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T1 image is a widely collected imaging sequence in various neuroimaging datasets, but it is rarely used to construct an individual-level brain network. In this study, a novel individualized radiomics-based structural similarity network was proposed from T1 images. In detail, it used voxel-based morphometry to obtain the preprocessed gray matter images, and radiomic features were then extracted on each region of interest in Brainnetome atlas, and an individualized radiomics-based structural similarity network was finally built using the correlational values of radiomic features between any pair of regions of interest. After that, the network characteristics of individualized radiomics-based structural similarity network were assessed, including graph theory attributes, test-retest reliability, and individual identification ability (fingerprinting). At last, two representative applications for individualized radiomics-based structural similarity network, namely mild cognitive impairment subtype discrimination and fluid intelligence prediction, were exemplified and compared with some other networks on large open-source datasets. The results revealed that the individualized radiomics-based structural similarity network displays remarkable network characteristics and exhibits advantageous performances in mild cognitive impairment subtype discrimination and fluid intelligence prediction. In summary, the individualized radiomics-based structural similarity network provides a distinctive, reliable, and informative individualized structural brain network, which can be combined with other networks such as resting-state functional connectivity for various phenotypic and clinical applications.
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Encéfalo , Radiômica , Reprodutibilidade dos Testes , Encéfalo/diagnóstico por imagem , Substância Cinzenta/diagnóstico por imagem , NeuroimagemRESUMO
Important recent advances in the cognitive neuroscience of language have been made using functional localizers to demarcate language-selective regions in individual brains. Although single-subject localizers offer insights that are unavailable in classic group analyses, they require additional scan time that imposes costs on investigators and participants. In particular, the unique practical challenges of scanning children and other special populations has led to less adoption of localizers for neuroimaging research with these theoretically and clinically important groups. Here, we examined how measurements of the spatial extent and functional response profiles of language regions are affected by the duration of an auditory language localizer. We compared how parametrically smaller amounts of data collected from one scanning session affected (i) consistency of group-level whole-brain parcellations, (ii) functional selectivity of subject-level activation in individually defined functional regions of interest (fROIs), (iii) sensitivity and specificity of subject-level whole-brain and fROI activation, and (iv) test-retest reliability of subject-level whole-brain and fROI activation. For many of these metrics, the localizer duration could be reduced by 50-75% while preserving the stability and reliability of both the spatial extent and functional response profiles of language areas. These results indicate that, for most measures relevant to cognitive neuroimaging studies, the brain's language network can be localized just as effectively with 3.5 min of scan time as it can with 12 min. Minimizing the time required to reliably localize the brain's language network allows more effective localizer use in situations where each minute of scan time is particularly precious.
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Mapeamento Encefálico , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética , Criança , Humanos , Mapeamento Encefálico/métodos , Reprodutibilidade dos Testes , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética/métodos , Encéfalo/diagnóstico por imagem , Encéfalo/fisiologia , IdiomaRESUMO
Morphological features sourced from structural magnetic resonance imaging can be used to infer human brain connectivity. Although integrating different morphological features may theoretically be beneficial for obtaining more precise morphological connectivity networks (MCNs), the empirical evidence to support this supposition is scarce. Moreover, the incorporation of different morphological features remains an open question. In this study, we proposed a method to construct cortical MCNs based on multiple morphological features. Specifically, we adopted a multi-dimensional kernel density estimation algorithm to fit regional joint probability distributions (PDs) from different combinations of four morphological features, and estimated inter-regional similarity in the joint PDs via Jensen-Shannon divergence. We evaluated the method by comparing the resultant MCNs with those built based on different single morphological features in terms of topological organization, test-retest reliability, biological plausibility, and behavioral and cognitive relevance. We found that, compared to MCNs built based on different single morphological features, MCNs derived from multiple morphological features displayed less segregated, but more integrated network architecture and different hubs, had higher test-retest reliability, encompassed larger proportions of inter-hemispheric edges and edges between brain regions within the same cytoarchitectonic class, and explained more inter-individual variance in behavior and cognition. These findings were largely reproducible when different brain atlases were used for cortical parcellation. Further analysis of macaque MCNs revealed weak, but significant correlations with axonal connectivity from tract-tracing, independent of the number of morphological features. Altogether, this paper proposes a new method for integrating different morphological features, which will be beneficial for constructing MCNs.
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Córtex Cerebral , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética , Rede Nervosa , Humanos , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética/métodos , Masculino , Feminino , Córtex Cerebral/diagnóstico por imagem , Córtex Cerebral/anatomia & histologia , Adulto , Rede Nervosa/diagnóstico por imagem , Rede Nervosa/anatomia & histologia , Conectoma/métodos , Algoritmos , Adulto Jovem , Processamento de Imagem Assistida por Computador/métodos , Mapeamento Encefálico/métodosRESUMO
The human brain is organized as a complex, hierarchical network. However, the structural covariance patterns among brain regions and the underlying biological substrates of such covariance networks remain to be clarified. The present study proposed a novel individualized structural covariance network termed voxel-based texture similarity networks (vTSNs) based on 76 refined voxel-based textural features derived from structural magnetic resonance images. Validated in three independent longitudinal healthy cohorts (40, 23, and 60 healthy participants, respectively) with two common brain atlases, we found that the vTSN could robustly resolve inter-subject variability with high test-retest reliability. In contrast to the regional-based texture similarity networks (rTSNs) that calculate radiomic features based on region-of-interest information, vTSNs had higher inter- and intra-subject variability ratios and test-retest reliability in connectivity strength and network topological properties. Moreover, the Spearman correlation indicated a stronger association of the gene expression similarity network (GESN) with vTSNs than with rTSNs (vTSN: r = 0.600, rTSN: r = 0.433, z = 39.784, P < 0.001). Hierarchical clustering identified 3 vTSN subnets with differential association patterns with 13 coexpression modules, 16 neurotransmitters, 7 electrophysiology, 4 metabolism, and 2 large-scale structural and 4 functional organization maps. Moreover, these subnets had unique biological hierarchical organization from the subcortex-limbic system to the ventral neocortex and then to the dorsal neocortex. Based on 424 unrelated, qualified healthy subjects from the Human Connectome Project, we found that vTSNs could sensitively represent sex differences, especially for connections in the subcortex-limbic system and between the subcortex-limbic system and the ventral neocortex. Moreover, a multivariate variance component model revealed that vTSNs could explain a significant proportion of inter-subject behavioral variance in cognition (80.0 %) and motor functions (63.4 %). Finally, using 494 healthy adults (aged 19-80 years old) from the Southwest University Adult Lifespan Dataset, the Spearman correlation identified a significant association between aging and vTSN strength, especially within the subcortex-limbic system and between the subcortex-limbic system and the dorsal neocortex. In summary, our proposed vTSN is robust in uncovering individual variability and neurobiological brain processes, which can serve as biologically plausible measures for linking biological processes and human behavior.
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Encéfalo , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética , Humanos , Masculino , Feminino , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética/métodos , Adulto , Encéfalo/diagnóstico por imagem , Encéfalo/anatomia & histologia , Encéfalo/fisiologia , Adulto Jovem , Ontologias Biológicas , Rede Nervosa/diagnóstico por imagem , Rede Nervosa/fisiologia , Rede Nervosa/anatomia & histologia , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Conectoma/métodos , Reprodutibilidade dos Testes , IdosoRESUMO
While there is growing interest in the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging-functional connectivity (fMRI-FC) for biomarker research, low measurement reliability of conventional acquisitions may limit applications. Factors known to impact FC reliability include scan length, head motion, signal properties, such as temporal signal-to-noise ratio (tSNR), and the acquisition state or task. As tasks impact signal in a region-wise fashion, they likely impact FC reliability differently across the brain, making task an important decision in study design. Here, we use the densely sampled Midnight Scan Club (MSC) dataset, comprising 5 h of rest and 6 h of task fMRI data in 10 healthy adults, to investigate regional effects of tasks on FC reliability. We further considered how BOLD signal properties contributing to tSNR, that is, temporal mean signal (tMean) and temporal standard deviation (tSD), vary across the brain, associate with FC reliability, and are modulated by tasks. We found that, relative to rest, tasks enhanced FC reliability and increased tSD for specific task-engaged regions. However, FC signal variability and reliability is broadly dampened during tasks outside task-engaged regions. From our analyses, we observed signal variability was the strongest driver of FC reliability. Overall, our findings suggest that the choice of task can have an important impact on reliability and should be considered in relation to maximizing reliability in networks of interest as part of study design.
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Encéfalo , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética , Adulto , Humanos , Reprodutibilidade dos Testes , Encéfalo/diagnóstico por imagem , Mapeamento Encefálico , Razão Sinal-RuídoRESUMO
The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is used to assess decision-making in clinical populations. The original IGT does not disambiguate reward and punishment learning; however, an adaptation of the task, the "play-or-pass" IGT, was developed to better distinguish between reward and punishment learning. We evaluated the test-retest reliability of measures of reward and punishment learning from the play-or-pass IGT and examined associations with self-reported measures of reward/punishment sensitivity and internalizing symptoms. Participants completed the task across two sessions, and we calculated mean-level differences and rank-order stability of behavioral measures across the two sessions using traditional scoring, involving session-wide choice proportions, and computational modeling, involving estimates of different aspects of trial-level learning. Measures using both approaches were reliable; however, computational modeling provided more insights regarding between-session changes in performance, and how performance related to self-reported measures of reward/punishment sensitivity and internalizing symptoms. Our results show promise in using the play-or-pass IGT to assess decision-making; however, further work is still necessary to validate the play-or-pass IGT.
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Tomada de Decisões , Jogo de Azar , Testes Neuropsicológicos , Punição , Recompensa , Humanos , Masculino , Feminino , Adulto Jovem , Tomada de Decisões/fisiologia , Adulto , Reprodutibilidade dos Testes , Testes Neuropsicológicos/normas , Adolescente , Aprendizagem/fisiologiaRESUMO
PURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate the potential of 3D EPI for improving the reliability of T 2 * $$ {\mathrm{T}}_2^{\ast } $$ -weighted data and quantification of R 2 * $$ {\mathrm{R}}_2^{\ast } $$ decay rate and susceptibility (χ) compared with conventional gradient-echo (GRE)-based acquisition. METHODS: Eight healthy subjects in a wide age range were recruited. Each subject received repeated scans for both GRE and EPI acquisitions with an isotropic 1 mm resolution at 3 T. Maps of R 2 * $$ {\mathrm{R}}_2^{\ast } $$ and χ were quantified, and their interscan differences were used to evaluate the test-retest reliability. Interprotocol differences of R 2 * $$ {\mathrm{R}}_2^{\ast } $$ and χ between GRE and EPI were also measured voxel by voxel and in selected regions of interest to test the consistency between the two acquisition methods. RESULTS: The quantifications of R 2 * $$ {\mathrm{R}}_2^{\ast } $$ and χ using EPI protocols showed increased test-retest reliability with higher EPI factors up to 5 as performed in the experiment and were consistent with those based on GRE. CONCLUSION: The result suggests that multishot multi-echo 3D EPI can be a useful alternative acquisition method for T 2 * $$ {\mathrm{T}}_2^{\ast } $$ -weighted MRI and quantification of R 2 * $$ {\mathrm{R}}_2^{\ast } $$ and χ with reduced scan time, improved test-retest reliability, and similar accuracy compared with commonly used 3D GRE.
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Imagem Ecoplanar , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética , Humanos , Imagem Ecoplanar/métodos , Reprodutibilidade dos Testes , Voluntários SaudáveisRESUMO
Electroencephalogram (EEG) microstate analysis entails finding dynamics of quasi-stable and generally recurrent discrete states in multichannel EEG time series data and relating properties of the estimated state-transition dynamics to observables such as cognition and behavior. While microstate analysis has been widely employed to analyze EEG data, its use remains less prevalent in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data, largely due to the slower timescale of such data. In the present study, we extend various data clustering methods used in EEG microstate analysis to resting-state fMRI data from healthy humans to extract their state-transition dynamics. We show that the quality of clustering is on par with that for various microstate analyses of EEG data. We then develop a method for examining test-retest reliability of the discrete-state transition dynamics between fMRI sessions and show that the within-participant test-retest reliability is higher than between-participant test-retest reliability for different indices of state-transition dynamics, different networks, and different data sets. This result suggests that state-transition dynamics analysis of fMRI data could discriminate between different individuals and is a promising tool for performing fingerprinting analysis of individuals.
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Cognição , Eletroencefalografia , Humanos , Reprodutibilidade dos Testes , Fatores de TempoRESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To compare the test-retest reliabilities and minimal detectable change (MDC) of the Short Portable Mental State Questionnaire (SPMSQ) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in patients with stroke. METHODS: 63 patients were recruited from 1 medical center. The SPMSQ and MoCA were administered twice, 2 weeks apart. RESULTS: Both measures showed high intraclass correlation coefficients (SPMSQ: 0.87; MoCA: 0.89) and acceptable MDC%s (SPMSQ: 14.8%; MoCA: 19.6%). A small correlation (r = 0.30) was found between the absolute difference and average in each pair of assessments in the SPMSQ, which was close to the criterion of heteroscedasticity. A small practice effect was observed in the MoCA (Cohen's d = 0.30). CONCLUSION: The SPMSQ demonstrated smaller random measurement error and an absence of practice effect. When comparing the psychometric properties of the SPMSQ and MoCA as outcome measures for assessing cognitive function in patients with stroke, the SPMSQ appears to be a more suitable choice than the MoCA.
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Test-retest reliability-establishing that measurements remain consistent across multiple testing sessions-is critical to measuring, understanding, and predicting individual differences in infant language development. However, previous attempts to establish measurement reliability in infant speech perception tasks are limited, and reliability of frequently used infant measures is largely unknown. The current study investigated the test-retest reliability of infants' preference for infant-directed speech over adult-directed speech in a large sample (N = 158) in the context of the ManyBabies1 collaborative research project. Labs were asked to bring in participating infants for a second appointment retesting infants on their preference for infant-directed speech. This approach allowed us to estimate test-retest reliability across three different methods used to investigate preferential listening in infancy: the head-turn preference procedure, central fixation, and eye-tracking. Overall, we found no consistent evidence of test-retest reliability in measures of infants' speech preference (overall r = 0.09, 95% CI [-0.06,0.25]). While increasing the number of trials that infants needed to contribute for inclusion in the analysis revealed a numeric growth in test-retest reliability, it also considerably reduced the study's effective sample size. Therefore, future research on infant development should take into account that not all experimental measures may be appropriate for assessing individual differences between infants. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: We assessed test-retest reliability of infants' preference for infant-directed over adult-directed speech in a large pre-registered sample (N = 158). There was no consistent evidence of test-retest reliability in measures of infants' speech preference. Applying stricter criteria for the inclusion of participants may lead to higher test-retest reliability, but at the cost of substantial decreases in sample size. Developmental research relying on stable individual differences should consider the underlying reliability of its measures.
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Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)-evoked electroencephalography (EEG) potentials (TEPs) provide unique insights into cortical excitability and connectivity. However, confounding EEG signals from auditory and somatosensory co-stimulation complicate TEP interpretation. Our optimized sham procedure established with TMS of primary motor cortex (Gordon in JAMA 245:118708, 2021) differentiates direct cortical EEG responses to TMS from those caused by peripheral sensory inputs. Using this approach, this study aimed to investigate TEPs and their test-retest reliability when targeting regions outside the primary motor cortex, specifically the left angular gyrus, supplementary motor area, and medial prefrontal cortex. We conducted three identical TMS-EEG sessions one week apart involving 24 healthy participants. In each session, we targeted the three areas separately using a figure-of-eight TMS coil for active TMS, while a second coil away from the head produced auditory input for sham TMS. Masking noise and electric scalp stimulation were applied in both conditions to achieve matched EEG responses to peripheral sensory inputs. High test-retest reliability was observed in both conditions. However, reliability declined for the 'cleaned' TEPs, resulting from the subtraction of evoked EEG response to the sham TMS from those to the active, particularly for latencies > 100 ms following the TMS pulse. Significant EEG differences were found between active and sham TMS at latencies < 90 ms for all targeted areas, exhibiting distinct spatiotemporal characteristics specific to each target. In conclusion, our optimized sham procedure effectively reveals EEG responses to direct cortical activation by TMS in brain areas outside primary motor cortex. Moreover, we demonstrate the impact of peripheral sensory inputs on test-retest reliability of TMS-EEG responses.
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Córtex Motor , Estimulação Magnética Transcraniana , Humanos , Estimulação Magnética Transcraniana/métodos , Córtex Motor/fisiologia , Reprodutibilidade dos Testes , Eletroencefalografia/métodos , Potenciais Evocados/fisiologia , Potencial Evocado Motor/fisiologiaRESUMO
Despite the prevalence of research on single-subject cerebral morphological networks in recent years, whether they can offer a reliable way for multicentric studies remains largely unknown. Using two multicentric datasets of traveling subjects, this work systematically examined the inter-site test-retest (TRT) reliabilities of single-subject cerebral morphological networks, and further evaluated the effects of several key factors. We found that most graph-based network measures exhibited fair to excellent reliabilities regardless of different analytical pipelines. Nevertheless, the reliabilities were affected by choices of morphological index (fractal dimension > sulcal depth > gyrification index > cortical thickness), brain parcellation (high-resolution > low-resolution), thresholding method (proportional > absolute), and network type (binarized > weighted). For the factor of similarity measure, its effects depended on the thresholding method used (absolute: Kullback-Leibler divergence > Jensen-Shannon divergence; proportional: Jensen-Shannon divergence > Kullback-Leibler divergence). Furthermore, longer data acquisition intervals and different scanner software versions significantly reduced the reliabilities. Finally, we showed that inter-site reliabilities were significantly lower than intra-site reliabilities for single-subject cerebral morphological networks. Altogether, our findings propose single-subject cerebral morphological networks as a promising approach for multicentric human connectome studies, and offer recommendations on how to determine analytical pipelines and scanning protocols for obtaining reliable results.
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Conectoma , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética , Humanos , Reprodutibilidade dos Testes , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética/métodos , Encéfalo/anatomia & histologia , Conectoma/métodosRESUMO
Long-range dependence is a prevalent phenomenon in various biological systems that characterizes the long-memory effect of temporal fluctuations. While recent research suggests that functional magnetic resonance imaging signal has fractal property, it remains unknown about the multifractal long-range dependence pattern of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging signals. The current study adopted the multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis on highly sampled resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans to investigate long-range dependence profile associated with the whole-brain voxels as specific functional networks. Our findings revealed the long-range dependence's multifractal properties. Moreover, long-term persistent fluctuations are found for all stations with stronger persistency in whole-brain regions. Subsets with large fluctuations contribute more to the multifractal spectrum in the whole brain. Additionally, we found that the preprocessing with band-pass filtering provided significantly higher reliability for estimating long-range dependence. Our validation analysis confirmed that the optimal pipeline of long-range dependence analysis should include band-pass filtering and removal of daily temporal dependence. Furthermore, multifractal long-range dependence characteristics in healthy control and schizophrenia are different significantly. This work has provided an analytical pipeline for the multifractal long-range dependence in the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging signal. The findings suggest differential long-memory effects in the intrinsic functional networks, which may offer a neural marker finding for understanding brain function and pathology.
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Mapeamento Encefálico , Encéfalo , Humanos , Reprodutibilidade dos Testes , Encéfalo/diagnóstico por imagem , Mapeamento Encefálico/métodos , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética/métodosRESUMO
OBJECTIVES: This study aims to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy and reliability of a new, brief questionnaire, 'Brief Assessment of Impaired Cognition- Questionnaire' (BASIC-Q) for detection of cognitive impairment, primarily developed for use in primary care. BASIC-Q has three components: Self-report, Informant report, and Orientation. Self-report and Orientation are completed by the individual and Informant report is answered by a close relative. METHODS: We included 275 participants ≥ 70 years, without a prior diagnosis of dementia, and with a close relative who agreed to participate as an informant. Participants were included prospectively in 14 general practices in urban and rural Denmark using a convenience sampling method. The Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS), the informant-completed Functional Activities Questionnaire (FAQ) and reported memory concern were used as a reference standard for the classification of the participants' cognitive function. RESULTS: BASIC-Q demonstrated a fair to good diagnostic accuracy to differentiate between people with cognitive impairment and normal cognition with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.84 (95% CI 0.79-0.89) and a sensitivity and specificity of 0.80 (95% CI 0.72-0.87) and 0.71 (95% CI 0.63-0.78). A prorated BASIC-Q score derived from BASIC-Q without Informant report had significantly lower classification accuracy than the full BASIC-Q. The test-retest reliability of BASIC-Q was good with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.84. CONCLUSION: BASIC-Q is a brief, easy-to-use questionnaire for identification of cognitive impairment in older adults. It demonstrated fair to good classification accuracy in a general practice setting and can be a useful case-finding tool when suspecting dementia in primary health care.
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Disfunção Cognitiva , Demência , Humanos , Idoso , Demência/diagnóstico , Reprodutibilidade dos Testes , Disfunção Cognitiva/diagnóstico , Inquéritos e Questionários , Sensibilidade e Especificidade , Atenção Primária à Saúde , Testes NeuropsicológicosRESUMO
BACKGROUND: This paper aims to instigate discussion and publication of methodologies applied to enhance quality management through comprehensive scientific reports. It provides a detailed description of the design, implementation, and results of the quality control program employed in the SMESH study. METHODS: Cross-sectional, multicenter, national study designed to assess the prevalence of human papillomavirus in sex workers and in men who have sex with men (MSM). Respondent-driven sampling recruitment was used. An online system was developed for the study and checkpoints were defined for data entry. The system checked the quality of biological samples and performed a retest with part of the sample. RESULTS: A total of 1.598 participants (442 sex workers and 1.156 MSM) were included. Fifty-four health professionals were trained for face-to-face data collection. The retest showed Kappa values ranging between 0.3030 and 0.7663. CONCLUSION: The retest data were mostly classified as indicating a strong association. The data generated by the checkpoints showed the successful implementation of the quality control program.
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Infecções por Papillomavirus , Humanos , Estudos Transversais , Masculino , Infecções por Papillomavirus/prevenção & controle , Profissionais do Sexo/estatística & dados numéricos , Homossexualidade Masculina/estatística & dados numéricos , Adulto , Feminino , Controle de Qualidade , PrevalênciaRESUMO
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate whether consumer-grade mobile audio equipment can be reliably used as a platform for the notched-noise test, including when the test is conducted outside the laboratory. DESIGN: Two studies were conducted: Study 1 was a notched-noise masking experiment with three different setups: in a psychoacoustic test booth with a standard laboratory PC; in a psychoacoustic test booth with a mobile device; and in a quiet office room with a mobile device. Study 2 employed the same task as Study 1, but compared circumaural headphones to insert earphones. STUDY SAMPLE: Nine and ten young, normal-hearing participants completed studies 1 and 2, respectively. RESULTS: The test-retest accuracy of the notched-noise test on the mobile implementation did not differ from that for the laboratory setup. A possible effect of the earphone design was identified in Study 1, which was corroborated by Study 2, where test-retest variability was smallest when comparing results from experiments conducted using identical acoustic transducers. CONCLUSIONS: Results and test-retest repeatability comparable to standard laboratory settings for the notched-noise test can be obtained with mobile equipment outside the laboratory.
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Acústica , Ruído , Humanos , Ruído/efeitos adversos , Psicoacústica , Computadores de Mão , TransdutoresRESUMO
The present study aimed to establish test-retest reliability and investigate practice effects of the Mindmore cognitive assessment tool, a digital adaptation of traditional pencil and paper tests designed for self-administration. Additionally, normative change scores for the most frequently used tests were derived. A total of 149 healthy Swedish adults (aged 20-79) completed the test battery twice, 1 month apart. The battery assessed attention and processing speed, memory, language, visuospatial functions, and executive functions. Test-retest reliability, measured by ICC and Spearman coefficients, and practice effects were estimated for 22 main-scores and 33 sub-scores. Regression models were used to assess change in performance while controlling for demographics, computer equipment, testing location (online or in-laboratory) and baseline performance for 12 main-scores and nine sub-scores. Test-retest reliability was good for 11 main-scores (≥0.70), satisfactory for five (0.60-0.69), and minimal for six (<0.60) albeit three having satisfactory sub-scores. Practice effects were observed for tests with a major speed component, but not for reaction time, sustained attention, verbal memory and naming (alternate forms), nor visuospatial functions. Trackpad negatively influenced change for one test. Demographics and testing location did not significantly affect the change scores. Our study provides support for test-retest reliability and practice effects of the Mindmore cognitive assessment tool which were comparable to those of traditional tests. These findings, together with the normative change scores, can aid researchers and clinicians in interpreting test results and distinguishing between normal variations in performance and changes indicative of clinical impairment.
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BACKGROUND: To date, there is no consensus on how to standardize the assessment of ototoxicity in serial measurements. For the diagnosis of damage to the cochlear amplifier, measurement methods are required that have the highest possible test-retest reliability and validity for detecting persistent damage. Estimated distortion-product thresholds (LEDPT) based on short-pulse distortion-product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) level maps use individually optimal DPOAE stimulus levels and allow reliable quantitative estimation of cochlea-related hearing loss. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Hearing thresholds were estimated objectively using LEDPT and subjectively using modified Békésy tracking audiometry (LTA). Recordings were performed seven times within three months at 14 frequencies (f2â¯= 1-14â¯kHz) in 20 ears (PTA4 (0.5-4â¯kHz) <â¯20â¯dB HL). Reconstruction of the DPOAE growth behavior as a function of the stimulus levels L1, L2 was performed on the basis of 21 DPOAE amplitudes. A numerical fit of a nonlinear mathematical function to the three-dimensional DPOAE growth function yielded LEDPT for each stimulus frequency. For the combined analysis, probability distributions of hearing thresholds (LTA, LEDPT), DPOAE levels (LDP), and combinations thereof were determined. RESULTS: LTA and LEDPT each exhibited a test-retest reliability with a median of absolute differences (AD) of 3.2â¯dB and 3.3â¯dB, respectively. Combining LEDPT, LDP, and LTA into a single parameter yielded a significantly smaller median AD of 2.0â¯dB. CONCLUSION: It is expected that an analysis paradigm based on a combination of LEDPT, suprathreshold LDP, and fine-structure-reduced LTA would achieve higher test performance (sensitivity and specificity), allowing reliable detection of pathological or regenerative changes in the outer hair cells.
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BACKGROUND: To date, there is no consensus on how to standardize the assessment of ototoxicity in serial measurements. For the diagnosis of damage to the cochlear amplifier, measurement methods are required that have the highest possible test-retest reliability and validity for detecting persistent damage. Estimated distortion-product thresholds (LEDPT) based on short-pulse distortion-product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) level maps use individually optimal DPOAE stimulus levels and allow reliable quantitative estimation of cochlea-related hearing loss. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Hearing thresholds were estimated objectively using LEDPT and subjectively using modified Békésy tracking audiometry (LTA). Recordings were performed seven times within three months at 14 frequencies (f2â¯= 1-14â¯kHz) in 20 ears (PTA4 (0.5-4â¯kHz) <â¯20â¯dB HL). Reconstruction of the DPOAE growth behavior as a function of the stimulus levels L1, L2 was performed on the basis of 21 DPOAE amplitudes. A numerical fit of a nonlinear mathematical function to the three-dimensional DPOAE growth function yielded LEDPT for each stimulus frequency. For the combined analysis, probability distributions of hearing thresholds (LTA, LEDPT), DPOAE levels (LDP), and combinations thereof were determined. RESULTS: LTA and LEDPT each exhibited a test-retest reliability with a median of absolute differences (AD) of 3.2â¯dB and 3.3â¯dB, respectively. Combining LEDPT, LDP, and LTA into a single parameter yielded a significantly smaller median AD of 2.0â¯dB. CONCLUSION: It is expected that an analysis paradigm based on a combination of LEDPT, suprathreshold LDP, and fine-structure-reduced LTA would achieve higher test performance (sensitivity and specificity), allowing reliable detection of pathological or regenerative changes in the outer hair cells.
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Limiar Auditivo , Emissões Otoacústicas Espontâneas , Sensibilidade e Especificidade , Humanos , Limiar Auditivo/fisiologia , Emissões Otoacústicas Espontâneas/fisiologia , Reprodutibilidade dos Testes , Feminino , Masculino , Adulto , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Alemanha , Idoso , Adulto Jovem , Perda Auditiva/diagnóstico , Perda Auditiva/fisiopatologiaRESUMO
The flanker task (Eriksen & Eriksen, Perception & Psychophysics, 16(1), 143-149, 1974) has been highly influential and widely used in studies of visual attention. Its simplicity has made it popular to include it in experimental software packages and online platforms. The spacing flanker task (SFT), in which the distance between the target and flankers varies, is useful for studying the distribution of attention across space as well as inhibitory control. Use of the SFT requires that the viewing environment (e.g., stimulus size and viewing distance) be controlled, which is a challenge for online delivery. We implement and evaluate an online version of the SFT that includes two calibration pretests to provide the necessary control. Test-retest and split-half reliability of the online version was compared with a laboratory version on measures of inhibitory control and measures of the distribution of attention across space. Analyses show that the online SFT is comparable to laboratory testing on all measures. Results also identify two measures with good test-retest reliability that hold promise for studying performance in the SFT: the mean flanker effect (ICC = 0.745) and RTs on incongruent trials across distances (ICC = 0.65-0.71).