- Email: [email protected]
Neuropsychological recovery in drug and alcohol abuse
Abstractsfrom the 17thAnnualMeeting
53
PSYCHIATRICILLNESS Azrin, R. L., Selby,M. J., & Millsaps,C. L. Neuropsychological Recovery in Drug and Alcohol Abuse.
Neuropsychologicalimpairmentand recove~ with abstinencewas examinedamongchronic cocaine (n = 60), alcohol(n = 101),and polysubstance(n = 56) abusers,and an age and education matched control group (n = 138). Neuropsychologicalperformance was not significantlydifferent between cocaine and control groups. Cocaine and control groups performed significantlybetter than the polysubstanceand alcohol groups on nearly all measures.Polysubstanceusershad significantlyworse short-termmemory,long-termmemory, and visual-motorabilitythan the other groups.Alcoholand polysubstancegroupshad significantlyworseexecutiveabilitiescomparedto cocaineand controlgroups.Correlations betweenneuropsychological performanceand abstinencerevealedsignificantrecoveryin the alcoholgroup in all domainsassessed,followedby significantrecovery in polysubstance abusers’longtermmemoryand visual-motorabilities.Resultsprovideadditionalsupportfor the differentialeffectsof drugs/alcoholon neuropsychologicalfunctioning. Byrd, D., Paulsen,J., Squibb,S., Heaton,R., & Jeste, D. Verbal Working Memory Pe~ormance in Older Schizophrenia Patients.
It has been suggestedthat manyof the cognitivedeficitsand clinicalsymptomsobservedin schizophrenia(SC)are theresultof an impairedworkingmemorysystem.Toourknowledge, no previousstudyhas examinedthe workingmemorysystemin olderSCpatients.Giventhe recent controversyregardingthe cognitivecapabilitiesof SC in later life, evaluationof workingmemoryin these patientsis essential.In the presentstudy,two tasks purportedto measureverbalworkingmemory(DigitOrderingand SentenceConstruction)wereexamined in a groupof middle-agedandelderlySC patients(meanage = 59.8)and normalcomparison subjects(NC). The purposeof this studywas twofold:(1) to determinewhetherdeficitsin working memory are present in older SC patients; and (2) to examine the clinical and cognitivecorrelatesof working memory deficits in SC. Thirty-sevenoutpatientswith a diagnosisof SC and 26 NC subjectswere recruitedfor this study.The patient group was primarilycomposedof the paranoidsubtype(60%).The SC and NC groupsdid not differin mean age, education,gender or handedness.Resultsindicatedthat older SC patients,like youngerSC patients,performedsignificantlyworseon measuresof workingmemory(mean z-scores:SC = – .27,NC = .00, t= 4.11, p = .000). To examineheterogeneityof performance amongSCpatients,thosepatientswithworkingmemorydeficits(z-scoreslessthan –1) were compared to patients with intact working memory on several clinical and demographic variables (age, education, Scale for the Assessment of Positive (SAPS) and Negative Symptoms(SANS),neurolepticdose and WAIS-RFull ScaleIQ). Interestingly,the two SC groupsdid not differsignificantlyon any of the variablesexaminedexceptfor WAIS-RFull ScaleIQ score.Thefindingsof this studyfurtherconfirmthatSCpatients,evenintolaterlife, exhibitimpairmentsin verbal workingmemory.The relationshipbetween verbal working memoryand generalintelligencewill be discussed. DeCosta,J. R., Mares,M., & Bonner,L. M. A Modified Version of the Stroop as a Measure of Clinical Depression.
The StroopColorandWordTest(Stroop,1935)is ableto detectimpairedresponseinhibition and the inabilityto shift mental sets. Individualperformancemay depend on a person’s
53
PSYCHIATRICILLNESS Azrin, R. L., Selby,M. J., & Millsaps,C. L. Neuropsychological Recovery in Drug and Alcohol Abuse.
Neuropsychologicalimpairmentand recove~ with abstinencewas examinedamongchronic cocaine (n = 60), alcohol(n = 101),and polysubstance(n = 56) abusers,and an age and education matched control group (n = 138). Neuropsychologicalperformance was not significantlydifferent between cocaine and control groups. Cocaine and control groups performed significantlybetter than the polysubstanceand alcohol groups on nearly all measures.Polysubstanceusershad significantlyworse short-termmemory,long-termmemory, and visual-motorabilitythan the other groups.Alcoholand polysubstancegroupshad significantlyworseexecutiveabilitiescomparedto cocaineand controlgroups.Correlations betweenneuropsychological performanceand abstinencerevealedsignificantrecoveryin the alcoholgroup in all domainsassessed,followedby significantrecovery in polysubstance abusers’longtermmemoryand visual-motorabilities.Resultsprovideadditionalsupportfor the differentialeffectsof drugs/alcoholon neuropsychologicalfunctioning. Byrd, D., Paulsen,J., Squibb,S., Heaton,R., & Jeste, D. Verbal Working Memory Pe~ormance in Older Schizophrenia Patients.
It has been suggestedthat manyof the cognitivedeficitsand clinicalsymptomsobservedin schizophrenia(SC)are theresultof an impairedworkingmemorysystem.Toourknowledge, no previousstudyhas examinedthe workingmemorysystemin olderSCpatients.Giventhe recent controversyregardingthe cognitivecapabilitiesof SC in later life, evaluationof workingmemoryin these patientsis essential.In the presentstudy,two tasks purportedto measureverbalworkingmemory(DigitOrderingand SentenceConstruction)wereexamined in a groupof middle-agedandelderlySC patients(meanage = 59.8)and normalcomparison subjects(NC). The purposeof this studywas twofold:(1) to determinewhetherdeficitsin working memory are present in older SC patients; and (2) to examine the clinical and cognitivecorrelatesof working memory deficits in SC. Thirty-sevenoutpatientswith a diagnosisof SC and 26 NC subjectswere recruitedfor this study.The patient group was primarilycomposedof the paranoidsubtype(60%).The SC and NC groupsdid not differin mean age, education,gender or handedness.Resultsindicatedthat older SC patients,like youngerSC patients,performedsignificantlyworseon measuresof workingmemory(mean z-scores:SC = – .27,NC = .00, t= 4.11, p = .000). To examineheterogeneityof performance amongSCpatients,thosepatientswithworkingmemorydeficits(z-scoreslessthan –1) were compared to patients with intact working memory on several clinical and demographic variables (age, education, Scale for the Assessment of Positive (SAPS) and Negative Symptoms(SANS),neurolepticdose and WAIS-RFull ScaleIQ). Interestingly,the two SC groupsdid not differsignificantlyon any of the variablesexaminedexceptfor WAIS-RFull ScaleIQ score.Thefindingsof this studyfurtherconfirmthatSCpatients,evenintolaterlife, exhibitimpairmentsin verbal workingmemory.The relationshipbetween verbal working memoryand generalintelligencewill be discussed. DeCosta,J. R., Mares,M., & Bonner,L. M. A Modified Version of the Stroop as a Measure of Clinical Depression.
The StroopColorandWordTest(Stroop,1935)is ableto detectimpairedresponseinhibition and the inabilityto shift mental sets. Individualperformancemay depend on a person’s