Relationships between the Nevada brief cognitive assessment instrument and the St. Louis University mental status examination in the assessment of disability applicants.

Mental status examinations of individuals applying for disability are most often authorized as "2-hour" evaluations and are to include a complete clinical and employment history, assessment of neurocognitive functions, an estimate of general level of intelligence, psychological and social adjustment, functional abilities, and a complete multipage report of the results. In the interest of meeting these demands we have been using the Nevada brief cognitive assessment instrument (NBCAI) to rapidly estimate verbal intelligence, and we have adopted the Saint Louis University Mental Status Examination (SLUMS) to investigate neurocognitive functions. Areas of correspondence and differences between these screens are presented along with an explanation of why execution of both screens could be useful in addressing psychological questions concerning disability. The two instruments failed to correlate significantly in a group of patients undergoing pre-surgical evaluation likely because this sample was more highly educated and more homogeneous than the sample of disability referrals. For example, although the ages of the samples were close (disability sample mean and standard deviation age: 43.88 and 11.35 years; pre-surgical sample mean and standard deviation age: 46.14 and 2.84 years), they differed considerably in level of education (disability sample mean and standard deviation: 11.03 and 2.15; pre-surgical mean and standard deviation: 15.22 and 2.84). The pre-surgical group had mean performances close to the ceiling levels of both instruments.

Approaches to the study of higher cognitive functions related to creativity in nonhuman animals.

Fundamental to creativity is prior knowledge and learning capability. One can be creative only to the extent that one's prior knowledge and learning abilities enable. Many of the mental functions of humans that are affected by neuropathology involve levels of learning ability that supercede those used by most animal researchers. Yet there is literature showing that there are similarities in structure and function in the cerebrum within class Mammalia and that nonhuman animals are capable of higher levels of learning than those typically studied by neuroscientists. Reviews of abstracts from the 2005 meeting of the Society for Neuroscience reveal that most neurobehavioral research with animals has involved relatively low levels of learning ability. Thomas's [R.K. Thomas, Brain, Behav. Evol. 17 (1980) 452-474.] hierarchy of learning abilities has been revised here to better include Learning Set Formation which is fundamental to most forms of higher learning. This paper summarizes both the rationale and the methodologies that might be used to assess the roles of neuroanatomical structures involved in the psychological processes that serve as the bases of creativity.

Topiramate attenuates a transient learning deficit after lesions inducing intracerebral hemorrhage.

28 male Long-Evans rats prepared with lesions of the middle cerebral artery displayed deficits in spatial navigational learning in a simple version of the Morris Water Maze task not seen in animals prepared with the same injury but administered 4 treatments with topiramate after surgery.

The MMPI-168(L) and ADD in assessing psychopathology in individuals with mental retardation: between and within instrument associations.

An abbreviated version of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, the MMPI-168(L), modified for use with clients who have moderate or mild mental retardation, was administered to 58 clients, most of whom had co-existing dual psychiatric diagnoses. Another recently developed instrument, the Assessment of Dual Diagnosis (ADD), was administered by interviewing a knowledgeable care giver. Correlations were examined among the raw scores on the 13 ADD scales and T scores of the 13 MMPI-168(L) scales. Contrary to expectations few correlations were found between the scales of the two instruments including scales purported to assess similar psychological constructs. The major exception was the Mania scale of the MMPI-168(L), which correlated moderately well with the Schizophrenia and Dementia scales of the ADD. Client age correlated strongly and negatively with scores on the Conduct Disorder and Sexual Disorder scales of the ADD. Finally, intra-instrument scale correlations were surprisingly large and, from a clinical and diagnostic perspective, meaningful. However, the large number of intra-instrument correlations showed that the scales of both instruments possess considerable overlap, which could make differential diagnosis problematic. It is suggested that it might be necessary to administer both instruments, and carefully consider behavioral history, to accurately diagnose psychiatric disturbances or personality characteristics of individuals with mental retardation.