Neuropsychological changes following the neurosurgical treatment of normal pressure hydrocephalus.

Extracranial shunting of cerebrospinal fluid is a well-known neurosurgical procedure for the treatment of normal pressure hydrocephalus. Research indicating reasonable success using this technique has been based primarily on subjective and global neurosurgical opinion. Given that the treatment carries morbidity risks, and that decisions to shunt are related to increasing adaptive functioning, attention must be paid to adequate measurement of surgical outcome. As part of a larger study, we report pre and postsurgical neuropsychological, neuroradiological, and clinical data on hydrocephalic patients, as well as presurgical intracranial pressure data. Prior to shunting, increase in ventricular dilatation and cerebral atrophy were associated with decreased cognitive functioning, gait disturbance, and bladder dysfunction. Following shunting, there were significant improvements in neuropsychological functioning in terms of attention, concentration, verbal and nonverbal memory, language and communication skills, and constructional skills, as well as clinical improvement in gait and bladder functioning. Improvement was related to presurgical dilatation of the temporal horns of the lateral ventricles and mental status, particularly memory functions.

A review of the Personal Orientation Dimensions Inventory.

The Personal Orientation Dimensions Inventory is considered to be an extension and refinement of the concepts measured by the Personal Orientation Inventory. Changes include the elimination of item overlap, an increase in the number of scales and items in the inventory as well as a new theoretical perspective. Significant difficulties still appear to exist in the areas of test construction, theoretical justification, and interpretation. Moreover, the new inventory creates new problems concerning cost for scoring, failure to generate significant amounts of research, as well as a potential loss of relatedness to old research.

Data discrepancies in the Personal Orientation Inventory Manual.

The Personal Orientation Inventory Manual appears to contain a number of errors specifically related to the calculation of the scores for the time ratio and support ratio. Some are of a relatively minor nature, but several are important because they are directly related to the standards whereby individuals are classified as self-actualized, normal, or nonself-actualized. Although part of the discrepancy seems to be due to the number of questions left unanswered by subjects, this does not account for the total difference. At present, it is unclear why the inconsistencies exist.

Visual effects of auditory deprivation: common intermodal and intramodal factors.

Visual temporal acuity, as measured by the critical flicker frequency decreased and then increased during 24 hours of auditory deprivation. This intermodal effect is similar to intramodal changes in the critical flicker frequency of the nonoccluded eye during monocular deprivation; a single mechanism appears to underlie both phenomena.