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In this episode, Dr. Scott Sperling and student leader, Dr. Elaine Schultz, discuss the article Psychometric properties of two instruments assessing catastrophizing and fear-avoidance behavior in mild traumatic brain injury with two of the paper's authors, Skye King and Dr. Melloney Wijenberg. This study aimed to invesigate the factor structure, internal consistency, test-restest reliability, and concurrent and construct validity of the Postconcussion Symptom Catastrophizing Scale (PCS-CS) and the Fear of Mental Activity Scale (FMA) in a sample of participants with mild TBI compared to orthopedic injury and healthy adults. The sample was comprised of 185 mTBI participants, 180 with orthopedic injury, and 116 healthy adults. Findings supported a three-factor model (magnification, rumination, helplessness) with a higher order factor (catastrophizing) for the PCS-CS and a two-factor model (activity avoidance and somatic focus) for the FMA. Results supported strong internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent validity. Overall, this study provided evidence of psychometric strength for these measures and support their use in research and cllinical practice in mTBI to better understand prolonged recovery.
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In this episode Dr. Scott Sperling and student leader, Dr. Kritika Nayar, discuss the paper Language Switching and Speaking a Non-Dominant Language Challenge Executive Control: Preliminary Data for Novel Behavioral Markers of Alzheimer's Risk in Spanish-English Bilinguals, with the paper's authors, Ms. Dalia Lopez Garcia and Dr. Tamar Gollan. In this study, using psycholinguistic analyses, authors explored language switching and speaking a nondominant language as markers of Alzheimer's risk in Spanish-English bilinguals. All 19 participants, who were cognitively healthy, completed neuropsychological testing, a structured interview (in both Spanish and English), and language switching tasks. Following this, 8 individuals were diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease (AD). In analyzing differences in their performance in this earlier testing, results showed that certain utterances in their nondominant language (e.g., revisions, repetitions, filled pauses) as well errors in a language switching test were particularly indicative of AD risk. Overall, these measures may reflect early decline in executive control abilities and may be valuable indicators of AD risk in this bilingual population.
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In this episode, Dr. Scott Sperling and early career leader, Dr. Zachary Resch, will be discussing the paper, Signs and Symptoms Method in Neuropsychology: A Standardized Observational Examination of Cognitive Functions Can Be Effective in Detecting Mild Cognitive Impairment, with two of the study authors, Dr. Carlo Abbate & Dr. Alessia Gallucci. In their study, the authors examined the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of what they term the "NeuroPsychological Examination" or "NPE", which is a systematic method of collecting and quantifying cognitive and behavioral symptoms during a clinical interview. The NPE was implemented for 475 participants (208 with MCI, 188 with dementia, and 79 with subjective cognitive decline). Results demonstrated that the number of neuropsychological signs from the NPE could discriminate between all three groups with good sensitivity and specificity, which highlights its utility for clinical neuropsychologists.
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In this podcast, Dr. Scott Sperling and student leader, Dr. Kritika Nayar, discuss the paper, Cross-sectional associations of CSF tau levels with Rey’s AVLT: A recency ratio study, with the paper's author, Dr. Davide Bruno. In the paper, associations between traditional memory scores from the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, a novel process-based memory score based on knowledge of serial position effect (i.e, the recency ratio), and CSF biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease, were compared. The study has important implications for the identification of individuals at-risk of developing a neurodegenerative disorder.
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In this podcast, Dr. Scott Sperling and student leader, Dr. Joshua Fox-Fuller, discuss the paper, Multi-Domain Modifiable Dementia Risk Factors Are Associated with Poorer Cognition in Midlife, with two of the paper's authors, Dr. Yen Ying Lim and Ms. Lisa Bransby. This study the examined frequency and co-occurrence of modifiable dementia risk factors in a large cohort of healthy individuals who are at risk of developing dementia. Risk factors were classified into five domains (i.e., mood symptomatology, risky lifestyle behaviors, cardiovascular conditions, cognitive/social engagement, sleep disorders/symptomatology) and examined in relationship to cognition performance.
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Today, Dr. Scott Sperling and student leader, Ms. Sara Pishdadian, will be discussing the paper, Linking Self-Perceived Cognitive Functioning Questionnaires Using Item Response Theory: The Subjective Cognitive Decline Initiatives, with three of the study authors, Dr. Rabin, Dr. Elbulok-Charcape and Dr. Jones. In their study, the authors harmonized secondary data from 24 studies and 40 different questionnaires with item response theory (IRT) to identify the items that made the greatest contribution to measurement precision. Data from over 53,000 neuropsychologically intact older adults were included, from 13 English language and 11 non-English (or mixed) language studies. The results have significant implications for the development and use of new self-perceived cognitive functioning questionnaires with high predictive validity for cognitive and clinical outcomes.
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In our inaugural podcast, Dr. Scott Sperling and Mr. Humza Khan discuss a very exciting paper, entitled, Development and Application of the International Classification of Cognitive Disorders in Epilepsy (IC-CoDE): Initial Results From a Multi-Center Study of Adults With Temporal Lobe Epilepsy, with two of the paper’s authors, Dr. Carrie McDonald and Dr. Anny Reyes. The IC-CoDE is the first iteration of a classification system for harmonizing cognitive diagnostics in epilepsy research that can be applied across neuropsychological tests and temporal lobe epilepsy cohorts. This proof-of-principle study in temporal lobe epilepsy offers a promising path for enhancing research collaborations globally and accelerating scientific discoveries.
