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BACKGROUND: The Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (RCFT) is a tool to evaluate cognitive function. Despite its usefulness, its scoring criteria are as complicated as its figure, leading to a low reliability. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the feasibility of using the convolutional neural network (CNN) model based on the RCFT as a screening tool for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and investigate the non-equivalence of sub-tasks of the RCFT. METHODS: A total of 354 RCFT images (copy and recall conditions) were obtained from 103 healthy controls (HCs) and 74 patients with amnestic MCI (a-MCI). The CNN model was trained to predict MCI based on the RCFT-copy and RCFT-recall images. To evaluate the CNN model's performance, accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and F1-score were measured. To compare discriminative power, the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. RESULTS: The CNN model based on the RCFT-recall was the most accurate in discriminating a-MCI (accuracy: RCFT-copy = 0.846, RCFT-recall = 0.872, MoCA-K = 0.818). Furthermore, the CNN model based on the RCFT could better discriminate MCI than the MoCA-K (AUC: RCFT-copy = 0.851, RCFT-recall = 0.88, MoCA-K = 0.848). The CNN model based on the RCFT-recall was superior to the RCFT-copy. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest the feasibility of using the CNN model based on the RCFT as a surrogate for a conventional screening tool for a-MCI and demonstrate the superiority of the CNN model based on the RCFT-recall to the RCFT-copy.

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Typical visual perception includes an attention bias toward right hemisphere mediated global, holistic cortical processing. An atypically local, detail-oriented focus of attention is characteristic of left hemisphere processing and is often observed in patients whose field of attention is restricted by certain types of neurocognitive impairment. We designed the present pair of studies to induce a local attentional focus to observe its consequences on neurocognitive measures of visuospatial processing. In Experiment I, participants wore glasses mimicking simultanagnosia, a disorder of visual attention, to induce a narrowed, atypical attentional style while they completed visual neuropsychological tasks. This simulation impaired participants' capacities to visually synthesize and efficiently reproduce Complex Figure stimuli as measured with the Boston Qualitative Scoring System (BQSS), and it induced an atypical attentional style on Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS) responses. In Experiment II, participants wore glasses designed to provoke differential hemispheric activation, also hypothesized to influence style of visual attention; but this manipulation did not influence neurocognitive task performance. We discuss implications for the interpretation of BQSS and R-PAS scores and offer directions for future research.

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Children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) are at considerable risk for cognitive difficulties, including visuospatial deficits and executive dysfunction. This study aimed to (1) assess the overall performance of children with NF1 on the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (RCFT) compared to unaffected siblings and (2) examine neuropsychological predictors of RCFT performance in children with NF1. A retrospective clinical audit was performed on neuropsychological records from a multidisciplinary NF1 Clinic in Australia. We searched for children that had completed an assessment between 2000 and 2015 which included the RCFT and other neuropsychological outcomes in this study. These included the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Judgment of Line Orientation (JLO), Tower of London test, Conners ADHD Scales, and the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF). The study population consisted of 191 children with NF1 aged 6-16 years, and 55 unaffected siblings recruited from a separate study. Results revealed that 62% of children with NF1 performed at or below the first percentile on the RCFT copy, which was significantly worse than their unaffected siblings. Visuospatial skills, parent-rated executive abilities, ADHD symptoms, and intellectual skills all predicted poorer performance on the RCFT copy, however the best fitting multiple regression model only contained the JLO, BRIEF Metacognition Index, and chronological age. The JLO emerged as the strongest predictor of RCFT performance. This study provides evidence that visuospatial deficits are a key driver of reduced RCFT performance in NF1 and that executive skills as well as a younger age are also independent predictors of RCFT performance.

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BACKGROUND: Sociodemographic effects (i.e., age, gender, education) have been shown to influence neuropsychological test scores. The current retrospective, quasi-epidemiological work provides age-, gender- and education-corrected clinical norms for five common cognitive assessments. METHODS: In total, test scores of 4968 patients from the University Hospital of Cologne (Department of Neurology), recruited between 2009 and 2020, were analyzed retrospectively. Conducted tests were the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), F-A-S Test (FAS), Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (ROCFT) and Trail Making Test, Part A and B (TMT-A/-B). Using multiple linear regression analyses, test scores were analyzed for sociodemographic influences (age, gender, education). Based on these analyses, norms were generated by first separating patients into different age groups stratified by educational level and (if necessary) gender. Subsequently, percentile ranks and z-scores for a subsample including only individuals without dementia were calculated. RESULTS: Lower age and higher educational level predicted better test scores (MMSE, FAS, ROCFT) and completion times (TMT-A/-B). Additionally, produced words on the FAS and remembered drawings from the ROCFT were influenced by gender, with females having better FAS but lower ROCFT (delayed recall) scores than males. Considering these effects, clinical norms were provided for the five cognitive assessments. CONCLUSIONS: We found influences of age, gender and education on test scores, although they are frequently not or only partially considered for test score interpretation. With the provided norms, neuropsychologists can make more profound evaluations of cognitive performance. A user-friendly Microsoft Excel file is offered to assist this process.

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Objective: In early stages of disease, the differential diagnosis between Parkinson's Disease (PD) and atypical parkinsonism, such as Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), could be challenging. Growing attention has recently been dedicated to investigating neuropsychological markers of degenerative parkinsonism. The Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (ROCFT) copy score was hypothesized able to differentiate PSP from PD. However, ROCFT is a drawing test requiring multiple cognitive abilities and it is still unknown which of them assumes an important role in PSP performance. Using a qualitative scoring system, we investigated which cognitive abilities underpin the PSP performance at the ROCFT copy trial. Moreover, we evaluated usefulness of the BQSS scores in discriminating PSP from PD. Methods: Thirty PSP-Richardson's Syndrome (PSP-RS) patients, 30 PD patients, and 30 healthy control (HC) comparable for age, education, and gender were enrolled. All subjects underwent a neuropsychological evaluation; ROCFT copy were evaluated with the 36-Point Score and with the Boston Qualitative Scoring System (BQSS). Results: PSP-RS patients performed worse in ROCFT 36-Point Score and in several BQSS scores compared to other groups. Most suitable scores discriminating PSP-RS from PD were "Perseveration" and "Vertical Expansion" of BQSS. A logistic regression model considering "Perseveration" and "Vertical Expansion" showed a diagnostic accuracy of 83,3% for PSP-RS condition. Conclusion: our findings showed that "Perseveration" and "Vertical Expansion" BQSS scores were useful in discriminating PSP-RS from PD. "Perseveration" and "Vertical Expansion" BQSS scores might be included in the cognitive evaluation along with quantitative scores when PSP diagnosis is considered.

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Age-related declines in motor learning are well documented. Visuospatial memory has been proposed as a key factor explaining age-related declines in sensorimotor adaptation, but most studies have not used standardized visuospatial memory tests nor controlled for age-related visuospatial memory declines. The present study explores the relationship between visuospatial memory and motor learning in older adults while also controlling for age and utilizing a standardized visuospatial memory test. Forty-nine nondemented older adults repetitively practiced a functional upper-extremity motor task and were re-assessed one week later. Training data were modeled with mixed-effect exponential decay functions, with parameters representing amount of performance change, rate of improvement, and final performance. Age and visuospatial memory were included as possible covariates for the parameter measuring rate of improvement (τ). After controlling for age, higher visuospatial memory scores were associated with faster rates of skill acquisition and better short-term retention one week later. These associations with visuospatial memory were dependent, however, on the level of initial skill. These findings suggest that the extent of re-learning motor skills in geriatric physical rehabilitation may depend on intact visuospatial memory.

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This study investigated the neuropsychological profile of college students who engage in binge drinking (BD) using comprehensive neuropsychological tests evaluating verbal/non-verbal memory, executive functions, and attention. Groups were determined based on scores on the Korean version of the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT-K) and Alcohol Use Questionnaire (AUQ). There were 79 and 81 participants in the BD and non-BD groups, respectively. We administered the Korean version of the California Verbal Learning Test (K-CVLT) and Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (RCFT) to evaluate verbal and non-verbal memory, respectively, and measured executive functions using the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Trail-Making Test, Controlled Oral Word Association Test and Stroop Color-Word Test. We administered the d2 test to evaluate attention. Neuropsychological performance was analyzed by multivariate analysis of variance. The BD group showed significantly poorer performance in the long-term free recall condition of the K-CVLT and delayed recall condition of the RCFT and completed significantly fewer categories on the WCST than the non-BD group. In addition, there were significant negative associations among the AUDIT-K total score, AUQ binge score, and long-term free recall score of the K-CVLT. There were significant negative associations between the total AUDIT-K score and delayed recall RCFT score, and between the total AUDIT-K total score and numbers of completed categories on the WCST. These results indicate that college students who participate in BD have difficulties with verbal/non-verbal memory and executive functions, and further suggest that excessive alcohol use could have detrimental effects on the hippocampal-prefrontal circuit even with a relatively short period of alcohol use.

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Digital pen features model characteristics of sketches and user behavior, and can be used for various supervised machine learning (ML) applications, such as multi-stroke sketch recognition and user modeling. In this work, we use a state-of-the-art set of more than 170 digital pen features, which we implement and make publicly available. The feature set is evaluated in the use case of analyzing paper-pencil-based neurocognitive assessments in the medical domain. Most cognitive assessments, for dementia screening for example, are conducted with a pen on normal paper. We record these tests with a digital pen as part of a new interactive cognitive assessment tool with automatic analysis of pen input. The physician can, first, observe the sketching process in real-time on a mobile tablet, e.g., in telemedicine settings or to follow Covid-19 distancing regulations. Second, the results of an automatic test analysis are presented to the physician in real-time, thereby reducing manual scoring effort and producing objective reports. As part of our evaluation we examine how accurately different feature-based, supervised ML models can automatically score cognitive tests, with and without semantic content analysis. A series of ML-based sketch recognition experiments is conducted, evaluating 10 modern off-the-shelf ML classifiers (i.e., SVMs, Deep Learning, etc.) on a sketch data set which we recorded with 40 subjects from a geriatrics daycare clinic. In addition, an automated ML approach (AutoML) is explored for fine-tuning and optimizing classification performance on the data set, achieving superior recognition accuracies. Using standard ML techniques our feature set outperforms all previous approaches on the cognitive tests considered, i.e., the Clock Drawing Test, the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test, and the Trail Making Test, by automatically scoring cognitive tests with up to 87.5% accuracy in a binary classification task.

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OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to generate updated normative data for commonly used tests in neuropsychological assessment applied to older monolingual Spanish-speaking adults: Verbal fluency tests, the Trail Making Test (TMT), and the Rey-Osterrieth complex figure test (ROCF). METHOD: To obtain normative data, 382 cognitively healthy 60- to 90-year-old Spanish monolingual participants from the Autonomous Community of Madrid (Spain) with 0-22 years education were assessed using an overlapping interval strategy that involved cell and midpoint techniques, and that assessed the influence of age, education, and sex. RESULTS: Age and education were associated with the scores in the verbal fluency tests, TMT, and ROCF, whereas sex only significantly affected the TMT results. Age-adjusted scaled scores (SSA) based on percentile ranks were also converted into age-education scaled scores (SSAE) using a linear regression model. In addition, tables with the relevant adjustments for sex are provided for TMT-A and TMT-B. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, this study provides updated, uniform normative data for widely used neuropsychological tests on older Spanish adults. The normative procedure followed helps to make consistent comparisons when using these neuropsychological tests, which will improve the interpretation of the data obtained when these tools are employed, reducing the risk of misdiagnosing cognitive impairment in older adults.

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Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most common form of focal epilepsy and is associated with a variety of structural and psychological alterations. Recently, there has been renewed interest in using brain tissue resected during epilepsy surgery, in particular 'non-epileptic' brain samples with normal histology that can be found alongside epileptic tissue in the same epileptic patients - with the aim being to study the normal human brain organization using a variety of methods. An important limitation is that different medical characteristics of the patients may modify the brain tissue. Thus, to better determine how 'normal' the resected tissue is, it is fundamental to know certain clinical, anatomical and psychological characteristics of the patients. Unfortunately, this information is frequently not fully available for the patient from which the resected tissue has been obtained - or is not fully appreciated by the neuroscientists analyzing the brain samples, who are not necessarily experts in epilepsy. In order to present the full picture of TLE in a way that would be accessible to multiple communities (e.g., basic researchers in neuroscience, neurologists, neurosurgeons and psychologists), we have reviewed 34 TLE patients, who were selected due to the availability of detailed clinical, anatomical, and psychological information for each of the patients. Our aim was to convey the full complexity of the disorder, its putative anatomical substrates, and the wide range of individual variability, with a view toward: (1) emphasizing the importance of considering critical patient information when using brain samples for basic research and (2) gaining a better understanding of normal and abnormal brain functioning. In agreement with a large number of previous reports, this study (1) reinforces the notion of substantial individual variability among epileptic patients, and (2) highlights the common but overlooked psychopathological alterations that occur even in patients who become "seizure-free" after surgery. The first point is based on pre- and post-surgical comparisons of patients with hippocampal sclerosis and patients with normal-looking hippocampus in neuropsychological evaluations. The second emerges from our extensive battery of personality and projective tests, in a two-way comparison of these two types of patients with regard to pre- and post-surgical performance.

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BACKGROUND: The Clock Drawing Test (CDT) and Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (RCFT) are widely used as a part of neuropsychological test batteries to assess cognitive function. Our objective was to confirm the prediction accuracies of the RCFT-copy and CDT for cognitive impairment (CI) using convolutional neural network algorithms as a screening tool. METHODS: The CDT and RCFT-copy data were obtained from patients aged 60-80 years who had more than 6 years of education. In total, 747 CDT and 980 RCFT-copy figures were utilized. Convolutional neural network algorithms using TensorFlow (ver. 2.3.0) on the Colab cloud platform ( www.colab. RESEARCH: google.com ) were used for preprocessing and modeling. We measured the prediction accuracy of each drawing test 10 times using this dataset with the following classes: normal cognition (NC) vs. mildly impaired cognition (MI), NC vs. severely impaired cognition (SI), and NC vs. CI (MI + SI). RESULTS: The accuracy of the CDT was better for differentiating MI (CDT, 78.04 ± 2.75; RCFT-copy, not being trained) and SI from NC (CDT, 91.45 ± 0.83; RCFT-copy, 90.27 ± 1.52); however, the RCFT-copy was better at predicting CI (CDT, 77.37 ± 1.77; RCFT, 83.52 ± 1.41). The accuracy for a 3-way classification (NC vs. MI vs. SI) was approximately 71% for both tests; no significant difference was found between them. CONCLUSIONS: The two drawing tests showed good performance for predicting severe impairment of cognition; however, a drawing test alone is not enough to predict overall CI. There are some limitations to our study: the sample size was small, all the participants did not perform both the CDT and RCFT-copy, and only the copy condition of the RCFT was used. Algorithms involving memory performance and longitudinal changes are worth future exploration. These results may contribute to improved home-based healthcare delivery.

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Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a trauma-induced disorder characterized with impaired cognitive function. BDNF modulates cognition and is involved in neuroprotection and neurocognitive processing. The BDNF Val66Met polymorphism was found to influence cognitive functions. In PTSD, carriers of the BDNF GG genotype had better spatial processing of navigation performance, and lower hyperarousal and startle reaction than A allele carriers. The hypothesis was that veterans with PTSD, carriers of the BDNF Val66Met A allele, will show reduced cognitive skills. The study included 315 male Caucasian combat veterans, with (N = 199) or without (N = 116) current and chronic PTSD. Cognition was assessed using the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF) test that determines visual-spatial perception and short and long-term visual memory function. The results revealed that cognitive decline measured with ROCF test was associated with PTSD. Presence of the BDNF Val66Met GG genotype in veterans with PTSD, but not in veterans without PTSD, showed protective association with visual short-term memory and visual object manipulation after few seconds (executive function), assessed with the ROCF immediate recall test, compared to the A carriers with PTSD. In conclusion, this was the first study to confirm the association between BDNF Val66Met and memory and attention performed with ROCF in male veterans with PTSD. The results corroborated that the BDNF Val66Met A allele, compared to GG genotype, is associated with poorer short-term visual memory and attention linked with executive functions, in veterans with PTSD.

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This study investigated the characteristics of neural oscillation and functional connectivity (FC) in college students engaging in binge drinking (BD) using resting-state electroencephalography (EEG). Also, the associations of visual memory, evaluated by the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (RCFT), and neural oscillation with FC during the resting state were investigated. The BD (n = 35) and non-BD (n = 35) groups were selected based on scores of the Korean version of the Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) Identification Test and the Alcohol Use Questionnaire. EEG was performed for 6 min while the participants rested with eyes closed. The theta, lower-alpha, and upper alpha powers did not differ between the BD and non-BD groups. Concerning FC, the BD group exhibited stronger theta coherence than that of the non-BD group, and in the lower and upper alpha bands, the BD group showed stronger coherence in some areas but weaker coherence in others compared with the non-BD group. However, these significant results were not observed after Bonferroni correction. The BD group showed significantly lower delayed recall scores on the RCFT than did the non-BD group. A positive correlation between the left prefrontal-parietal-occipital midline connection and performance on the delayed recall of the RCFT was observed in the BD group. The present results could suggest that binge drinkers have alterations in brain FC, which may be related to their visual memory deficits.

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Background: The modality effect plays the central role in learning and memory functions. Retrieval failure constitutes a common memory impairment that occurs among patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, little knowledge exists about the relation between modality effect and delayed recall impairment in PD. The primary goal of this study was to compare delayed free recall performance between three different memory modalities (verbal, visual, and cross visual-verbal) in a sample of non-demented patients with mild PD progression. The secondary goal was to explore the frequency of deficient performance on the basis of normative comparisons on each of the three delayed free-recall measures. Method: A total of 71 non-demented patients with mild PD progression were recruited for the administration of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), the Rey Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (ROCFT), and the Greek Version of Face-Name Associative Memory Examination (GR-FNAME12). Results: The percentages of deficient-performances for the three delayed free recall measures were 45.1% (32/71), 39.4% (28/71) and 31% (22/71) for the GR-FNAME12, ROFCT and RAVLT, respectively. The results indicated no significant difference between performances of the GR-FNAME12 and ROCFT, both of which were significantly lower than performance on the RAVLT. Conclusions: In conclusion, delayed free recall appears to be more severely affected in the cross visual-verbal and visual memory modalities than in verbal-memory modalities in the early phase of PD progression.

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The Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (ROCF) is a widely used neuropsychological test for the evaluation of drawing disorders in different clinical populations, and, in particular, in persons with neurodevelopmental disorders. The aim of the present study is to provide normative data for ROCF copying (ROCF-Direct copy) and drawing from memory (ROCF-Immediate recall) in Italian-speaking children. The sample consisted of 348 children (147 males and 199 females), aged 7-11 years, recruited from elementary schools in Southern Italy. Normative data were gathered from 312 participants fulfilling the inclusion criteria, and estimated centiles were obtained according to the LMS method providing normalized growth centile standards. Results showed a significant effect of age on performance in both tasks, with a steady increase of drawing accuracy, whereas participants' gender and mean level of parental education did not exert any significant effect. Thus, normative data were stratified by age, and percentile scores were provided allowing a practical use of the ROCF for the clinical evaluation of drawing abilities in both typical and atypical children.

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Core features of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are cognitive disturbances. Enzyme catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) degrades dopamine primarily in prefrontal cortex. Its functional polymorphism, COMT Val158/108Met, affects COMT activity and dopamine availability and is associated with disturbances in cognition. The hypothesis was that PTSD subjects will have worse working memory than healthy controls and that the carriers of the COMT Met allele will show better cognitive performance compared to Val/Val carriers in PTSD and controls subjects. The aim of this study was to assess the differences in cognitive functioning between PTSD and control subjects and to evaluate the association between COMT Val158/108Met polymorphism and cognitive function determined using the Rey-Osterrieth complex figure (ROCF) copy, immediate and delayed test. The study included 323 male Caucasian participants of Croatian origin: 205 male combat veterans with PTSD and 118 control subjects. A significant association between the COMT Val158/108Met and the ROCF immediate and delayed scores in veterans with PTSD was found. We confirmed, on ethnically homogenous groups of veterans with matched combat experience, that controls had higher ROCF immediate and delayed test scores than veterans with PTSD. In PTSD subjects, the Met carriers of the COMT Val158/108Met performed better (i.e. had higher ROCF scores) than Val/Val homozygotes on both ROCF immediate recall and delayed recall test. Our results provide the first evidence that the presence of one or two Met alleles of the COMT Val158/108Met might act as a protective variant in working memory tasks in combat exposed veterans with PTSD.

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OBJECT: Cognitive function is often improved or impaired after carotid endarterectomy (CEA) for patients with cerebral hemodynamic impairment. Cerebral glucose metabolism measured using positron emission tomography (PET) with (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) correlates with cognitive function in patients with neurodegenerative diseases. The present study aimed to determine whether postoperative changes in cerebral glucose metabolism are associated with cognitive changes after CEA. METHODS: In patients who were scheduled to undergo CEA for ipsilateral internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis (≥ 70% narrowing), cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) to acetazolamide were assessed preoperatively using brain perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). CBF measurement using SPECT was also performed immediately after CEA. For patients with reduced preoperative CVR to acetazolamide in the cerebral hemisphere ipsilateral to surgery, cerebral glucose metabolism was assessed using FDG-PET before surgery and 3 months after surgery and was analyzed using 3D stereotactic surface projection. Neuropsychological testing was also performed preoperatively and 3 months postoperatively. RESULTS: Twenty-two patients with reduced preoperative CVR to acetazolamide successfully underwent FDG-PET studies and neuropsychological testing before and after CEA. Seven, 9, and 6 patients were defined as showing improved, unchanged, and impaired postoperative cognition, respectively, based on the neuropsychological assessments. The cortical area with increased postoperative glucose metabolism was greater in patients with improved postoperative cognition than in those with unchanged (p < 0.001) or impaired (p < 0.001) postoperative cognition. The cortical area with decreased postoperative glucose metabolism was greater in patients with impaired postoperative cognition than in those with improved (p < 0.001) or unchanged (p < 0.001) postoperative cognition. All 7 patients with improved cognition exhibited postoperative hemispheric increases in glucose metabolism, while 5 of the 6 patients with impaired cognition exhibited postoperative hemispheric decreases in glucose metabolism. Brain perfusion SPECT revealed that the latter 6 patients experienced postoperative cerebral hyperperfusion, and 2 of the 6 patients exhibited cerebral hyperperfusion syndrome. The cortical area with decreased postoperative glucose metabolism in these 2 patients was greater than that in other patients. CONCLUSIONS: Postoperative changes in cerebral glucose metabolism, as measured using FDG-PET, are associated with cognitive improvement and impairment after CEA.

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Cognitive models of drawing are mainly based on assessment of copying performance of adults, whereas only a few studies have verified these models in young children. Moreover, developmental investigations have only rarely performed a systematic examination of the contribution of perceptual and representational visuo-spatial processes to copying and drawing from memory. In this study we investigated the role of visual perception and mental representation in both copying and drawing from memory skills in a sample of 227 typically developing children (53% females) aged 7-10 years. Participants underwent a neuropsychological assessment and the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF). The fit and invariance of the predictive model considering visuo-spatial abilities, working memory, and executive functions were tested by means of hierarchical regressions and path analysis. Results showed that, in a gender invariant way, visual perception abilities and spatial mental representation had a direct effect on copying performance, whereas copying performance was the only specific predictor for drawing from memory. These effects were independent from age and socioeconomic status, and showed that cognitive models of drawing built up for adults could be considered for predicting copying and drawing from memory in children.

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the neuropsychological functioning and the effect of antidepressant drug intake on cognitive performance in a group of relatively young generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) patients. Forty patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of GAD and 31 healthy subjects participated in the study (Control group, CON). None of the selected subjects had comorbid depression. GAD subjects were divided into two different subgroups: 18 were taking antidepressants [GAD-pharmacotherapy (GAD-p group)] and 22 were treatment-naïve (GAD group). Each group was administered with a comprehensive neuropsychological battery to assess attention, memory and executive functions. Performance on executive and non-verbal memory tasks of both GAD groups was largely worse than the CON group. However, these deficits seem to be more marked in patients taking antidepressants, especially in the domains of attention, non-verbal memory and executive functions. The present study indicates that GAD is associated with cognitive impairments among young adults. However, the observed association of neuropsychological deficits and the use of pharmacotherapy suggest a possible effect of antidepressant treatment on attention, executive functioning and non-verbal memory.

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The Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (RCFT) is widely used to measure visuoperceptual and visuoconstructional skills, while the Line Bisection (LB) test is commonly employed to assess unilateral spatial neglect (USN). Previous studies have suggested that Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients may suffer from left USN. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to clarify whether left USN occurs in AD. METHODS: Forty controls, 40 very mild AD patients and 31 mild/moderate AD patients performed both the RCFT copying and the LB test. RESULTS: The very mild AD and mild/moderate AD groups had lower total RCFT copying scores and also scored lower in the "left" and "detail" categories compared to controls. However, there were no correlations between the left-category score for RCFT and the LB score. Instead, peripheral inattention and simplification patterns were noted. CONCLUSIONS: We found that the RCFT copying test is effective for detecting early AD and suggest that AD patients manifest peripheral inattention and simplification but not left USN.

O teste da figura complexa de Rey-Osterrieth (TFCR) é muito utilizado para avaliar habilidades vísuo-espaciais e vísuo-construtivas, enquanto o teste de Bisecção de Linhas (TBL) é usualmente empregado para avaliar a presença de negligência espacial unilateral. Estudos anteriores têm sugerido que pacientes com doença de Alzheimer (DA) podem apresentar negligência espacial unilateral esquerda. OBJETIVOS: O propósito deste estudo foi o de verificar se negligência espacial unilateral esquerda ocorre na DA. MÉTODOS: Quarenta controles, 40 pacientes com DA muito leve e 31 com DA leve/moderada foram avaliados mediante o TFCR e o TBL. RESULTADOS: Os pacientes com DA muito leve e com DA leve/moderado tiveram escores mais baixos na cópia do TFCR e também nas categorias "esquerda" e "detalhe" comparados com controles. Entretanto, não houve correlação entre os escores na categoria-esquerda do TFCR e os escores no TBL. Por outro lado, foram notados padrões de inatenção periférica e simplificação. CONCLUSÕES: Nós observamos que a cópia do TFCR é eficaz para detector DA inicial e sugerimos que pacientes com DA manifestam inatenção periférica e simplificação, mas não negligência espacial unilateral esquerda.