Week 1 - Memory Disorders Flashcards

1
Q

what differentiates a major from a mild neurcognitive disorder? what are the other two things that determine it’s a neurocognitive disorder?

A

major: significant decline from previous level of performance in one+ cognitive domains
- concern that there has been significant decline
- substantial impairment in cognitive performance (documented by standardized neurological testing)
- deficits interfere with independence of every day activities

minor: modest declines, modest impairments, and doesn’t interfere with independence
determinants: cognitive deficits don’t occur exclusively in the contest of delirium, and are not better explained by another mental disorder

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2
Q

what are the cognitive domains measured for neurocognitive disorders?

A
complex attention
executive function
*learning and memory*
language
perceptual-motor
social cognition
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3
Q

neurocognitive disorder prevalence for mild/major depending on

  • age
  • gender
  • race
  • education
A

there’s always more mild than major

  • increases with age
  • equal male:female
  • more in Hispanics > Africans > White/other
  • inverse relationship with education
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4
Q

major risk factors for TBIs

A
  • males are 1.5-2x more likely
  • ages 0-4 (child abuse), 15-19 (driving accidents), elderly (falling)
  • military (PTSD)
  • contact sports
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5
Q

is a concussion a TBI?

A

yes, it is a mild TBI

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6
Q

what do 1 year and 8 year post TBI brains look like compared to controls?

A

loss of axons and axonal connections (thinner corpus callosum)

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7
Q

what do Alzheimer’s brains look like?

A

decline in memory from atrophy of hippocampus

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8
Q

what are neurophychological assessments based on?

A

based on demonstrated links between brain anatomy/function and behavior

  • test some aspect of behavior (anything we can measure and quantify, like attention, language, memory)
  • infer something about brain function (location, type, and/or degree of impairment
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9
Q

what neurologists focus on versus neuropsychcologists

A

neurologists: structure and physiological consequences of injury/illness
neuropsychologists: cognitive and behavioral consequences of injury/illness, and functional capacities

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10
Q

what are referrals usually for?

A

to determine nature and degree of imapirment, rather than if there is an impairment

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11
Q

when would referrals be given?

A
  • after TBI (accident, gunshot, etc.)
  • brain tumors, infectious, strokes
  • neurological disorders
  • medical diseases
  • developmental disorders
  • part of comprehensive psychological or psychoeducational evaluation (trouble learning in school)
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12
Q

what is the Rey-Osterrieth complex figure used for?

A

spatial or non-verbal long term memory (LTM) testing

  • copy a complex figure using 4 different colors (given at different intervals)
  • redraw it from memory with one color
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13
Q

how do control brains differ from Alzheimer’s and TBI?

A

ventricles: larger in TBI, then Alzheimer’s, then control
gyrification: more intense in Alzheimer’s, then TBi, then control

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14
Q

what kind of approach do TBI and Alzheimer’s patients take to the RO figure?

A

parts orientation approach (draw figure in parts, and only remember certain parts, not really the whole Gestalt approach)

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15
Q

what memory is the California Verbal Learning test used for? how is it performed?

A

auditory or verbal long term memory (LTM)

  1. say list of 16 words 5 times (normal recall 8 –> 9 –> 10 –> 11 –> 12)
  2. another list of 16 words (normal recall 6)
  3. ask to remember first list of 16 (normal recall 12)
  4. tell to clump in groups of items (if not already done so)
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16
Q

what do dementia patients usually do better on for the CVL test?

A

everyone has better recognition than recall, but the discrepancy is bigger for dementia patients

17
Q

what is the purpose of the CVLT-II?

A
  1. distinguish between learning/attention problem and memory impairment
  2. ability to learn/retain verbal information
  3. differentiation between depression and neurological disorders
  4. detect brain damage in TBI, drug abuse, etc.
  5. characterize memory profiles in patients with schizophrenia, depression
  6. detection of inadequate effort or malingering
18
Q

what part of the brain does working memory test?

A

prefrontal cortex

19
Q

what is an example of a working memory test?

A

“N-back task” usually N = 2

  • show series of pictures, and must press button if the picture is the same as picture 2 back (can also be for spoken letters)
  • usually don’t use 3 or 4 back b/c already have problems at 2
  • include a test for attention to ensure paying proper attention