Browsing by Subject "neuropsychology"

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    Adaptation of aphasia tests for neurocognitive screening in South Africa
    (2010) Mosdell, Jill; Balchin, Ross Malcolm; Ameen, Ozayr Sale
    Two aphasia tests — the Cookie Theft Test and the Boston Naming Test — were adapted to help eliminate western cultural, language and education bias in neurocognitive screening in South Africa. These tests were among the commonly used tests initially chosen for inclusion in a larger neurocognitive screening battery currently being developed and translated for use in South Africa — the Groote Schuur Neurocognitive Battery. The adaptations were made employing quantitative and qualitative converging lines of evidence to evaluate their efficacy. This evidence included consultation with clinicians at Groote Schuur Hospital and translators knowledgeable in Afrikaans and isiXhosa language and culture, qualitative feedback from the research participants, and the results on the tests. The adapted tests were piloted by testing 30 neurocognitively intact controls consisting of equal numbers of Afrikaans, English and isiXhosa speakers, comparing their scores to their performances on the original tests. Three aphasic patients were also briefly tested. Results indicate that the adaptations made to the tests improved the performance of controls over the original versions, and tentatively suggest that the adapted tests should be able to screen for aphasia. This pilot study recommends further changes to the Groote Schuur Naming Test before its introduction into the battery ahead of its validation.
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    Medicine and the Arts Week 3 - Issues of mind, art and play
    (2015-01-21) Levine, Susan
    In this video, Associate Professor Susan Levine introduces Elelwani Ramugondo, an occupational therapist, Mark Solms, a neuropsychologist, and Malika Ndlovu, an applied artist who all have different perspectives on the mind, art and play.
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    The association of limbic system activation with dream, bad dream and nightmare generation
    (2018) King, Warren; Solms, Mark; Thomas, Kevin
    Despite the fact that nightmares occur with regularity in the general population, most previous research has focused on clinical samples, and the genesis of idiopathic nightmares remains poorly understood. The aim of the present research was therefore to investigate the neuropsychological mechanisms of idiopathic bad dream and nightmare generation, with a particular focus on the limbic system. High versus low levels of limbic activation and its effect on the frequency of dream, bad dream, and nightmare recall, characteristics, and content were investigated using retrospective and prospective measures. Psychosocial stress – a phenomenon which increases activity in the limbic system – and its relationship to bad dreams and nightmares was also investigated, using questionnaires and a prospective dream diary study. Oral contraceptive use was included as a moderator variable as previous research has indicated that this may temper reactions to stress. The general hypothesis that greater activation of the limbic system results in a greater frequency of recall of bad dreams and nightmares, and also results in more negative dream content, was confirmed. It was also found that external factors which increase limbic activation such as psychosocial stress lead to a greater recall of bad dreams and nightmares. Although oral contraceptive use did not moderate the relationship between stress and bad dream and nightmare recall frequency, more generally positive dream content was found in users of oral contraceptives compared to non-users. Taken together, the results of the studies indicate that similar neuropsychological mechanisms may underlie the formation of idiopathic nightmares and nightmares in clinical conditions, and also that increased levels of limbic activation may result most commonly in negative dream content.