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When examining rapid instructed task learning behaviorally, one out of two paradigms is usually used, the Inducer-Diagnostic (I-D) and the NEXT paradigm. Even though both paradigms are supposed to examine the same phenomenon of Automatic Effect of Instructions (AEI), there are some meaningful differences between them, notably in the size of the AEI. In the current work, we examined, in two pre-registered studies, the potential reasons for these differences in AEI size. Study 1 examined the influence of the data-analytic approach by comparing two existing relatively large data-sets, one from each paradigm (Braem et al., in Mem Cogn 47:1582–1591, 2019; Meiran et al., in Neuropsychologia 90:180–189, 2016). Study 2 focused on the influence of instruction type (concrete, as in NEXT, and abstract, as in I-D) and choice complexity of the task in which AEI-interference is assessed. We did that while using variants of the NEXT paradigm, some with modifications that approximated it to the I-D paradigm. Results from Study 1 indicate that the data-analytic approach partially explains the differences between the paradigms in terms of AEI size. Still, the paradigms remained different with respect to individual differences and with respect to AEI size in the first step following the instructions. Results from Study 2 indicate that Instruction type and the choice complexity in the phase in which AEI is assessed do not influence AEI size, or at least not in the expected direction. Theoretical and study-design implications are discussed. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00426-021-01596-1.

What factors are important in the calibration of mental representations of auditory space? A substantial body of research investigating the audiospatial abilities of people who are blind has shown that visual experience might be an important factor for accurate performance in some audiospatial tasks. Yet, it has also been shown that long-term experience using click-based echolocation might play a similar role, with blind expert echolocators demonstrating auditory localization abilities that are superior to those of people who are blind and who do not use click-based echolocation by Vercillo et al. (Neuropsychologia 67: 35–40, 2015). Based on this hypothesis we might predict that training in click-based echolocation may lead to improvement in performance in auditory localization tasks in people who are blind. Here we investigated this hypothesis in a sample of 12 adult people who have been blind from birth. We did not find evidence for an improvement in performance in auditory localization after 10 weeks of training despite significant improvement in echolocation ability. It is possible that longer-term experience with click-based echolocation is required for effects to develop, or that other factors can explain the association between echolocation expertise and superior auditory localization. Considering the practical relevance of click-based echolocation for people who are visually impaired, future research should address these questions. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00221-021-06230-5.

The ventral prefrontal cortex (vPFC) is a major focus of investigation in neuroscience, particularly in the studies of emotion and emotion-cognition integration. A crucial question concerning the regulatory function of vPFC is how it is recruited, especially how the function maps onto the structure and determines appropriate behavior. In social exclusion studies, mediation model analyses suggest that vPFC regulates distress by disrupting anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) activities, whereas I recently report (Hu, 2018; Neuropsychologia) that ventral medial prefrontal cortex appears to defend the organism from acute stress by activating ACC. In this review, I synthesize and highlight functional imaging research with mediation analysis that over the past decades has begun to offer new insights into the brain mechanisms underlying vPFC. Toward this end, the first section of the paper outlines a model of the processes and neural systems involved in the interaction of emotion and cognition. The second and third sections survey recent research on emotional regulation with negative and positive pathways, respectively, emanating from vPFC. The fourth section summarizes the current dynamic network findings. Functional mediation analysis helps to identify signals within vPFC and others that are common and/or specific to particular information processing. Finally, I provide a personal perspective of the adoption of mediation model analysis in the investigations into vPFC.

The amino acid tyrosine is the precursor of dopamine and norepinephrine and can be administered as a dietary supplement. Previous studies have demonstrated that the intake of tyrosine can enhance both working memory performance and response inhibition (e.g., Colzato et al., Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 72013; Colzato et al., Neuropsychologia, 62, 398–402, 2014). In this study, we tested whether the consumption of tyrosine improved the performance of female participants in the Attention Network Test (ANT; Fan et al., Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 14, 340–347 2002) and the Stroop task (Stroop, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 18, 643–662 1935). Tyrosine marginally improved the resolution of interference in the Stroop task and had some impact on average reaction times. We conclude that more research is required as to understand the mechanisms through which tyrosine influences cognitive functioning. At this point in time, it remains unclear at best whether the consumption of tyrosine can be advised as a dietary supplement to support cognition.

Some early studies of people with aphasia reported strikingly better performance on lexical than on sublexical speech perception tasks. These findings challenged the claim that lexical processing depends on sublexical processing and suggested that acoustic information could be mapped directly to lexical representations. However, Dial and Martin (Neuropsychologia 96: 192-212, 2017) argued that these studies failed to match the discriminability of targets and distractors for the sublexical and lexical stimuli and showed that when using closely matched tasks with natural speech tokens, no patient performed substantially better at the lexical than at the sublexical processing task. In the current study, we sought to provide converging evidence for the dependence of lexical on sublexical processing by examining the perception of synthetic speech stimuli varied on a voice-onset time continuum using eye-tracking methodology, which is sensitive to online speech perception processes. Eight individuals with aphasia and ten age-matched controls completed two visual world paradigm tasks: phoneme (sublexical) and word (lexical) identification. For both identification and eye-movement data, strong correlations were observed between the sublexical and lexical tasks. Critically, no patient within the control range on the lexical task was impaired on the sublexical task. Overall, the current study supports the claim that lexical processing depends on sublexical processing. Implications for inferring deficits in people with aphasia and the use of sublexical tasks to assess sublexical processing are also discussed.

Stuss considered the human PFC as a “cognitive globe” [Stuss, D. T., & Benson, D. F. Neuropsychological studies of the frontal lobes. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 3–28, 1984] on which functions of the frontal lobe could be mapped. Here, we discuss classic and recent findings regarding the evolution, development, function, and cognitive role of shallow indentations or tertiary sulci in PFC, with the goal of using tertiary sulci to map the “cognitive globe” of PFC. First, we discuss lateral PFC (LPFC) tertiary sulci in classical anatomy and modern neuroimaging, as well as their development, with a focus on those within the middle frontal gyrus. Second, we discuss tertiary sulci in comparative neuroanatomy, focusing on primates. Third, we summarize recent findings showing the utility of tertiary sulci for understanding structural–functional relationships with functional network insights in ventromedial PFC and LPFC. Fourth, we revisit and update unresolved theoretical perspectives considered by C. Vogt and O. Vogt (Allgemeinere ergebnisse unserer hirnforschung. Journal für Psychologie und Neurologie, 25, 279–462, 1919) and F. Sanides (Structure and function of the human frontal lobe. Neuropsychologia, 2, 209–219, 1964) that tertiary sulci serve as landmarks for cortical gradients. Together, the consideration of these classic and recent findings indicate that tertiary sulci are situated in a unique position within the complexity of the “cognitive globe” of PFC: They are the smallest and shallowest of sulci in PFC, yet can offer insights that bridge spatial scales (microns to networks), modalities (functional connectivity to behavior), and species. As such, the map of tertiary sulci within each individual participant serves as a coordinate system specific to that individual on which functions may be further mapped. We conclude with new theoretical and methodological questions that, if answered in future research, will likely lead to mechanistic insight regarding the structure and function of human LPFC.

Visuo-spatial context and emotional valence are powerful cues to episodic retrieval, but the contribution of these inputs to semantic cognition has not been widely investigated. We examined the impact of visuo-spatial, facial emotion and prosody cues and miscues on the retrieval of dominant and subordinate meanings of ambiguous words. Cue photographs provided relevant visuo-spatial or emotional information, consistent with the interpretation of the ambiguous word being probed, while miscues were consistent with an alternative interpretation. We compared the impact of these cues in healthy controls and semantic aphasia patients with deficient control over semantic retrieval following left-hemisphere stroke. Patients showed greater deficits in retrieving the subordinate meanings of ambiguous words, and stronger effects of cueing and miscuing relative to healthy controls. These findings suggest that contextual cues that guide retrieval to the appropriate semantic information reduce the need to constrain semantic retrieval internally, while miscues that are not aligned with the task increase the need for semantic control. Moreover, both valence and visuo-spatial context can prime particular semantic interpretations, in line with theoretical frameworks that argue meaning is computed through the integration of these features. In semantic aphasia, residual comprehension relies heavily on facial expressions and visuospatial cues. This has important implications for patients, their families and clinicians when developing new or more effective modes of communication.

Alterations in our environment require us to learn or alter motor skills to remain efficient. Also, damage or injury may require the relearning of motor skills. Two types have been identified: movement adaptation and motor sequence learning. Doyonet al. (2003, Distinct contribution of the cortico‐striatal and cortico‐cerebellar systems to motor skill learning. Neuropsychologia, 41(3), 252‐262) proposed a model to explain the neural mechanisms related to adaptation (cortico‐cerebellar) and motor sequence learning (cortico‐striatum) tasks. We hypothesized that medial frontal negativities (MFNs), event‐related electrocortical responses including the error‐related negativity (ERN) and correct‐response‐related negativity (CRN), would be trait biomarkers for skill in motor sequence learning due to their relationship with striatal neural generators in a network involving the anterior cingulate and possibly the supplementary motor area. We examined 36 participants' improvement in a motor adaptation and a motor sequence learning task and measured MFNs elicited in a separate Spatial Stroop (conflict) task. We found both ERN and CRN strongly predicted performance improvement in the sequential motor task but not in the adaptation task, supporting this aspect of the Doyon model. Interestingly, the CRN accounted for additional unique variance over the variance shared with the ERN suggesting an expansion of the model., Sometimes we need to learn new motor sequences or adapt motor skills we already have because of alterations in our environment or in ourselves, such as following injury. Doyon et al. (2003, Distinct contribution of the cortico‐striatal and cortico‐cerebellar systems to motor skill learning. Neuropsychologia, 41(3), 252‐262)suggested that learning new motor sequences depends on cortico‐striatum regions while the motor adaptation depends on cortico‐cerebellar networks. We report a partial support for this model by showing that medial frontal EEG negativities, as trait markers associated with the striatal‐anterior cingulate network, relate strongly to motor sequence learning skill but not to motor adaptation.

Hormonal transitions across the menstrual cycle may modulate human reward processing and reinforcement learning, but previous results were contradictory. Studies assessed relatively small samples (n < 30) and exclusively used within-subject designs to compare women in hormonally distinct menstrual cycle phases. This increased the risk of sporadic findings and results may have been disproportionally affected by expectancy effects. Also, replication studies are widely missing, which currently precludes any reliable inferences. The present study was intended as a conceptual replication of a previous study (Diekhof & Ratnayake, 2016, Neuropsychologia 84; n = 15). There, we had observed a reduction in avoidance learning capacity when women were in the high estradiol state of the late follicular phase as compared to the mid luteal phase with enhanced progesterone influence. These results conformed to the idea that estradiol and progesterone may antagonistically modulate dopaminergic transmission as a dopamine agonist and antagonist, respectively. Heightened progesterone in the luteal phase thereby supported the ability to learn from the negative outcomes of one’s actions, while the follicular rise in estradiol interfered with this capacity. Here, we re-examined the above described within-subject difference between the follicular and the luteal phase in a between-subjects design. Seventy-five women were tested once with a probabilistic feedback learning task, while being either in the follicular (36 women) or luteal phase (39 women), and were compared for phase-related differences in behavior. Secondly, we combined the new data with data from three previous studies from our laboratory that used the same task and menstrual cycle phases. This meta-analysis included only data from the first test day, free of any biasing expectancy effects. Both analyses demonstrated the consistency of the decline in avoidance learning in the follicular relative to the luteal phase. We also showed that this decline reliably occurred in all of the included samples. Altogether, these results provide evidence for the consistency of a behavioral difference and its apparent association with a transient change in hormonal state that occurs in the natural menstrual cycle. Our findings may also open new avenues for the development of reliable between-subjects test protocols in menstrual cycle research.

ObjectiveThe present study aimed to identify and analyze the bibliometric characteristics of the 100 top-cited studies on neuropsychology.MethodsWe searched the Web of Science Core Collection database to collect studies on neuropsychology from inception to 31st December 2019. Two authors independently screened the literature and extracted the data. Statistical analyses were performed using R software.ResultsThe 100 top-cited articles were cited a total of 166,123 times, ranging from 736 to 24,252 times per article. All of the studies were published from 1967 to 2014 in 47 journals. Neuropsychologia had the highest number of articles (n = 17), followed by Neurology (n = 8). The top three most productive countries were the USA (n = 60), England (n = 13), and Canada (n = 8). Eight authors contributed the same number of studies as the first author (n = 2) or corresponding author (n = 2). The most productive institute was the University of California (n = 9), followed by the University of Pennsylvania (n = 4). Of the 100 top-cited publications, 64 were original articles, and 36 were reviews. The top three Web of Science categories were clinical neurology (n = 28), behavioral sciences (n = 19), and psychiatry (n = 11).ConclusionThis study provides insight into the impact of neuropsychology research and may help doctors, researchers, and stakeholders to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of trends and most influential contributions to the field, thus promoting ideas for future investigation.

To investigate face individuation (FI), a critical brain function in the human species, an oddball fast periodic visual stimulation (FPVS) approach was recently introduced (Liu-Shuang et al., Neuropsychologia, 2014, 52, 57). In this paradigm, an image of an unfamiliar "base" facial identity is repeated at a rapid rate F (e.g., 6 Hz) and different unfamiliar "oddball" facial identities are inserted every nth item, at a F/n rate (e.g., every 5th item, 1.2 Hz). This stimulation elicits FI responses at F/n and its harmonics (2F/n, 3F/n, etc.), reflecting neural discrimination between oddball versus base facial identities, which is quantified in the frequency domain of the electroencephalogram (EEG). This paradigm, used in 20 published studies, demonstrates substantial advantages for measuring FI in terms of validity, objectivity, reliability, and sensitivity. Human intracerebral recordings suggest that this FI response originates from neural populations in the lateral inferior occipital and fusiform gyri, with a right hemispheric dominance consistent with the localization of brain lesions specifically affecting facial identity recognition (prosopagnosia). Here, we summarize the contributions of the oddball FPVS framework toward understanding FI, including its (a)typical development, with early studies supporting the application of this technique to clinical testing (e.g., autism spectrum disorder). This review also includes an in-depth analysis of the paradigm's methodology, with guidelines for designing future studies. A large-scale group analysis compiling data across 130 observers provides insights into the oddball FPVS FI response properties. Overall, we recommend the oddball FPVS paradigm as an alternative approach to behavioral or traditional event-related potential EEG measures of face individuation.

A growing body of literature suggests that human individuals differ in their ability to process face identity. These findings mainly stem from explicit behavioral tasks, such as the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT). However, it remains an open question whether such individual differences can be found in the absence of an explicit face identity task and when faces have to be individualized at a single glance. In the current study, we tested 49 participants with a recently developed fast periodic visual stimulation (FPVS) paradigm [Liu-Shuang, J., Norcia, A. M., & Rossion, B. An objective index of individual face discrimination in the right occipitotemporal cortex by means of fast periodic oddball stimulation. Neuropsychologia, 52, 57–72, 2014] in EEG to rapidly, objectively, and implicitly quantify face identity processing. In the FPVS paradigm, one face identity (A) was presented at the frequency of 6 Hz, allowing only one gaze fixation, with different face identities (B, C, D) presented every fifth face (1.2 Hz; i.e., AAAABAAAACAAAAD…). Results showed a face individuation response at 1.2 Hz and its harmonics, peaking over occipitotemporal locations. The magnitude of this response showed high reliability across different recording sequences and was significant in all but two participants, with the magnitude and lateralization differing widely across participants. There was a modest but significant correlation between the individuation response amplitude and the performance of the behavioral CFMT task, despite the fact that CFMT and FPVS measured different aspects of face identity processing. Taken together, the current study highlights the FPVS approach as a promising means for studying individual differences in face identity processing.

The visual system is extremely efficient at detecting events across time even at very fast presentation rates; however, discriminating the identity of those events is much slower and requires attention over time, a mechanism with a much coarser resolution [Cavanagh, P., Battelli, L., & Holcombe, A. O. Dynamic attention. In A. C. Nobre & S. Kastner (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of attention (pp. 652–675). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013]. Patients affected by right parietal lesion, including the TPJ, are severely impaired in discriminating events across time in both visual fields [Battelli, L., Cavanagh, P., & Thornton, I. M. Perception of biological motion in parietal patients. Neuropsychologia, 41, 1808–1816, 2003]. One way to test this ability is to use a simultaneity judgment task, whereby participants are asked to indicate whether two events occurred simultaneously or not. We psychophysically varied the frequency rate of four flickering disks, and on most of the trials, one disk (either in the left or right visual field) was flickering out-of-phase relative to the others. We asked participants to report whether two left-or-right-presented disks were simultaneous or not. We tested a total of 23 right and left parietal lesion patients in Experiment 1, and only right parietal patients showed impairment in both visual fields while their low-level visual functions were normal. Importantly, to causally link the right TPJ to the relative timing processing, we ran a TMS experiment on healthy participants. Participants underwent three stimulation sessions and performed the same simultaneity judgment task before and after 20 min of low-frequency inhibitory TMS over right TPJ, left TPJ, or early visual area as a control. rTMS over the right TPJ caused a bilateral impairment in the simultaneity judgment task, whereas rTMS over left TPJ or over early visual area did not affect performance. Altogether, our results directly link the right TPJ to the processing of relative time.

Objects are said to automatically “afford” various actions depending upon the motor repertoire of the actor. Such affordances play a part in how we prepare to handle or manipulate tools and other objects. Evidence obtained through fMRI, EEG and TMS has proven that this is the case but, as yet, the temporal evolution of affordances has not been fully investigated. The aim here was to further explore the timing of evoked motor activity using visual stimuli tailored to drive the motor system. Therefore, we presented three kinds of stimuli in stereoscopic depth; whole hand grasp objects which afforded a power-grip, pinch-grip objects which afforded a thumb and forefinger precision-grip and an empty desk, affording no action. In order to vary functional motor priming while keeping visual stimulation identical, participants adopted one of two postures, with either the dominant or non-dominant hand forward. EEG data from 29 neurologically healthy subjects were analysed for the N1 evoked potential, observed in visual discrimination tasks, and for the N2 ERP component, previously shown to correlate with affordances (Proverbio, A.M., Adorni, R., D’Aniello, G.E., 2011. 250 ms to code for action affordance during observation of manipulable objects. Neuropsychologia 49, 2711–2717). We observed a link between ERPs, previously considered to reflect motor priming, and the positioning of the dominant hand. A significant interaction was detected in the left-hemisphere N2 between the participants’ posture and the object category they viewed. These results indicate strong affordance-related activity around 300ms after stimulus presentation, particularly when the dominant hand can easily reach an object.

Contains fulltext : 176903.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Online movement adjustments are crucial for daily life. This is especially true for leg movements in relation to gait, where failed adjustments can lead to falls, especially in elderly. However, most research has focused on reach adjustments following changes in target location. This arm research reports two categories of online adjustments (see Gaveau et al., Neuropsychologia 55:25-40, 2014 for review). Small, frequently undetected, target location shifts invoke fast, automatic adjustments, usually without awareness. In contrast, large target location shifts can lead to slow, voluntary adjustments. These fast and slow adjustments presumably rely on different neural networks, with a possible role for subcortical pathways for the fast responses. Do leg movement adjustments also fall into these two categories? We review the literature on leg movement adjustments and show that it is indeed possible to discern fast and slow adjustments. More specifically, we provide an overview of studies showing adjustments during step preparation, initiation, unobstructed, and obstructed gait. Fast adjustments were found both during stepping and gait. In the extreme case, even step adjustments appear to be further modifiable online, e.g., when avoiding obstacles during tripping. In older adults, movement adjustments are generally slower and of smaller magnitude, consistent with a greater risk of falling. However, fast responses seem less affected by aging, consistent with the idea of independent parallel mechanisms controlling movement adjustments (Gomi, Curr Opin Neurobiol 18:558-567, 2008). Finally, putative neural pathways are discussed.

Skala Niesprawności Neurologicznej Szpitala Guy (GNDS, The Guy’s Neurological Disability Scale) jest istotnym narzędziem służącym do pomiaru niepełnosprawności u osób ze stwardnieniem rozsianym. Służy ona do określenia poziomu funkcjonowania w dwunastu ważnych obszarach. Celem obecnych badań było opracowanie polskiej wersji językowej skali GNDS i sprawdzenie jej trafności, rzetelności oraz przydatności do oceny niepełnosprawności występującej u osób ze stwardnieniem rozsianym. Grupę badaną stanowiło 175. pacjentów z rozpoznaniem stwardnienia rozsianego. W badaniu wykorzystano Rozszerzoną Skalę Niewydolności Ruchowej – EDSS, Skalę Niesprawności Neurologicznej Szpitala Guy – GNDS, Skalę Akceptacji Choroby – AIS, Skalę Wpływu SM na Jakość Życia Chorych – MSIS 29. Dokonano analizy rzetelności i trafności skali. Przeprowadzono konfirmacyjne analizy czynnikowe (CFA) w celu zbadania jej struktury czynnikowej. Stwierdzono, że współczynnik α-Cronbacha dla skali GNDS wyniósł 0,70. Cała skala GNDS wykazała adekwatną rzetelność. Wykazano korelację wyniku w skali GNDS ze zmiennymi charakteryzującymi przebieg SM, takimi jak czas trwania choroby, jej postać, ocena zdolności do samodzielnego poruszania czy też konieczność stosowania sprzętu rehabilitacyjnego podczas poruszania. Uzyskano ponadto korelację pomiędzy wynikiem w skali GNDS a wynikami w skalach EDSS, AIS i MSIS-29, co wskazuje na zadowalającą trafność. Przeprowadzone analizy wskazują, że skala GNDS jest użytecznym i wartościowym narzędziem służącym do oceny niepełnosprawności u chorych na stwardnienie rozsiane. Skala ta może być stosowana zarówno dla potrzeb klinicznych, jak i badawczych. Skala GNDS jest wielowymiarowa, zorientowana na pacjenta i nie faworyzuje żadnej konkretnej niepełnosprawności., The Guy’s Neurological Disability Scale (GNDS) is a tool used to measure the degree of disability in individuals with multiple sclerosis. It allows to evaluate the patient’s level of performance in twelve significant areas. The aim of this study was to develop the Polish language version of the GNDS scale and assess its accuracy, reliability and utility to evaluate the degree of disability in individuals with multiple sclerosis. The study group consisted of 175 patients with diagnosed multiple sclerosis. The research tools included the following: the Extended Disability Status Scale, EDSS; Guy’s Neurological Disability Scale, GNDS; Acceptance of Illness Scale, AIS; Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale 29, MSIS 29. The scale’s reliability and accuracy were analysed. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were conducted in order to investigate the scale’s factorial structure. Cronbach’s α coefficient for the GNDS scale equalled 0.70. The whole GNDS scale demonstrated adequate reliability. It was revealed that the GNDS scale result correlated with variables characteristic of MS course, such as duration of the disease, its kind, assessment of the ability to move independently or necessity to use the rehabilitation equipment when moving. In addition, the GNDS scale result correlated with the results in the EDSS, AIS and MSIS-29 scales, which indicates the scale’s satis factory accuracy. The conducted analyses demonstrate that the GNDS scale is a useful and valuable tool, which allows to evaluate the degree of disability in multiple sclerosis patients. The scale can be used both for clinical and research purposes. The GNDS scale is multidimensional, patient-oriented and does not favour any specific kind of disability.

This is a follow-up study to Tammik and Toomela [(2013). Relationships between visual figure discrimination, verbal abilities, and gender. Perception, 42, 971984] which established a correlational relationship between the propensity to use scientific as opposed to everyday concepts (as distinguished by L. Vygotsky) and visual figure discrimination. The purpose of the current study was to test a further prediction derived from Vygotskys theory in the context of ageing postponed start but faster rate of cognitive decline for scientific conceptual thinkers which is characteristic of cognitive reserve [Stern, Y.(2009). Cognitive reserve. Neuropsychologia, 47, 20152028]. The emergence of such a pattern with age was investigated by extending the original sample of 428 participants up to age 70 with additional 119 participants older than 70 years. The hypothesis was tested with piecewise (segmented) and local polynomial (loess) regression models and was confirmed.

Unlike non-human animal studies that have progressively demonstrated the advantages of being asymmetrical at an individual, group and population level, human studies show a quite inconsistent picture. Specifically, it is hardly clear if and how the strength of lateralization that an individual is equipped with relates to their cognitive performance. While some of these inconsistencies can be attributed to procedural and conceptual differences, the issue is aggravated by the fact that the intrinsic mathematical interdependence of the measures of laterality and performance produces spurious correlations that can be mistaken for evidence of an adaptive advantage of asymmetry. Leask and Crow [Leask, S. J., & Crow, T. J. (1997), How far does the brain lateralize?: an unbiased method for determining the optimum degree of hemispheric specialization. Neuropsychologia, 35(10), 1381–1387] devised a method of overcoming this problem that has been subsequently used in several large-sample studies investigating the asymmetry–performance relationship. In our paper we show that the original Leask and Crow method and its later variants fall victim to inherent nonlinear dependencies and produce artifacts. By applying the Leask and Crow method to random data and with mathematical analysis, we demonstrate that what has been believed to describe the true asymmetry–performance relation in fact only reflects the idiosyncrasies of the method itself. We think that the approach taken by Leask in his later paper [Leask, S. (2003), Principal curve analysis avoids assumptions of dependence between measures of hand skill. Laterality, 8(4), 307–316. doi:10.1080/13576500342000004] might be preferable.

Wodogłowie normotensyjne to rodzaj wodogłowia komunikującego. Charakteryzuje się występowaniem zespołu trzech objawów - triady Hakima, do której należą zaburzenia chodu, nietrzymanie moczu i zaburzenia poznawcze. Objawy mają charakter progresywny. Choroba dotyka głównie osoby po 60. roku życia. W artykule przedstawione zostały wyniki badań poświęconych funkcjonowaniu poznawczemu pacjentów z idiopatyczną (pierwotną) postacią wodogłowia. Zaburzenia poznawcze nie obejmują, jak uważano kiedyś, wyłącznie dysfunkcji wykonawczych. Obserwuje się bowiem trudności w zakresie szybkości psychomotorycznej, uwagi, pamięci i funkcji wzrokowo-przestrzennych. W diagnozie neuropsychologicznej idiopatyczne wodogłowie normotensyjne często powinno być różnicowane z innymi chorobami, także neurodegeneracyjnymi - głównie z chorobą Alzheimera. Metodą leczenia idiopatycznego wodogłowia normotensyjnego jest implantacja systemu zastawkowego, niemniej wyniki badań dotyczące poprawy poznawczej u pacjentów po zabiegu nie są jednoznaczne. Niektóre wskazują na znaczną globalną poprawę funkcjonowania poznawczego, inne natomiast - na zmianę w pojedynczych domenach. Porównywanie wyników utrudniają różnice w metodologii badań i czasie między zabiegiem a powtórnym pomiarem. Znajomość profilu zaburzeń poznawczych występujących w idiopatycznym wodogłowiu normotensyjnym jest istotna w kontekście diagnozy neuropsychologicznej, jak również kwalifikacji neurochirurgicznej do zabiegu implantacji systemu zastawkowego. Operacja może się wiązać zarówno z poprawą funkcjonowania, jak i z wieloma powikłaniami. Ocena neuropsychologiczna okazuje się więc pomocna w diagnostyce i przewidywaniu skutków zabiegu. Normotensive hydrocephalus is a form of communicating hydrocephalus. It is characterised by a triad of symptoms referred to as the triad of Hakim: gait disturbance, impaired bladder control, and cognitive disorders. The symptoms are progressive in nature. The disease is usually observed in adults over 60 years of age. The paper presents the results of studies on cognitive function in patients with idiopathic (primary) hydrocephalus. Contrary to previous beliefs, cognitive disorders are not limited to executive dysfunctions. Impairment of psychomotor speed, attention, memory and visual-spatial functions is also observed. Neuropsychological diagnosis should differentiate idiopathic normotensive hydrocephalus from other diseases, including neurodegenerative ones, Alzheimer’s disease in particular. Idiopathic normotensive hydrocephalus is treated by implantation of a shunt system; however, research findings on improved cognitive function in patients after such treatment are inconclusive. Some studies point to significant global improvement in cognitive function, while other indicate changes in single domains. Comparison of results is difficult due to the differences in methodologies used and the time elapsed between the procedure and the measurement. Knowledge of the profile of cognitive disorders occurring in idiopathic normotensive hydrocephalus is important in the context of both neuropsychological diagnosis as well as neurosurgical qualification for shunt implantation. Surgery may improve functioning, but it may also involve the risk of multiple complications. Therefore, neuropsychological assessment proves helpful in the diagnosis and predicting surgical outcomes.

This review provides a summary and appraisal commentary on the treatment review by Schweng Casarin, F., Branco, L., Pereira, N., Kochhann, R., Gindri, G., & Paz Fonseca, R. (2014). Rehabilitation of lexical and semantic communicative impairments: An overview of available approaches. Dementia & Neuropsychologia, 8, 266–277. Sources of funding and disclosures of interest: Several of the authors received a CAPES scholarship for Master’s, PhD, or postdoctoral studies. The authors report no conflicts of interests.

Conversational storytelling integrates diverse cognitive and socio-emotional abilities that critically differ across neurodegenerative disease groups and may have diagnostic relevance and predict anatomic changes. The present study employed mixed methods discourse and quantitative analyses to delineate patterns of storytelling across focal neurodegenerative disease groups, and to clarify the neuroanatomical contributions to common storytelling characteristics in these patients. Transcripts of spontaneous social interactions of 46 participants (15 behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), 7 semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (svPPA), 12 Alzheimer's disease (AD), and 12 healthy older normal controls) were analysed for storytelling characteristics and frequency, and videos of the interactions were rated for patients' social attentiveness. Compared to controls, svPPAs also told more stories and autobiographical stories, and perseverated on aspects of self during storytelling. ADs told fewer autobiographical stories than NCs, and svPPAs and bvFTDs failed to attend to social cues. Storytelling characteristics were associated with a processing speed and mental flexibility, and voxel-based anatomic analysis of structural magnetic resonance imaging revealed that temporal organization, evaluations, and social attention correlated with atrophy corresponding to known intrinsic connectivity networks, including the default mode, limbic, salience, and stable task control networks. Differences in spontaneous storytelling among neurodegenerative groups elucidated diverse cognitive, socio-emotional, and neural contributions to narrative production, with implications for diagnostic screening and therapeutic intervention.