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Diagnostika kognitivních funkcí u léčených klientů s anamnézou dlouhodobého užívání návykových látek

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Krupčík O., Charvát M.

Psychologie a její kontexty

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2014

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vol. 5

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issue Supplement

89-105

EN

Clients in treatment and aftercare programmes with a history of long-term abuse of substances like alcohol, cannabis, methamphetamine or heroin often exhibit serious problems while coming back to the working process and managing complex responsibilities and difficulties. It is very important to find a job in the aftercare process for many reasons. It is a source of living, it enables clients to plan their own housing, and it makes repayment of debts possible. Job is also important for establishing new social relations which are not connected with problematic drug environment. Last but not least employment contributes to a reconstruction of a healthy rhythm of life and meaningful spending of time. Thus it is very important for decreasing a probability of a relapse. This process can be disrupted by the deteriorated cognitive functioning. These problems may not be evident in an everyday life routine while talking with friends or performing automatic activities, but can be evident in demanding working tasks, because the job usually requires concentration, memory, decision making etc. The Goal of this study is an evaluation of potential benefits an individual cognitive performance assessment can have in treatment and aftercare. The paper summarizes pilot research in which a complete Neuro-psychological battery of diagnostic methods such as Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT), Verbal fluency Test (FAS), Trail Making Test (TMT), Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF), Benton Visual Retention Test (BVRT), Stroop Colour Word Test (SCWT) and Numeric square is used for assessment of cognitive functions of a small sample of treated clients (N=24). We present two case histories with detailed results. In some cases, in line with the expectations, the worsened cognitive functioning is evident. We recommend a cognitive training focused on attention and memory for three clients. In other cases, surprisingly, we can find normal cognitive functions quality, but another obstruction for optimal performance, such as enhanced anxiety, can be detected. Probably, long-term drug abusers can have a larger tendency to be anxious, due to a problematical self-image and fighting other difficulties. An effect of comorbidity should also be taken into account. A depression or anxious syndromes or other common problems can take their part anyway. But it is important to notify that in our sample are not present any confirmed psychiatric diagnoses other than the syndrome of dependence. Standard aftercare programmes devote a lot of attention to another aspect of a treatment like psychosocial, physical and/or socioeconomic issues, but the cognitive assessment and the cognitive training is not a standard part of their effort. We believe that individualized and detailed assessment of cognitive functions of clients in the aftercare programmes can contribute to creating an optimal therapeutic plan which has a larger chance to be effective and successful. This paper is a pilot study for a more extensive quantitative study with larger number of clients in which we will try to compare specific effect of different kind of drugs. We would like to describe the long-term effect of abuse of drugs like alcohol, cannabis, methamphetamine and heroin. Negative effects of drugs for human cognitive functioning are evident. But we can't say that an effect of specific drugs itself is the only cause. Patterns of use, combinations with other substances, and effects of additives or regime of life and so on are also very important. From the point of view of methodology, this area is therefore rather problematic. We would like to bring more awareness of this theme using already tested battery of psychodiagnostic methods.

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Neuropsychologia jesieni życia

100%

Jodzio K.

Psychologia Rozwojowa

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2012

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vol. 17

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issue 1

85-98

EN

Contemporary debate on human aging is intensive and multifaceted in nature because of agerelated transformation in many contemporary societies, i.e. a rapid increase of mean life expectancy (increasing numbers of healthy old people). The aim of this article is to discuss changes in brain and behavior that occur in later life. Life-span developmental neuropsychology emphasizes a close relationship between cognitive problems in later life and age-related loss of large neurons in some parts of the brain. Large neurons shrink into smaller neuron classes. The most pronounced atrophic changes have been reported in the prefrontal area, hippocampus, ubstantianigra and locus cinereus. This article presents also common clinical conditions of later life, such as differential diagnosis of age-associated behavioral changes and dementias. There may be multiple causes of neurogeriatric disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease. There has been considerable interest in the possible causative role of cognitive and brain reserve which differs among individuals. Therefore between-individual heterogeneity related to normal cognitive aging is signifi cant. Namely, if cerebral pathology occurs (e.g., neurodegeneration with dementia), persons with a greater reserve may not demonstrate the same cognitive impact as others with the same pathology (e.g. lesion size) but less reserve. It is also widely believed that mental difficulties in lder adults cannot be easily attributed to psychomotor slowness which may reflect a loss of white matter tissue, i.e. dysmielinisation of nerve fibers. This article emphasizes an importance of ecologically valid assessment of older adults, whose everyday activities and real--world abilities cannot be predicted by the traditional tests and sophisticated procedures emerging from purely experimental investigations.

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Spravedlivý přístup při testování: neuropsychologická diagnostika neslyšících a nedoslýchavých osob. Překlad a úpravy testu AVLT

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Chudožilov Bendová M., Holubová K., Zaytseva Y.

Československá psychologie (Czechoslovak Psychology)

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2022

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vol. 66

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issue 4

416-436

EN

Objectives. In the context of Czech cultural environment, there is a relatively large group of people (in the order of tens of thousands at minimum) with hearing impairment who cannot be examined by usual neuropsychological methods. This article describes the adaptation of a classical neuropsychological verbal memory test (Auditory Verbal Learning Test) to visual form (written Czech language – WCL) and translation to visuomotor form (Czech Sign Language – CSL). Sample and settings. 60 deaf and hard-of-hearing (HOH) respondents were tested by a version of AVLT (WCL/CSL) according to their preferred mode of communication, BVRT was used as a control test. Hypotheses. The authors hypothesized that both AVLT versions are functional, and that the results of the respondents correspond with the previously published norms. A correlation of AVLT and BVRT results among the groups was assumed. Statistical analysis. Due to the skewness of the data, nonparametric statistics were used. The adjusted versions do not differ significantly from the original version and from one another (p > 0.05), the influence of certain demographic variables was confirmed (p < 0.05). Individual AVLT scores did not differ significantly between groups (p > 0.05). AVLT-BVRT correlation proved non-significant (Spearman’s rho, p > 0.05). Results. The obtained results proved the functionality of adaptations. The results of deaf and hard of hearing people that were obtained essentially correspond to the normative data. Adapted tests can be used both as a behavioral correlate for the use of neuroscience methods or as a method for verbal memory examination of deaf and hard of hearing people (for example in the context of diagnosing cognitive deficits or learning difficulties). The possibilities and limitations of the selection of neuropsychological methods for deaf and HOH respondents are discussed. Limitations. The research was limited by non-random selection and a smaller number and heterogeneity of participants and by the procedure of testing; in the future, authors recommend choosing a test other than BVRT to determine convergent validity.

CS

Cíle. V českém prostředí se nachází poměrně velká skupina osob se sluchovou ztrátou (v řádech desítek tisíců), pro jejíž diagnostiku jsou stávající neuropsychologické metody obtížně využitelné. Článek popisuje převod klasického neuropsychologického verbálního paměťového testu (AVLT) z běžné formy v mluveném českém jazyce – ČJ – do vizuální podoby (psaného českého jazyka – PČJ) a do vizuomotorické podoby (českého znakového jazyka – ČZJ). Soubor a metody. 60 neslyšících a nedoslýchavých respondentů bylo otestováno preferovanou formou AVLT (v psané či ČZJ verzi), jako kontrolní test byla použita metoda BVRT. Hypotézy. Autoři ověřovali funkčnost obou verzí, předpokládali, že výsledky respondentů budou odpovídat již existujícím výsledkům na základě kvalitativního porovnání s normativním souborem a známými trendy. Byla předpokládána korelace výsledků AVLT s BVRT. Statistické analýzy. Kvůli zešikmenosti dat byla použita neparametrická statistika. Upravené verze se neliší od původní verze a mezi sebou navzájem (p > 0,05), byl potvrzen vliv některých demografických proměnných, které odpovídají původním výsledkům (p < 0,05). Jednotlivé skóry AVLT se mezi skupinami signifikantně neliší (p > 0,05). Korelace AVLT-BVRT byla nevýznamná (Spearmanovo ró, p > 0,05). Výsledky. Pomocí testování byly získány výsledky neslyšících a nedoslýchavých osob v podstatě odpovídající normativním souborům. Tyto výsledky potvrdily funkčnost adaptovaných metod, mohou sloužit jako vodítka pro neuropsychologické testování. Adaptované testy lze využívat jednak jako behaviorální korelát k využití neurovědných metod (zejména fMRI), jednak jako metodu pro verbální paměťové vyšetření neslyšících a nedoslýchavých osob (důležité např. v kontextu diagnostiky kognitivních deficitů či poruch učení). Možnosti a omezení stávajícího výběru neuropsychologických metod pro neslyšící a nedoslýchavé jsou diskutovány. Limity. Limitem výzkumu tvoří z charakteru skupiny vyplývající nižší zobecnitelnost výsledků, nenáhodný výběr respondentů a samotná procedura testování; do budoucna se doporučuje pro konvergentní validitu zvolit jiný test, než BVRT.

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1 Psychologia Rozwojowa

1 Psychologie a její kontexty

1 Československá psychologie (Czechoslovak Psychology)

1 Charvát M.

1 Chudožilov Bendová M.

1 Holubová K.

1 Jodzio K.

1 Krupčík O.

1 Zaytseva Y.

1 2022

1 2014

1 2012

Diagnostika kognitivních funkcí u léčených klientů s anamnézou dlouhodobého užívání návykových látek

Neuropsychologia jesieni życia

Spravedlivý přístup při testování: neuropsychologická diagnostika neslyšících a nedoslýchavých osob. Překlad a úpravy testu AVLT