Meet the Authors: A Neuropsychology Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode of Meet the Authors, Dr. Scott Sperling is joined by first author Dr. Brandon Gavett to discuss his paper, Domain-Specific Changes in Everyday Cognition: Associations with Diagnosis Change and Gray Matter Volume Change. Drawing on longitudinal data from 891 older adults, the study examines how cognitive abilities change over time and how these changes relate to diagnostic transitions and brain atrophy. Findings highlight the sensitivity of the Everyday Cognition (ECog) scale to clinical disease severity and underlying gray matter atrophy when used longitudinally.

In this episode, Dr. Scott Sperling discusses the article Inhibitory Control Underpins the Relationship Between Cognitive and Psychological Inflexibility After a Moderate to Severe Traumatic Brain Injury with authors Drs. Diane Whiting and Josh Faulkner. This study examined how deficits in cognitive flexibility relate to psychological inflexibility and distress among individuals with a traumatic brain injury (N = 66). Results showed that poorer performance on the Stroop color-word task, a measure of inhibitory control, was significantly associated with greater psychological inflexibility and distress. Overall, findings support the idea that cognitive flexibility—particularly inhibitory control—is a key component of psychological inflexibility. 

In this episode, Dr. Scott Sperling and early career leader, Dr. Zachary Resch, will be discussing the paper, Signs and Symptoms Method in Neuropsychology: A Standardized Observational Examination of Cognitive Functions Can Be Effective in Detecting Mild Cognitive Impairment, with two of the study authors, Dr. Carlo Abbate & Dr. Alessia Gallucci. In their study, the authors examined the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of what they term the "NeuroPsychological Examination" or "NPE", which is a systematic method of collecting and quantifying cognitive and behavioral symptoms during a clinical interview. The NPE was implemented for 475 participants (208 with MCI, 188 with dementia, and 79 with subjective cognitive decline). Results demonstrated that the number of neuropsychological signs from the NPE could discriminate between all three groups with good sensitivity and specificity, which highlights its utility for clinical neuropsychologists.  

In this podcast, Dr. Scott Sperling and student leader, Dr. Kritika Nayar, discuss the paper, Cross-sectional associations of CSF tau levels with Rey's AVLT: A recency ratio study, with the paper's author, Dr. Davide Bruno. In the paper, associations between traditional memory scores from the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, a novel process-based memory score based on knowledge of serial position effect (i.e, the recency ratio), and CSF biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease, were compared. The study has important implications for the identification of individuals at-risk of developing a neurodegenerative disorder. 

In this podcast, Dr. Scott Sperling and student leader, Dr. Joshua Fox-Fuller, discuss the paper, Multi-Domain Modifiable Dementia Risk Factors Are Associated with Poorer Cognition in Midlife, with two of the paper's authors, Dr. Yen Ying Lim and Ms. Lisa Bransby. This study the examined frequency and co-occurrence of modifiable dementia risk factors in a large cohort of healthy individuals who are at risk of developing dementia. Risk factors were classified into five domains (i.e., mood symptomatology, risky lifestyle behaviors, cardiovascular conditions, cognitive/social engagement, sleep disorders/symptomatology) and examined in relationship to cognition performance.

Today, Dr. Scott Sperling and student leader, Ms. Sara Pishdadian, will be discussing the paper, Linking Self-Perceived Cognitive Functioning Questionnaires Using Item Response Theory: The Subjective Cognitive Decline Initiatives, with three of the study authors, Dr. Rabin, Dr. Elbulok-Charcape and Dr. Jones.  In their study, the authors harmonized secondary data from 24 studies and 40 different questionnaires with item response theory (IRT) to identify the items that made the greatest contribution to measurement precision. Data from over 53,000 neuropsychologically intact older adults were included, from 13 English language and 11 non-English (or mixed) language studies. The results have significant implications for the development and use of new self-perceived cognitive functioning questionnaires with high predictive validity for cognitive and clinical outcomes.

In our inaugural podcast, Dr. Scott Sperling and Mr. Humza Khan discuss a very exciting paper, entitled, Development and Application of the International Classification of Cognitive Disorders in Epilepsy (IC-CoDE): Initial Results From a Multi-Center Study of Adults With Temporal Lobe Epilepsy, with two of the paper's authors, Dr. Carrie McDonald and Dr. Anny Reyes. The IC-CoDE is the first iteration of a classification system for harmonizing cognitive diagnostics in epilepsy research that can be applied across neuropsychological tests and temporal lobe epilepsy cohorts. This proof-of-principle study in temporal lobe epilepsy offers a promising path for enhancing research collaborations globally and accelerating scientific discoveries.

In this episode, Dr. Scott Sperling discusses the article Joint Effects of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Cannabis on Neurocognition with first author Ashley Adams, MS and senior author Dr. Raul Gonzalez. This study explored the effects of cannabis use and HIV on neurocognition in a demographically diverse sample (N = 269). Results showed that participants who endorsed cannabis use (CB+) and had an HIV diagnosis (HIV+) were more likely to be labeled with a memory impairment compared to controls (CB-/HIV-). Addiitionally, the CB+/HIV- was twice as likely to be labeled with an executive functioning impairment compared to controls. Overall, results suggest that cannabis use confers risk for neurocognitive decline in HIV; however, risk must be weighted against potential effect on symptoms.

In this episode, Dr. Scott Sperling and student leader, Grace Goodwin, discuss the article The Association of Multilingualism with Diverse Language Families and Cognition Among Adults with and without Education in India with the senior author, Dr. Miguel Arce Rentería. This study leveraged the rich linguistic diversity across all socioeconomic gradients in India to understand how multilinguilism impacts cognition later in life in individuals with and without formal education. Participants were from The Longitudinal Aging Study in India-Diagnostic Assessment of Dementia which included 4,088 individuals, 54% of whom did not have formal education. Analyses employed education-stratified regression models. Results showed that for individuals with formal education, multilingualism was associated with better cognitive functioning. For individuals without formal education, results differed based on the similarity of languages known by the individual such that those who knew multiple languages that were more similar linguistically (over those who knew multiple dissimilar languages) had better executive functioning than monolinguals. This study adds to our understanding related to the impact of multilingualism (including language similarity) and education on cognition in an aging population.  

In this episode, Dr. Scott Sperling and Dr. Elaine Schultz discuss the article p-Tau/Aβ42 ratio associates with cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive impairment, and cognitively unimpaired older adults with two the paper's authors, Dr. Ruchika Prakash and Michael McKenna. The goal of the study was to examine whether a CSF-based p-Tau/Aβ42 ratio predicted aspects of cognition (global cognitive functioning, episodic memory, and executive functioning) over a 2-year period (data collected at baseline, 6 months, 12 months, and 24 months). This study utilized data from 1,215 older adults through the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative including those who were cognitive unimpaired, those with mild cognitive impairment, and those with Alzheimer's Disease. Results showed that the p-Tau/Aβ42 ratio predicted global cognitive decline and episodic memory decline in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease and was able to predict decline in executive functioning across all group. This study highlights the potential impact of Alzheimer's-related pathology in the broader aging population on cognitive abilities, with particular impact on executive functioning.