RESUMO
Although neurologic Lyme disease is known to cause cognitive dysfunction in adults, little is known about its long-term sequelae in children. Twenty children with a history of new-onset cognitive complaints after Lyme disease were compared with 20 matched healthy control subjects. Each child was assessed with measures of cognition and psychopathology. Children with Lyme disease had significantly more cognitive and psychiatric disturbances. Cognitive deficits were still found after controlling for anxiety, depression, and fatigue. Lyme disease in children may be accompanied by long-term neuropsychiatric disturbances, resulting in psychosocial and academic impairments. Areas for further study are discussed.
Assuntos
Transtornos Cognitivos/diagnóstico , Doença de Lyme/diagnóstico , Neuroborreliose de Lyme/diagnóstico , Testes Neuropsicológicos , Adolescente , Criança , Doença Crônica , Transtornos Cognitivos/psicologia , Feminino , Humanos , Inteligência , Doença de Lyme/psicologia , Neuroborreliose de Lyme/psicologia , Masculino , Testes Neuropsicológicos/estatística & dados numéricos , Determinação da Personalidade , Psicometria , Valores de ReferênciaAssuntos
Eosinofilia/fisiopatologia , Doenças Musculares/fisiopatologia , Triptofano/efeitos adversos , Adulto , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Eosinofilia/induzido quimicamente , Eosinofilia/epidemiologia , Feminino , Seguimentos , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Doenças Musculares/induzido quimicamente , Doenças Musculares/epidemiologia , New York/epidemiologia , Dor/induzido quimicamente , Inquéritos e Questionários , SíndromeRESUMO
This study examined the effect of item concreteness on free recall and word finding ability in three groups: young adults, normal old adults, and individuals with senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type (SDAT). The results of Experiment 1 showed, in addition to an overall decline in recall across the three groups, an attenuation with normal aging of the memory advantage of concrete over abstract words. The SDAT group, however, did not show this attenuation. Experiment 2 compared word finding ability for concrete and abstract items. Word finding was significantly impaired in SDAT but not in normal aging. Furthermore, the SDAT group did much worse on the abstract items. This difficulty with the retrieval of abstract words can explain the unexpected concreteness effect in the SDAT group in Experiment 1. The attenuation of the concreteness effect was predicted on the basis of the communication hypothesis of age-related cognitive decline, which attributes age deficits to a breakdown of the memory network. The results are consistent with the reduced activation of information in this network.
Assuntos
Envelhecimento/psicologia , Doença de Alzheimer/psicologia , Memória , Rememoração Mental , Aprendizagem Verbal , Adolescente , Adulto , Fatores Etários , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Escalas de WechslerRESUMO
A key factor in the decline of memory with age may be a breakdown of communication in the information network involved in memory and cognitive processing. A special case of this communication is assumed to underlie the picture superiority effect in recall. From this hypothesis it follows that the picture superiority effect should lessen with age. In Experiment 1, three groups of adults (young, old normal, and old memory-impaired) were tested in free recall of pictures and word lists. As predicted, the picture superiority effect declined with age. Experiment 2 replicated these findings and showed, moreover, that the picture superiority effect can be reestablished in normal old adults by instructing them to verbalize overtly during item presentation.
