Neuropsychological comparisons of Spanish-speaking participants from the U.S.-Mexico border region versus Spain.

Two samples of participants from the U.S.-Mexico Borderland (N = 185) versus Spain (N = 205) were compared on 16 Spanish-language neuropsychological measures. In most measures the two samples obtained similar results. There were some significant main effects of place of birth and some significant interactions between education and place of birth. Differences between the samples diminished with increasing levels of education. Within the Borderland sample, percent of life span spent in the U.S. and bilingual status were correlated with performance in some tests. Increased percent of life span spent in the U.S. was negatively correlated with performance on a Spanish word-generation task, and positively correlated with performance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Bilingual Borderland participants performed significantly better than monolingual speakers in learning a list of words. We suggest that the most likely causes for the observed interaction effects are documented regional differences in early SES-related nutrition, medical care, quality of educational experiences, and general socioeconomic conditions.

Neuropsychology with Spanish speakers: language use and proficiency issues for test development.

The practice of neuropsychological assessment with Spanish speakers is hampered by language inadequacy in test translations and adaptations. The authors advance some ideas on how such testing materials have made their way into our field and suggest some ways to minimize such problems in the future.

Long-term prognosis in surgically treated intracranial aneurysms. Part 1: Mortality.

A series of 265 consecutive cases of intracranial aneurysm were reviewed to assess mortality and its causes. Preoperative and postoperative factors were considered in isolation and in combination. The mortality rate was 20%. Postoperative generalized vasospasm was found to be the major cause of mortality. Advanced age, hypertension, and a poor neurological state at operation were associated with poor results. The study emphasizes the importance of considering variables in combination rather than singly in the assessment of prognosis.

Long-term prognosis in surgically treated intracranial aneurysms. Part 2: Morbidity.

An evaluation of long-term results following aneurysm surgery is presented. Five different outcome measures are used in a population of 204 survivors followed for a minimum of 18 months and a maximum of 5 1/2 years. The findings show that 1) results vary dependeing on the outcome measure used, and 2) outcome can be predicted with a considerable degree of accuracy using preoperative and early postoperative variables. The most important predictive factors were postoperative vasospasm, age, systemic blood pressure on admission, and preoperative neurological status. The results are compared with a control group.

Recovery curves in a visual search task.

A visual search task was administered to eighteen neurosurgical patients and fourteen control subjects on four occasions over a period of six months. Improvement occurred during the first five postoperative weeks but there was evidence of persistent impairment when patient performance was compared to control performance - the comparison makes use of a simple mathematical model.