Cognitive function assessment

The Mini Mental State Examination (Folstein et ah, 1975) has been adapted and studied for use with children (Ouvrier et ah, 1993 Besson and Labbe, 1997) and other screening tools to assess cognitive function in children have also been developed (Ouvrier et ah, 1999). These tools are invaluable, as so often altered mental status in a child can be related to impaired cognitive function or early delirium. 

Mice with abnormally poor or abnormally good cognitive abilities may produce aberrant behavior in this test (e.g., increased or decreased social interaction, respectively). To rule out this possibility, consider testing mice in some additional memory paradigms. Memory tests, such as the Morris Water Maze and OFT habituation, may be performed to assess cognitive functions in any abnormally behaving mouse. 

Although there are several accepted methods for assessing cognitive function in humans, this presents a more complex problem pre-clinically. Experimental paradigms vary enormously. Different animal species are used, such as nonhuman primates, rodents, and pigeons. Substrains in any given species (especially mice) often provide conflicting results, as can the age of the animal. Nearly 100 behavioral tasks used to assess various aspects of... 

Ongoing assessment of patients taking the cholinesterase inhibitors includes both mental and physical assessments. Cognitive and functional abilities are assessed using Display 33-1 as a guide. Initial assessments will be compared with the ongoing assessments to monitor die patient s improvement (if any) after taking the cholinesterase inhibitors. 

Nickelsen T, Lufkin EG, Riggs BL, Cox DA, Crook TH (1999) Raloxifene hydrochloride, a selective estrogen receptor modulator safety assessment of effects on cognitive function and mood in postmenopausal women. Psychoneuroendocrinology 24 115-128... 

There also are numerous highly regarded, creative, and sophisticated tests to assess attention, concentration, and ECF, and these tests usually have manuals with age-corrected norms and sometimes provide sample test profiles of people with drug problems to compare with your client s profile. The WMS, for example, has a section that assesses attention and concentration in addition to memory functions. Another well-known attention and concentration test is the Symbol-Digit Modalities Test (Smith, 1991). Some of the more well-known measures of ECF and related cognitive functions include the Wisconsin Card Sorting... 

Engelhart et al., 1999). This instrument assesses many more areas of cognitive function than does the MMSE. I Iowever, as a screening tool, it too has limits to what it can tell you. My recommendation is that if a client of yours screens positive for a cognitive problem on one of these measures, you refer that client for a comprehensive neuropsychological workup as part of the treatment plan. Note that sometimes a person will screen positive during detoxification, but will clear cognitively after that period is finished. You should probably retest after detox has been completed if the client screens positive while in detox. 

Lipton RB. Assessment of cognitive function of the elderly population effects of darifenacin. J Urol 2005 i73 493. 

Wesnes KA, McKeith IG, Ferrara R, et al Effects of rivastigmine on cognitive function in dementia with Lewy bodies a randomized placebo-controlled international study using the cognitive research computerized assessment system. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 13 183-192, 2002... 

Because of the difficulty in differentiating primary from secondary negative symptoms, however, continued assessment of clozapine s benefit is needed ( 45, 46, 47 and 48). Furthermore, clozapine s ability to improve cognitive function may be even more pronounced than its effects on negative symptoms ( 47, 48, 49, 50 and 51). 

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