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Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome (WKS) is the combined presence of Wernicke encephalopathy (WE) and Korsakoff syndrome. Due to the close relationship between these two disorders, people with either are usually diagnosed with WKS as a single syndrome. It mainly causes vision changes, ataxia and impaired memory.
Neuropsychological tests are specifically designed tasks that are used to measure a psychological function known to be linked to a particular brain structure or pathway. Tests are used for research into brain function and in a clinical setting for the diagnosis of deficits. They usually involve the systematic administration of clearly defined procedures in a formal environment. Neuropsychological tests are typically administered to a single person working with an examiner in a quiet office environment, free from distractions. As such, it can be argued that neuropsychological tests at times offer an estimate of a person's peak level of cognitive performance. Neuropsychological tests are a core component of the process of conducting neuropsychological assessment, along with personal, interpersonal and contextual factors.
Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is an altered level of consciousness as a result of liver failure. Its onset may be gradual or sudden. Other symptoms may include movement problems, changes in mood, or changes in personality. In the advanced stages it can result in a coma.
Acute liver failure is the appearance of severe complications rapidly after the first signs of liver disease, and indicates that the liver has sustained severe damage. The complications are hepatic encephalopathy and impaired protein synthesis. The 1993 classification defines hyperacute as within 1 week, acute as 8–28 days, and subacute as 4–12 weeks; both the speed with which the disease develops and the underlying cause strongly affect outcomes.
Lactulose is a non-absorbable sugar used in the treatment of constipation and hepatic encephalopathy. It is used by mouth for constipation and either by mouth or in the rectum for hepatic encephalopathy. It generally begins working after 8–12 hours, but may take up to 2 days to improve constipation.
Cognitive tests are assessments of the cognitive capabilities of humans and other animals. Tests administered to humans include various forms of IQ tests; those administered to animals include the mirror test and the T maze test. Such study is important to research concerning the philosophy of mind and psychology, as well as determination of human and animal intelligence.
Toxic encephalopathy is a neurologic disorder caused by exposure to neurotoxic organic solvents such as toluene, following exposure to heavy metals such as manganese, as a side effect of melarsoprol treatment for African trypanosomiasis, adverse effects to prescription drugs, or exposure to extreme concentrations of any natural toxin such as cyanotoxins found in shellfish or freshwater cyanobacteria crusts. Toxic encephalopathy can occur following acute or chronic exposure to neurotoxicants, which includes all natural toxins. Exposure to toxic substances can lead to a variety of symptoms, characterized by an altered mental status, memory loss, and visual problems. Toxic encephalopathy can be caused by various chemicals, some of which are commonly used in everyday life, or cyanotoxins which are bio-accumulated from harmful algal blooms (HABs) which have settled on the benthic layer of a waterbody. Toxic encephalopathy can permanently damage the brain and currently treatment is mainly just for the symptoms.
Edith F. Kaplan was an American psychologist. She was a pioneer of neuropsychological tests and did most of her work at the Boston VA Hospital. Kaplan is known for her promotion of clinical neuropsychology as a specialty area in psychology. She examined brain-behavioral relationships in aphasia, apraxia, developmental issues in clinical neuropsychology, as well as normal and abnormal aging. Kaplan helped develop a new method of assessing brain function with neuropsychological assessment, called "The Boston Process Approach."
Liver failure is the inability of the liver to perform its normal synthetic and metabolic functions as part of normal physiology. Two forms are recognised, acute and chronic (cirrhosis). Recently, a third form of liver failure known as acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) is increasingly being recognized.
Verbal fluency tests are a kind of psychological test in which participants have to produce as many words as possible from a category in a given time. This category can be semantic, including objects such as animals or fruits, or phonemic, including words beginning with a specified letter, such as p, for example. The semantic fluency test is sometimes described as the category fluency test or simply as "freelisting", while letter fluency is also referred to as phonemic test fluency. The COWAT is the most employed phonemic variant. Although the most common performance measure is the total number of words, other analyses such as number of repetitions, number and length of clusters of words from the same semantic or phonemic subcategory, or number of switches to other categories can be carried out.
André Rey (1906–1965) was a Swiss psychologist who first developed the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure and the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test. Both tests are widely used in neuropsychological assessment. Rey was considered to be a pioneer in clinical psychology, child psychology, and neuropsychology. Rey is known in American neuropsychological literature for his "tests of malingering". Rey's tests of malingering include the Rey 15-Item Memory Test (RMT), the Rey Word Recognitions Test (WRT), and the Rey Dot Counting Test (DCT).
The California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) is one of the most widely used neuropsychological tests in North America. As an instrument, it represents a relatively new approach to clinical psychology and the cognitive science of memory. It measures episodic verbal learning and memory, and demonstrates sensitivity to a range of clinical conditions. The test does this by attempting to link memory deficits with impaired performance on specific tasks. It assesses encoding, recall and recognition in a single modality of item presentation (auditory-verbal). The CVLT is considered to be a more sensitive measure of episodic memory than other verbal learning tests. It was designed to not only measure how much a subject learned, but also reveal strategies employed and the types of errors made. The CVLT indexes free and cued recall, serial position effects, semantic clustering, intrusions, interference and recognition. Delis et al. (1994) released the California Verbal Learning Test for Children (CVLT-C). The California Verbal Learning Test-II (CVLT-II) is an updated version of the original CVLT, which has been standardized and provides normative data.
The Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB), originally developed at the University of Cambridge in the 1980s but now provided in a commercial capacity by Cambridge Cognition, is a computer-based cognitive assessment system consisting of a battery of neuropsychological tests, administered to subjects using a touch screen computer. The CANTAB tests were co-invented by Professor Trevor Robbins and Professor Barbara Sahakian. The 25 tests in CANTAB examine various areas of cognitive function, including:
The Trail Making Test is a neuropsychological test of visual attention and task switching. It consists of two parts in which the subject is instructed to connect a set of 25 dots as quickly as possible while still maintaining accuracy. The test can provide information about visual search speed, scanning, speed of processing, mental flexibility, as well as executive functioning. It is sensitive to detecting cognitive impairment associated with dementia, for example, Alzheimer's disease.
Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, and end-stage liver disease, is the impaired liver function caused by the formation of scar tissue known as fibrosis due to damage caused by liver disease. Damage causes tissue repair and subsequent formation of scar tissue, which over time can replace normal functioning tissue, leading to the impaired liver function of cirrhosis. The disease typically develops slowly over months or years. Early symptoms may include tiredness, weakness, loss of appetite, unexplained weight loss, nausea and vomiting, and discomfort in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen. As the disease worsens, symptoms may include itchiness, swelling in the lower legs, fluid build-up in the abdomen, jaundice, bruising easily, and the development of spider-like blood vessels in the skin. The fluid build-up in the abdomen may become spontaneously infected. More serious complications include hepatic encephalopathy, bleeding from dilated veins in the esophagus, stomach, or intestines, and liver cancer.
The Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) is a neuropsychological test designed to measure different memory functions in a person. Anyone ages 16 to 90 is eligible to take this test. The current version is the fourth edition (WMS-IV) which was published in 2009 and which was designed to be used with the WAIS-IV. A person's performance is reported as five Index Scores: Auditory Memory, Visual Memory, Visual Working Memory, Immediate Memory, and Delayed Memory. The WMS-IV also incorporates an optional cognitive exam that helps to assess global cognitive functioning in people with suspected memory deficits or those who have been diagnosed with a various neural, psychiatric and/or developmental disorders. This may include conditions such as dementias or mild learning difficulties.
Prevention of mild traumatic brain injury involves taking general measures to prevent traumatic brain injury, such as wearing seat belts and using airbags in cars. Older people are encouraged to try to prevent falls, for example by keeping floors free of clutter and wearing thin, flat, shoes with hard soles that do not interfere with balance.
Chronic solvent-induced encephalopathy (CSE) is a condition induced by long-term exposure to organic solvents, often but not always in the workplace, that lead to a wide variety of persisting sensorimotor polyneuropathies and neurobehavioral deficits even after solvent exposure has been removed. This syndrome can also be referred to as psycho-organic syndrome, organic solvent syndrome, chronic painter's syndrome, occupational solvent encephalopathy, solvent intoxication, toxic solvent syndrome, painters disease, psycho-organic syndrome, chronic toxic encephalopathy, or neurasthenic syndrome. The multiple names of solvent-induced syndromes combined with inconsistency in research methods makes referencing this disease difficult and its catalog of symptoms vague.
The Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination (ACE) and its subsequent versions are neuropsychological tests used to identify cognitive impairment in conditions such as dementia.
The Boston Process Approach is a neurological assessment tool developed by Edith Kaplan and her colleagues, Harold Goodglass, Nelson Butters, Laird Cermak, and Norman Geschwind at the Boston Veterans Medical Center. The main purpose of the Boston Process Approach is to assess brain damage as well as cognitive impairments in patients through a series of tests that are related to memory, attention, intelligence, and other aspects of information processing. This approach is one of the more flexible and qualitative neurological assessments because it emphasizes how a patient performs a task instead of whether they succeeded or failed at it.
References
- ↑ Randolph C, Tierney MC, Mohr E, Chase TN (June 1998). "The Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS): preliminary clinical validity". J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 20 (3): 310–9. doi:10.1076/jcen.20.3.310.823. PMID 9845158.
- ↑ Keri, S. , Kiss, I. , & Kelemen, O. . (2008). Sharing secrets: oxytocin and trust in schizophrenia. Social Neuroscience, 4(4), 287-293.
- 1 2 Howieson, Diane Black; Lezak, Muriel Deutsch; Loring, David W. (2004). Neuropsychological assessment. Oxford [Oxfordshire]: Oxford University Press. p. 696. ISBN 0-19-511121-4.
- ↑ Randolph C, Hilsabeck R, Kato A, et al. (May 2009). "Neuropsychological assessment of hepatic encephalopathy: ISHEN practice guidelines". Liver Int. 29 (5): 629–35. doi: 10.1111/j.1478-3231.2009.02009.x . PMID 19302444. Archived from the original on 2012-12-10.
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