Severe developmental topographical disorientation associated with ADHD and dyscalculia: A case report.

We report the clinical case of AB, a right-handed 19-year-old woman who presents severe developmental topographical disorientation, a relatively rare syndrome, leading to difficulties in navigating in familiar (and novel) environments. This symptomatology appears without acquired cerebral damage (MRI described as normal) nor more global cognitive disability (high degree of education achieved). An extensive assessment of spatial cognition with different aspects of underlying cognitive processes is first presented. Second, the patient's preserved cognitive abilities and her major difficulties in calculation, as well as her attention deficit, as seen in a detailed neuropsychological assessment, are reported. For the first time to our knowledge, we show that developmental topographical disorientation can be associated with other developmental cognitive disorders affecting number processing (dyscalculia) and attention (Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)). We discuss the links between these different cognitive processes in relation to visuo-spatial working memory and magnitude representation, which could represent common denominators for all these syndromes. This case report highlights the importance of thoroughly assessing potentially associated neurocognitive disorders in developmental topographical disorientation. In addition, it highlights the necessity to keep in mind the prevalence of spatial difficulties in the assessment of children and adolescents with other neurodevelopmental syndromes. Finally, this case study raises a new question about the nosology of developmental disorders affecting the visuo-spatial and spatial domains.

Benton judgment of line orientation test: Examination of four short forms.

Objective: This multicenter retrospective study aimed at examining the clinical accuracy of four 15-item versions (Woodard's O and E; Quall's Q and S) of the original 30-item Benton judgment of line orientation test in a mixed clinical sample of 260 patients. It is a test frequently used as a measure of visuospatial processing. It has the advantage of requiring minimal motor skills, while a major weakness is the lengthy administration time.Method: An archival search was conducted within four in- and out-patient clinics. The frequency and magnitude of score differences were calculated to examine the equivalence of the short forms. We then checked the clinical accuracy of the short forms concerning classification of impaired, borderline, and non-impaired performance, according to NEURONORMA norms. After that, we calculated sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and kappa coefficients to assess the classification outcome of the short versions compared to the long version, when using a dichotomous classification (impaired versus intact performance).Results: When applying NEURONORMA norms, specificity (99.1%), PPV (93.1%), and kappa coefficient (0.87) were highest for version E. NPV (99.4%) and sensitivity (95.5%) were highest for version S, but the PPV of this version was relatively low (67.7%).Conclusions: We suggest use of version E when a short test is needed, as specificity, kappa coefficient, and PPV are highest for this version, while maintaining a high NPV (97.8%). However, future research should develop new normative data for these short 15-item versions.

French translation and normation of the Parkinson Neuropsychometric Dementia Assessment (PANDA).

INTRODUCTION: Cognitive impairment and depressive symptoms caused by Parkinson's disease (PD) are often underestimated in routine clinical practice, partly due to the lack of short screening tests. The "Parkinson Neuropsychometric Dementia Assessment" (PANDA) is a new convenient tool, validated in German, to assess cognition in PD. It consists of five cognitive tasks and a brief mood questionnaire, and is designed for the early detection of mild cognitive deficits as well as dementia. AIMS: To translate the PANDA into French and provide normative data for a French speaking population. METHODS: The translation was made by means of the translation/re-translation method. The normation was conducted with 61 control subjects (CS). The Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) was administered concurrently. A comparison was made with the original study's control group (CG) to determine whether the German algorithms for converting the raw scores could also be used with the French version or whether a new procedure had to be developed. All statistics were conducted with SPSS Statistics18. RESULTS: There is a significant correlation between the PANDA total score and MMSE (r=0.42, p=0.001). Analysis of the total converted scores shows no significant correlation with age (r=-0.19; p=0.14). After correction for education, there is no significant difference between our CS and the original study's CG (t=1.50; p=0.14). CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that the PANDA French translation can be used with the same transformation algorithms as the German version, when adding a correction for education.