Cognitive intervention for early stage dementia: Research and techniques.

Dementia is a growing world-wide phenomenon, impacting more than six million people in the United States. Despite its high projected prevalence, it is a significantly under-estimated phenomena, with estimates ranging from 15 to 25% of the current U.S. POPULATION: The effect of the aging of the population and significant increase in life expectancy has combined to catapult dementia into the range of one of world's most alarming healthcare problems. Diverse and emerging literature in the area of cognitive prevention/intervention for mild cognitive impairment (MCI)/early stage dementia will be reviewed. Additionally, future research and clinical directions will be explored.

Neuropsychological test performance of successful brain injury simulators.

This study provided an examination of the performance characteristics of successful brain injury simulators (SBIS). Coached (n = 56) and uncoached (n = 35) brain injury simulators received instructions to fake cognitive impairment; controls were asked to do their best. The Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM) was administered along with standard neuropsychological measures (e.g., Wisconsin Card Sorting Test). The TOMM identified 80% of uncoached and 60% of coached brain injury simulators. SBIS were participants from the brain injury simulation groups whose TOMM performance indicated adequate effort. A total of 32% of all brain injury simulators scored above the TOMM cutoff scores for adequate effort (the SBIS group). Significantly more coached than uncoached participants composed the SBIS group (76% vs. 24%, respectively). SBIS performed significantly worse than controls and significantly better than unsuccessful brain injury simulators on select standard neuropsychological measures. The SBIS scores were lowered compared to controls; in some instances this lowered performance was at a clinically relevant level.