ABSTRACT
The aim of this study is to provide a test that allows for evaluation of both semantic memory (SM) and episodic memory (EM). The study sought to examine psychometric characteristics of the Modified Dead-Alive Test (M-DAT) in patients with neurocognitive disorders and the healthy elderly (HE). The M-DAT consists of 45 names of celebrities who have died in the remote past (15), died in the last five years (15), and are still alive (15), and participants are asked whether they are alive or dead. The M-DAT performances of patients with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 (DSM-5) major neurocognitive disorder due to Alzheimer's Disease (MND-AD) (n = 69) and patients with minor neurocognitive disorder (MiND) (n = 27) who were admitted to a geriatric psychiatry clinic and healthy controls (HC) (n = 29) were compared. Age and level of education were taken as covariates, and an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed since the MND-AD group was older and less educated. The MND-AD group had lower performance in EM and SM scores of the M-DAT. M-DAT failed to differentiate between MiND and HE. Both subscale scores of the M-DAT were associated with other neuropsychological test performances as well as the level of education. The results suggest that M-DAT is a valid and reliable tool that examines both EM and SM performances. M-DAT is an alternative for the assessment of SM evaluated by verbal fluency or naming tests. Evaluating EM and SM together is an important advantage; however, M-DAT is influenced by education, and the items require updating.
ABSTRACT
Objective: Although impaired time perception is associated with significant disturbance in the everyday functioning of adult patients with Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), it is not very well studied. The present study aimed to evaluate both visual and auditory time reproduction (TR) by using eight time intervals in adult ADHD patients compared to healthy controls (HC).Method: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-R (WAIS-R), Adult Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder Self-Report Scale (ASRS), Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS), Hyperfocusing Scale (HS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and a 2-back task were administered to participants. In TR tasks, participants reproduced the same duration of the auditory/visual stimulus by pressing a key and absolute discrepancy scores (ADS) were calculated. A 2 (Group) x 2 (Task Modality) x 8 (Time Interval: 500, 1000, 2000, 4000, 6000, 8000, 12000 and 16000 msec) mixed-design ANOVA was performed.Results: All clinical scores of ADHD group were higher than HC (p < .001) while WAIS-R and 2-back performances of the groups were similar. Mixed-design ANOVA yielded significant Group and Time Interval main effects as well as a Group X Time Interval effect (both p < .001). ADHD patients had larger ADS than HC and as time intervals increased, error levels increased. Errors for time intervals >8000 msec were more prominent in patients. For both TR tasks, ASRS-hyperactivity/impulsivity scores were the main predictor of ADS in the linear regression analysis, while ASRS-attention deficit and HS scores were excluded.Conclusion: Results of the present study indicate significant TR impairment in adult ADHD regardless of task modality (visual or auditory), depressive symptoms and working memory performances. Longer time intervals in TR tasks differentiated patients better and TR impairment was associated with hyperactivity/impulsivity. These findings should be replicated in larger samples and underlying neurobiological components of impaired TR need to be examined in future research.
Subject(s)
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity , Time Perception , Adult , Humans , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Reproduction , Wechsler ScalesABSTRACT
Diabetes is a metabolic disorder characterized by hyperglycemia and impaired insulin secretion or action. Psychological comorbidities, such as depression and anxiety, are more common in people with diabetes. Exercise results in anxiolytic effects, as demonstrated in numerous studies. This study aims to evaluate potential anxiolytic effects of aerobic exercise in streptozotocin (STZ)induced diabetes. Male Wistar albino rats (n=40) were randomly divided into four groups of control, exercise, diabetes, and diabetes + exercise. Diabetes was induced with a single i.p. injection of STZ. The incremental load test was applied to exercise groups to determine maximal exercise capacity. Rats exercised on a treadmill at 70% of their maximal capacity for 45 min, five days per week for 12 weeks. On the day after the last exercise session the open field test and elevated plus maze test were carried out. Diabetes caused an increase in anxiety level, reflected in stretchattend posture, selfgrooming behaviors, and freezing time, with no significant changes for other behavioral parameters. Training normalized diabetesinduced deteriorations and also induced a significant anxiolytic effect both on diabetic and nondiabetic rats. This effect was observed for all behavioral parameters. The results of the open field test and elevated plus maze were consistent. The current results demonstrated a slight increase in anxiety with diabetes and a prominent anxiolytic effect of aerobic exercise. Considering the conflicting results in exerciseanxiety studies, this study hig hlights the importance of individually designed exercise protocols.
Subject(s)
Anti-Anxiety Agents/pharmacology , Anxiety/drug therapy , Behavior, Animal/drug effects , Streptozocin/pharmacology , Animals , Anxiety/chemically induced , Blood Glucose/drug effects , Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental/metabolism , Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental/physiopathology , Male , Motor Activity/drug effects , Physical Conditioning, Animal/methods , Rats, WistarABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is one of the most common anxiety disorders in older people. Although GAD in older adults seems to differ in many aspects like clinical presentation, severity and treatment response, there is a paucity of comparative research. AIMS: The aim of the study is to compare the clinical presentation of GAD between older and young adults. METHODS: One hundred and two non-demented older patients (age ≥65) and 64 young patients (age <45) who were diagnosed with GAD according to the DSM-IV-TR criteria were included to the study. Socio-demographic Data Form, the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Disorders-1 (SCID-1), the Questionnaire for the Suggested Behavioral Criteria of GAD for DSM-5, the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAM-D), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Severity Scale (GADSS) and the Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS) were applied to both groups. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Older GAD patients had more disturbances of sleep, less reassurance seeking behaviors, higher rates of depression and higher depression severity when compared to the young patients. Although older people seemed to have a lower severity of GAD, they had higher disability due to worries. Older patients worried more about their own health and family well-being, whereas young patients worried more about future and other's health.
Subject(s)
Anxiety Disorders/diagnosis , Adult , Age Factors , Aged , Anxiety Disorders/complications , Depression/complications , Depression/diagnosis , Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , Female , Humans , Male , Patient Health Questionnaire , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Severity of Illness Index , Surveys and Questionnaires , Symptom Assessment , Young AdultABSTRACT
Patients with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) suffer not only from inability to focus but also from inability to shift attention for events that trigger their interests. This phenomenon is called "hyperfocusing". Previous literature about hyperfocusing is scarce and relies mainly on case reports. The study aimed to investigate and compare the severity of hyperfocusing in adult ADHD with and without psycho-stimulant use. ADHD (DSM-IV-TR) patients either psycho-stimulant naive (n=53) or on psycho-stimulants (n=79) from two ADHD clinics were recruited. The control group (n=65) consisted of healthy university students. A socio-demographic form, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Wender-Utah Rating Scale, the Adult ADHD Self- Report Scale and the Hyperfocusing Scale were applied to the participants. There was no difference between total Hyperfocusing Scale and Adult ADHD Self- Report Scale scores of two patient groups, but both have higher scores than controls (p<0.001). Hyperfocusing is higher in adult ADHD and there was no difference between stimulant-naive patients or patients on stimulants. Hyperfocusing can be defined as a separate dimension of adult ADHD.
Subject(s)
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/physiopathology , Attention , Adolescent , Adult , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/drug therapy , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/psychology , Case-Control Studies , Central Nervous System Stimulants/therapeutic use , Female , Humans , Male , Methylphenidate/therapeutic use , Young AdultABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Hoarding behaviour, which is generally defined as collecting and keeping unnecessary, cheap objects or things that can not be used, is more common in elderly than young people. The prevelance of hoarding behaviour in dementia was reported as 22%. In this paper, three different types of dementia cases are presented in order to emphasize the clinical awareness for hoarding disorder, which is common in the elderly, especially those with dementia. CASES: The first case is a patient with a diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia who was collecting old things before the appearance of bahavioural changes like verbal and physical agitation. The second one is a patient who was admitted with complaints of forgetting, diagnosed as having Alzheimer's Disease and presented with paper hoarding behavior in his clinical follow-up. The last patient was presented with visual hallucinations, forgetting, collecting old things and depressive symptoms. He received a diagnosis of Lewy body dementia. DISCUSSION: It is prominent that all three different dementia cases hoarding behavior at early stages of dementia. It should be kept in mind that hoarding behavior which begins at late life might be a sign of dementia or it might appear in the dementia process.
Subject(s)
Dementia , Hoarding Disorder/psychology , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Diagnosis, Differential , Humans , Male , PsychometricsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the dimensions of agitation in dementia patients using the Turkish version of the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI-T). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 100 patients diagnosed as dementia, according to the DSM-IV-TR. The CMAI-T was administered to the patients' caregivers via face-to-face interviews. The Standardized Mini Mental State Examination (SMMSE) was used to assess cognitive functions. The severity of depression and the functional state of the patients were assessed using the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD) and the Functional Activities Questionnaire (FAQ). Principal component analysis and varimax rotation were used to determine the factor structure of the CMAI-T. RESULTS: Factor analysis of the CMAI-T indicated a 3-factor structure: physically aggressive agitation, verbal agitation, and physically non-aggressive agitation. In 92% of the patients there was ≥1 agitation behavior during the previous 2 weeks. The CMAI-T total and factor scores were negatively correlated with the SMMSE scores, and positively correlated with the CSDD and the FAQ scores. CONCLUSIONS: The CMAI-T yielded 3 factors (physically aggressive agitation, verbal agitation, and physically non-aggressive agitation), which indicated the scale had construct validity. Agitation behaviors were associated with cognitive dysfunction, symptoms of depression and general level of functioning. Additional research is necessary to identify the predictors of these dimensions in different dementia samples, and to determine the efficacy of therapeutic interventions.