The role of semantic memory in the recognition of emotional valence conveyed by written words.

The main goal of this study was to examine the role of semantic memory in the recognition of emotional valence conveyed by words. Eight participants presenting with the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (svPPA) and 33 healthy control participants were administered three tasks designed to investigate the formal association between the recognition of emotional valence conveyed by words and the lexical and semantic processing of these words. Results revealed that individuals with svPPA showed deficits in the recognition of negative emotional valence conveyed by words. Moreover, results evidenced that their performance in the recognition of emotional valence was better for correctly than for incorrectly retrieved lexical entries of words, while their performance was comparable for words that were correctly or incorrectly associated with semantic concepts. These results suggest that the recognition of emotional valence conveyed by words relies on the retrieval of lexical, but not semantic, representations of words.

Naming unique entities in the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia and Alzheimer's disease: Towards a better understanding of the semantic impairment.

While the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (svPPA) is characterized by a predominant semantic memory impairment, episodic memory impairments are the clinical hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, AD patients also present with semantic deficits, which are more severe for semantically unique entities (e.g. a famous person) than for common concepts (e.g. a beaver). Previous studies in these patient populations have largely focused on famous-person naming. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate if these impairments also extend to other semantically unique entities such as famous places and famous logos. In this study, 13 AD patients, 9 svPPA patients, and 12 cognitively unimpaired elderly subjects (CTRL) were tested with a picture-naming test of non-unique entities (Boston Naming Test) and three experimental tests of semantically unique entities assessing naming of famous persons, places, and logos. Both clinical groups were overall more impaired at naming semantically unique entities than non-unique entities. Naming impairments in AD and svPPA extended to the other types of semantically unique entities, since a CTRL>AD>svPPA pattern was found on the performance of all naming tests. Naming famous places and famous persons appeared to be most impaired in svPPA, and both specific and general semantic knowledge for these entities were affected in these patients. Although AD patients were most significantly impaired on famous-person naming, only their specific semantic knowledge was impaired, while general knowledge was preserved. Post-hoc neuroimaging analyses also showed that famous-person naming impairments in AD correlated with atrophy in the temporo-parietal junction, a region functionally associated with lexical access. In line with previous studies, svPPA patients' impairment in both naming and semantic knowledge suggest a more profound semantic impairment, while naming impairments in AD may arise to a greater extent from impaired lexical access, even though semantic impairment for specific knowledge is also present. These results highlight the critical importance of developing and using a variety of semantically-unique-entity naming tests in neuropsychological assessments of patients with neurodegenerative diseases, which may unveil different patterns of lexical-semantic deficits.

Production of morphologically derived words in the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia: preserved decomposition and composition but impaired validation.

Although there is growing interest in inflectional morphology in semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (svPPA), derivational morphology has rarely been studied in this population. This study reports the performance of N.G., a 72-year-old-woman with svPPA in a verb production task designed to entail morphological processing (composition, decomposition) and self-appraisal of her productions. N.G. demonstrated an over-reliance on morphological processing and failures in her appraisal of root/affix combinations that resulted in the production of morphological paraphasias and neologisms. Her performance in lexical decision of verbs and pseudo-verbs points to the involvement of semantic impairment in these difficulties.

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

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.

Improving verb anomia in the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia: the effectiveness of a semantic-phonological cueing treatment.

The semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (svPPA) is known to affect the comprehension and production of all content words, including verbs. However, studies of the treatment of anomia in this disorder focused on relearning object names only. This study reports treatment of verb anomia in an individual with svPPA. The semantic-phonological cueing therapy resulted in significant improvement in naming abilities, for treated verbs only. This case study demonstrates that improvement in verb-naming abilities may be possible in svPPA. The almost complete maintenance of the treatment's effects in the patient 4 weeks after the end of the therapy also suggests improvements may be durable, at least in the short term, for some individuals with svPPA.

Clinical Utility of Amyloid Imaging in a Complex Case of Corticobasal Syndrome Presenting with Psychiatric Symptoms.

Clinical indications of amyloid imaging in atypical dementia remain unclear. We report a 68-year-old female without past psychiatric history who was hospitalized for auditory hallucinations and persecutory delusions associated with cognitive and motor deficits. Although psychotic symptoms resolved with antipsychotic treatment, cognitive and motor impairments remained. She further showed severe visuoconstructive and executive deficits, ideomotor apraxia, elements of Gerstmann's syndrome, bilateral agraphesthesia and discrete asymmetric motor deficits. Blood tests were unremarkable. Structural brain imaging revealed diffuse fronto-temporo-parietal atrophy, which was most severe in the parietal regions. Meanwhile, FDG-PET suggested asymmetrical fronto-temporo-parietal hypometabolism, with sparing of the posterior cingulate gyrus. A diagnosis of possible corticobasal syndrome (CBS) was made. Amyloid-PET using the novel tracer NAV4694 was ordered, and revealed significant deposition of fibrillar amyloid (SUVR 2.05). The primary diagnosis was CBS with underlying Alzheimer pathology and treatment with a cholinesterase inhibitor was initiated. Determination of underlying pathological CBS subtype is not simple even when based on extensive investigation including clinical presentation, atrophy patterns on MRI, and regional hypometabolism on FDG-PET. By contrast, amyloid imaging quickly confirmed Alzheimer pathology, and allowed rapid initiation of treatment in this complex case with early psychiatric symptoms. This case study illustrates the clinical utility of amyloid imaging in the setting of atypical cases seen in a tertiary memory clinic.

Natural history of the long-term cognitive, affective, and physical sequelae of mild traumatic brain injury.

Mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) is associated with cognitive,affective, and physical sequelae. When symptoms persist for more than 3 months, a diagnosis of Post-Concussion Syndrome (PCS) is often given. The current study tracked symptom development to explore the natural sequelae of MTBI. Twenty-six MTBI patients received a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment at three intervals: within 1 week, at 4 months and at 7 months post-concussion. Based on DSMIV criteria and clinical judgment, two external raters diagnosed five MTBI participants with PCS. Results suggested that aspects of cognitive functioning of the symptomatic MTBI (i.e., PCS) participants were different from matched normal control (NC) subjects, and from the 21 MTBI patients who were asymptomatic, at 4 months. Asymptomatic MTBI participants improved in overall level of functioning from 4 to 7 months, but remained significantly different from NC participants in their reduced verbal fluency and working memory functioning.

Symptom cluster associated with mild traumatic brain injury in university students.

There is growing recognition that even a minor blow to the head can have serious consequences on physical, cognitive, behavioral, and social well-being. Previous studies have indicated that such changes may in turn have a dramatic effect on the ability of university students to carry out their studies. This survey measured the prevalence of mild traumatic brain injury in a nonclinical population of 1,075 university students from all disciplines. In addition to surveying the nature, cause, and sex distribution, it further investigated the relationships between the physical, cognitive, behavioral, and social repercussions of the incidents. Results replicated earlier findings and indicated a prevalence rate of mild traumatic brain injury of 34.9% (n = 375). Moreover, significant correlations were found among the physical, cognitive, behavioral, and social changes reported by the students, suggesting a cluster of symptoms associated with such incidents. Altogether, these results suggest that even currently enrolled and active university students may face unique and subtle challenges related to a mild traumatic brain injury.

Distinct contribution of the striatum and cerebellum to motor learning.

The striatum and cerebellum have been shown to be key structures of a distributed system for the control of skilled movements. However, the mechanisms under which they operate remain unclear. This study compared the performance of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) or with cerebellar damage (CE) to that of age-matched controls. Each group performed two visuomotor paradigms: a random variant of the serial reaction time (SRT) task that tested the subject's ability to make efficient stimulus-response associations and an adapted version of the mirror-tracing task that measured their capacity to combine simple movements into complex ones. PD patients with bilateral striatal damage showed an impaired learning profile on the SRT task and a normal facilitation effect in the tracing task, while CE patients showed the reverse pattern. Although further research is needed, the present findings suggest that the striatum and cerebellum are involved in distinct learning mechanisms.

Neuropsychiatric profile of a case of post traumatic stress disorder following an electric shock.

Exposure to extraordinary stressors or life-threatening events has been shown to result in negative cognitive, behavioural and emotional outcomes including the cluster of symptoms constituting Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This disorder has most often been studied in military veterans and victims of abuse who also show high rates of comorbid conditions. We report a case of PTSD following an electrical injury in a patient with no past psychiatric history. Implications for a full range of examinations including comprehensive neuropsychiatric testing are discussed. Results suggest that such approach addresses the complexity of a differential diagnosis between organic and psychiatric dysfunctions.

Aspects of melatonin manufacturing and requirements for a reliable active component.

Commercially available melatonin was found to contain impurities associated with eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS). From sample analysis, remarkable differences in impurity profiles between the active ingredient from various suppliers could be found. An industrial process was developed which guarantees a high purity melatonin active ingredient. All potential impurities have been characterized and synthetized for analytical conformity with pharmaceutical regulations. To avoid any side effects from impurities, only high-purity melatonin should be utilized from the laboratory through to commercialization.

[Psychodynamic approach to the addictive personality structure specific for alcohol and hard drugs]. / Réflexion psychodynamique. A propos d'une structure de personnalité toxicomaniaque spécifique à l'alcohol et aux drogues dures.

The overconsumption of psychotropic substances is a major problem for contemporary societies. In the USA, 14.1% of the population between the age 15 and 54 have experienced addiction problems to alcohol during their lives while as 7.5% are addicted for life to other drugs (cannabis, cocaine, stimulants, etc). Many studies report that excessive consumption of alcohol, with or without illegal drug use, is associated to social conditions favoring the development of psychological distress and isolation. Although there are many studies on the differences between personality traits of alcoholics and drug users, few authors have examined the possibility to bring to the fore a specificity between the personality structures of the alcoholic and the drug user from a psychodynamic approach. This exploratory review of literature, first presents studies already conducted in order to identify common or distinct personality features for these types of addition. This article then reviews psychodynamic writings examining the possibility of a structural organization that is specific to addiction. Finally, the authors propose a few thoughts allowing to postulate on the existence of a structural organization specific to these two types of addiction.

Role of the striatum, cerebellum and frontal lobes in the automatization of a repeated visuomotor sequence of movements.

Recently, Doyon et al. [20] demonstrated that lesions to both the striatum and to the cerebellum in humans produce a similar deficit in the learning of a repeated visuomotor sequence, which occurs late in the acquisition process. We now report the results of two experiments that were designed to examine whether this impairment was due to a lack of automatization of the repeating sequence of finger movements by using a dual-task paradigm and by testing for long-term retention of this skill. In Experiment 1, the performance of groups of patients with Parkinson's disease, or with damage to the cerebellum or to the frontal lobes, was compared to that of matched control subjects on the Repeated Sequence Test (primary task) and the Brooks' Matrices Test (secondary task). These two tests were administered concomitantly in both early and late learning phases of the visuomotor sequence. Overall, the groups did not differ in their ability to execute the primary task. By contrast, in accordance with the predictions, patients in Stages 2-3 of Parkinson's disease or with a cerebellar lesion failed to reveal the expected increase in performance on the secondary task seen with learning, suggesting that the latter groups of patients did not have access to the same level of residual cognitive resources to complete the matrices compared to controls. In Experiment 2, the same groups of patients and control subjects were retested again 10-18 months later. They were given four blocks of 100 trials each of the repeating sequence task, followed by a questionnaire and a self-generation task that measured their declarative knowledge of that sequence. The results revealed a long-term retention impairment only in patients who changed from Stage I to Stage II of the disease (suggesting further striatal degeneration) during the one-year interval, or who had a cerebellar lesion. By contrast, performance of the three clinical groups did not differ from controls on declarative memory tests. These findings suggest that both the striatum and the cerebellum participate to the automatization process during the late (slow) learning stage of a sequence of finger movements and that these structures also play a role in the neuronal mechanism subserving long-term retention of such a motor sequence behavior.

Role of the striatum, cerebellum, and frontal lobes in the learning of a visuomotor sequence.

This study was designed to examine the role of the striatum, cerebellum, and frontal lobes in the implicit learning of a visuomotor sequence. The performance of patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD), with damage to the cerebellum, or with a circumscribed lesion to the frontal lobes was thus compared to that of separate groups of matched normal control subjects on an adapted version of the Repeated Sequence Test. This paradigm consists of a visual reaction-time task with a fixed embedded sequence of finger movements to be performed based on presentation of visual stimuli. Subjects received four blocks of trials (i.e., 40 presentations of a 10-item sequence) per day over 6 training days. Following the last experimental session, subjects were also given two tests measuring their declarative knowledge of the sequence. Only PD patients with a bilateral striatal-dysfunction or patients with lesions to the cerebellum failed to improve their performance in the last three training sessions, hence suggesting an impairment late in the acquisition process. Further analyses revealed that such impairment was mainly implicit in nature, and that it could not be ascribed to a general decline in cognitive functioning, to mood disturbances, or to the severity of the motor symptoms. By contrast, the level of declarative knowledge of the sequence did not differ between the three clinical groups and their respective groups of normal subjects. These findings suggest that, unlike declarative memory, the incremental acquisition of a new visuomotor skill depends upon the integrity of both the striatum and the cerebellum, but not of the frontal lobes.