Digital Neuropsychological Assessment of Cognitive Functions in Patients with Epilepsy.

Introduction: Cognitive impairment often occurs secondary to epilepsy. This study aims to evaluate the cognitive functions of patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) by using the digital neuropsychological assessment. Methods: Seventy-nine patients diagnosed with IGE in the last 10 years in our clinic, who completed at least eight years of education were recruited. Participants who met the criteria were 36 individuals with IGE syndrome as well as 36 healthy individuals between the ages of 18-48. All volunteer participants were administered the standardized mini mental test (SMMT) and the Beck depression scale (BDS). For the neurocognitive assessment, participants completed five tasks in TestMyBrain digital neuropsychology test battery (TMB) which are TMB digit span, TMB choice reaction time test, TMB visual paired associates test, TMB matrix reasoning, and TMB digit symbol matching assessing a variety of cognitive domains. Results: IGE patients showed lower cognitive performance in attention, short-term memory, working memory, visual memory, episodic memory, cognitive processing speed, response selection/inhibition, fluid cognitive ability, and perceptual reasoning domains. The results show that IGE patients have cognitive dysfunction in many cognitive domains. Conclusion: IGE patients performed significantly worse outcomes in some tests of the TMB. In this study, it is aimed to emphasize the necessity of evaluating the cognitive aspects of epilepsy patients, which will be of great importance in their functionality, in addition to providing symptomatic treatment in order to control their seizures.

The effects of rasagiline on cognitive deficits in Parkinson's disease patients without dementia: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter study.

Cognitive impairment can occur at all stages of Parkinson's disease. Rasagiline is a selective monoamine oxidase type-B inhibitor that enhances central dopaminergic transmission. Dopamine is thought to be involved in certain cognitive processes such as working memory. We assessed the effects of rasagiline on cognitive deficits in cognitively impaired, nondemented patients with Parkinson's disease. This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled prospective study. Patients with Parkinson's disease receiving stable dopaminergic treatment were assigned to receive rasagiline 1 mg/day or placebo for 3 months. Patients were eligible if they had impairment in 2 of 4 cognitive domains (attention, executive functions, memory, visuospatial functions) in the screening neuropsychological tests, yet did not fulfill criteria for Parkinson's disease dementia. Fifty-five patients were randomized; 48 patients completed the study. Patients in the rasagiline group showed significant improvement in digit span-backward compared with the placebo group (P = .04), with trends favoring rasagiline in digit span total and digit-ordering tests. Verbal fluency total score showed a significant difference in favor of rasagiline (P = .038), with trends favoring rasagiline in semantic fluency test and Stroop spontaneous corrections. The composite cognitive domain Z scores revealed a significant difference in favor of rasagiline compared with placebo in the attentional Z score (P < .005). There were no significant differences between the 2 groups in the other cognitive tests or cognitive domain Z scores. The monoamine oxidase type-B inhibitor rasagiline may exert beneficial effects on certain aspects of attention and executive functions in nondemented patients with Parkinson's disease with cognitive impairment.

Sleep problems in children with autism spectrum disorder: clinical correlates and the impact of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

PURPOSE: High prevalence of sleep problems has been reported in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, there is limited literature about the types and clinical correlates of sleep problems. This study aims to compare sleep disturbances between children with ASD and healthy children and investigate the relationship between sleep difficulties and clinical symptoms of ASD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The sample consisted of 112 children in ASD patient group and 112 healthy controls, with an age range of 2-18 years. The Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ) was used for sleep problems; Turgay DSM-IV Disruptive Behavior Disorders Rating Scale parent form (T-DSM-IV-S) was used to assess hyperactivity/impulsivity and inattentiveness; Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), Autism Behavior Checklist, and Aberrant Behavior Checklist were used to evaluate the severity of autistic symptoms and behav-ioral problems. RESULTS: Total score, bedtime resistance, and sleep anxiety subscores of CSHQ were significantly higher in children with ASD than the control group. Among ASD children, intellectual capacity was not found to be associated with CSHQ scores. Bedtime resistance and night waking sub-scores of CSHQ were found to be positively correlated with CARS total score. Inattentiveness subscore of Parent T-DSM-IV-S was significantly higher in children with moderate-to-severe sleep problems. CONCLUSION: Sleep difficulties in ASD patients may occur independently of intellectual disability. Bedtime resistance and night waking appear to be linked with ASD symptoms. Inattentiveness in ASD children may be associated with moderate-to-severe sleep problems.