Neuropsychological assessment of chronic fatigue syndrome

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Abstracts of 10th Annual Meeting

and heterogeneous neurological samples were achieved, Wechsler’s Verbal/Performance dichotomy did not hold in this sample. In addition, the third factor, consisting of Digit, Span, Arithmetic, Digit Symbol, and Picture Arrangement, replicated a factor analytic study using psychiatric patients. Clinicians should utilize caution when applying standard interpretive practices in this population. Future research should investigate the basis of WAIS-R factor structure similarities between psychiatric and TBI populations. 4. Moulthrop,

M. A. & Nudelman, A. H. Northwestern University, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences & Mt. Sinai Hospital, Department of Pediatrics

The Concept of “Psychomotor Speed.” While observations of “psychomotor speed” are often a part of a neuropsycho logical evaluation, one may question whether “speed” is a unitary variable. That is, there may be more than one type of mental or motor speed underlying a patient’s performance and more than one reason for accomplishing a task slowly. We identified 13 neuropsychological measures involving some type of speed in a population of 500 subjects representing a wide range of patients and normals. A factor analysis revealed a single factor accounting for 38% of variance which encompassed significant loadings of most measures including Digit Symbol, letter cancellation, Trails A & B, WMS Mental Control items, word association, Tactile Form Recognition, TPT learning, and finger tapping. This single factor was interpreted as reflecting a general speed of processing, so called psychomotor speed. No other factors were identified. Thus, there is a general component to behavior that may be ascribed to speed of processing. On the other hand, much of the variability in neuropsychological test performance speed is related idiosyncratically to a particular test. Interestingly, our analysis did not yield factors corresponding to such traditional groupings as visual scanning speed, tactile-kinesthetic speed, “pure” mental speed as measured by quick verbal response, or speeds of simple and complex problem solving.

5. Olcese, R. P., Goldstein, J. Casa Colina Hospital Neuropsychological Assessment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The following study examined the cognitive processes of 20 subjects diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. All subjects were given a BEAM Scan and a standardized neuropsychological test battery. Neuropsychological variables were placed in one of three categories based on functions of brain behavior the variables are thought to assess. An ANOVA showed significant difference between acquired scores and population norms on several of the variables hypothesized to be sensitive to right frontotemporal dysfunction. Specifically, visual organizational skills as well as complex attention and mental control showed significant impairment when compared to population norms. These dif-

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ficulties are consistent with findings on Beam Scans of these same subjects. The results of this study suggest that those individuals with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome have cognitive impairment that may interfere with vocational and personal pursuits. 6. Richard P. Olcese, Psy.D. Cindy Mix, Behavioral Coordinator. Colina Hospital

Casa

A Behavioral Learning Program for Head Injured Individuals. In recent years it has been well established that one of the difficulties in the

treatment of head injured individuals is one of motivation. Many who have suffered traumatic head injuries struggle with self arousal, motivation, goal setting and goal achievement. Even if they are involved in a highly structured and rewarding rehabilitative effort, the difficulty in generalizing these strategies postdischarge have been well documented. In addition, most head injured individuals are not able to give themselves the much needed feedback in order to set realistic goals and/or make adjustments in their goal achievement. This presentation will examine all three levels of the Behavioral Learning Program developed and currently utilized at Casa Colina’s Transitional Living Center. Investigated will be how the program is effective in motivating and rewarding individuals for the efforts and goal setting/achievements. Also, how to generalize these strategies post discharged will be discussed. 7. Orsillo, S. M., Burek, M. D., McCaffrey, R. J., Eson, M. E., Myers, R. M.,

& Grodin, J. M. The University at Albany, State University of New York & Conifer Park Neuropsychological Sequelae of Polysubstance Abuse in an Inpatient Adolescent Population. The present study evaluated the impact of polysubstance abuse on neuropsycho-

logical functioning in a sample of polysubstance abusing, inpatient adolescents. This study was part of a larger study aimed at the further standardization of several unique neuropsychological assessment instruments developed by Eson and his colleagues. The neuropsychological assessment battery consisted of Parts A and B of the Trail Making Test, the Symbol Digit Modalities Test, the Stroop Test; word, color, and total, the Progressive Random Order Matrices Test (Parts A and B), and a simplified version of the Symbol Digit Modalities Test. A total of forty seven inpatient polysubstance abusing patients were evaluated approximately two weeks following admission for treatment. Their performance was compared to a group of thirty one college students who were not screened with regards to any current substance use or abuse. A multivariate analysis of variance was performed in which age and years of education were used as co-variates. The neuropsychological performance of the polysubstance abusing adolescents was inferior to that of the controls on all of the neuropsychological assessment instruments, except for Part A of the Trail Making Test and the Stroop