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Broadly stated, variations in language functioning in ageing are often associated with variations in memory systems during the life span. However, it is still discussed which aspects of language processing are related to the different types of memory. Regarding syntax there is a debate about its relationship to working memory or its independence from it, although it seems logical to think that there is a co-dependence. In this context, the aim of this research was to determine the relationship between syntactic processing and working memory in healthy older adults. For this purpose, it was designed an experimental study with a group of 30 healthy older adults (HOA), aged between 65 and 75, and a group of 30 young people, aged between 20 and 30, both with more than 12 years of formal education. A Montreal cognitive assessment / MoCA-test was also applied to include/exclude participants. They were first tested by means of a linear distance task which consisted of 27 sentences. The number of intervening elements (9, 11 or 13) between the head of the subject nominal syntagm and the head of the verb syntagm of these stimuli varied. These distances (1), (2) and (3) were assigned an ascending value to differentiate the degrees of comprehension of each one. The possible influence of sentence type was also controlled by keeping the same syntactic structure. Additionally, 54 filler sentences were incorporated, which generated a task of 81 sentences in total. Following the proposal of Sevilla et al. (2008), the stimuli were organized and presented in 3 groups of 27 sentences, randomly formed for each of the participants. These stimuli were presented on a computer screen, through a self-administered reading comprehension task, in which a fixation point was presented before the block of 27 sentences, then a random sentence and a question and its correct/incorrect alternatives. It should be noted that the transition between the stimulus sentence and the comprehension question was made by the participant, once he/she felt that he/she had understood the content. Then, participants took the working memory subtests of the WAIS IV memory test, specifically reverse digits, and sequencing. Once the data had been obtained, five inferential statistical analyses were carried out: it was determined two Mann-Whitney tests to compare the media between HOA and the young people group, one for the working memory task and the other for the distance linear one; a Spearman correlation for each group, and, finally, a Chi-square test to determine the relation between distance variation and correct/incorrect answers. The results indicated that, although differences in performance were observed between the groups in the working memory tasks, there was no correlation between working memory and linear distance. It was also observed that there is no relationship between distance variation and correct/incorrect answers. The data indicate that syntactic processing - understood in terms of length - is preserved in healthy old age despite the decline in working memory. Thus, despite the decline in working memory capacity in healthy older adults compared to young people and what this implies for language processing efficiency, healthy older adults did not show difficulty in processing different utterances - independent of the 3 distances - as suggested by the results on sentence comprehension. This seems to indicate that the retention and integration of linearly displayed lexical information is not relevant for processing agreement and for sentence comprehension regardless de age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Argentina de Cardiología is the property of Sociedad Argentina de Cardiologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction. The present study was carried out due to the few previous studies on cognitive functioning in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), especially comparing transplant recipients with patients receiving hemodialysis treatment. Objective. To compare cognitive functioning in people with CKD under hemodialysis treatment, post-kidney transplantation, and healthy people. Method. The study applied standardized neuropsychological tests: MoCa Test, King Figure, and Token Test to assess cognitive functions. Results. Better cognitive performance occurred in the screening test and visual memory in the control and the transplanted groups than in the hemodialysis group. Discussion. The findings suggest that people with chronic kidney disease with transplant treatment improve cognitive performance significantly after 6 to 12 months after the intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Salud Uninorte is the property of Fundacion Universidad del Norte and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Novedades en Población is the property of Universidad de La Habana, Centro de Estudios Demograficos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Retos: Nuevas Perspectivas de Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación is the property of Federacion Espanola de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educacion Fisica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background. There is strong evidence that people with dementia show poor performance in declarative memory, relative to older healthy people. However, studies on possible differences in declarative (verbal) memory performance between patients with amnesic-type MCI and healthy patients are scarce, and the data are not conclusive. Objective. To determine the performance in declarative memory of three groups of older people; a) with probable dementia (n=63), b) MCI (n=20), and c) "healthy" (n=30). Method. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment and an instrument based on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test were applied. Results. Differences in memory scores were observed between participants with dementia and those with MCI and "healthy", but not between these last two groups. Significant moderate and positive correlations were found between MoCA and remembered words. Discussion. Although the deficit in declarative memory occurs in the group with probable dementia as well as in the other two, it was not observed between the MCI group and the "healthy" controls. The results show that, in general, the participants with MCI do not show deficits in declarative memory, which can be attributed to the heterogeneity of the MCI. Therefore, the need arises to continue exploring the performance of declarative memory, differentiating by MCI subtypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Virtual Universidad Católica del Norte is the property of Revista Virtual Universidad Catolica del Norte and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The prevalence of memory disorders in adulthood requires sensitive, specific and quick administration screenings instruments for the detection of cognitive impairment. Objective: To establish the validation of EDO, a brief questionnaire to be completed by the patient's informant, which serves to detect subjects with mild cognitive impairment. It is an instrument that can be administered in a simple manner and has the advantage of not needing the presence of the patient. The questionnaire has 10 quick response questions to be used in the clinic. Methods: 44 patients with mild cognitive impairment and 40 normal controls matched by age and educational level were evaluated with EDO and with an extensive Neuropsychological Battery. Results: Groups differed significantly in the EDO, MMSE (p <.001), CDR (p <.001) and RAVLT (p <.001). The EDO showed a significant correlation with the CDR (r = .524, p < .001), with RAVLT (r = -.551, p < .001) and with the FAQ (r = .705; p < .001). The area under the ROC curve was 0.835 and a cut-off score of 4 had a sensitivity of 0.75 and specificity of 0.78 to detect mild cognitive impairment. Conclusions: EDO is a fast and easy administration instrument with adequate psychometric properties to be used in MCI detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Gaceta Médica de Caracas is the property of Academia Nacional de Medicina and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Visual-constructional ability is one of the most impaired cognitive functions in dementia and it can be assessed by copy of drawings. Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) evaluate visuo-constructional ability by cube's draw. The aim of this study was to analyze the subtest Cube drawing from MoCA and describe the sensitivity and specificity of this subtest in healthy subjects, elderly with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's disease diagnosis and to create a new score system to the MoCA. Cross-sectional study of 119 elderly patients, aged 60 years or more with at least five years of education. All subjects underwent clinical and neuropsychological evaluation that included Cambridge Cognitive Examination (CAMCOG) and MoCA. MoCA's test were scored blindly. The analysis of Cube draw subtest from MoCA was made in two ways: (1) the score recommended by correction criteria of the original test (correct "1 point"; incorrect "0 point"); (2) by the analysis of all drawings (it was raised the types of errors observed and reached the description of five types of errors: Rotation, Perseveration, Fragmentation, Difficulty angulation/alignment and Motor incoordination). It was verified cube's draw in patients with cognitive impairment had several types of errors. When added the correct points in the final score from MoCA (MoCA-Visuo-Constructional - MoCA-VC) this new way to correct the test by using errors it increased diagnostic accuracy, i.e. MoCA-VC differs statistically (p< 0.0001) healthy elderly from Alzheimer's disease (AUC= 1.000) and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) (AUC= 0.970). The MoCA' subtest (cube draw) should receive more attention and be corrected considering types of errors. MoCA-VC proved to be more efficient than MoCA original in differentiating healthy elderly from cognitive impairment, in patients with more than five years of study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]