Cervical dystonia (CD) is a movement disorder characterized by involuntary muscle contractions causing sustained twisting movements and abnormal postures of the neck and head. Assumed affected neuronal regions are the cortico-striatal-thalamo-cortical circuits, which are also involved in cognitive functioning. Indeed, impairments in different cognitive domains have been found in CD patients. However, to date studies have only investigated a limited range of cognitive functions within the same sample. In particular, social cognition (SC) is often missing from study designs. Hence, we aimed to evaluate a broad range of cognitive functions including SC in CD patients.

In the present study 20 idiopathic CD patients and 40 age-, gender-, and IQ-matched healthy controls (HCs) were assessed with tests for non-SC (verbal memory, psychomotor speed, and executive functions) as well as for SC (emotion recognition, Theory of Mind (ToM), and empathy).

CD patients scored on average significantly lower than HC on tests for non-SC, but did not show impairments on any of the tests for SC.

The current study showed impairments in non-SC in CD, but intact social cognitive functions. These results underline the importance of recognizing non-motor symptoms in idiopathic CD patients, but emphasize a focus on identifying strengths and weaknesses in cognitive functioning as these influence daily life activities.

Previous findings suggest that time setting errors (TSEs) in the Clock Drawing Test (CDT) may be related mainly to impairments in semantic and executive function. Recent attempts to dissociate the classic stimulus-bound error (setting the time to “10 to 11” instead of “10 past 11”) from other TSEs, did not support hypotheses regarding this error being primarily executive in nature or different from other time setting errors in terms of neurocognitive correlates. This study aimed to further investigate the cognitive correlates of stimulus-bound errors and other TSEs, in order to trace possible underlying cognitive deficits.

We examined cognitive test performance of participants with preliminary diagnoses associated with mild cognitive impairment. Among 490 participants, we identified clocks with stimulus-bound errors (n = 78), other TSEs (n = 41), other errors not related to time settings (n = 176), or errorless clocks (n = 195).

No differences were found on any dependent measure between the stimulus-bound and the other TSErs groups. Group comparisons suggested TSEs in general, to be associated with lower performance on various cognitive measures, especially on semantic and working memory measures. Regression analysis further highlighted semantic and verbal working memory difficulties as being the most prominent deficits associated with these errors.

TSEs in the CDT may indicate underlying deficits in semantic function and working memory. In addition, results support previous findings related to the diagnostic value of TSEs in detecting cognitive impairment.

Facial expressions are a core component of emotions and nonverbal social communication. Therefore, hypomimia as secondary symptom of Parkinson’s disease (PD) has adverse effects like social impairment, stigmatization, under-diagnosis and under-treatment of depression, and a generally lower quality of life. Beside unspecific dopaminergic treatment, specific treatment options for hypomimia in PD are rarely investigated. This quasi-randomized controlled trial evaluated the short-term effects of facial electromyogram (EMG) based biofeedback to enhance facial expression and emotion recognition as nonverbal social communication skills in PD patients. Furthermore effects on affect are examined.

A sample of 34 in-patients with PD were allocated either to facial EMG-biofeedback as experimental group or non-facial exercises as control group. Facial expression during posing of emotions (measured via EMG), facial emotion recognition, and positive and negative affect were assessed before and after treatment. Stronger improvements were expected in the EMG-biofeedback in comparison to the control group.

The facial EMG-biofeedback group showed significantly greater improvements in overall facial expression, and especially for happiness and disgust. Also, overall facial emotion recognition abilities improved significantly stronger in the experimental group. Positive affect was significantly increased in both groups with no significant differences between them, while negative affect did not change within both groups.

The study provides promising evidence for facial EMG-biofeedback as a tool to improve facial expression and emotion recognition in PD. Embodiment theories are discussed as working mechanism.

Attentional impairments are common in dementia with Lewy bodies and its prodromal stage of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) with Lewy bodies (MCI-LB). People with MCI may be capable of compensating for subtle attentional deficits in most circumstances, and so these may present as occasional lapses of attention. We aimed to assess the utility of a continuous performance task (CPT), which requires sustained attention for several minutes, for measuring attentional performance in MCI-LB in comparison to Alzheimer’s disease (MCI-AD), and any performance deficits which emerged with sustained effort.

We included longitudinal data on a CPT sustained attention task for 89 participants with MCI-LB or MCI-AD and 31 healthy controls, estimating ex-Gaussian response time parameters, omission and commission errors. Performance trajectories were estimated both cross-sectionally (intra-task progress from start to end) and longitudinally (change in performance over years).

While response times in successful trials were broadly similar, with slight slowing associated with clinical parkinsonism, those with MCI-LB made considerably more errors. Omission errors were more common throughout the task in MCI-LB than MCI-AD (OR 2.3, 95% CI: 1.1–4.7), while commission errors became more common after several minutes of sustained attention. Within MCI-LB, omission errors were more common in those with clinical parkinsonism (OR 1.9, 95% CI: 1.3–2.9) or cognitive fluctuations (OR 4.3, 95% CI: 2.2–8.8).

Sustained attention deficits in MCI-LB may emerge in the form of attentional lapses leading to omissions, and a breakdown in inhibitory control leading to commission errors.

Subtle changes in memory, attention, and spatial navigation abilities have been associated with preclinical Alzheimer disease (AD). The current study examined whether baseline AD biomarkers are associated with self- and informant-reported decline in memory, attention, and spatial navigation.

Clinically normal (Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR®) = 0) adults aged 56–93 (N = 320) and their informants completed the memory, divided attention, and visuospatial abilities (which assesses spatial navigation) subsections of the Everyday Cognition Scale (ECog) annually for an average of 4 years. Biomarker data was collected within (±) 2 years of baseline (i.e., cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) p-tau181/Aβ42 ratio and hippocampal volume). Clinical progression was defined as CDR > 0 at time of final available ECog.

Self- and informant-reported memory, attention, and spatial navigation significantly declined over time (ps < .001). Baseline AD biomarkers were significantly associated with self- and informant-reported decline in cognitive ability (ps < .030), with the exception of p-tau181/Aβ42 ratio and self-reported attention (p = .364). Clinical progression did not significantly moderate the relationship between AD biomarkers and decline in self- or informant-reported cognitive ability (ps > .062). Post-hoc analyses indicated that biomarker burden was also associated with self- and informant-reported decline in total ECog (ps < .002), and again clinical progression did not significantly moderate these relationships (ps > .299).

AD biomarkers at baseline may indicate risk of decline in self- and informant-reported change in memory, attention, and spatial navigation ability. As such, subjectively reported decline in these domains may have clinical utility in tracking the subtle cognitive changes associated with the earliest stages of AD.

Normative neuropsychological data are essential for interpretation of test performance in the context of demographic factors. The Mayo Normative Studies (MNS) aim to provide updated normative data for neuropsychological measures administered in the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging (MCSA), a population-based study of aging that randomly samples residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota, from age- and sex-stratified groups. We examined demographic effects on neuropsychological measures and validated the regression-based norms in comparison to existing normative data developed in a similar sample.

The MNS includes cognitively unimpaired adults ≥30 years of age (n = 4,428) participating in the MCSA. Multivariable linear regressions were used to determine demographic effects on test performance. Regression-based normative formulas were developed by first converting raw scores to normalized scaled scores and then regressing on age, age2, sex, and education. Total and sex-stratified base rates of low scores (T < 40) were examined in an older adult validation sample and compared with Mayo’s Older Americans Normative Studies (MOANS) norms.

Independent linear regressions revealed variable patterns of linear and/or quadratic effects of age (r2 = 6–27% variance explained), sex (0–13%), and education (2–10%) across measures. MNS norms improved base rates of low performance in the older adult validation sample overall and in sex-specific patterns relative to MOANS.

Our results demonstrate the need for updated norms that consider complex demographic associations on test performance and that specifically exclude participants with mild cognitive impairment from the normative sample.

Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPSs) after moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) have been well documented in WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic) populations. In non-WEIRD populations, such as Vietnam, however, patients with TBI clinically remain uninvestigated with potential neuropsychiatric disorders, limiting on-time critical interventions. This study aims to (1) adapt the Vietnamese Neuropsychiatric Inventory (V-NPI), (2) examine NPSs after moderate-to-severe TBI and (3) evaluate their impact on caregiver burden and well-being in Vietnam.

Caregivers of seventy-five patients with TBI completed the V-NPI, and other behavior, mood, and caregiver burden scales.

Our findings demonstrated good internal consistency, convergent validity, and structural validity of the V-NPI. Caregivers reported that 78.7% of patients with TBI had at least three symptoms and 16.0% had more than seven. Behavioral and mood symptoms were more prevalent (ranging from 44.00% to 82.67% and from 46.67% to 66.67%, respectively) and severe in the TBI group. Importantly, NPSs in patients with TBI uniquely predicted 55.95% and 33.98% of caregiver burden and psychological well-being, respectively.

This study reveals the first evidence for the presence and severity of NPSs after TBI in Vietnam, highlighting an urgent need for greater awareness and clinical assessment of these symptoms in clinical practice. The adapted V-NPI can serve as a useful tool to facilitate such assessments and interventions. In addition, given the significant impact of NPS on caregiver burden and well-being, psychosocial support for caregivers should be established.

This study aimed to compare Greek Australian and English language normative data with regard to impairment rates yielded within a healthy Greek Australian older adult sample. We also examined whether optimal cut scores could be identified and capable of sensitively and specifically distinguishing between healthy Greek Australians from those with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

Ninety healthy Greek Australian older adults and 20 demographically matched individuals with a diagnosis of AD completed a range of neuropsychological measures, including the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition, Greek Adaptation (WAIS-IV GR), verbal and visual memory, language and naming, and executive functions. Impairment rates derived from the use of either Greek Australian or English language normative data were calculated and compared, using a 1.5 standard deviation criterion to denote impairment. Receiver operating characteristics curve analysis was used to investigate the sensitivity and specificity of alternate cut scores.

Impairment rates derived from the Greek Australian normative data showed that rates of impairment generally fell within the expected 7% range. In contrast, impairment rates for all tests derived using English language normative data were significantly higher and ranged from 11%–66%. Comparisons between healthy and AD participants with moderate dementia showed significant differences across all measures. Area under the curve results ranged from .721 to .999 across all measures, with most tests displaying excellent sensitivity and specificity.

English language normative data were found to be inappropriate for use with Greek Australian elders, potentially leading to erroneous diagnostic outcomes. The use of minority group specific normative data and associated cut points appear to partially ameliorate this issue. Clinical implications are discussed alongside future research directions.

Word list-learning tasks are commonly used to evaluate auditory-verbal learning and memory. However, different frequencies of word usage, subtle meaning nuances, unique word phonology, and different preexisting associations among words make translation across languages difficult. We administered lists of consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) nonword trigrams to independent American and Italian young adult samples. We evaluated whether an auditory list-learning task using CVC nonword trigrams instead of words could be applied cross-culturally to evaluate similar learning and associative memory processes.

Seventy-five native English-speaking (USA) and 104 native Italian-speaking (Italy) university students were administered 15-item lists of CVC trigrams using the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test paradigm with five study-test trials, an interference trial, and short- and long-term delayed recall. Bayesian t tests and mixed-design ANOVAs contrasted the primary learning indexes across the two samples and biological sex.

Performance was comparable between nationalities on all primary memory indices except the interference trial (List B), where the Italian group recalled approximately one item more than the American sample. For both nationalities, recall increased across the five learning trials and declined significantly on the postinterference trial, demonstrating susceptibility to retroactive interference. No effects of sex, age, vocabulary, or depressive symptoms were observed.

Using lists of unfamiliar nonword CVC trigrams, Italian and American younger adults showed a similar performance pattern across immediate and delayed recall trials. Whereas word list-learning performance is typically affected by cultural, demographic, mood, and cognitive factors, this trigram list-learning task does not show such effects, demonstrating its utility for cross-cultural memory assessment.

Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and how much cognitive decline impacts one’s ability to perform instrumental activities of daily living (iADLs) are necessary elements of neuropsychological assessment when diagnosing mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. Though limited, the literature suggests that culture and self-appraisal of cognitive abilities are related. However, it is unclear if differences exist in the subjective elements of neuropsychological assessments between patients born in Anglosphere countries (Canada, the USA, and the UK) versus immigrants born elsewhere (International Group).

We conducted a retrospective chart review of advanced Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients (n = 764). Reports of SCD and iADL difficulties were extracted from neuropsychological reports and coded by two independent raters. We also examined responses on self- and family-rated questionnaires of executive functioning and iADL difficulties.

Anglosphere and International patients did not differ on overall, memory, or attention SCD, or overall iADL difficulties based on interviews. Anglosphere patients reported more executive and language SCD during the interview but International care-partners reported more current executive dysfunction on a questionnaire. International patients and care-partners reported more iADL difficulties on a questionnaire, which they ascribed to motor (not cognitive) symptoms. The effects on questionnaires were small and persisted after accounting for depression severity ratings.

There were no consistent group differences in the number or pervasiveness of SCD or iADL difficulties reported by Anglosphere versus International groups. Immigration status has limited effect on these subjective elements and they should be given significant weight when diagnosing cognitive dysfunction in PD.

Despite recent advances in cross-cultural neuropsychological test development, suitable tests for cross-linguistic assessment of language functions are not widely available. The aims of this study were to develop and validate a brief naming test, the Copenhagen Cross-Linguistic Naming Test (C-CLNT), for the assessment of culturally, linguistically, and educationally diverse older adult populations in Europe.

The C-CLNT was based on a set of standardized color drawings. Items for the C-CLNT were selected by considering name agreement and frequency across five European and two non-European languages. Ambiguities in some of the selected items and scoring criteria were resolved after pilot testing in 10 memory clinic patients. The final 30-item C-CLNT was validated by verifying its psychometric properties in 24 controls and 162 diverse memory clinic patients with affective disorder, mild cognitive impairment, and with dementia.

The C-CLNT had acceptable scale reliability (coefficient alpha = .67) and good construct validity, with moderate to strong correlations with traditional language tests (r = .42– .75). Diagnostic accuracy for dementia was good and significantly better than that of the Boston Naming Test (areas under the curve of .80 vs .64, p < .001), but was poor for mild cognitive impairment. Only 3% of the variance in C-CLNT test scores was explained by immigrant background, while 6% was explained by age and years of education. In comparison, these proportions were 34 and 22% for the BNT.

The C-CLNT has promising clinical utility for cross-linguistic assessment of naming impairment in culturally, linguistically, and educationally diverse older adults.

The Swedish Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI-IV) is commonly used for assessing young children belonging to the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland (Finland-Swedes), but there is no information about the generalizability of this test and its norms to this minority. Cross-cultural comparisons of WPPSI-IV are also scarce. We compared the performance of Finland-Swedish children to the Scandinavian norms of the Swedish WPPSI-IV and explored the relationship between sociodemographic factors (age, sex, parental education level, bilingualism) and the performance.

The Swedish WPPSI-IV was administered to 79 typically developing 5–6-year-old Finland-Swedish children assessed for The FinSwed Study. Their performance was compared to the Scandinavian norms using MANOVA, t-test, and confidence interval comparisons. Associations with sociodemographic variables were explored using regression analyses.

Finland-Swedish children performed, on average, 1/3 SD higher than the Scandinavian norms, a difference which was statistically significant with medium-sized effects. However, individual subtests and indexes did not differ significantly from the norms. Significant associations with sociodemographic factors were found for some but not all index scores.

This study provides clinically important information for using the Swedish WPPSI-IV with the Finland-Swedish minority and demonstrates aspects that clinicians working with this minority should take into account. The results are presumably partly explained by characteristics of the present sample, and partly by cultural and linguistic differences between the Finland-Swedish population and the Scandinavian countries. The findings also illustrate that cross-cultural differences in cognitive performance may be present even between similar cultures with the same language.

The INECO Frontal Screening (IFS) and the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) are executive dysfunction (ED) screening tools that can distinguish patients with neurodegenerative disorders from healthy controls and, to some extent, between dementia subtypes. This paper aims to examine the suitability of these tests in assessing early-onset cognitive impairment and dementia patients.

In a memory clinic patient cohort (age mean = 57.4 years) with symptom onset at ≤65 years, we analyzed the IFS and the FAB results of four groups: early-onset dementia (EOD, n = 49), mild cognitive impairment due to neurological causes (MCI-n, n = 34), MCI due to other causes such as depression (MCI-o, n = 99) and subjective cognitive decline (SCD, n = 14). Data were gathered at baseline and at 6 and 12 months. We also studied the tests’ accuracy in distinguishing EOD from SCD patients and ED patients from those with intact executive functioning. Correlations with neuropsychological measures were also studied.

The EOD group had significantly (p < .05) lower IFS and FAB total scores than the MCI-o and SCD groups. Compared with the FAB, the IFS showed more statistically significant (p < .05) differences between diagnostic groups, greater accuracy (IFS AUC = .80, FAB AUC = .75, p = .036) in detecting ED and marginally stronger correlations with neuropsychological measures. We found no statistically significant differences in the EOD group scores from baseline up to 6- or 12-months follow-up.

While both tests can detect EOD among memory clinic patients, the IFS may be more reliable in detecting ED than the FAB.

To examine cold (based on logical reasoning) versus hot (having emotional components) executive function processes in groups with high individual schizotypal traits.

Two-hundred and forty-seven participants were administered the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire and were allocated into schizotypal (cognitive-perceptual, paranoid, negative, disorganized) or control groups according to pre-specified criteria. Participants were also administered a battery of tasks examining working memory, complex selective attention, response inhibition, decision-making and fluid intelligence and their affective counterparts. The outcome measures of each task were reduced to one composite variable thus formulating five cold and five hot cognitive domains. Between-group differences in the cognitive domains were examined with repeated measures analyses of covariance.

For working memory, the control and the cognitive-perceptual groups outperformed negative schizotypes, while for affective working memory controls outperformed the disorganized group. Controls also scored higher compared with the disorganized group in complex selective attention, while both the control and the cognitive-perceptual groups outperformed negative schizotypes in complex affective selective attention. Negative schizotypes also had striking difficulties in response inhibition, as they scored lower compared with all other groups. Despite the lack of differences in fluid intelligence, controls scored higher compared with all schizotypal groups (except from cognitive-perceptual schizotypes) in emotional intelligence; the latter group reported higher emotional intelligence compared with negative schizotypes.

Results indicate that there is no categorical association between the different schizotypal dimensions with solely cold or hot executive function processes and support impoverished emotional intelligence as a core feature of schizotypy.

Neuropsychologists have difficulty detecting cognitive decline in high-functioning older adults because greater neurological change must occur before cognitive performances are low enough to indicate decline or impairment. For high-functioning older adults, early neurological changes may correspond with subjective cognitive concerns and an absence of high scores. This study compared high-functioning older adults with and without subjective cognitive concerns, hypothesizing those with cognitive concerns would have fewer high scores on neuropsychological testing and lower frontoparietal network volume, thickness, and connectivity.

Participants had high estimated premorbid functioning (e.g., estimated intelligence ≥75th percentile or college-educated) and were divided based on subjective cognitive concerns. Participants with cognitive concerns (n = 35; 74.0 ± 9.6 years old, 62.9% female, 94.3% White) and without cognitive concerns (n = 33; 71.2 ± 7.1 years old, 75.8% female, 100% White) completed a neuropsychological battery of memory and executive function tests and underwent structural and resting-state magnetic resonance imaging, calculating frontoparietal network volume, thickness, and connectivity.

Participants with and without cognitive concerns had comparable numbers of low test scores (≤16th percentile), p = .103, d = .40. Participants with cognitive concerns had fewer high scores (≥75th percentile), p = .004, d = .71, and lower mean frontoparietal network volumes (left: p = .004, d = .74; right: p = .011, d = .66) and cortical thickness (left: p = .010, d = .66; right: p = .033, d = .54), but did not differ in network connectivity.

Among high-functioning older adults, subjective cognitive decline may correspond with an absence of high scores on neuropsychological testing and underlying changes in the frontoparietal network that would not be detected by a traditional focus on low cognitive test scores.

The Neurological Predictor Scale (NPS) quantifies cumulative exposure to tumor- and treatment-related neurological risks. The Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Rating of Treatment Intensity (PNORTI) measures the intensity of different treatment modalities, but research is needed to establish whether it is associated with late effects. This study evaluated the predictive validity of the NPS and PNORTI for neuropsychological outcomes in pediatric brain tumor survivors.

A retrospective chart review was completed of pediatric brain tumor survivors (PBTS) (n = 161, Mage = 13.47, SD = 2.80) who were at least 2 years from the end of tumor-directed treatment. Attention, intellectual functioning, perceptual reasoning, processing speed, verbal reasoning, and working memory were analyzed in relation to the NPS and PNORTI.

NPS scores ranged from 1 to 11 (M = 5.57, SD = 2.27) and PNORTI scores ranged from 1 (n = 101; 62.7%) to 3 (n = 18; 11.2%). When controlling for age, sex, SES factors, and time since treatment, NPS scores significantly predicted intellectual functioning [F(7,149) = 12.86, p < .001, R2 = .38] and processing speed [F(7,84) = 5.28, p < .001, R2 = .31]. PNORTI scores did not significantly predict neuropsychological outcomes.

The findings suggest that the NPS has value in predicting IF and processing speed above-and-beyond demographic variables. The PNORTI was not associated with neuropsychological outcomes. Future research should consider establishing clinical cutoff scores for the NPS to help determine which survivors are most at risk for neuropsychological late effects and warrant additional assessment.

The effectiveness of neuropsychological rehabilitation is supported by the evidence found in previous reviews, but there is a lack of research regarding the effectiveness of remotely conducted neuropsychological rehabilitation. This review aimed to identify and evaluate the results of studies investigating the effectiveness of teleneuropsychological rehabilitation.

Relevant articles were extracted from electronic databases and filtered to include studies published in 2016 or later to focus on recent practices. Data were synthesized narratively.

A total of 14 randomized controlled studies were included in the synthesis (9 for children/adolescents, 5 for adults). The most common type of intervention was computerized cognitive training with regular remote contact with the therapist (seven studies). Regarding children and adolescents, the evidence for the effectiveness was found only for these types of interventions with improvements in cognitive outcomes. The results regarding the family-centered interventions were mixed with improvements only found in psychosocial outcomes. No support was found for the effectiveness of interventions combining cognitive and motor training. Regarding adults, all included studies offered support for the effectiveness, at least to some extent. There were improvements particularly in trained cognitive functions. Long-term effects of the interventions with generalization to global functioning remained somewhat unclear.

Remote interventions focused on computerized cognitive training are promising methods within teleneuropsychological rehabilitation. However, their impact on long-term meaningful, everyday functioning remained unclear. More research is needed to reliably assess the effectiveness of teleneuropsychological interventions, especially with more comprehensive approaches.

Physical and recreational activities are behaviors that may modify risk of late-life cognitive decline. We sought to examine the role of retrospectively self-reported midlife (age 40) physical and recreational activity engagement – and self-reported change in these activities from age 40 to initial study visit – in predicting late-life cognition.

Data were obtained from 898 participants in a longitudinal study of cognitive aging in demographically and cognitively diverse older adults (Age: range = 49–93 years, M = 75, SD = 7.19). Self-reported physical and recreational activity participation at age 40 and at the initial study visit were quantified using the Life Experiences Assessment Form. Change in activities was modeled using latent change scores. Cognitive outcomes were obtained annually (range = 2–17 years) using the Spanish and English Neuropsychological Assessment Scales, which measure verbal episodic memory, semantic memory, visuospatial processing, and executive functioning.

Physical activity engagement at age 40 was strongly associated with cognitive performance in all four domains at the initial visit and with global cognitive slope. However, change in physical activities after age 40 was not associated with cognitive outcomes. In contrast, recreational activity engagement – both at age 40 and change after 40 – was predictive of cognitive intercepts and slope.

Retrospectively self-reported midlife physical and recreational activity engagement were strongly associated with late-life cognition – both level of performance and rate of future decline. However, the data suggest that maintenance of recreational activity engagement (e.g., writing, taking classes, reading) after age 40 is more strongly associated with late-life cognition than continued maintenance of physical activity levels.

To model cognitive reserve (CR) longitudinally in a neurodiverse pediatric sample using a residual index approach, and to test the criterion and construct validity of this index.

Participants were N = 115 children aged 9.5–13 years at baseline (MAge = 10.48 years, SDAge = 0.61), and n = 43 (37.4%) met criteria for ADHD. The CR index represented variance in Matrix Reasoning scores from the WASI that was unexplained by MRI-based brain variables (bilateral hippocampal volumes, total gray matter volumes, and total white matter hypointensity volumes) or demographics (age and sex).

At baseline, the CR index predicted math computation ability (estimate = 0.50, SE = 0.07, p < .001), and word reading ability (estimate = 0.26, SE = 0.10, p = .012). Longitudinally, change in CR over time was not associated with change in math computation ability (estimate = −0.02, SE = 0.03, p < .513), but did predict change in word reading ability (estimate = 0.10, SE = 0.03, p < .001). Change in CR was also found to moderate the relationship between change in word reading ability and white matter hypointensity volume (estimate = 0.10, SE = 0.05, p = .045).

Evidence for the criterion validity of this CR index is encouraging, but somewhat mixed, while construct validity was evidenced through interaction between CR, brain, and word reading ability. Future research would benefit from optimization of the CR index through careful selection of brain variables for a pediatric sample.

Higher cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) induces neuroprotective effects in the hippocampus, a key brain region for memory and learning. We investigated the association between CRF and functional connectivity (FC) of the hippocampus in healthy young adults. We also examined the association between hippocampal FC and neurocognitive function. Lastly, we tested whether hippocampal FC mediates the association between 2-Min Walk Test (2MWT) and neurocognitive function.

913 young adults (28.7 ± 3.7 years) from the Human Connectome Project were included in the analyses. The 2MWT performance result was used as a proxy for cardiovascular endurance. Fluid and crystalized composite neurocognitive scores were used to assess cognition. Resting-state functional MRI data were processed to measure hippocampal FC. Linear regression was used to examine the association between 2MWT, hippocampal FC, and neurocognitive outcomes after controlling for age, sex, years of education, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, and gait speed.

Better 2MWT performance was associated with greater FC between the anterior hippocampus and right posterior cingulate and left middle temporal gyrus. No associations between 2MWT and posterior hippocampal FC, whole hippocampal FC, and caudate FC (control region) were observed. Greater anterior hippocampal FC was associated with better crystalized cognition scores. Lastly, greater FC between the anterior hippocampus and right posterior cingulate mediated the association between better 2MWT scores and higher crystalized cognition scores.

Anterior hippocampal FC may be one underlying neurophysiological mechanism that promotes the association between 2MWT performance and crystalized composite cognitive function in healthy young adults.