Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Neuropsychological Outcomes After Cardiac Surgery: A Pilot Feasibility Study, Sydni G. Paleczny

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Approximately half of patients who have cardiac surgery will experience deficits in attention, memory, and thinking speed after their operation. Given that heart surgery is one of the most common medical procedures in Canada, it is necessary to better understand the natural history of cognitive impairment after such surgery. Yet, there is no globally accepted method for measuring cognitive function in patients who undergo heart surgery. To address this, we assessed whether it was feasible to use a web-based approach to measure cognition in heart surgery patients before and after their operation. Findings showed that remote administration of cognitive testing …

Effect Of Computerized Cognitive Training In Persons With Multiple Sclerosis, Sam Jack

Theses & Dissertations

Between one million and 1.75 million persons with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) worldwide are estimated to suffer from cognitive impairment. Unfortunately, there is currently no consensus on the best treatment for cognitive impairment in PwMS. Finding non-pharmacological interventions to mitigate cognitive decline is essential to ensure that quality of life for PwMS matches our ability to treat and mitigate their physical symptoms of MS. Computerized cognitive training has emerged as a potential option for PwMS suffering from cognitive impairment. The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of computerized cognitive training with BrainHQ on changes in cognitive impairment for …

Accelerated Forgetting In People With Epilepsy: Pathologic Memory Loss, Its Neural Basis, And Potential Therapies, Sarah Ashley Steimel Phd

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

While forgetting is vital to human functioning, delineating between normative and disordered forgetting can become incredibly complex. This thesis characterizes a pathologic form of forgetting in epilepsy, identifies a neural basis, and investigates the potential of stimulation as a therapeutic tool. Chapter 2 presents a behavioral characterization of the time course of Accelerated Long-Term Forgetting (ALF) in people with epilepsy (PWE). This chapter shows evidence of ALF on a shorter time scale than previous studies, with a differential impact on recall and recognition. Chapter 3 builds upon the work in Chapter 2 by extending ALF time points and investigating the …

Backward Walking: A Novel Marker Of Fall Risk, Cognitive Dysfunction, And Myelin Damage In Persons With Multiple Sclerosis, Erin Edwards

Wayne State University Dissertations

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive, neurologic disease of the central nervous system that causes debilitating motor, sensory and cognitive impairments. As a result, persons with MS are at an increased risk for falls and falls represent a serious public health concern for the MS population. The current clinical measures used to assess fall risk in MS patients lack sensitivity and predictive validity for falls and are limited in their ability to capture to multiple functional domains (i.e., motor, sensory, cognitive and pathological domains) that are impaired by MS. Backward walking sensitively detects falls in the elderly and other neurologic …

Early Indicators Of Cognitive Dysfunction: The Role Of Mild Behavioral Impairment, Hillary J. Rouse

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Older age is associated with an increased risk for cognitively impairing diseases such as dementia. Despite significant research to find ways to cure this disease, there has been little success. However, a critical need when an intervention is discovered is a need to find ways to identify people who are at the greatest risk of developing dementia earlier in the disease process so that interventions can be implemented at that time. This could potentially lessen their risk or delay when they are diagnosed. Using longitudinal data from the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC), the aims of this current dissertation were …

The Impact Of Neonatal Pain And Reduced Maternal Care On Brain And Behavioral Development, Sean Michael Mooney-Leber

Wayne State University Dissertations

In the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) preterm infants are exposed to a multitude of stressors, which include both neonatal pain and reduced maternal care. Clinical and preclinical research has demonstrated that exposure to neonatal pain and reduced maternal care has a profound negative impact on brain and behavioral development. Currently, the biological mechanism by which both of these stressors impacts brain and behavioral outcomes remains widely unknown. To uncover a potential biological mechanism, the current dissertation project utilized a preclinical model of repetitive needle pokes and developed a novel model of reduced maternal care through tea-ball encapsulation. Briefly, rat …

Astaxanthin Attenuates Mptp Induced Neurotoxicity And Modulates Cognitive Function In Aged Mice, Beth Grimmig

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Parkinson’s disease is the second common neurodegenerative disease and is most frequently diagnosed in individuals over 60. There are no available medications that can prevent or restore the loss of neurons that correspond to motor impairments in patients. Identifying novel therapeutic compounds that are capable of slowing and reversing the extensive neurodegeneration that occurs in PD remains an important goal of the field. While basic research has identified potential therapeutic agents, studies often use young model organisms to demonstrate efficacy of the target compound. This approach ignores the impact of the aged CNS on the disease process, and likely contributes …

Insulin Actions On Hippocampal Neurons, Shaniya Maimaiti

Theses and Dissertations--Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences

Aging is the main risk factor for cognitive decline. The hippocampus, a brain region critical for learning and memory formation, is especially vulnerable to normal and pathological age-related cognitive decline. Dysregulation of both insulin and intracellular Ca2+ signaling appear to coexist and their compromised actions may synergistically contribute to neuronal dysfunction with aging. This dissertation focused on the interaction between insulin, Ca2+ dysregulation, and cognition in hippocampal neurons by examining the contributions of insulin to Ca2+ signaling events that influence memory formation. I tested the hypothesis that insulin would increase cognition in aged animals by altering Ca2+-dependent physiological mechanisms involved …

The Effects Of Hypohydration On Neurocognitive, Balance, Vestibular Ocular Motor Functions And Mood State, Satoshi Iida

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Inconsistent findings have been observed on the impact of hydration state on cognitive functions. The isolated effect of hypohydration on neurocognitive performance, balance, vestibular ocular motor function and mood outcomes in widely used concussion assessment tools has not been studied. The purpose of this study was to investigate how hypohydration affected the results in concussion testing batteries. A single-blind randomized crossover design was used. Thirteen healthy males (22 ± 4y, 180.9 ± 5.7cm) without history of concussion within the past six months or any condition or disease that could influence outcome measurements participated in this study. Each subject completed concussion …

Age Related Decline In Memory: Examining The Mediation Effect Of Processing, Executive Functioning And Intelligence In Normal Adults, Jada J. Stewart

Theses and Dissertations

Multiple mediation analyses that collectively examine the prominent theories of cognitive aging (i.e., Common Cause, Processing, and Executive Decline Hypotheses) along with other cognitive domains that are sensitive to aging are rare. Moreover, having identified that cognition begins to decline as early as 30 years old, few studies have examined the mechanisms that underlie memory change among younger aging individuals. As a result, it is unclear whether relevant mediating variables have been excluded from early research on age-related memory decline, or to what extent rehabilitative strategies are applicable as early interventions for maintaining cognitive functioning into late life.

The present …

Effects Of Nicotine Withdrawal On Motivation, Reward Sensitivity And Reward-Learning, Jason A. Oliver

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research on addictive behavior has traditionally emphasized the role that primary reinforcing effects of drugs of abuse plays in the development and maintenance of dependence. However, contemporary behavioral economic theory and animal models of nicotine dependence suggest the need for greater attention to the impact that response to alternative rewards may have on smoking behavior. The present study sought to investigate the impact of nicotine withdrawal on self-report, behavioral and neural indices of motivation, immediate response to rewards and the capacity to learn and modify behavior in response to positive and negative feedback. Heavy smokers (n = 48) completed two …

Implications Of Human Umbilical Cord Blood Cells: An Immunotherapeutic Strategy For Alzheimer's Disease, Donna Darlington

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common progressive age related dementia and the fourth major cause of mortality in the elderly in the United States. AD is pathologically characterized by deposition of amyloid beta (Aβ) plaques in the brain parenchyma and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) within the neuronal soma. While pharmacological targets have been discovered, current strategies for the symptomatic or disease-modifying treatment of AD do not significantly slow or halt the underlying pathological progression of the disease. Consequently, more effective treatment is needed. One possibility for amelioration is using human umbilical cord blood cell (HUCBC) therapy. HUCBCs comprise a …

Impact Of Nutrition On Cognition And Its Association With Blood And Brain Alzheimer Disease Related Biomarkers, Samantha Gardener

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common form of senile dementia, currently affects over 35 million people worldwide. While there is no cure or effective treatment, early intervention programs hold considerable promise. Following particular dietary patterns represents one potential intervention strategy accessible to all.

Results from previous studies investigating the association of diet, cognition and biomarkers of AD are inconsistent: Positive results have been reported (1-7), whilst others have shown no associations. Prior to this thesis, no study has assessed the relationship of four dietary patterns to cognition, blood-based and neuroimaging biomarkers of AD in a large highly-characterised ageing cohort. Participants …

Executive Function Profiles In Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury, Erik Nelson Ringdahl

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Traumatic brain injury is a common cause of disability and death among children in the United States. Insult to the frontal and temporal lobes are frequent in closed head brain injury. Cognitive deficits in a variety of domains are common sequelae of brain trauma. In many cases, trauma to the frontal and temporal lobe regions engender prominent deficits in higher-order cognitive processing, memory, and attention.

Higher-order cognitive processing, or Executive Functions are the grouping of cognitive processes necessary for organization of thoughts and activities, attending to the activities, prioritizing tasks, managing time efficiently, and making decisions (Alvarez & Emory, 2006; …