Over the last few years, numerous studies have attempted to explain fluency impairments in people with schizophrenia, leading to heterogeneous results. This could notably be due to the fact that fluency is often used in its verbal form where semantic dimensions are implied. In order to gain an in-depth understanding of fluency deficits, a non-verbal fluency task - the Five-Point Test (5PT) - wa...

Objectives. Aging is the major risk factor for Alzheimer Disease (AD) and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). The aim of this study was to identify novel modifications of brain functional connectivity in MCI patients. MCI individuals were compared to healthy elderly subjects. Methods. We enrolled 37 subjects (age range 60-80 y.o.). Of these, 13 subjects were affected by MCI and 24 were age-matched...

OBJECTIVE To explore the effects of Dance Therapy (DT) and Traditional Rehabilitation (TR) on both motor and cognitive domains in Parkinson's Disease patients (PD) with postural instability. METHODS Sixteen PD patients with recent history of falls were divided in two groups (Dance Therapy, DT and Traditional Rehabilitation, TR); nine patients received 1-hour DT classes twice per week, complet...

Aim of this study was to evaluate depressive symptoms in a semi-intensive Stroke Unit (SI-SU) by a scale specifically devised to assess depression in patients with stroke and to identify the symptoms better contributing to the early detection of post stroke depression (PSD). Fifty-four patients admitted to a SI-SU because of suffering from single, first-ever hemispheric stroke were enrolled. De...

Bipolar disorder is characterized by affective episodes in the mania-depression spectrum. Ninety per cent of the cases have an onset before age 50. In the patients with late onset mania, white matter hyperintensities (WMH) may be seen in the MRI FLAIR sequence, although these are of uncertain significance. A case-control study was done, including patients with late onset mania attended at the N...

BACKGROUND Patients living in squalor have a wide range of psychiatric diagnoses, but these may have a common neural basis involving frontal systems. This study investigated frontal executive function, theory of mind, emotional processing including disgust, and appreciation of squalor in elderly patients found living in squalor. METHODS Six patients referred to an old age psychiatry service u...

OBJECTIVE To establish whether alterations of brain structures in Alzheimer's disease are associated with executive dysfunction. METHODS Nineteen patients with Alzheimer's disease and 22 older control subjects underwent a comprehensive evaluation. The clock drawing test, digit span test, executive motor function test, Behavioral Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome battery (Rule Shift Card...

OBJECTIVE The existing screening batteries assessing multiple neuropsychological functions are not specific to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients and are limited to their physical dysfunctions, whereas category cognitive tests are too time-consuming to assess all the domains. The Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS) was recently developed as a fast and easy cognitive ...

Seven hundred seventy-nine infants were screened at 4 months of age for motor and emotional reactivity. At age 9 months, infants who showed extreme patterns of motor and negative (n = 75) or motor and positive (n = 73) reactivity and an unselected control group (n = 86) were administered the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery, and baseline electroencephalogram data were collected. Negati...

Despite a widespread concern with self-determined motivation (behavior is engaged in "out of pleasure" or "out of choice and valued as being important") and psychological adjustment in later life (well-being, satisfaction in life, meaning of life, or self-esteem), very little is known about the existence and nature of the links between self-determined motivation and cognitive efficiency. The ai...