This study examines rates of reporting of new or worse post-traumatic symptoms for patients with a broad range of injury severity at 1 month and 1 year after traumatic brain injury (TBI), as compared with those whose injury spared the head, and assesses variables related to symptom reporting at 1 year post-injury. Seven hundred thirty two TBI subjects and 120 general trauma comparison (TC) subjects provided new or worse symptom information at 1 month and/or 1 year post-injury. Symptom reporting at 1 year post-injury was compared in subgroups based on basic demographics, preexisting conditions, and severity of brain injury. The TBI group reported significantly more symptoms at 1 month and 1 year after injury than TCs (each p < .001). Although symptom endorsement declined from 1 month to 1 year, 53% of people with TBI and 24% of TC continued to report 3 or more symptoms at 1 year post-injury. Symptom reporting in the TBI group was significantly related to age, gender, preinjury alcohol abuse, pre-injury psychiatric history, and severity of TBI. Symptom reporting is common following a traumatic injury and continues to be experienced by a substantial number of TBI subjects of all severity levels at 1 year post-injury. (JINS, 2010, 16, 401–411.)

The idea that handedness indicates something about a person’s cognitive ability and personality is a perennial issue. A variety of models have been put forward to explain this relationship and predict a range of outcomes from higher levels of cognitive ability in left-handers or moderate right-handers to lower levels of achievement in left- or mixed-handers. We tested these models using a sample (n = 895) drawn from the BRAINnet database (www.brainnet.net). Participants completed a general cognitive ability (GCA) scale and a test of hand preference/performance. Moderate right-handers, as indexed by their performance measures, had higher GCA scores compared with strong left- or right-handers. The performance measure also showed lower levels of GCA for left-handers compared with right-handers. The hand preference data showed little or no association with cognitive ability—perhaps because this measure clusters individuals toward the extremes of the handedness distribution. While adding support to Annett’s heterozygous advantage model, which predicts a cognitive disadvantage for strong left- or right-handers, the data also confirm recent research showing a GCA disadvantage for left-handers. Although this study demonstrates that handedness is related to cognitive ability, the effects are subtle and might only be identified in large-scale studies with sensitive measures of hand performance. (JINS, 2010, 16, 585–592.)

Short- and long-term cognitive declines after cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass have been reported, but the frequency, severity, nature, and etiology of postoperative cognitive changes have been difficult to quantify. Current studies have corrected the principal methodological shortcoming of earlier studies by including control groups, and have shown that while early postoperative cognitive decline does occur in some patients, it is generally mild and reversible by 3 months after surgery. Late cognitive changes do occur, but comparison with patients undergoing off-pump surgery or those being treated medically suggests that these changes are not specific to CABG or more specifically to the use of cardiopulmonary bypass. (JINS, 2010, 16, 221–226.)

Metaphors are a fundamental aspect of human cognition. The major neuropsychological hypothesis that metaphoric processing relies primarily on the right hemisphere is not confirmed consistently. We propose ways to advance our understanding of the neuropsychology of metaphor that go beyond simple laterality. Neuropsychological studies need to more carefully control confounding lexical and sentential factors, and consider the role of different parts of speech as they are extended metaphorically. They need to incorporate recent theoretical frameworks such as the career of metaphor theory, and address factors such as novelty. We also advocate the use of new methods such as voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping, which permits precise and formal tests of hypotheses correlating behavior with lesions sites. Finally, we outline a plausible model for the neural basis of metaphor. (JINS, 2010, 16, 1–5.)

The Minimal Assessment of Cognitive Function in Multiple Sclerosis (MACFIMS) is a consensus neuropsychological battery with established reliability and validity. One of the difficulties in implementing the MACFIMS in clinical settings is the reliance on manualized norms from disparate sources. In this study, we derived regression-based norms for the MACFIMS, using a unique data set to control for standard demographic variables (i.e., age, age2, sex, education). Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients (n = 395) and healthy volunteers (n = 100) did not differ in age, level of education, sex, or race. Multiple regression analyses were conducted on the performance of the healthy adults, and the resulting models were used to predict MS performance on the MACFIMS battery. This regression-based approach identified higher rates of impairment than manualized norms for many of the MACFIMS measures. These findings suggest that there are advantages to developing new norms from a single sample using the regression-based approach. We conclude that the regression-based norms presented here provide a valid alternative to identifying cognitive impairment as measured by the MACFIMS. (JINS, 2010, 16, 6–16.)

Few neuropsychological tests have been developed specifically for non-English speakers. Rather, assessment measures are often derived from English source texts (STs) and translated into foreign language target texts (TTs). An abundant literature describes the potential for translation error occurring in test construction. While the neuropsychology community has striven to correct these inadequacies, interdisciplinary approaches to test translation have been largely ignored. Translation studies, which has roots in linguistics, semiotics, computer science, anthropology, and philosophy, may provide a much-needed framework for test development. We aim to apply specific aspects of Descriptive Translation Studies to present unique and heretofore unapplied frameworks to the socio-cultural conceptualizations of translated tests. In doing so, a more theoretical basis for test construction will be explored. To this end, translation theory can provide valuable insights toward the development of linguistically and culturally relevant neuropsychological test measures suitable for an increasingly diverse patient base. (JINS, 2010, 16, 227–232.)

Previous studies have consistently reported age-related changes in cognitive abilities and brain structure. Previous studies also suggest compensatory roles for specialized training, skill, and years of education in the age-related decline of cognitive function. The Stanford/VA Aviation Study examines the influence of specialized training and skill level (expertise) on age-related changes in cognition and brain structure. This preliminary report examines the effect of aviation expertise, years of education, age, and brain size on flight simulator performance in pilots aged 45–68 years. Fifty-one pilots were studied with structural magnetic resonance imaging, flight simulator, and processing speed tasks. There were significant main effects of age (p < .01) and expertise (p < .01), but not of whole brain size (p > .1) or education (p > .1), on flight simulator performance. However, even though age and brain size were correlated (r = −0.41), age differences in flight simulator performance were not explained by brain size. Both aviation expertise and education were involved in an interaction with brain size in predicting flight simulator performance (p < .05). These results point to the importance of examining measures of expertise and their interactions to assess age-related cognitive changes. (JINS, 2010, 16, 412–423.)

Tulving’s (1972) theory of memory draws a distinction between general knowledge (semantic memory) and memory for events (episodic memory). Neuropsychological studies have generally examined each type of memory in isolation, but theorists have long argued that these two forms of memory are interdependent. Here we review several lines of neuropsychological research that have explored the interdependence of episodic and semantic memory. The studies show that these forms of memory can affect each other both at encoding and at retrieval. We suggest that theories of memory should be revised to account for all of the interdependencies between episodic and semantic memory; they should also incorporate forms of memory that do not fit neatly into either category. (JINS, 2010, 16, 748–753.)

The vast majority of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in children are of mild severity. Even if only a small proportion of children with mild TBI suffer negative outcomes, then mild TBI is a serious public health problem. This review summarizes the literature regarding the neurobehavioral outcomes associated with mild TBI in children and adolescents, focusing on the longstanding debate regarding postconcussive symptoms and attendant conceptual and methodological issues. The review also discusses future research directions, the long-term goal of which is to develop a comprehensive and integrated biopsychosocial model of outcomes that helps guide clinical management. (JINS, 2010, 16, 953–960.)

Heterogeneity is observed in the patterns of cognition in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Such heterogeneity might suggest the involvement of different etiological pathways or different host responses to pathology. A total of 627 subjects with mild/moderate AD underwent cognitive assessment with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Dementia Rating Scale-2 (DRS-2). Latent class analysis (LCA) was performed on cognition subscale data to identify and characterize cognitive subgroups. Clinical, demographic, and genetic factors were explored for association with class membership. LCA suggested the existence of four subgroups; one group with mild and another with severe global impairment across the cognitive domains, one group with primary impairments in attention and construction, and another group with primary deficits in memory and orientation. Education, disease duration, age, Apolipoprotein E-ε4 (APOE ε4) status, gender, presence of grasp reflex, white matter changes, and early or prominent visuospatial impairment were all associated with class membership. Our results support the existence of heterogeneity in patterns of cognitive impairment in AD. Our observation of classes characterized by predominant deficits in attention/construction and memory respectively deserves further exploration as does the association between membership in the attention/construction class and APOE ε4 negative status. (JINS, 2010, 16, 233–243.)

Healthy participants (n = 237) aged 45–79 were tested neuropsychologically with tests of memory, speed, and cognitive control and followed up for 3–5 years (mean, 3.4 years). The sample was genotyped for apolipoprotein E (APOE) and CHolinergic Receptor for Nicotine Alpha 4 (CHRNA4), and genetic effects on cognitive function at initial testing and on cognitive decline was studied. We predicted relatively stronger effects of APOE on memory, and of CHRNA4 on speeded tasks. The predictions were partially confirmed, but we found interactive effects of APOE and CHRNA4 in several cognitive domains. Being an APOE ε4/CHRNA4 TT carrier was associated with slower and less efficient performance, and with steeper decline in speed tasks and in delayed recall. Age dependent genetic effects were found for both APOE and CHRNA4, where old participants (60–79 years) showed a negative influence of TT carrier status on initial memory performance, but a tendency for steeper memory decline in ε4 carriers. Inconsistent and small effects of APOE reported in previous studies of healthy groups may be caused by failure to consider epistasis of APOE with nicotinic receptor and other genes. (JINS, 2010, 16, 424–432.)