Subjective memory complaint only relates to verbal episodic memory performance in mild cognitive impairment.

BACKGROUND: A cognitive concern from the patient, informant, or clinician is required for the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI); however, the cognitive and neuroanatomical correlates of complaint are poorly understood. OBJECTIVE: We assessed how self-complaint relates to cognitive and neuroimaging measures in older adults with MCI. METHOD: MCI participants were drawn from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative and dichotomized into two groups based on the presence of self-reported memory complaint (no complaint n = 191, 77 ± 7 years; complaint n = 206, 73 ± 8 years). Cognitive outcomes included episodic memory, executive functioning, information processing speed, and language. Imaging outcomes included regional lobar volumes (frontal, parietal, temporal, cingulate) and specific medial temporal lobe structures (hippocampal volume, entorhinal cortex thickness, parahippocampal gyrus thickness). RESULTS: Linear regressions, adjusting for age, gender, race, education, Mini-Mental State Examination score, mood, and apolipoprotein E4 status, found that cognitive complaint related to immediate (ß = -1.07, p < 0.001) and delayed episodic memory performances assessed on a serial list learning task (ß = -1.06, p = 0.001) but no other cognitive measures or neuroimaging markers. CONCLUSIONS: Self-reported memory concern was unrelated to structural neuroimaging markers of atrophy and measures of information processing speed, executive functioning, or language. In contrast, subjective memory complaint related to objective verbal episodic learning performance. Future research is warranted to better understand the relation between cognitive complaint and surrogate markers of abnormal brain aging, including Alzheimer's disease, across the cognitive aging spectrum.

Military mental health: the role of daily hassles while deployed.

This study sought to identify factors contributing to symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in recently deployed combat veterans. A sample of 168 active duty military personnel completed measures of combat exposure, deployment-related daily hassles, depression symptoms, and PTSD symptoms at six time points across their deployment: predeployment and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months postdeployment. Mixed-effects linear modeling with repeated measures was used to identify factors associated with depression and PTSD severity over time. Postdeployment depression severity did not change over time, but PTSD severity decreased slightly over time after returning home. Postdeployment depression severity was predicted by past (but not recent) combat exposure, daily hassles, and concurrent PTSD symptoms. Postdeployment PTSD severity was predicted by past and recent combat exposure, concurrent depression symptoms, and male sex. Depression severity mediated the relationship between daily hassles and postdeployment PTSD severity.