed significant improvements in driving performance in two of the driving situations. It seems like mental effort might mediate the effect of music on driving performance in situations requiring sustained attention. Other process variables, such as arousal and boredom, should also be incorporated to study designs in order to reveal more on the nature of how music affects driving. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Impact of Cognitive Impairment on Functional Outcome in Stroke

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nurdan Paker

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the cognitive impairment on functional status in patients with subacute stroke. Fifty-two patients with subacute stroke were included in the study. Mini mental state examination (MMSE test was used for the evaluation of cognitive status. Patients were separated into two groups according to their cognitive functions. Functional follow-up parameters were activities of daily living (ADL, global recovery and ambulation status. All patients were evaluated on admission to rehabilitation unit, at discharge and 6 months after discharge. Forty-four patients were completed the study. Mean age was 66 and 57 years; disease duration on admission was 4,8 and 3,5 months in the cognitively impaired and normal groups, respectively. Significant improvement was found in terms of functional follow-up parameters in both groups at discharge (<.05. Functional follow-up parameters did not show statistically significant difference between the groups. But community ambulation rate was higher in cognitively normal group at the sixth month visit. As a result of this study, inpatient rehabilitation was effective both cognitively normal and impaired subacute stroke patients.

  13. The Impairing Role of Stress on Autobiographical Memory Reconsolidation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zeinab Azimi

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Background: Despite some studies indicating improving role of stress on memory consolidation, very few animal and human studies show that stress impairs reconsolidation of memories. This study aimed to determine the effect of stress on autobiographical memory reconsolidation.Materials and Methods: The present study was done with an experimental method (Solomon Four-Group design. The statistical society of this study was all undergraduate female students in 2009-2010 academic year at Tabriz University. Forty students were selected using random cluster sampling, and we ensure about their physical and mental health by GHQ-28 and interview. Tools for this study were cueing autobiographical memory test, SECPT (for raising blood pressure and stress induction, autobiographical memory test, PANAS and general health questionnaire (GHQ-28. MANOVA was used for data analysis by SPSS-17.Results: The results show that stress after activation of memory impairs memory for neutral events (p0.05. None of stress and memory activation alone had effect on memory performance (p>0.05.Conclusion: These findings indicate that stress impairs autobiographical memory reconsolidation, which is opposite to its effects on memory consolidation, so it supports the view that consolidation and reconsolidation are separate process.

  14. Vulnerability and mental health in Afghanistan: looking beyond war exposure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trani, Jean-François; Bakhshi, Parul

    2013-02-01

    This study examined the prevalence of mental distress among groups in Afghanistan considered to be at risk. Data were drawn from a representative cross-sectional disability survey carried out in Afghanistan including 5,130 households in 171 clusters throughout the 34 provinces of the country. The sample included 838 nondisabled control participants aged above 14, and 675 disabled participants. Results showed that various vulnerable groups (disabled people, the unemployed, the elderly, minority ethnic groups, as well as widowed, divorced or separated women) were at higher risk of experiencing mild to severe mental health problems. The adjusted odds ratio for war-related disability compared to nondisabled was 4.09 (95% confidence interval 2.09 to 7.99) for mild mental distress disorders, and 7.10 (3.45-14.5) and 14.14 (3.38-59.00) for moderate or severe mental distress disorders, respectively. Women with disabilities (whatever the cause of impairment) when compared with nondisabled men, as well as poorer segments of society compared to the richest, had a higher prevalence of mental health problems. Women with non-war-related disabilities compared with nondisabled men were respectively 3.35 (1.27-8.81) and 8.57 (3.03-24.1) times more likely to experience mild or moderate mental distress disorders. People who experience multiple vulnerabilities are more at risk of deteriorating mental health in conflict zones. The study shows that mental health, in times of war, is influenced by a combination of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics linked to social exclusion mechanisms that were in place before the conflict began and that are redefined in relation to the changing social, cultural, and economic contexts. Mental health policies and programmes must prioritise the most vulnerable segments of Afghan society.

  15. Social Media Use and Mental Health among Young Adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berryman, Chloe; Ferguson, Christopher J; Negy, Charles

    2018-06-01

    In recent years many parents, advocates and policy makers have expressed concerns regarding the potential negative impact of social media use. Some studies have indicated that social media use may be tied to negative mental health outcomes, including suicidality, loneliness and decreased empathy. Other studies have not found evidence for harm, or have indicated that social media use may be beneficial for some individuals. The current correlational study examined 467 young adults for their time spent using social media, importance of social media in their lives and tendency to engage in vaguebooking (posting unclear but alarming sounding posts to get attention). Outcomes considered included general mental health symptoms, suicidal ideation, loneliness, social anxiety and decreased empathy. Results indicated that social media use was not predictive of impaired mental health functioning. However, vaguebooking was predictive of suicidal ideation, suggesting this particular behavior could be a warning sign for serious issues. Overall, results from this study suggest that, with the exception of vaguebooking, concerns regarding social media use may be misplaced.

  16. Enrollment in mental health courts: voluntariness, knowingness, and adjudicative competence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Redlich, Allison D; Hoover, Steven; Summers, Alicia; Steadman, Henry J

    2010-04-01

    Mental health courts (MHCs) are rapidly expanding as a form of diversion from jails and prisons for persons with mental illness charged with crimes. Although intended to be voluntary, little is known about this aspect of the courts. We examined perceptions of voluntariness, and levels of knowingness and legal competence among 200 newly enrolled clients of MHCs at two courts. Although most clients claimed to have chosen to enroll, at the same time, most claimed not to have been told the court was voluntary or told of the requirements prior to entering. The majority knew the "basics" of the courts, but fewer knew more nuanced information. A minority also were found to have impairments in legal competence. Implications are discussed.

  17. Subjective evaluation of physical and mental workload interactions across different muscle groups.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mehta, Ranjana K; Agnew, Michael J

    2015-01-01

    Both physical and mental demands, and their interactions, have been shown to increase biomechanical loading and physiological reactivity as well as impair task performance. Because these interactions have shown to be muscle-dependent, the aim of this study was to determine the sensitivity of the NASA Task Load Index (NASA TLX) and Ratings of Perceived Exertion (RPE) to evaluate physical and mental workload during muscle-specific tasks. Twenty-four participants performed upper extremity and low back exertions at three physical workload levels in the absence and presence of a mental stressor. Outcome measures included RPE and NASA TLX (six sub-scales) ratings. The findings indicate that while both RPEs and NASA TLX ratings were sensitive to muscle-specific changes in physical demand, only an additional mental stressor and its interaction with either physical demand or muscle groups influenced the effort sub-scale and overall workload scores of the NASA TLX. While additional investigations in actual work settings are warranted, the NASA TLX shows promise in evaluating perceived workload that is sensitive not only to physical and mental demands but also sensitive in determining workload for tasks that employ different muscle groups.

  18. Noradrenergic Stimulation Impairs Memory Generalization in Women.

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    Kluen, Lisa Marieke; Agorastos, Agorastos; Wiedemann, Klaus; Schwabe, Lars

    2017-07-01

    Memory generalization is essential for adaptive decision-making and action. Our ability to generalize across past experiences relies on medial-temporal lobe structures, known to be highly sensitive to stress. Recent evidence suggests that stressful events may indeed interfere with memory generalization. Yet, the mechanisms involved in this generalization impairment are unknown. We tested here whether a pharmacological elevation of major stress mediators-noradrenaline and glucocorticoids-is sufficient to disrupt memory generalization. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled design, healthy men and women received orally a placebo, hydrocortisone, the α2-adrenoceptor antagonist yohimbine that leads to increased noradrenergic stimulation, or both drugs, before they completed an associative learning task probing memory generalization. Drugs left learning performance intact. Yohimbine, however, led to a striking generalization impairment in women, but not in men. Hydrocortisone, in turn, had no effect on memory generalization, neither in men nor in women. The present findings indicate that increased noradrenergic activity, but not cortisol, is sufficient to disrupt memory generalization in a sex-specific manner, with relevant implications for stress-related mental disorders characterized by generalization deficits.

  19. Tactile Earth and Space Science Materials for Students with Visual Impairments: Contours, Craters, Asteroids, and Features of Mars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rule, Audrey C.

    2011-01-01

    New tactile curriculum materials for teaching Earth and planetary science lessons on rotation=revolution, silhouettes of objects from different views, contour maps, impact craters, asteroids, and topographic features of Mars to 11 elementary and middle school students with sight impairments at a week-long residential summer camp are presented…

  20. Reduced Mastication Impairs Memory Function.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fukushima-Nakayama, Y; Ono, Takehito; Hayashi, M; Inoue, M; Wake, H; Ono, Takashi; Nakashima, T

    2017-08-01

    Mastication is an indispensable oral function related to physical, mental, and social health throughout life. The elderly tend to have a masticatory dysfunction due to tooth loss and fragility in the masticatory muscles with aging, potentially resulting in impaired cognitive function. Masticatory stimulation has influence on the development of the central nervous system (CNS) as well as the growth of maxillofacial tissue in children. Although the relationship between mastication and cognitive function is potentially important in the growth period, the cellular and molecular mechanisms have not been sufficiently elucidated. Here, we show that the reduced mastication resulted in impaired spatial memory and learning function owing to the morphological change and decreased activity in the hippocampus. We used an in vivo model for reduced masticatory stimuli, in which juvenile mice were fed with powder diet and found that masticatory stimulation during the growth period positively regulated long-term spatial memory to promote cognitive function. The functional linkage between mastication and brain was validated by the decrease in neurons, neurogenesis, neuronal activity, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression in the hippocampus. These findings taken together provide in vivo evidence for a functional linkage between mastication and cognitive function in the growth period, suggesting a need for novel therapeutic strategies in masticatory function-related cognitive dysfunction.