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OBJECTIVE The aim of this preregistered, secondary analysis of a pilot randomized controlled trial (NCT02717429) was to compare the impact of 4-week mindfulness-based training and adaptive cognitive training, with a waitlist control condition, on processing speed and working memory in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). METHOD Sixty-one PwMS were randomized to mindfulness-based training (MBT), adaptive computerized cognitive training (aCT), or a waitlist (WL) control group and completed the Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological Tests at pre- and posttraining. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/l-dehydroascorbic-acid.html Training-related changes on the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) and the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) were the primary outcomes of interest. Baseline cognitive status was examined as a moderator of treatment gains. Practice time, change in aCT game difficulty, and rate of change in state awareness across MBT were assessed as correlates of cognitive gains. FINDINGS Compared with aCT and WL, mindfulness training significantly improved processing speed (ηp? = .14). Baseline cognitive status did not moderate change in processing speed (ηp? = .005) or working memory (ηp? = .014). Practice time and change in game difficulty were not significantly correlated with cognitive gains (all ps > .49). In the MBT group, rate of change in awareness was significantly associated with improvement in working memory (ρ = .52, p = .04). CONCLUSIONS In PwMS, 4 weeks of mindfulness meditation training improved processing speed above and beyond aCT and WL. More rapid change in awareness during mindfulness training may be associated with greater gains in working memory. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).OBJECTIVE To assess the role of cognitive reserve, age, gender and brain structure in proper name retrieval in advanced age. METHOD Performance in 2 naming tasks (asking for proper names or common names) and 2 memory tasks was assessed. In separate hierarchical regressions, we evaluated whether retrieval was predicted by gray matter thickness or volume in selected structures (Model 1) and whether the addition of age and gender (Model 2) or of education (Model 3) explained significantly more variance. Participants were healthy persons (ages 70-90 years). Out of 91 individuals, 18 were excluded after inspection of magnetic resonance imaging scans showing relevant white matter changes. The remaining 73 individuals (47 women) showed good cognitive abilities. RESULTS Age was a significant predictor for the retrieval of well-known proper names, whereas selected gray matter measures and education had no significant effect. In contrast, education was predictive of common names retrieval and performance in the memory tasks. Gray matter measures predicted performance in the 2 memory tasks. CONCLUSIONS Cognitive reserve has a differential effect on cognitive abilities in advances age. Education did not support the retrieval of well-known proper names but positively affected the retrieval of common names and performance in memory tasks. Cognitive reserve has to be considered in neuropsychological diagnostic procedures. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).OBJECTIVE Although heritability explains a large proportion of the variance in old-age cognition, studies on the influence of specific genes have been inconclusive. We investigated the individual and combined effects of four single polymorphisms, previously associated with episodic memory, on cognitive performance and rate of change. METHOD Participants were 2490 individuals without dementia (mean age = 72 years) from the population-based Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen (SNAC-K). Genotyping was performed for APOE (rs429358, rs7412), BDNF (rs6265), KIBRA (rs17070145), and CLSTN2 (rs6439886). We used latent difference score models to estimate the effects of age and genetic variation on level and change in five latent cognitive factors episodic and semantic memory, letter and category fluency, and perceptual speed. RESULTS Of the individual genes, only APOE was associated with cognitive performance; ε4 carriers showed lower perceptual speed performance and faster category fluency decline. A cumulative score, combining APOE, BDNF, KIBRA and CLSTN2, was associated with faster cognitive decline that was specific to the episodic memory domain (regression coefficient -0.064, p less then .01). Similar results were obtained for a score not including APOE. Conclusions Results suggest a benefit of investigating the combined influence of polymorphisms related to specific mechanistic factors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).OBJECTIVE Presurgical memory functional MRI (fMRI) mapping for temporal lobe epilepsy surgery is important because of the excision of structures in the temporal lobe (e.g., hippocampus) that are relevant for intact memory. Although the American Academy of Neurology recommends the use of fMRI for presurgical mapping of epilepsy of verbal and nonverbal memory to predict memory outcome, there are still no specific recommendations about which tests to use. In the current study, we evaluate the potential for clinical utility of two established neuropsychological tests of memory adapted into the fMRI setting. METHOD We used the Verbal Paired Associates (VPA) for assessment of verbal memory and the Object Learning and Location (OLL) task for assessment of visuospatial memory. To confirm that these tasks engage the hippocampus, we examined their neural underpinning and patterns of laterality in 20 healthy volunteers (mean age = 26.35). RESULTS During fMRI of the VPA task of verbal memory, we found a strong left-lateralized posterior hippocampal activation. Remembering the location of objects in the OLL task of visuospatial memory elicited right-lateralized hippocampal activation. CONCLUSIONS These findings demonstrate the utility of the VPA and OLL tests to delineate domain-specific activity and laterality and, as such, may provide supportive evidence to strengthen links between presurgical neuropsychological assessment and memory fMRI mapping for epilepsy surgery. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
