Validity and norms for young adults for the Aggie Figures Learning Test.

The Aggie Figures Learning Test (AFLT) is a visual memory assessment tool, which was constructed as an analog to the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). Since the test holds close resemblance to the RAVLT, it is possible to make meaningful comparisons between these two tests. These comparisons are notably relevant in the assessment of material-specific memory impairments in epilepsy. However, the AFLT convergent validity has not yet been established. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to demonstrate the convergent validity of the AFLT and to provide norms for an adult population ranging from 18 to 58. METHOD: 140 healthy volunteers participated in the study. They ranged in age from 18 to 58 years, with 12 to 25 years of education. Subjects were assessed with a comprehensive neuropsychological battery which included the ALFT (A version) and the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF). RESULTS: Positive correlations were found between the scores of both tests for recent memory (r = 0.606, p < 0.01), delayed free recall (r = 0.534, p < 0.01) and recognition memory (r = 0.202, p < 0.05). These results demonstrate the convergent validity of the AFLT. CONCLUSIONS: The AFLT is a visual memory assessment tool with adequate psychometric properties, which allows a comprehensive evaluation of visual memory processes.

Sensitivity and specificity of the INECO frontal screening (IFS) in the detection of patients with traumatic brain injury presenting executive deficits.

Executive dysfunction (EF) is a common feature of adult traumatic brain injury (TBI), especially in moderate to severe cases. Assessing EF usually requires the administration of an extensive neuropsychological battery, which is time consuming and expensive. The INECO frontal screening (IFS) is a brief, easy-to-administer screening test which has previously shown to be useful in the detection of executive deficits in different psychiatric and neurological populations. The aim of the present study was to assess the usefulness of the IFS in the detection of executive dysfunction in TBI patients. Twenty-eight TBI patients and thirty-two healthy controls were assessed with a battery that included classical executive tests and the IFS. Our results indicated that with a cutoff score of 26.25 points, the IFS showed good sensitivity and specificity in the detection of executive impairments in TBI patients. It also showed good positive and negative predicted values. Our results suggest that the IFS can be considered a useful tool for identifying executive dysfunction in patients with TBI.

Fluid intelligence and naturalistic task impairments after focal brain lesions.

Classical executive tasks, such as Wisconsin card-sorting and verbal fluency, are widely used as tests of frontal lobe control functions. Since the pioneering work of Shallice and Burgess (1991), it has been known that complex, naturalistic tasks can capture deficits that are missed in these classical tests. Matching this finding, deficits in several classical tasks are predicted by loss of fluid intelligence, linked to damage in a specific cortical "multiple-demand" (MD) network, while deficits in a more naturalistic task are not. To expand on these previous results, we examined the effect of focal brain lesions on three new tests-a modification of the previously-used Hotel task, a new test of task switching after extended delays, and a test of decision-making in imagined real-life scenarios. As potential predictors of impairment we measured volume of damage to a priori MD and default mode (DMN) networks, as well as cortical damage outside these networks. Deficits in the three new tasks were substantial, but were not explained by loss of fluid intelligence, or by volume of damage to either MD or DMN networks. Instead, deficits were associated with diverse lesions, and not strongly correlated with one another. The results confirm that naturalistic tasks capture cognitive deficits beyond those measured by fluid intelligence. We suggest, however, that these deficits may not arise from specific control operations required by complex behaviour. Instead, like everyday activities, complex tasks combine a rich variety of interacting cognitive components, bringing many opportunities for processing to be disturbed.

Brain structural correlates of executive and social cognition profiles in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia and elderly bipolar disorder.

An early stage of behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) often displays a mix of behavioral disturbances and personality changes hindering a differential diagnosis from elderly bipolar disorder (BD), making this process a big challenge. However, no studies have compared these pathologies from neuropsychological and neuroanatomical perspectives. The aim of the present study was to compare the executive functions (EF) and social cognition profiles as well as the structural neuroimaging of bvFTD and elderly patients with BD. First, we compared the executive and social cognition performances of 16 bvFTD patients, 13 BD patients and 22 healthy controls. Second, we compared grey matter volumes in both groups of patients and controls using voxel-based morphometry. Lastly, we examined the brain regions where atrophy might be associated with specific impairments in bvFTD and BD patients. Compared to controls, bvFTD patients showed deficits in working memory, abstraction capacity, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, verbal fluency and theory of mind (ToM). Patients with BD showed lower performance than controls in terms of abstraction capacity and verbal inhibitory control. In bvFTD patients, atrophy of frontal, temporal and insular cortices was related to EF deficits. Atrophy of the amygdala, the hippocampus, the parahippocampal gyrus, the putamen, the insula, the precuneus, the right temporo-parietal junction and superior temporal pole was associated to ToM impairments. No significant associations between atrophy and EF performance were observed in BD patients. BvFTD patients showed greater EF and ToM deficits than BD patients. Moreover, compared to BD, bvFTD patients exhibited a significant decrease in GM volume in frontal, temporal and parietal regions. Our results provide the first comparison of EF, social cognition and neuroanatomical profiles of bvFTD and elderly BD patients. These findings shed light on differential diagnosis of these disorders and may have important clinical implications.