Validity, Reliability and Normative Data of the Stroop Test Çapa Version. / Stroop Testi Çapa Formu’nun Geçerlik-Güvenirlik ve Norm Çalismasi.

OBJECTIVE: The Stroop test Çapa version does not have normative data, despite its extensive use in clinical and research settings to assess executive functions. The aim of the present study was to test the validity and reliability of the Stroop test Çapa version and to establish stratified normative data in individuals aged between 18-83 years. METHOD: The norm determination phase of the study included 541 healthy participants, stratified by age, education, and gender. The relative contributions of the demographic variables on the completion times of Stroop subtests were assessed with multiple linear regression analysis. The main effects of age, education and gender variables and of interactions between these on the completion times of subtests were investigated with 6x3x2 ANOVA design. In addition, the concurrent validity, test-retest reliability and internal consistency of the test were examined. RESULTS: Multiple linear regression models that included age and education accounted for 23-42% of the completion time variances of all subtests. In the factorial ANOVA, main effects, as well as interaction effects of age and education were found on all subtests. For all Stroop subtests, the completion times were the shortest for the individuals in the 18-29 age group with the highest education level and longest for the individuals in the 70-83 age group with the lowest education level. The test demonstrated acceptable internal consistency and high test-retest reliability. CONCLUSION: Normative data of the Stroop Test Çapa Version were provided for the assessment of executive functions in young and middleaged adults and elderly population.

Discrimination ability of the Short Test of Mental Status (STMS) compared to the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) in the spectrum of normal cognition, mild cognitive impairment, and probable Alzheimer's disease dementia: The Turkish standardization study.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to standardize the Short Test of Mental Status (STMS) in the general Turkish aging population and to find its discriminative ability along the continuum of normal cognition, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and probable Alzheimer's disease dementia (probable AD). METHOD: The sample was composed of 161 participants older than 50, of which 56 were cognitively normal (CN), 42 had MCI, and 63 had probable AD. STMS, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) were administered. RESULTS: The mean STMS score in healthy participants was 33.44. With a cutoff score of 32, STMS had a sensitivity of 81% and specificity of 74% to detect participants with MCI, whereas the MMSE did not have an optimal cutoff score to detect MCI. With a cutoff score of 24, STMS had a sensitivity of 88% and specificity of 86% to detect participants with dementia. With a cutoff score of 24, MMSE had a good sensitivity (92%) and specificity (84%), as well. STMS significantly and positively correlated with MMSE, and significantly but inversely correlated with CDR. Reliability of the STMS was good (alpha coefficient =.88). CONCLUSION: The results show that STMS is more sensitive than MMSE and can be used by clinicians to differentiate both normal cognition from MCI and MCI from probable AD.

Cognitive impairment in neuro-Behcet's disease and multiple sclerosis: a comparative study.

Both multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuro-Behcet's disease (NBD) can cause a cognitive dysfunction mainly involving the executive functions. We conducted this study to clarify the probable differential cognitive/behavioral profiles of MS and NBD. Twenty consecutive cases with parenchymal NBD (13 male, seven female), and 20 cases with MS (five male, 15 female) were evaluated. Both groups had a thorough neurological examination; an evaluation for Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite (MSFC), and Beck's Depression Scale; and a detailed neuropsychological evaluation masked to the diagnosis. Among the two groups, male/female ratio differed significantly while other demographic and clinical features were not different. In California Verbal Learning Test, both short- and long-term delayed recall and cued recognition were worse in neuro-Behcet's cases. They had impaired semantic clustering and increased false positives. Stroop Test was also more impaired in neuro-Behcet's cases. They needed significantly more trials to complete the first category of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and had a poorer total Frontal Behavioral Inventory Score. Our results suggest that neuro-Behcet's patients have a more severe "frontal"-executive dysfunction than MS patients.

Crossed aphasia in a dextral patient with logopenic/phonological variant of primary progressive aphasia.

BACKGROUND: Crossed aphasia is a rare phenomenon, with a prevalence of 1% to 2% among all right-handed patients. Two crossed aphasic patients with a nonfluent variant of primary progressive aphasia (PPA) have been reported previously. This report aims to document for the first time the occurrence of crossed logopenic progressive aphasia in a dextral patient. CASE REPORT: A 57-year-old monolingual housewife presented with word-finding difficulties. She was strongly right handed, had no clinical history for brain damage to the left hemisphere, and no left handers in her family history. Her language comprised simple, grammatically correct sentences with a fluctuating speech rate and intermittent word-finding pauses. Rare phonological errors were noted. Sentence repetition tasks showed impairments with grammatically complex sentences. Comprehension was intact as were writing and reading. The language disability remained isolated for 3 years. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging depicted somewhat asymmetrical atrophy of the parietal lobes (R>L), whereas single-photon-emitted computed tomographic imaging demonstrated hypoperfusion in the right parietal cortex, indicating right hemisphere dominance for language. CONCLUSIONS: This case report provides evidence that crossed PPA can present with a logopenic variant in addition to the nonfluent type demonstrated by others. Functional neuroimaging showed unexpected right-sided hypoperfusion in this case with only subtle structural brain asymmetry, implicating a reverse pattern of language dominance.