The present study aimed to determine how older bilingual subjects' naming performance is affected by their knowledge of two languages. Twenty-nine aging (mean age = 74.0; SD = 7.1) Spanish–English bilinguals were asked to name all pictures in the Boston Naming Test (BNT) first in their dominant language and then in their less-dominant language. Bilinguals with similar naming scores in each language, or relatively balanced bilinguals, named more pictures correctly when credited for producing a correct name in either language. Balanced bilinguals also named fewer pictures in their dominant language than unbalanced bilinguals, and named more pictures correctly in both languages if the pictures had cognate names (e.g., dart is dardo in Spanish). Unbalanced bilinguals did not benefit from the alternative (either-language) scoring procedure and showed cognate effects only in their nondominant language. These findings may help to guide the interpretation of neuropsychological data for the purpose of determining cognitive status in older bilinguals and can be used to develop models of bilingual language processing. Bilinguals' ability to name pictures reflects their experience with word forms in both languages. (JINS, 2007, 13, 197–208.)

The article by Gollan, Fennema-Notestine, Montoya, and Jernigan (2007, this issue) raises important issues about the, effects of bilingualism on naming test performance in older adults. In particular, proficiency in their two languages determines the ability with which older bilingual adults can name pictures in each of those languages. This observation is important if cognitive status is inferred from naming performance. In this commentary we largely endorse the arguments made by Gollan and colleagues, although we point to some limitations in their experimental design. (JINS, 2007, 13, 209–211.)

Gollan, Fennema-Notestine, Montoya, and Jernigan (this issue) present a timely and clinically relevant study that examines the impact of bilingualism on the performance on the Boston Naming Test in older adults. In light of the methodology employed, we weigh different potential interpretations of the findings and make recommendations for future studies. (JINS, 2007, 13, 212–214.)

We reported that bilingualism affects BNT performance, and that people who are “more bilingual” show larger “bilingual effects” on naming. The commentators suggested the interesting possibilities that degree of bilingualism may not be as critical as immersion in two different language environments over the course of a lifetime (Bialystok & Craik, this issue), and that proficiency in Spanish (or lack thereof in English-dominant speakers; Acevedo & Lowenstein, this issue) may be more powerful predictors of the effects we reported. In our response, we use the literature on bilingualism, and additional exploratory analyses of the data we published in this issue to predict that our findings will generalize (a) to bilinguals who speak languages other than Spanish and English, and perhaps even to (b) English-dominant bilinguals who were educated in an English speaking environment. (JINS, 2007, 13, 215–218.)

Metamemory awareness refers to the ability to monitor and control how well information is processed depending on the loads and needs of the task at hand. There is some evidence that metamemory functions are impaired in schizophrenia at the time of memory retrieval. This study investigated whether patients with schizophrenia exhibit metamemory abnormalities during the encoding of new information. The frequency of item presentation was varied. Both memory control and memory monitoring were assessed using study-time allocation and Judgments of Learning (JOL), respectively. Repeated items were recalled better by both groups, but memory performance was lower in patients than controls. Patients' behavior patterns were abnormal in terms of the study-time allocated for each item according to presentation frequency. Patients' JOLs were lower than those of controls but remained sensitive to item repetition. Patients' predictive values on memory accuracy were no different to those measured in controls. In addition, none of the patients reported using efficient strategies to help memorize target items. The results show a dissociation between memory control, which was impaired, and memory monitoring, which was spared, in patients with schizophrenia during encoding of new information (JINS, 2007, 13, 219–227.)

A critical focus of neuropsychological research is to identify unbiased ways to compare heterogeneous groups on background variables relevant to neuropsychological performance. Whereas recent work has pointed to single word reading as a less culturally biased measure of educational experience than years of education, the extent to which reading score captures a broad range of educational experience and does so consistently across ethnic and language groups is unknown. The current study evaluated reading in relation to years of education in English-speaking Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics, and Spanish-speaking Hispanic older persons (n = 342). Consistent with previous work, reading scores at each grade level were lower in English speaking ethnic minorities than in Whites, supporting the idea that variables related to lifetime educational experience are often confounded with ethnicity. Standardized reading scores were highest in the Spanish speakers; however, interpretation of this difference is limited because scores were necessarily derived using separate normative samples. Importantly, the slopes of reading score by years of education were comparable across all groups. That is, reading scores rose consistently with years of education independently of ethnicity or language, suggesting that such scores can be treated comparably for theoretical and statistical purposes in multiethnic and multilingual samples. (JINS, 2007, 13, 228–236.)

Language decline is usually the fastest and predominant change in primary progressive aphasia (PPA). In Alzheimer's disease (AD), it is usually associated with global cognitive deficits. Decreased speech output, reduced conversational initiation, echolalia, and changes in the pragmatics of conversation are seen in the behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (FTD-bv), however, the evolution of language disturbance in FTD-bv patients is rarely examined systematically with a standardized language battery. We aimed to longitudinally track the nature of language change in FTD-bv, PPA, and AD using a standardized measure of language functioning. We also explored the nature of language deficits between semantic dementia (SD) patients and the fluent subgroup of PPA patients. The Western Aphasia Battery was administered to 105 AD, 20 FTD-bv, 54 PPA, and 10 SD patients on 2 occasions with approximately 1 year between assessments. Ninety-nine of these patients were examined an additional year. FTD-bv and PPA patients showed a faster language decline than AD patients. The eventual overlap in language functioning in FTD-bv and PPA suggests that these syndromes belong to the same spectrum of disorders. In conclusion, longitudinal language assessment provides us with a unique understanding of the evolution and progression of language deterioration in various dementias. (JINS, 2007, 13, 237–245.)

Motor and gestural skills of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), developmental coordination disorder (DCD), and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were investigated. A total of 49 children with ASD, 46 children with DCD, 38 children with DCD+ADHD, 27 children with ADHD, and 78 typically developing control children participated. Motor skills were assessed with the Bruininks–Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency Short Form, and gestural skills were assessed using a test that required children to produce meaningful gestures to command and imitation. Children with ASD, DCD, and DCD+ADHD were significantly impaired on motor coordination skills; however, only children with ASD showed a generalized impairment in gestural performance. Examination of types of gestural errors revealed that children with ASD made significantly more incorrect action and orientation errors to command, and significantly more orientation and distortion errors to imitation than children with DCD, DCD+ADHD, ADHD, and typically developing control children. These findings suggest that gestural impairments displayed by the children with ASD were not solely attributable to deficits in motor coordination skills. (JINS, 2007, 13, 246–256.)

Candidates for coronary artery bypass graft surgery have been found to exhibit reduced cognitive function prior to surgery. However, little is known regarding the factors that are associated with pre-bypass cognitive function. A battery of neuropsychological tests was administered to a group of patients listed for bypass surgery (n = 109). Medical, sociodemographic and emotional predictors of cognitive function were investigated using structural equation modeling. Medical factors, namely history of hypertension and low ejection fraction, significantly predicted reduced cognitive function, as did several sociodemographic characteristics, namely older age, less education, non-English speaking background, manual occupation, and male gender. One emotional variable, confusion and bewilderment, was also a significant predictor whereas anxiety and depression were not. When significant predictors from the three sets of variables were included in a combined model, three of the five sociodemographic characteristics, namely age, non-English speaking background and occupation, and the two medical factors remained significant. Apart from sociodemographic characteristics, medical factors such as a history of hypertension and low ejection fraction significantly predicted reduced cognitive function in bypass candidates prior to surgery. (JINS, 2007, 13, 257–266.)

Competing hypotheses about neuropsychological mechanisms underlying psychopathy are seldom examined in the same study. We tested the left hemisphere activation hypothesis and the response modulation hypothesis of psychopathy in 172 inmates completing a global–local processing task under local bias, global bias, and neutral conditions. Consistent with the left hemisphere activation hypothesis, planned comparisons showed that psychopathic inmates classified local targets more slowly than nonpsychopathic inmates in a local bias condition and exhibited a trend toward similar deficits for global targets in this condition. However, contrary to the response modulation hypothesis, psychopaths were no slower to respond to local targets in a global bias condition. Because psychopathic inmates were not generally slower to respond to local targets, results are also not consistent with a general left hemisphere dysfunction account. Correlational analyses also indicated deficits specific to conditions presenting most targets at the local level initially. Implications for neuropsychological conceptualizations of psychopathy are considered. (JINS, 2007, 13, 267–276.)

We examined the ability of 23 schizophrenia patients and 24 healthy controls to exert intentional inhibition of prepotent responses in the Think-No-Think (TNT) paired-associate learning paradigm (Anderson & Green, 2001). TNT manipulates the frequency (1, 8, 16 times) of intentional attempts to suppress (inhibit) some target words and to respond to most cue words. Following a TNT practice-phase, recall of suppressed words was tested in two ways, using the same cue words initially learned, and the category name plus letter-stem of the target words. Inhibition of prepotent responses was also examined in a random number generation (RNG) task. In TNT, speed results showed longer reaction times after 16 suppress attempts in patients, not in controls, reflecting increased difficulty with retrieving the memory traces of the overridden items. In accuracy, no between-groups differences were evidenced, and overall patterns replicated those of Anderson & Green. In RNG, patients produced more stereotyped responses and ascending and descending counting than controls, pointing to on-line failures to inhibit prepotent responses. These findings suggest that schizophrenia patients' difficulties to inhibit prepotent responses appear specific, not widespread, the intentional inhibition addressed in TNT being preserved, and on-line inhibition in RNG being impaired. (JINS, 2007, 13, 277–287.)This paper was presented at the 4th International Conference on Memory, July 16–21, 2006, in Sydney, Australia.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) is a common metabolic disorder. DM2 is associated with cognitive impairments, and with depressive symptoms, which occur in about one third of patients. In the current study we compared the cognitive profile and psychological well-being of 119 patients with DM2 (mean age: 66 ± 6; mean duration: 9 ± 6 years) with 55 age and education matched-control participants. Groups were compared on cognitive performance in five major cognitive domains, psychological wellbeing [assessed by Symptom Checklist (SCL)-90-R and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II)] and abnormalities on brain MRI. We hypothesized an interrelationship between cognition, MRI abnormalities, and psychological well-being. DM2 patients performed significantly worse than controls on cognitive tasks, especially on tasks that required more mental efficiency, although the differences were modest (effect sizes Cohen d < .6). We speculate that DM2 patients have a diminished ability to efficiently process unstructured information. Patients with DM2 had significantly higher scores on the SCL-90-R (p < .001) and on the BDI-II (p < .001) and worse MRI ratings than controls, but psychological distress did not correlate with cognition, MRI ratings or biomedical characteristics. Contrary to our hypothesis, cognitive disturbances and psychological distress thus seem independent symptoms of the same disease. (JINS, 2007, 13, 288–297.)

This study builds on our earlier investigation (see Ganesalingam et al., 2006). We showed previously that children with moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries (TBI) had poorer self-regulation and social and behavioral functioning than their uninjured peers and that self-regulation predicted significant variance in parent- and teacher-rated social and behavioral outcomes, regardless of the presence or absence of TBI. In this study, we examine self-regulation as a mediator of the relationship between TBI and the outcomes. Participants included 65 children with moderate to severe TBI and 65 children without TBI matched for age and gender. Participants were between 6 and 11 years of age. Children completed an assessment of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral self-regulation, and social and behavioral functioning. Mediation was assessed using a bootstrapping approach (a relatively novel statistical method for assessing specific indirect effects in models with multiple mediators). Analyses indicated that, after controlling for socioeconomic status (SES), aspects of self-regulation accounted for individual variation in the outcomes, and acted as a significant mediator of the effects of TBI on the outcomes. Self-regulatory deficits may reflect the relative vulnerability of the prefrontal cortex to TBI and may help account for post-injury difficulties in social and behavioral functioning. (JINS, 2007, 13, 298–311.)

The consequences of congenital brain disorders for adult cognitive function are poorly understood. We studied different forms of memory in 29 young adults with spina bifida meningomyelocele (SBM), a common and severely disabling neural tube defect. Nondeclarative and semantic memory functions were intact. Working memory was intact with low maintenance and manipulation requirements, but impaired on tasks demanding high information maintenance or manipulation load. Prospective memory for intentions to be executed in the future was impaired. Immediate and delayed episodic memory were poor. Memory deficits were exacerbated by an increased number of lifetime shunt revisions, a marker for unstable hydrocephalus. Memory status was positively correlated with functional independence, an important component of quality of life. (JINS, 2007, 13, 312–323.)

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with impairments in occupational, social, and educational functioning in adults. This study examined relations of adaptive impairment to ADHD symptom domains (inattentive–disorganized and hyperactive–impulsive) and to deficits in executive functioning (EF) in 195 well-characterized adults (105 ADHD, 90 non-ADHD, between ages 18 and 37). Participants completed a battery of EF measures as well as assessments of adaptive functioning. Confirmatory factor analyses were used to validate latent factors for adaptive functioning and EF. In a measurement model, weaker EF was associated with poorer adaptive functioning (r = −.30). When multi-informant composite variables for current inattentive–disorganized and hyperactive–impulsive ADHD symptoms were included in the structural model, EF no longer predicted adaptive functioning. While both symptom composites were similarly related to EF (inattentive–disorganized r = .36; hyperactive–impulsive r = .29), inattentive–disorganized symptoms accounted for more variance in adaptive functioning (67.2% vs. 3.6%). Furthermore, for retrospectively reported childhood symptoms of ADHD, only the inattentive–disorganized symptom domain was related to EF or adaptive impairment. These results suggest that, in adults with ADHD, inattentive–disorganized symptoms may be the primary contributor to key aspects of poorer adaptive function and may be the behavioral path through which EF deficits lead to adaptive impairment. (JINS, 2007, 13, 324–334.)

The reminiscence bump corresponds to a marked increase in autobiographical memories of events that occurred when normal people were aged 10 to 30 years, a critical period for the formation of identity. The reminiscence bump was studied in 27 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and 27 control participants. They were asked to recall 20 specific autobiographical events that had occurred during their lifetime and to indicate the subjective states of awareness associated with the recalled memories using the Remember/Know procedure. Finally, participants were asked to state whether recalled memories related to private or public events. Patients diagnosed with schizophrenia recalled less specific memories than controls and exhibited an earlier reminiscence bump. They recalled more public, and less private events than controls, and they gave fewer Remember responses. The reminiscence bump peaked in the 16 to 25-year period for patients and the 21 to 25-year period for controls. These findings indicate that patients diagnosed with schizophrenia exhibit an early and abnormal reminiscence bump, with an impairment of conscious recollection associated with memories highly relevant to personal identity. They suggest that schizophrenia is associated with an impairment of autobiographical memories of events that had occurred during the last stage of personal identity development (JINS, 2007, 13, 335–343.)

We compared aspects of verbal memory and executive functioning in 51 community-dwelling persons with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and 55 healthy controls matched on age and education. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Centre for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), and illness variables included glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and hemoglobin. Findings indicate that persons with CKD exhibited poorer performance on measures of memory (CVLT-II) and executive functioning (DKEFS Trailmaking Test B and Color-Word Interference Tests) in comparison with healthy controls. Furthermore, performance decrements were magnified in older CKD participants on measures of verbal memory and inhibition. Nearly half of CKD participants aged 61 and older exhibited significant impairments in verbal memory and inhibition in comparison to matched controls. Cognitive performance in CKD was not associated with measures of illness severity. The differences observed were not accounted for by depressive symptoms, which were only weakly associated with cognitive performance, and negatively associated with age. Findings highlight the need for further exploration of the etiologies and functional consequences of the neuropsychological presentation of CKD. (JINS, 2007, 13, 344–353.)

The performance of 23 patients with moderate–severe traumatic brain injury on the California Verbal Learning Test, Second Edition (CVLT-II; Delis et al., 2000) was compared with that of 23 matched healthy controls to determine whether recall discriminability indices, which take into account both correct target recall and intrusive errors, would provide better diagnostic classification than traditional variables that are based exclusively on correct recall. Patients with traumatic brain injury recalled fewer correct words, and also made more intrusive errors, on CVLT-II short and long delay, free and cued recall trials (p < .02 for all variables after Stepdown Bonferroni correction). However, recall discriminability indices yielded a classification of clinical versus control participants (72%) that was not significantly different from one based on traditional variables (74%). We conclude that CVLT-II recall discriminability indices do not routinely provide an advantage over traditional variables in patients with traumatic brain injury. (JINS, 2007, 13, 354–358.)

Previous studies have shown a significant association between reading skills and the performance on visuo-motor tasks. In order to clarify whether reading and writing skills modulate non-linguistic domains, we investigated the performance of two literacy groups on a visuo-motor integration task with non-linguistic stimuli. Twenty-one illiterate participants and twenty matched literate controls were included in the experiment. Subjects were instructed to use the right or the left index finger to point to and touch a randomly presented target on the right or left side of a touch screen. The results showed that the literate subjects were significantly faster in detecting and touching targets on the left compared to the right side of the screen. In contrast, the presentation side did not affect the performance of the illiterate group. These results lend support to the idea that having acquired reading and writing skills, and thus a preferred left-to-right reading direction, influences visual scanning. (JINS, 2007, 13, 359–364.)

Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) is associated with neuropathological changes in medial-temporal and frontal-system structures. By definition, retrospective memory is mildly impaired in aMCI. We examined whether prospective memory (PM) is also impaired, in particular time-based PM, which requires considerable self-initiation and inhibition. We administered time- and event-based PM tasks to 42 healthy older adults, 45 individuals with aMCI, and 24 individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The healthy group performed better than the aMCI group, and the aMCI group performed better than the AD group on both PM tasks. Importantly, the aMCI group performed more poorly on the time- than event-based task, whereas the other groups performed comparably on both tasks. Findings suggest that PM, particularly time-based PM, is sensitive to the earliest cognitive changes associated with aMCI, possibly reflecting decreased self-initiation, attention switching, and/or inhibition on memory tasks because of early involvement of the frontal system. (JINS, 2007, 13, 365–369.)