Online assessment of cognitive functioning across the adult lifespan using the eCOGTEL: a reliable alternative to laboratory testing.

As the population ages, risks for cognitive decline threaten independence and quality of life of older adults. Classically, psychological assessment tools that evaluate cognitive functioning are administered in face-to-face laboratory sessions, which are time- and resource-consuming. The present study set out to examine whether the eCOGTEL-an online adaptation of the Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument (COGTEL; Kliegel et al. in J Psychol 141(2):147-170, 2007)-represents a reliable measure of cognitive performance in adulthood. Therefore, an age-stratified adult lifespan sample of 253 participants (aged 19-86 years) completed a face-to-face assessment in the laboratory and a self-administered online version, at their homes. A second, independent sample of 176 younger adults (aged 19-30 years) performed a test-retest assessment of the eCOGTEL. Results showed strong correlations between overall cognitive scores assessed online and in the laboratory, as well as a high test-retest reliability. Further, comparable data distributions between both assessment modes underline the feasibility of the eCOGTEL across the adult lifespan and particularly in older age. Our findings thereby indicate that the eCOGTEL can reliably measure cognitive performance across the lifespan at reduced costs, which may help detecting individuals at risk of developing age-related cognitive decline. Due to these strengths, the eCOGTEL represents a valuable contemporary approach for the resource-efficient online assessment of cognition, which may benefit a broad array of fundamental and applied research fields, such as clinical and organizational psychology. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10433-021-00667-x.

Assessing posttraumatic stress disorder with the MMPI-2 in a sample of workplace accident victims.

In this study, the predictive capacity of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder-Keane (MMPI-2 PK) scale was examined in a sample of trauma victims who experienced a serious workplace-related accident and subsequent injury. In keeping with a number of previous investigations, the PK scale was largely ineffective in identifying posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) beyond overall symptom and functional severity. In contrast, sets of clinical and content scales proved to be significant predictors of PTSD. These findings suggest that the PK scale is not particularly useful in detecting PTSD in civilian trauma samples. Clinicians might be best advised to use the MMPI-2 clinical and content scales in their assessment of PTSD in civilian patients presenting with a history of trauma.

Kinetic evidence for differential agonist and antagonist binding to bovine hippocampal synaptic membrane opioid receptors.

To examine the kinetics of opioid receptor binding, the agonists [D-Ala2-D-Leu5]enkephalin (DADL) and [D-Ala2-MePhe4-Gly-ol5]enkephalin (DAGO) and the antagonists diprenorphine and naltrexone were used with bovine hippocampal synaptic plasma membranes. By computer modeling of equilibrium binding displacement curves utilizing the LIGAND program, we found opioid peptides bind with high affinity to single populations of synaptic plasma membranes receptors, whereas opiate alkaloids bind to multiple sites. Initial kinetic experiments revealed that agonist rates of association were radioligand concentration-independent. Pseudo first-order rate constants for DADL, DAGO, diprenorphine, and naltrexone association were estimated to be 5.63 X 10(5), 5.08 X 10(5), 4.60 X 10(6), and 2.3 X 10(6) mol-1 X s-1, respectively. After preincubation of 0.2-1 nM radioligand for variable time intervals, dissociation was initiated by addition of 1 microM unlabeled ligand. If saturation binding was achieved before dissociation was initiated, then nearly monophasic dissociation of DADL, DAGO, and diprenorphine and a biphasic off-rate for naltrexone were observed. When association times were reduced to pre-equilibrium intervals, the kinetics of dissociation of agonists became biphasic and association time-dependent, but that for antagonists did not change significantly. Comparisons by both graphical methods and computerized nonlinear regression analyses of rate constants revealed that the fraction of the rapid component of agonist dissociation decreases and that of the slow component is elevated with increasing receptor occupancy. In the presence of 100 mM NaCl, DADL dissociation became association time-independent. These data are consistent with the idea that the Na+ effect is brought about by a change of receptor to an antagonist-like conformation. On the basis of both association and dissociation kinetic data, opioid agonists appear to interact in a multistep process in which a rapid, reversible association is followed by the formation of a more tightly bound complex.