BACKGROUND Cognitive tests are known to be influenced by language, culture and education. In addition, there may be an impact of 'epoch' in cognition, because there is secular increase in scores of IQ tests in children. If we assume this is a long lasting process, then it should persist later in life. METHODS To test this hypothesis, we compared the performance of two cohorts of individuals (...

The goal of the current project was to determine (a) the cognitive abilities assessed by the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE; M. F. Folstein, S. E. Folstein, & P. R. McHugh, 1975), (b) whether the same abilities are associated with MMSE performance among people of different ages, and (c) whether the same abilities are involved in changes within the same people over time. The authors therefo...

Aims and method To investigate medical students' performance at and perceptions of the mental state examination (MSE) at a medical school with a modern integrated curriculum. We undertook an evaluative case study comprising a survey and analysis of performance data. The study is presented in two parts: part 1 discusses the students' perceptions of the MSE and the teaching, learning and practisi...

A 25-year-old man was found to have a large right adrenal mass detected by abdominal echography and computed tomography, and presented with a mild gynecomastia. Endocrine study showed increased serum concentrations and urinary excretion of estrogens and dehydroepiandorosterone sulfate (DHEA-S). The patient had no Cushingoid features but autonomous cortisol secretion, compatible with the diagnos...

OBJECTIVE To report the percentile distribution of Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores in older people by age, sex, and education level, estimated from longitudinal data, after correcting for loss due to dropout. METHODS The Cambridge City over 75 Cohort is a population-based study of a cohort of 2106 subjects age 75 years and older at study entry followed up over 9 years. At each of ...

Introduction: PCOS is an important reproductive and endocrine disorder in women in the reproductive age. Present reports indicate that Vitex agnus-castus acts through hypothalamus-pituitary axis. This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of Vitex fruit hydroalcoholic extract on the alteration of sex hormones in a PCOS animal model. Methods: Following 14 days of monitoring of estrous...

BACKGROUND The mini-mental state examination (MMSE) was adapted by individual countries according to their languages and cultures, though it has not been systematically compared. The objective of this study was to compare the linguistic and cultural variations of the MMSE used in various Asian countries. With this, we can analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the MMSE and consider using a com...

OBJECTIVE To investigate homocysteine levels in Alzheimer`s disease and its relationship with the severity of disease. METHODS This investigation was performed as a case-control study on 40 Alzheimer patients and 40 non-Alzheimer patients in Tabriz, Iran from May 2006 to September 2007. Alzheimer patients were selected based on the criteria of the American Psychological Association. The sever...