bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
1 Cognitive Rehabilitation and Mindfulness Reduce Cognitive Complaints in Multiple Sclerosis (REMIND-MS): a Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Kessels Roy P.C. , Nauta Ilse M. , Bertens Dirk , Fasotti Luciano , Fieldhouse Jay , Uitdehaag Bernard M.J. , Speckens Anne E.M. , de Jong Brigit A. 
Published: December 2023

Objective:Cognitive problems, both complaints and objective impairments, are frequent and disabling in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and profoundly affect daily living. However, intervention studies that focus on cognitive problems that patients experience in their daily lives are limited. This study therefore aimed to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation therapy (CRT) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) on patient-reported cognitive complaints in MS.Participants and Methods:In this randomized-controlled trial, MS patients with cognitive complaints completed questionnaires and underwent neuropsychological assessments at baseline, post-treatment and 6-month follow-up. Patient-reported cognitive complaints were primarily investigated. Secondary outcomes included personalized cognitive goals and objective cognitive function. CRT and MBCT were compared to enhanced treatment as usual (ETAU) using linear mixed models.Results:Patients were randomized into CRT (n=37), MBCT (n=36) or ETAU (n=37), of whom 100 completed the study. Both CRT and MBCT positively affected patient-reported cognitive complaints compared to ETAU at post-treatment (p<.05), but not 6 months later. At 6-month follow-up, CRT had a positive effect on personalized cognitive goals (p=.028) and MBCT on processing speed (p=.027). Patients with less cognitive complaints at baseline benefited more from CRT on the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (i.e. primary outcome measuring cognitive complaints) at post-treatment (p=.012-.040), and those with better processing speed at baseline benefited more from MBCT (p=.016).Conclusions:Both CRT and MBCT alleviated cognitive complaints in MS patients immediately after treatment completion, but these benefits did not persist. In the long term, CRT showed benefits on personalized cognitive goals and MBCT on processing speed. These results thereby provide insight in the specific contributions of available cognitive treatments for MS patients.
5 Midbrain Degeneration and Cognition in Parkinson’s Disease
Authors: Julio Kayla R , Nitschke Stephanie R , Shaff Nicholas , Wertz Christopher , Mayer Andrew , Vakhtin Andrei , Suarez Cedeno Gerson , Deligtisch Amanda , Richardson Sarah Pirio , Ryman Sephira G 
Published: December 2023

Objective:Neuromelanin imaging is an emerging biomarker for PD as it captures degeneration of the midbrain, a process which is associated with the motor symptoms of the disease. Currently, it is unknown whether this degeneration also contributes to cognitive dysfunction in PD beyond dysfunction associated with fronto-subcortical systems, as quantitative examination of substantia nigra (SN) degeneration could not be studied until recently.In the current study, we examine whether neuromelanin signal is associated with broader cognitive dysfunction in PD patients with varying degrees of cognitive impairment: PD with normal cognition (PD-NC), PD with mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI), and healthy controls (HC).Participants and Methods:11 PD-NC, 16 PD-MCI and 14 age and sex-matched healthy controls (HC) participated in the study. PD participants were diagnosed with MCI based on the Movement Disorders Society Task force, Level II assessment (comprehensive assessment). In addition, all participants underwent an MRI scan that included a T1-weighted sequence and a neuromelanin-sensitive (NM-MRI) sequence. Contrast-to-noise-ratio of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) was calculated and a distribution-corrected z-score was used to identify the number of extrema voxels for each individual, suggestive of the number of voxels that have exhibited significant degeneration (extrema_count). An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to evaluate group differences between HC, PD-NC, and PD-MCI in the extrema_count accounting for age, sex, and education. A multiple regression for each cognitive variable with extrema_count as the dependent variable adjusting for age, sex, and education were conducted.Results:A significant main effect of group (F(2, 33) = 33.548 ; p < 0.001) indicated that PD-NC (21.55 ± 12.57) and PD-MCI (43.64 ± 32.84) patients exhibited significantly greater extrema_counts relative to HC (3.36 ± 3.61; both p < 0.001). Regression results indicated that higher extrema_counts were associated with worse cognitive performance across cognitive domains, including working memory (Digit Span Backward; R2 = .357, F(1,20) = 5.295, p = .032), (Hopkins Verbal Learning Test - Revised, Trials 1 to 3; R2 = .432, F(1,20) = 5.819, p = .026).Conclusions:PD patients (PD-NC and PD-MCI) exhibited decreased neuromelanin in the SNc relative to healthy controls, confirming the ability of the NM-MRI sequence to differentiate PD from HC. There was no significant difference in SNc neuromelanin levels between PD-NC patients and PD-MCI patients, however, this is likely due to the small sample size. In addition, significant SNc degeneration was associated with worse cognitive performances in tasks associated with working memory and executive functioning. These results warrant further examination of the role of SN in PD patients with differing levels of cognitive impairment.
3 Mediating Role of White Matter Hyperintensities on the Relationship between Depressive Symptoms and Processing Speed in Black and White Older Adults
Authors: Bartlett Alexandria , Bogoian Hannah R , Rosano Caterina , Dotson Vonetta M 
Published: December 2023

Objective:Several studies have noted associations of higher white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) with cognitive slowing and elevated depressive symptoms in older adults. Depression is also directly associated with cognitive slowing in later life. However, the influence of WMHs on the relationship between depressive symptoms and processing speed is unclear. This interrelationship between depression, processing speed, and WMH may differ between racial groups given the well-documented evidence of racial disparities in vascular disease, WMHs, and cognitive performance, however the literature is sparse. The goal of this current study, therefore, was to investigate whether WMHs mediate the relationship between depressive symptoms and processing speed, and if this relationship differs between Black and White older adults.Participants and Methods:A total of 171 non-Hispanic White and 111 non-Hispanic Black older adults (total sample mean age = 82.71 ± 2.74; 42.91% male) from the Healthy Brain Project (a substudy of the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study) underwent MRI as well as a neuropsychological evaluation. Total WMH volume was quantified for each participant using an automated procedure and normalized to total brain volume. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) served as a measure of processing speed. Causal mediation analyses were performed between CES-D and DSST scores across the total sample as well as within racial groups (Black and White), with total WMH volume as the mediator.Results:The direct effect of the CES-D on DSST was significant (p = 0.012) for the total sample, reflecting slower processing speed at higher levels of depressive symptoms, but the indirect effect was not (p = 0.207). When analyses were stratified by racial group, the indirect effect was significant for Black (p = 0.054; 37.17% mediated) but not White participants (p = 0.207): For Black participants, the inverse relationship between depressive symptoms and processing speed was mediated by a positive relationship between depressive symptoms and WMHs.Conclusions:While these data support previous findings relating depressive symptoms to slower processing speed across racial groups, our findings also demonstrate a greater impact of WMHs on this relationship in Black older adults compared to their White counterparts. This suggests that WMHs may serve as an important risk factor for cognitive slowing in older Black adults with higher depressive symptoms. Future studies are needed to further investigate the role of WMHs on depression-related deficits in processing speed and other cognitive domains in racially diverse groups.
5 Normative Data Collection for the Multicultural Neuropsychological Scale (MUNS)
Authors: Wild Autumn , Wilson Saleena , Eversole Kara , Jäuregui Gabriel , Marcopulos Bernice , Fernandez Alberto , Hardy David 
Published: December 2023

Objective:Despite the array of neuropsychological tests available, these assessments are largely made and developed for use in WEIRD (western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic) societies (Fernandez, 2019; Ponsford, 2017). The Multicultural Neuropsychological Scale (MUNS) was developed with underrepresented groups in mind as a universally valid neuropsychological assessment which can be used across cultures and adapted to different languages. To assist with the validation of the MUNS as a cross-cultural instrument, investigators administered the MUNS to a cognitively 'healthy’ college-aged population in the United States as a means of collecting normative data. Results were compared to samples taken from an Argentine university, Universidad Catelica de Cerdoba, and combined with another American university, Marymount Loyola University. The goal of this comparison was to provide evidence supporting the validity of the MUNS as a universal, cross-cultural neuropsychological assessment battery.Participants and Methods:Students from James Madison University (JMU) in Harrisonburg, Virginia (N = 24, Age = 20.083 1.93, Female = 87.5%) were recruited via a campus-wide email. Students who met inclusionary criteria were selected for MUNS administration. Students completed a background questionnaire and effort measure (REY-15; Rey, 1964) before completing the MUNS battery, consisting of eight subtests with four delayed trials. Descriptive statistics of the group were assessed, and one-way ANOVAs were conducted on the various subtests to determine whether differences exist between the American and Argentine samples.Results:No significant difference between groups was found for seven subtests. A difference existed on the Attention subtest between the American (f (1, 106) = 45.409, p < .001).Conclusions:The results show support for the cross-cultural validity of the MUNS. The only significant difference was found in the Arrows (Old) subtest. This is in alignment with previous administrations of the MUNS (Fernandez et al., 2018). Further studies are needed to assess potential bias within this subtest, as well as to pursue comparison studies for the New Arrows subtest administered within this USA sample. The present findings provide further evidence that the MUNS can be applied as a neuropsychological assessment across a variety of populations.
16 The Multicultural Neuropsychological Scale (MUNS): The New Attention Subtest, Preliminary Cross-Cultural Data
Authors: Jäuregui Gabriel , Wilson Saleena , Wild Autumn , Eversole Kara , Marcopulos Bernice , Fernändez Alberto 
Published: December 2023

Objective:The MUNS is a screening scale developed in Cordoba, Argentina (2018). It is devised with multicultural stimuli that are easily translated into different languages. The scale consists of seven subtests evaluating five cognitive domains: attention, memory, executive functioning, constructional praxis, and language. Previous cross-cultural studies with this scale found significant differences in performance on the attention subtest. The authors have developed a new attention subtest called “Arrows Cancellation”, a short cancellation test designed to overcome its predecessor’s shortcomings. The minimum score of this subtest is 0, and the maximum score is 160. It takes between 3 to 5 minutes to administer. A pilot study of this subtest was performed in Argentina in 2021 (n=62, M=105.61 ± 15.06). The aim of this study is to present the first cross-cultural comparison for the Arrows Cancellation subtest of the MUNS.Participants and Methods:Argentinian (n=25, 84% female) and U.S.A. (n=39, 87% female) samples were administered the Arrows Cancellation subtest. In both cases, individuals gave their consent to participate voluntarily in this study. Participants’ health backgrounds, explored through a set of questions, determined their inclusion in the study. Participants with any of the following diagnoses were excluded from this sample: stroke, loss of consciousness (at least 20 minutes), traumatic head injury, central nervous system disease, chronic renal insufficiency, hepatic encephalopathy, non-treated thyroid disease, epilepsy, non-treated high blood pressure, severe cardiac failure, severe sleep disorders, coma, diagnosed psychiatric disease, or illegal drug consumption. Argentinians were given the instructions in Spanish whilst Americans were instructed in English. The mean age for the Argentinian sample was 21.24 ± 2.44, and for the American sample it was 20.18 ± 1.89. The mean years of education was 13.44 ± 0.96 for the Argentinian group and 13.6 ± 1.55 for the American group. A t-test showed that there were no significant differences in age (p=.06), years of schooling (p=.67) between both samples.Results:The mean score of the Arrows Cancellation subtest for the Argentinian sample was 107.30 ± 14.51 and 108.95 ± 14.12 for the American sample. A t-test did not show significant differences in the Arrows Cancellation subtest score between samples (p=.65). In addition, there were no significant differences between males and females (p=.43).Conclusions:The results of this study show that the new attention subtest of the MUNS did not show significant differences between two different cultural samples. Further studies are needed to confirm its utility in other cultural settings. Among the limitations of this study are the sample sizes and the restricted ranges of age and years of schooling.
23 Subjective Cognition in African American and White Older Adults: Interactions with Psychosocial Factors
Authors: Avery Kemaria , Divers Ross , Breaux Eathan , Pugh Erika , Rasmussen Lauren , Calamia Matthew 
Published: December 2023

Objective:Given that African American older adults are disproportionately at risk for the development of dementia, identifications of sensitive risk and protective factors are of high importance. Subjective decline in cognition is a potentially easy to assess clinical marker, as it has been previously associated with increased risk of converting to MCI and/or dementia. Subjective decline in cognition is complex though, in that it has also been associated with psychosocial factors. Given this, and the fact that the bulk of research on subjective decline in cognition has been conducted in older white adults, research in diverse samples is needed. The present study sought to address these gaps by examining interactions between race and psychosocial risk (dysphoria) and protective (social activity) factors in the prediction of subjective cognition.Participants and Methods:Older white (n = 350) and African American (n = 478) participants completed questionnaires via Qualtrics Panels (m age = 65.9). Subjective decline in cognition was assessed via the Multifactorial Memory Questionnaire (MMQ). Dysphoria was assessed via the Inventory of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms-II Dysphoria subscale (IDAS). Frequency of late life social activity was assessed via a validated series of questions used by the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center. Race, dysphoria, late life social activity, and interactions between race and dysphoria and race and social activity were analyzed as predictors of subjective decline in cognition via linear regression.Results:The overall model accounted for a significant portion of the variance in subjective decline in cognition, F(6, 713) = 38.38, p < .01, with an R2 of .24. The interaction between race and dysphoria was significant, such that the relationship between dysphoria and subjective decline in cognition was stronger for older adults who are African American. Race, dysphoria, social activity, and the interaction between race and social activity were not significant predictors.Conclusions:While dysphoria and related negative affect variables have been previously associated with subjective cognition, interactions with race are rarely analyzed. Our results show that the relationship between dysphoria and subjective decline in cognition were stronger for African American older adults. This result is of clinical importance, as dysphoria is central to many internalizing disorders, which have been associated with subjective cognition and the development of MCI and dementia. Future research should seek to analyze drivers for this associations and if interventions for dysphoria may reduce subjective decline in cognition for African American older adults.
25 Exploring Phonemic and Semantic Fluency Ability Across Multiple Generations
Authors: Sivaramakrishnan Krithika , Schmidt Dorthy , Smith Krissy E , Heuchert Brittany , Cuello Adriana C , Acosta Natalia L , Gomez Miriam , Munoz Isabel D , Jesus Yvette D , Lopez-Hernandez Daniel W 
Published: December 2023

Objective:Verbal fluency tasks evaluate executive functioning by requiring a person to provide words within a certain time period that start with a certain letter (phonemic fluency) or category (semantic fluency). Research shows that age impacts test takers’ phonemic and semantic verbal fluency performance. In fact, it has been suggested that phonemic verbal fluency peaks around age 30 to 39 and begins to decline at older ages. In contrast to phonemic fluency, research suggests that semantic fluency increases steadily between test takers until age 12 and begins declining around age 20. A generation is a cohort of people born within a certain period who share age and experiences. Studies show that Generation X individuals (persons born between 1965-1980) outperform Generation Y (persons born between 19811995) and Generation Z individuals (persons born between 1965-1980) on the Cordoba Naming Test. To our knowledge, no study has investigated verbal fluency performance across generational groups. We predicted that Generation X individuals would outperform individuals from Generation Y and Z on both verbal fluency measures.Participants and Methods:The sample of the present study consisted of 107 participants with a mean age of 27.39 (SD = 9.16). Participants were divided into three groups: Generation X (n = 19), Generation Y (n = 52), and Generation Z (n = 36). The phonemic verbal fluency task consisted of three trials and the semantic verbal fluency task consisted of one trial, one minute each. A series of ANCOVAs with Bonferroni post-hoc tests were used to evaluate verbal fluency performance between generational groups. All participants passed performance validity testing.Results:We found significant differences between our generational groups on both verbal fluency tasks. Post-hoc tests revealed that the Generation Y group outperformed both Generation X and Z groups on both verbal fluency tasks, p’s <.05, np2 =.11 -.16. No significant differences were found on either verbal fluency task between the Generation X and Z groups.Conclusions:Contrary to our hypothesis, Generation Y individuals possessed better phonemic and semantic fluency than both Generation X and Z individuals. Meanwhile, Generation X individuals did not significantly differ on any of the verbal fluency tasks compared to Generation Z individuals. Speaking multiple languages has been shown to impact verbal fluency performance. In our sample, the Generation X and Z groups consisted primarily of bilingual speakers compared to the Generation Y group. Examining generational differences is essential to understand the unique characteristics and impact of the times in which various individuals have grown up. Future research, for instance, should evaluate the influence of bilingualism across generational groups on verbal fluency performance.
31 Examining the Mechanisms of Verbal Working Memory Capacity Consumption in Monolingual Spanish-Speaking Individuals
Authors: Celaya Roberta D , Moore Raeanne C , Lincoln Alan J , Perez Veronica B 
Published: December 2023

Objective:Converging evidence across languages suggests that the word length effect (WLE; rate of number of syllables, phonemes, or pronunciation times per word) significantly contributes to estimates of verbal working memory (WM) capacity limits in the storage phase, but not in the manipulation phase (i.e., word length effect decay), of WM. Direct examination of the WLE on verbal WM performance within monolingual Spanish-speakers has not been reported. We investigated the psychophysical mechanisms of capacity consumption in Spanish-speakers across three syllabic word length rates to clarify the relative contributions of the WLE to storage (digit span forward) versus manipulation (digit span backward) memory phases within one language of monolingual speakers.Participants and Methods:Monolingual Spanish-speaking adults (N = 84) born in Latin American countries and age 18-65 completed testing over Zoom. Inclusion criteria required proficiency in the Spanish-language; exclusion criteria were bilingualism, multilingualism, TONI-4 IQ < 85, or history of head injury/LOC. A within-group design measured the WLE across three cognitive load conditions in the forward and backward directions of the digit span test varying in Spanish syllabic word length: the Mexican WAIS-IV Digit Span Test (“Standard Load”), and two modified measures with either a ∼20% decrease (“Low Load”) or ∼20% increase (“High Load”) in total syllables/digit relative to the Standard Load.Results:A reverse WLE was observed on syllable accuracy percentage task performance (p < 0.01), such that longer word length led to higher capacity limits during storage WM. A WLE, not decay, was found on both raw score (p < .001) and syllable accuracy percentage (p < 0.01) task performances during manipulation WM, where longer word length led to lower capacity limits.Conclusions:The reverse WLE was attributed to higher-order, executive-function cognitive strategies (such as chunking) that superseded negative word length effects. A larger syllabic discrepancy during manipulation WM could have superseded executive-function strategies, rendering a traditional WLE. Our study contributed more precise capacity estimates and clearer understanding of successful WM performance within monolingual, Latin American-born Spanish-speakers, helping to reduce cultural disparities in neurocognitive and neuropsychological research. Future studies may extend these findings to examine how WM capacity resources can be harnessed to improve memory strategies in clinically-applied settings with Spanish-speaking populations.