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Neuropsychology

We use standard clinical and develop experimental neuropsychological tests to (1) search for genes the influence cognitive functioning and (2) to characterize the cognitive changes found in individuals with severe mental illnesses and their relatives.

Many of these tests are included in the computerized neuropsychological batteries developed in our laboratory: STAN or JANET. Tests included in these batteries were selected based on (1) evidence of significant heritability, (2) evidence for sensitivity to affective disorders or schizophrenia and (3) minimizing the effects of language (culture) or the availability of parallel English and Spanish forms. These batteries taps a wide range of cognitive domains, including general intellectual functioning, sensory-motor and processing speed, attention, executive functioning, working memory, long-term memory, language and social cognition.

The South Texas Assessment of Neurocognition (STAN) is a 90-min primarily computerized battery of standard and experimental neuropsychological tests. The STAN combines software developed for psychological experimentation (E-Prime) and database software (Microsoft ACCESS) with a user interface developed in visual basic to provide a fully automated testing environment which logs subject information, administers tests in a pre-defined order and databases subject performance at the completion of each test.

JAva NEuropsychological Test (JANET) is a primarily computerized battery of standard and experimental neuropsychological tests designed for psychiatric and genetics research. JANET was developed in the JAVA programming language and is not platform or operating system dependent.  The JANET system includes approximately 20 different neuropsychological tests, a method for collecting demographic information and an internal database designed to maintain data on local computers and to transfer data to a centralized user specified database.  JANET is based on STAN.

Both batteries include fully computerized neuropsychological measures and traditional tasks with newly developed computer-aided administration procedures. In addition, both have parallel Spanish and English versions. Instructions for the computerized neuropsychological tests were translated to Spanish by bilingual psychologists and translated back into English by professional translators. Any inconsistencies in the original and back-translated English instructions were examined and modifications to the Spanish instructions were made, when necessary, to assure that both the Spanish and English instructions convey the same meanings. JANET is continually being translated into other languages and Finnish, Turkish and Hebrew versions of some or all of the tests are currently available.

Together, these batteries have been administered to over 1300 subjects in the past 6 years.


Example of Tests Developed in the Laboratory


Abstraction, Inhibition, and Memory Task (AIM) (Glahn et al., 2000)

The AIM tests subjects’ abstraction and problem solving skills and includes two conditions: abstraction and abstraction plus memory. The current version includes 40 trials (20 per condition) and far fewer examples than the one published in 2000. Duration is 4 minutes.

 

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Emotional Context Processing (EMOCON) (Monkul et al., 2007)

This is an emotional judgment task that asks subjects to rate three emotions of models in and out of context. Five emotions are used: fear, sadness, happiness, disgust, and anger. The primary dependant variable is the difference in ratings in and out of context. Duration is 9 minutes.

 

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Object Delayed Response Test (PAM) (Glahn et al., 2006)

The PAM is an object working memory test with three different conditions: repetition, mixed (control) and novelty. The test examines how one uses different strategies to improve memory performance. The primary dependant variables are the number of correct responses for each condition. Duration is 9 minutes.

 

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Spatial Capacity Delayed Response Test (SCAP) (Glahn et al., 2003)

The SCAP is a spatial delayed response task where subject must remember 1, 3, 5, or 7 locations over a fixed 2-second delay. Duration is 6 minutes.

 

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Visual Object Learning Test (VOLT) (Glahn et al., 1997)

The VOLT is a visual list learning test where subjects are asked to learn a set of 10 complex objects and subsequently recognize those objects from a set of distractors. Subject are exposed to the learning set 5 times. Duration is 8 minutes.


Select Publications

  • Glahn DC, Bearden CE, Barguil M, Barrett J, Reichenberg A, Bowden CL, Soares JC, Velligan DI. The neurocognitive signature of psychotic bipolar disorder. Biol Psychiatry. 2007 Oct 15;62(8):910-6.
  • van Erp TG, Therman S, Pirkola T, Tuulio-Henriksson A, Glahn DC, Bachman P, Huttunen MO, Lönnqvist J, Hietanen M, Kaprio J, Koskenvuo M, Cannon TD. Verbal recall and recognition in twins discordant for schizophrenia. Psychiatry Res. 2008 Jun 30;159(3):271-80.
  • Weiser M, Reichenberg A, Kravitz E, Lubin G, Shmushkevich M, Glahn DC, Gross R, Rabinowitz J, Noy S, Davidson M. Subtle cognitive dysfunction in nonaffected siblings of individuals affected by nonpsychotic disorders. Biol Psychiatry. 2008 Mar 15;63(6):602-8.
  • Monkul ES, Green MJ, Barrett JA, Robinson JL, Velligan DI, Glahn DC. A social cognitive approach to emotional intensity judgment deficits in schizophrenia. Schizophr Res. 2007 Aug;94(1-3):245-52
  • Glahn DC, Almasy L, Blangero J, Burk GM, Estrada J, Peralta JM, Meyenberg N, Castro MP, Barrett J, Nicolini H, Raventós H, Escamilla MA. Adjudicating neurocognitive endophenotypes for schizophrenia. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet. 2007 Mar 5;144B(2):242-9.
  • Glahn DC, Barrett J, Bearden CE, Mintz J, Green MF, Serap Monkul E, Najt P, Soares JC, Velligan DI. Dissociable mechanisms for memory impairment in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Psychol Med. 2006 Aug;36(8):1085-95.
  • Bearden CE, Glahn DC, Monkul ES, Barrett J, Najt P, Villarreal V, Soares JC. Patterns of memory impairment in bipolar disorder and unipolar major depression. Psychiatry Res. 2006 Jun 15;142(2-3):139-50.
  • Glahn DC, Bearden CE, Cakir S, Barrett JA, Najt P, Serap Monkul E, Maples N, Velligan DI, Soares JC. Differential working memory impairment in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia: effects of lifetime history of psychosis. Bipolar Disord. 2006 Apr;8(2):117-23.
  • Glahn DC, Bearden CE, Caetano S, Fonseca M, Najt P, Hunter K, Pliszka SR, Olvera RL, Soares JC. Declarative memory impairment in pediatric bipolar disorder. Bipolar Disord. 2005 Dec;7(6):546-54.
  • Glahn DC, Therman S, Manninen M, Huttunen M, Kaprio J, Lönnqvist J, Cannon TD. Spatial working memory as an endophenotype for schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry. 2003 Apr 1;53(7):624-6.
  • Glahn DC, Cannon TD, Gur RE, Ragland JD, Gur RC. Working memory constrains abstraction in schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry. 2000 Jan 1;47(1):34-42.
  • Glahn DC, Gur RC, Ragland JD, Censits DM, Gur RE. Reliability, performance characteristics, construct validity, and an initial clinical application of a visual object learning test (VOLT). Neuropsychology. 1997 Oct;11(4):602-12.
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