The effect of masks on cognitive performance.

The use of face masks has been a key response to the COVID-19 pandemic in almost every country. However, despite widespread use of masks in classrooms and offices around the world, almost nothing is known about their effects on cognitive performance. Using a natural experiment, I show that mandatory mask wearing has a negative causal effect on the cognitive performance of competitive chess players. I analyzed the quality of almost 3 million chess moves played by 8,531 individuals (ages 5-98 y) in 18 countries before and during the pandemic. Wearing a mask decreased the quality of players' decisions-a measure of their cognitive performance-by approximately one-third of an SD. However, the disruptive effect of masks is relatively short-lived, gradually weakening such that there is no measurable disadvantage from wearing a mask after roughly 4 h of play. The mask effect is driven by a large, negative effect for experts, with minimal change in performance at lower levels, and is stronger in high-incentive competitions. I provide support for a distraction mechanism whereby masks interfere with performance when working memory load is high.

[Long COVID : which neuropsychological intervention ? The example applied at the Leenaards Memory Centre]. / Covid Long : quelle prise en charge neuropsychologique ? La filière proposée au Centre Leenaards de la Mémoire.

A "Long COVID" care management was created at the Leenaards Memory Centre (Lausanne University Hospital) to meet the high demand for neuropsychological examinations in the patients which have persistent symptoms for several months. A multidisciplinary evaluation specifically addressing aspects of fatigue and sleep as well as cognition has been developed to receive these patients. Depending on the severity of their symptoms, they are then oriented towards a holistic group treatment, integrating cognitive remediation including psycho-education, restorative and compensatory methods to cope with their cognitive difficulties, and tools to manage the various symptoms of COVID-long (fatigue, insomnia, stress, depression and reduced quality of life).

Une filière « Covid long ¼ a vu le jour au Centre Leenaards de la mémoire du CHUV pour répondre à une importante demande d'examens neuropsychologiques chez des patients aux symptômes persistant depuis plusieurs mois. Les patients bénéficient d'une évaluation multidisciplinaire qui inclut les aspects de la fatigue et du sommeil ainsi que la cognition. Ils sont ensuite orientés, selon la sévérité de leurs symptômes, vers une prise en charge groupale holistique qui intègre de la remédiation cognitive incluant de la psychoéducation, des méthodes restauratives et compensatoires pour faire face à leurs difficultés cognitives et des outils permettant de gérer les différents symptômes caractéristiques d'un Covid long (fatigue, insomnie, stress, dépression et diminution de la qualité de vie).

Online Contingent Attention Training (OCAT): transfer effects to cognitive biases, rumination, and anxiety symptoms from two proof-of-principle studies.

The aim of the present research was to develop and test the efficacy of a novel online contingent attention training (i.e., OCAT) to modify attention and interpretation biases, improve emotion regulation, and reduce emotional symptom levels in the face of major stressors. Two proof-of-principle studies were carried out. In study 1, 64 undergraduates who were about to start a major stressful period (i.e., final exams) were randomized to undergo 10 days of active OCAT or a sham-control training. Emotion regulation (habitual use of rumination and reappraisal) and symptom levels (depression and anxiety) were assessed before and after the intervention. In study 2, the same 2 × 2 mixed design was used with 58 individuals from the general population undergoing a major stressful situation (the lockdown period at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020). In both studies, the OCAT group showed significant improvements on attention towards negative information and interpretation biases in comparison to the sham-control group. Additionally, changes in cognitive biases transferred to reductions of participants' use of rumination and anxiety symptom levels. These results show preliminary evidence regarding the efficacy of the OCAT to target attention and interpretation biases as well as to improve emotion regulation processes and to buffer against the effects of major stressors.

Effects of diagnosis threat on cognitive complaints after COVID-19.

OBJECTIVE: The term "long-COVID" refers to the persistence of neurological symptoms after being ill with COVID-19 (e.g., headaches, fatigue, and attentional impairment). Providing information about long-COVID (i.e., "diagnosis threat") increased subjective cognitive complaints among recovered COVID-19 patients compared with those exposed to neutral information (Winter & Braw, 2022). Notably, this effect was particularly prominent among more suggestible participants. Our aim in the current study was to validate these initial findings and to explore the impact of additional variables (e.g., suggestibility). METHOD: Recovered patients (n = 270) and controls (n = 290) reported daily cognitive failures after being randomly assigned to either a diagnosis threat (exposure to an article providing information regarding long-COVID) or a control condition. RESULTS: Recovered patients, but not controls, reported more cognitive failures in the diagnosis threat condition compared with the control condition. Diagnosis threat added significantly to the prediction of cognitive complaints based on relevant demographic variables and suggestibility. Diagnosis threat and suggestibility interacted (i.e., suggestible individuals were particularly vulnerable to the impact of a diagnosis threat). CONCLUSIONS: Diagnosis threat may contribute to the persistence of complaints regarding cognitive impairment among recovered COVID-19 patients. Suggestibility may be an underlying mechanism that increases the impact of diagnosis threat. Other factors, such as vaccination status, may be at play though we are only at the initial stages of research concerning their impact. These may be the focus of future research, aiding in identifying risk factors for experiencing COVID-19 symptoms past the resolution of its acute phase. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Avoiding "COVID Blindness": Advocating Cognitive Bias Teaching in the Context of COVID-19.

Null.

Effects of maternal social isolation on adult rodent offspring cognition.

Prenatal experiences can influence offspring physiology and behaviour through the lifespan. Various forms of prenatal stress impair adult learning and memory function and can lead to increased occurrence of anxiety and depression. Clinical work suggests that prenatal stress and maternal depression lead to similar outcomes in children and adolescents, however the long-term effects of maternal depression are less established, particularly in well controlled animal models. Social isolation is common in depressed individuals and during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, for this study we were interested in the effects of maternal stress induced via social isolation on adult offspring cognitive functions including spatial, stimulus-response, and emotional learning and memory that are mediated by different networks centered on the hippocampus, dorsal striatum, and amygdala, respectively. Tasks included a discriminative contextual fear conditioning task and cue-place water task. Pregnant dams in the social isolation group were single housed prior to and throughout gestation. Once offspring reached adulthood the male offspring were trained on a contextual fear conditioning task in which rats were trained to associate one of two contexts with an aversive stimulus and the opposing context remained neutral. Afterwards a cue-place water task was performed during which they were required to navigate to both a visible and invisible platform. Fear conditioning results revealed that the adult offspring of socially isolated mothers, but not controls, were impaired in associating a specific context with a fear-inducing stimulus as assessed by conditioned freezing and avoidance. Results from the water task indicate that adult offspring of mothers that were socially isolated showed place learning deficits but not stimulus-response habit learning on the same task. These cognitive impairments, in the offspring of socially isolated dams, occurred in the absence of maternal elevated stress hormone levels, anxiety, or altered mothering. Some evidence suggested that maternal blood-glucose levels were altered particularly during gestation. Our results provide further support for the idea that learning and memory networks, centered on the amygdala and hippocampus are particularly susceptible to the negative impacts of maternal social isolation and these effects can occur without elevated glucocorticoid levels associated with other forms of prenatal stress.

Perceived Cognitive Deficits in Patients With Symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 and Their Association With Post-COVID-19 Condition.

Importance: Neuropsychiatric symptoms are common in acute SARS-CoV-2 infection and in post-COVID-19 condition (PCC; colloquially known as long COVID), but the association between early presenting neuropsychiatric symptoms and PCC is unknown. Objective: To describe the characteristics of patients with perceived cognitive deficits within the first 4 weeks of SARS-CoV-2 infection and the association of those deficits with PCC symptoms. Design, Setting, and Participants: This prospective cohort study was conducted from April 2020 to February 2021, with follow-up of 60 to 90 days. The cohort consisted of adults enrolled in the University of California, Los Angeles, SARS-CoV-2 Ambulatory Program who had a laboratory-confirmed symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection and were either hospitalized in a University of California, Los Angeles, hospital or one of 20 local health care facilities, or were outpatients referred by a primary care clinician. Data analysis was performed from March 2022 to February 2023. Exposure: Laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Main Outcomes and Measures: Patients responded to surveys that included questions about perceived cognitive deficits modified from the Perceived Deficits Questionnaire, Fifth Edition, (ie, trouble being organized, trouble concentrating, and forgetfulness) and symptoms of PCC at 30, 60, and 90 days after hospital discharge or initial laboratory-confirmed infection of SARS-CoV-2. Perceived cognitive deficits were scored on a scale from 0 to 4. Development of PCC was determined by patient self-report of persistent symptoms 60 or 90 days after initial SARS-CoV-2 infection or hospital discharge. Results: Of 1296 patients enrolled in the program, 766 (59.1%) (mean [SD] age, 60.0 [16.7] years; 399 men [52.1%]; 317 Hispanic/Latinx patients [41.4%]) completed the perceived cognitive deficit items at 30 days after hospital discharge or outpatient diagnosis. Of the 766 patients, 276 (36.1%) perceived a cognitive deficit, with 164 (21.4%) having a mean score of greater than 0 to 1.5 and 112 patients (14.6 %) having a mean score greater than 1.5. Prior cognitive difficulties (odds ratio [OR], 1.46; 95% CI, 1.16-1.83) and diagnosis of depressive disorder (OR, 1.51; 95% CI, 1.23-1.86) were associated with report of a perceived cognitive deficit. Patients reporting perceived cognitive deficits in the first 4 weeks of SARS-CoV-2 infection were more likely to report symptoms of PCC than those without perceived cognitive deficits (118 of 276 patients [42.8%] vs 105 of 490 patients [21.4%]; χ21, 38.9; P < .001). Adjusting for demographic and clinical factors, perceived cognitive deficits in the first 4 weeks of SARS-CoV-2 were associated with PCC symptoms (patients with a cognitive deficit score of >0 to 1.5: OR, 2.42; 95% CI, 1.62-3.60; patients with cognitive deficit score >1.5: OR, 2.97; 95% CI, 1.86-4.75) compared to patients who reported no perceived cognitive deficits. Conclusions and Relevance: These findings suggest that patient-reported perceived cognitive deficits in the first 4 weeks of SARS-CoV-2 infection are associated with PCC symptoms and that there may be an affective component to PCC in some patients. The underlying reasons for PCC merit additional exploration.

Objective and subjective cognition in survivors of COVID-19 one year after ICU discharge: the role of demographic, clinical, and emotional factors.

BACKGROUND: Intensive Care Unit (ICU) COVID-19 survivors may present long-term cognitive and emotional difficulties after hospital discharge. This study aims to characterize the neuropsychological dysfunction of COVID-19 survivors 12 months after ICU discharge, and to study whether the use of a measure of perceived cognitive deficit allows the detection of objective cognitive impairment. We also explore the relationship between demographic, clinical and emotional factors, and both objective and subjective cognitive deficits. METHODS: Critically ill COVID-19 survivors from two medical ICUs underwent cognitive and emotional assessment one year after discharge. The perception of cognitive deficit and emotional state was screened through self-rated questionnaires (Perceived Deficits Questionnaire, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and Davidson Trauma Scale), and a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation was carried out. Demographic and clinical data from ICU admission were collected retrospectively. RESULTS: Out of eighty participants included in the final analysis, 31.3% were women, 61.3% received mechanical ventilation and the median age of patients was 60.73 years. Objective cognitive impairment was observed in 30% of COVID-19 survivors. The worst performance was detected in executive functions, processing speed and recognition memory. Almost one in three patients manifested cognitive complaints, and 22.5%, 26.3% and 27.5% reported anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, respectively. No significant differences were found in the perception of cognitive deficit between patients with and without objective cognitive impairment. Gender and PTSD symptomatology were significantly associated with perceived cognitive deficit, and cognitive reserve with objective cognitive impairment. CONCLUSIONS: One-third of COVID-19 survivors suffered objective cognitive impairment with a frontal-subcortical dysfunction 12 months after ICU discharge. Emotional disturbances and perceived cognitive deficits were common. Female gender and PTSD symptoms emerged as predictive factors for perceiving worse cognitive performance. Cognitive reserve emerged as a protective factor for objective cognitive functioning. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04422444; June 9, 2021.

Cognitive and negative symptoms in schizophrenia with L-Carnosine adjuvant therapy - A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study.

The antioxidant L-Carnosine is reported to improve negative and cognitive symptoms in Schizophrenia. A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study was planned to study the effectiveness of adjuvant L-Carnosine therapy in patients with Schizophrenia. 100 eligible patients with predominant negative symptoms as measured by scale for assessment of negative symptoms (SANS total score ≥ 60) and Schizophrenia diagnosis (International Classification of Disorder-Tenth Edition, ICD-10) were recruited. They were randomly allocated to receive a fixed dose of either 400 mg L-Carnosine or identical placebo for 3 months and increased to 800 mg from 13th week till completion of study. Primary outcome measures assessed changes in SANS scores with L-Carnosine at 24 weeks compared to baseline, 4 and 12 weeks. Secondary outcome measures were done to assess the improvement in cognitive symptoms (executive function, attention, and memory) at 24 weeks using subtests of NIMHANS (National Institute for Mental Health and Neurosciences) cognitive battery. Side effects were assessed using adverse events reporting form. The attention scores (p = .023) showed significant differences in patients receiving 800 mg of L-Carnosine at the end of the study. There were no significant differences in negative symptoms in the two arms at study completion. L-Carnosine dosing of 800 mg may be a promising agent to enhance executive functions in Schizophrenia.

Maternal pandemic-related stress during pregnancy associates with infants' socio-cognitive development at 12 months: A longitudinal multi-centric study.

BACKGROUND: Prenatal maternal stress is a key risk factor for infants' development. Previous research has highlighted consequences for infants' socio-emotional and cognitive outcomes, but less is known for what regards socio-cognitive development. In this study, we report on the effects of maternal prenatal stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic on 12-month-old infants' behavioral markers of socio-cognitive development. METHODS: Ninety infants and their mothers provided complete longitudinal data from birth to 12 months. At birth, mothers reported on pandemic-related stress during pregnancy. At infants' 12-month-age, a remote mother-infant interaction was videotaped: after an initial 2-min face-to-face episode, the experimenter remotely played a series of four auditory stimuli (2 human and 2 non-human sounds). The auditory stimuli sequence was counterbalanced among participants and each sound was repeated three times every 10 seconds (Exposure, 30 seconds) while mothers were instructed not to interact with their infants and to display a neutral still-face expression. Infants' orienting, communication, and pointing toward the auditory source was coded micro-analytically and a socio-cognitive score (SCS) was obtained by means of a principal component analysis. RESULTS: Infants equally oriented to human and non-human auditory stimuli. All infants oriented toward the sound during the Exposure episode, 80% exhibited any communication directed to the auditory source, and 48% showed at least one pointing toward the sound. Mothers who reported greater prenatal pandemic-related stress had infants with higher probability of showing no communication, t = 2.14 (p = .035), or pointing, t = 1.93 (p = .057). A significant and negative linear association was found between maternal prenatal pandemic-related stress and infants' SCS at 12 months, R2 = .07 (p = .010), while adjusting for potential confounders. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that prenatal maternal stress during the COVID-19 pandemic might have increased the risk of an altered socio-cognitive development in infants as assessed through an observational paradigm at 12 months. Special preventive attention should be devoted to infants born during the pandemic.

Effects of EEG burst suppression on cerebral oxygen metabolism and postoperative cognitive function in elderly surgical patients: A randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: This randomized clinical trial determined the effects of electroencephalographic burst suppression on cerebral oxygen metabolism and postoperative cognitive function in elderly surgical patients. METHODS: The patients were placed into burst suppression (BS) and non-burst suppression (NBS) groups. All patients were under bispectral index monitoring of an etomidate target-controlled infusion for anesthesia induction and intraoperative combination sevoflurane and remifentanil for anesthesia maintenance. The cerebral oxygen extraction ratio (CERO2), jugular bulb venous saturation (SjvO2), and difference in arteriovenous oxygen (Da-jvO2) were measured at T0, T1, and T2. One day before surgery, and 1, 3, and 7 days after surgery, postoperative cognitive dysfunction was assessed using the mini-mental state examination (MMSE). RESULTS: Compared with T0, the Da-jvO2 and CERO2 values were decreased, and SjvO2 was increased in the 2 groups at T1 and T2 (P < .05). There was no statistical difference in the SjvO2, Da-jvO2, and CERO2 values between T1 and T2. Compared with the NBS group, the SjvO2 value increased, and the Da-jvO2 and CERO2 values decreased at T1 and T2 in the BS group (P < .05). The MMSE scores on the 1st and 3rd days postoperatively were significantly lower in the 2 groups compared to the preoperative MMSE scores (P < .05). The MMSE scores of the NBS group were higher than the BS group on the 1st and 3rd days postoperatively (P < .05). CONCLUSION: In elderly patients undergoing surgery, intraoperative BS significantly reduced cerebral oxygen metabolism, which temporarily affected postoperative neurocognitive function.

The Different Roles of Structural and Cognitive Social Capital on Oral Health-Related Quality of Life among Adolescents.

This study evaluated the relationship of structural and cognitive dimensions of social capital with oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) among adolescents. This was a cross-sectional study nested in a cohort of adolescents from southern Brazil. OHRQoL was evaluated using the short version of the Child Perceptions Questionnaire 11-14 (CPQ11-14). Structural social capital was measured by attendance of religious meetings and social networks from friends and neighbours. Cognitive social capital was evaluated through trust in friends and neighbours, perception of relationships in the neighbourhood, and social support during hard times. Multilevel Poisson regression analysis was performed to estimate the association between social capital dimensions and overall CPQ11-14 scores; higher scores corresponded to worse OHRQoL. The sample comprised 429 adolescents with a mean age of 12 years. Adolescents who attended religious meetings less than once a month or never presented higher overall CPQ11-14 scores. Adolescents who did not trust their friends and neighbours, those who believe that their neighbours did not have good relationships, and those reporting no support during hard times also presented higher overall CPQ11-14 scores. OHRQoL was poorer in individuals who presented lower structural and cognitive social capital, with the greatest impact related to the cognitive dimension.

Does cognitive function impairment affect the duration of hospitalization and in-hospital mortality in geriatric patients hospitalized for COVID-19?

AIMS: To assess the effect of cognitive function, performance of activities of daily living (ADLs), degree of depression, and fear of infection among geriatric patients hospitalized in internal medicine wards for COVID-19 on the duration of hospitalization and in-hospital mortality. METHODS: This observational survey study was conducted during the second, third, and fourth waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study included elderly patients of both sexes, aged ≥ 65 years, hospitalized for COVID-19 in internal medicine wards. The following survey tools were used: AMTS, FCV-19S, Lawton IADL, Katz ADL, and GDS15. The duration of hospitalization and in-hospital mortality were also assessed. RESULTS: A total of 219 patients were included in the study. The results showed that impaired cognitive function in geriatric patients (AMTS) was associated with higher in-hospital mortality among COVID-19 patients. There was no statistical significance between fear of infection (FCV-19S) and risk of death. The impaired ability to perform complex ADLs (Lawton IADL) before the onset of the disease was not associated with higher in-hospital mortality among COVID-19 patients. The diminished ability to perform basic ADLs (Katz ADL) before the onset of the disease was not associated with higher in-hospital mortality in COVID-19. The degree of depression (GDS15) was not associated with higher in-hospital mortality in COVID-19 patients. Statistically, significantly better survival was observed for patients with normal cognitive function (p = 0.005). No statistically significant differences in survival were observed in relation to the degree of depression or independence in performing ADLs. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis showed a statistically significant effect of age on mortality (p = 0.004, HR 1.07). CONCLUSION: In this study, we observe that cognitive function impairments and the older age of patients treated for COVID-19 in the medical ward increase the in-hospital risk of death.

Validation of the Attitude Scale on Prospective Teachers' Perceptions of the Consequences on Their Psychological State: Well-Being and Cognition.

The aim of this study was to analyse the validated psychometric characteristics of the "Scale of Attitudes towards New Post-Pandemic Scenarios" (SANPS) tool using a short version on Perceptions of Future Teachers towards the New Post-Pandemic Educational Scenarios; describe the attitudes of future teachers towards motivation, collaboration, and emerging active pedagogies; and determine the internal consistency and reliability of the tool. The design structure of the instrument consists of the following three latent factors, which were obtained through an exploratory factor analysis (EFA): empowerment/motivation, autonomy/situated learning and emerging digital pedagogies. The questionnaire was administered to a sample of 966 participants. In the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), a previous hypothesis was established regarding the relationship of the factors and their number and nature, specifying the number of factors and the way in which the variables are related to each other. The 66.53% of total variance was explained. The reliability, calculated with Cronbach's alpha, reached a global value of over 0.90 (α = 0.94). This valid and reliable questionnaire, which incorporates a dimension that measures the transfer of learning in hybrid and multimodal models of digital ecosystems in Higher Education, can be applied in the evaluation of online education processes.

Cognitive impairment in young adults with post COVID-19 syndrome.

In this study, we aimed to examine different cognitive domains in a large sample of patients with post COVID-19 syndrome. Two hundred and fourteen patients, 85.04% women, ranged 26 to 64 years (mean = 47.48 years) took part in this investigation. Patients' processing speed, attention, executive functions and various language modalities were examined online using a comprehensive task protocol designed for this research. Alteration in some of the tasks was observed in 85% of the participants, being the attention and executive functions tests the ones that show the highest percentage of patients with severe impairment. Positive correlations were observed between the age of the participants in almost all the tasks assessed, implying better performance and milder impairment with increasing age. In the comparisons of patients according to age, the oldest patients were found to maintain their cognitive functions relatively preserved, with only a mild impairment in attention and speed processing, while the youngest showed the most marked and heterogeneous cognitive impairment. These results confirm the subjective complaints in patients with post COVID-19 syndrome and, thanks to the large sample size, allow us to observe the effect of patient age on performance, an effect never reported before in patients with these characteristics.

Effects of Cognitive Appraisals on Perceived Self-Efficacy and Distress during the COVID-19 Lockdown: An Empirical Analysis Based on Structural Equation Modeling.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, individuals and households had to responsibly manage the difficulties and problems caused by the restrictions on their mobility, such as the interruptions to work schedules, insecure food supplies, and the procurement of services and health care. The perceptions of risk as well as the fear of disease were strongly linked to worry, defined as a sequence of thoughts that evoke negative emotions and elevated levels of anxiety and distress. This study evaluated how different cognitive appraisals of an individual's sources of worry could influence their perceived self-efficacy and directly or indirectly moderate their perceived general distress. A sample of 544 participants completed a survey that included questions based on the generalized self-efficacy scale, the sources of concern during the epidemic, the cognitive appraisal scale in emergency, and perceived discomfort. Subsequently, a structural-equation-modeling (SEM) analysis was performed to test the moderating role of cognitive appraisals and perceived self-efficacy on participants' overall distress during a lockdown. Overall, the model reported acceptable fit values and confirmed the hypotheses of the study. An individual's worries activated either a dysfunctional threat appraisal, which prompted a fear-and-closure response that then increased their overall state of distress; or two other functional appraisals (i.e., adaptive or supportive) that contributed to significantly improving the individual's self-efficacy. Higher self-efficacy was shown to be associated with lower levels of perceived distress. For the purposes of prevention and distress containment, it would be appropriate to promote psycho-educational interventions that promote the adoption of appraisal strategies that are functional and beneficial for perceived self-efficacy.

In-person versus virtual administration of the American College of Rheumatology gold standard cognitive battery in systemic lupus erythematosus: Are they interchangeable?

OBJECTIVE: During the COVID-19 pandemic, many research studies were adapted, including our longitudinal study examining cognitive impairment (CI) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Cognitive testing was switched from in-person to virtual. This analysis aimed to determine if the administration method (in-person vs. virtual) of the ACR-neuropsychological battery (ACR-NB) affected participant cognitive performance and classification. METHODS: Data from our multi-visit, SLE CI study included demographic, clinical, and psychiatric characteristics, and the modified ACR-NB. Three analyses were undertaken for cognitive performance: (1) all visits, (2) non-CI group visits only and (3) intra-individual comparisons. A retrospective preferences questionnaire was given to participants who completed the ACR-NB both in-person and virtually. RESULTS: We analysed 328 SLE participants who had 801 visits (696 in-person and 105 virtual). Demographic, clinical, and psychiatric characteristics were comparable except for ethnicity, anxiety and disease-related damage. Across all three comparisons, six tests were consistently statistically significantly different. CI classification changed in 11/71 (15%) participants. 45% of participants preferred the virtual administration method and 33% preferred in-person. CONCLUSIONS: Of the 19 tests in the ACR-NB, we identified one or more problems with eight (42%) tests when moving from in-person to virtual administration. As the use of virtual cognitive testing will likely increase, these issues need to be addressed - potentially by validating a virtual version of the ACR-NB. Until then, caution must be taken when directly comparing virtual to in-person test results. If future studies use a mixed administration approach, this should be accounted for during analysis.

Subjective impacts of computerized cognitive training for healthy older adults in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Computerized cognitive training programs may have benefited the self-assessment of memory, quality of life, and mood among older adults during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. OBJECTIVE: To determine the subjective impacts of computerized cognitive training on mood, frequency of forgetfulness, memory complaints, and quality of life in the elderly using an online platform. METHODS: In total, 66 elderly participants of USP 60 + , a program for the elderly offered by Universidade de São Paulo, who voluntarily enrolled in the study were selected and randomized with an allocation ratio of 1:1 into 2 groups: the training group (n = 33) and the control group (n = 33). After signing the free and informed consent form, they answered a protocol which included a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Memory Complaints Questionnaire (MAC-Q), the McNair and Kahn's Frequency of Forgetfulness Scale, the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15), the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI), and the Control, Autonomy, Self-Realization, and Pleasure (CASP-19) questionnaire. The training cognitive game platform aimed to stimulate various cognitive aspects, including memory, attention, language, executive functions (reasoning, logical thinking), and visual and spatial skills. RESULTS: The participants of the training group showed a reduction in the MAC-Q, MacNair and Kahn, and GAI scores in the pre- and posttest comparison. Significant differences were identified between the groups regarding the total scores of the MAC-Q in the post-test, which was also evidenced by the logistic regression. CONCLUSION: Participation in a computerized cognitive intervention promoted reductions in memory complaints, frequency of forgetfulness, and anxiety symptoms, in addition to improving self-reported quality of life.

ANTECEDENTES: Programas informatizados de treinamento cognitivo podem ter beneficiado a autoavaliação da memória, a qualidade de vida e o humor entre os idosos durante a pandemia de doença do coronavírus 2019 (coronavirus disease 2019, COVID-19, em inglês). OBJETIVO: Determinar os impactos subjetivos do treinamento cognitivo computadorizado no humor, na frequência de esquecimento, nas queixas de memória, e na qualidade de vida em idosos utilizando uma plataforma online. MéTODOS: Ao todo, 66 idosos participantes do programa USP 60 + , oferecido à terceira idade pela Universidade de São Paulo, e inscritos voluntariamente no estudo, foram selecionados e randomizados em uma razão de 1:1 em 2 grupos: grupo treinamento (n = 33) e grupo controle (n = 33). Após assinarem o termo de consentimento livre e esclarecido, os participantes responderam a um protocolo que incluía um questionário sociodemográfico, o Questionário de Queixas de Memória (Memory Complaints Questionnaire, MAC-Q), A Escala de Frequência de Esquecimento de McNair e Kahn, a Escala de Depressão Geriátrica (Geriatric Depression Scale, GDS-15), o Inventário de Ansiedade Geriátrica (Geriatric Anxiety Inventory, GAI), e ­o questionário de Controle, Autonomia, Autorrealização e Prazer (Control, Autonomy, Self-Realization, and Pleasure, CASP-19). A plataforma de jogos cognitivos de treinamento visou estimular diversos aspectos cognitivos, incluindo memória, atenção, linguagem, funções executivas (raciocínio, raciocínio lógico) e habilidades visuais e espaciais. RESULTADOS: Na comparação pré e pós-teste, os participantes do grupo de treinamento apresentaram redução nas pontuações do MAC-Q, da escala McNair e Kahn e do GAI. Diferenças significativas entre os grupos quanto às pontuações totais da escala MAC-Q no pós-teste também foram evidenciadas pela regressão logística. CONCLUSãO: A participação em uma intervenção cognitiva computadorizada promoveu reduções nas queixas de memória, frequência de esquecimento e sintomas de ansiedade, além de melhorar a qualidade de vida autorrelatada.