Browsing by Author "Lubrini, Genny"
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Item Components determining the slowness of information processing in parkinson’s disease.(Brain and Behavior, 2021) Arroyo Ferrer, Aída; Periáñez, José A.; Ríos Lago, Marcos; Lubrini, Genny; Andreo, Jorge; Benito León, Juián; D. Louis, Elan; Romero Muñoz, Juan PabloIntroduction Bradyphrenia is a key cognitive feature in Parkinson's disease (PD). There is no consensus on whether information processing speed is impaired or not beyond motor performance. Objective This study aims to explore which perceptual, motor, or cognitive components of information processing are involved in the slowdown affecting cognitive performance. Methods The study included 48 patients with PD (age: 63, 3 ± 8, 18; HY I-III; UPDRS 15,46 ± 7,76) and 53 healthy controls (age: 60,09 ± 12,83). Five reaction time (RT) tasks were administered to all participants. The average RT in each of the tasks and the percentage of correct answers were measured. Patients with PD were in "ON state" at the time of the evaluation. Perceptual, motor, and cognitive components were isolated by means of a series of ANCOVAs. Results As expected, the motor component was slowed down in patients with PD. Moreover, while patients with PD showed slower RT than controls in all tasks, differences between groups did not exponentially increase with the increasing task complexity. ANCOVA analyses also revealed that the perceptual and sustained alert component resulted to be slowed down, with no differences being found in any of the remaining isolated cognitive components (i.e., response strategy-inhibition, decisional, visual search, or interference control). Conclusions The results revealed that slowness of information processing in PD was mainly associated with an impaired processing speed of the motor and perceptual-alertness components analyzed. The results may help designing new neurorehabilitation strategies, focusing on the improvement of perceptual and alertness mechanisms.Item Computerized Simple Reaction Time and Balance in Nondemented Parkinson's Patients.(Neurodegenerative Diseases, 2021) Arroyo Ferrer, Aída; Andreo, Jorge; Periáñez, José A.; Ríos Lago, Marcos; Lubrini, Genny; Herreros Rodríguez, Jaime; García Caldentey, Juan; Romero Muñoz, Juan PabloBackground: Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients are known to suffer from subtle cognitive and balance deficits from the early stages although they usually manifest in advanced stages. Postural instability (PI) has been correlated with slower information processing speed. Simple reaction time (SRT) tasks can be used to measure the speed of information processing. The main objective of this study was to examine the usefulness of SRT as a valid predictor of balance in PD, thus providing a simple and complementary assessment method. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 52 PD patients without dementia who were evaluated for balance using the pull test (PT) maneuver and Biodex® limits of stability (LOS). In addition, a reaction time task was used to measure processing speed. Correlation and linear regression analyses were performed. Results: The performance of SRT tasks was correlated with the evaluation of LOS% and PT, suggesting that the SRT may be a predictor of balance performance. Longer reaction time and poorer postural stability were also associated with disease duration but not with age. Conclusions: Poor performance in a simple reaction task can predict altered PI and can complement staging and evaluation in PD patients.Item Evolución de los déficits de Velocidad de Procesamiento de la Información en pacientes con Traumatismo Craneoencefálico.(2019) Artiach Hortelano, Pilar; Lubrini, GennyLa velocidad de procesamiento de la información (VPI) es una de las alteraciones que se da con mayor frecuencia tras un traumatismo craneoencefálico (TCE). Además, sus consecuencias son enormemente discapacitantes, pues a parte de dar lugar a un pensamiento enlentecido afecta a otros procesos cognitivos. Por esta razón, son numerosos los tratamientos de rehabilitación que tratan de paliar sus efectos. Si bien para poder adecuar los tratamientos a los déficits se ha de comprender cómo evolucionan con el tiempo. Sin embargo, los resultados de los estudios realizados no son concluyentes debido a la aparición del efecto de práctica. De esta manera, en el presente trabajo se estudió la evolución de este déficit entre la fase aguda y la fase subaguda del TCE. Para ello, se evaluaron en dos mismos momentos temporales a un grupo de 17 pacientes con TCE y, con el fin de controlar el efecto de práctica a un grupo control de 17 individuos sanos mediante cinco tareas de TR computarizadas. A través de una serie de ANOVAs de dos factores (tiempo y grupo) se encontró que los individuos con TCE presentan un claro déficit en la VPI, concretamente en el componente motor del procesamiento y en procesos de VPI complejos. Si bien, aunque este último componente de la VPI muestra cierta evolución, sigue presentando claros déficits en la fase subaguda del TCE. De manera complementaria se ha visto que algunas tareas de TR son susceptibles de aparición del efecto de práctica, por lo que realizar futuras investigaciones con el fin de comprender esta relación parece necesario.Item Internet addiction and executive functions in university students: a systematic review.(Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology, 2020) Bernabeu Brotons, Elena; Marchena Giráldez, Carlos Alberto; González Pizzio, Adriana; Lubrini, GennyInternet addiction is a growing public health problem and university students have number of characteristics which make them a population at risk. Numerous studies suggest a relation between addiction and the impairment of executive functions. This bibliographical review aims to identify neuropsychological variables which indicate a risk of developing an addiction to different internet applications among university students. A systematic search was made of online databases (Medline, PsycInfo, PubMED, ScienceDirect, Scopus & Web of Science) for empirical studies published between 2000 and 2019 on the relation between internet addiction and executive functions in this population. After eliminating duplicates and applying eligibility criteria, a total of 30 studies were selected. The results of these studies suggest an alteration of executive functions due to addiction (inhibitory control, decision-making and verbal fluency), although the findings do not provide a clear internet addiction risk profile. More study is necessary into the nature of this relation, differentiating the different internet applications and controlling certain variables such as gender, the nature of the task and the type of stimuli, in order to design effective addiction prevention strategies.Item Melodic intonation therapy in post-stroke nonfluent aphasia: a randomized pilot trial.(Clinical rehabilitation, 2018) Haro Martínez, Ana; Lubrini, Genny; Madero Jarabo, Rosario; Díez Tejedor, Exuperio; Fuentes, BlancaObjective: To collect data to estimate the sample size of a definitive randomised clinical trial to evaluate the effects of Melodic Intonation Therapy in poststroke nonfluent aphasia. Design: A randomised, crossover, interventional pilot trial. Setting: Departments of Neurology and Rehabilitation from a university general hospital. Participants: Stroke survivors with poststroke nonfluent aphasia. Interventions: Patients randomised to group 1 had treatment with Melodic Intonation Therapy first (12 sessions over 6 weeks) followed by no treatment; the patients in group 2 started active treatment between 3 and 6 months after their inclusion in the study, serving as waiting list controls for the first phase. Main measures: The Communicative Activity Log (CAL) questionnaire and the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination (BDAE) were evaluated at baseline, and at 6 and 12 weeks. Results: Twenty patients were included. Four of the patients allocated to group 2 crossed over to group 1, receiving the treatment at first. Intention-to-treat analysis: after adjustment for baseline scores, the mean difference in the CAL evaluation from baseline in the treated group was 8.5 points (95% CI, 0.11–17.0; P=.043), with no significant change in any of the BDAE sections. Per protocol analysis showed similar results with a clear treatment effect (P=.043) on the CAL. Conclusions: Melodic Intonation Therapy might have a positive effect on the communication skills of stroke survivors with nonfluent aphasia as measured by the CAL questionnaire. A full-scale trial with at least 27 patients per group is necessary to confirm these results.Item Velocidad de procesamiento de la información y síntomas depresivos en pacientes con esclerosis múltiple.(2018) Dorado Martínez, Yaiza; Lubrini, GennyEntre los déficits cognitivos que presentan los pacientes con Esclerosis Múltiple (EM) se encuentra la disminución de la velocidad de procesamiento de la información (VPI) como principal alteración, la cual se agrava debido a la presencia de síntomas depresivos (SD). A pesar de que autores como Arnett et al. (1999) y Lubrini et al. (2016) han investigado la relación entre estas variables, los estudios en este campo son muy escasos y no establecen conclusiones claras acerca de la interacción de la EM y SD sobre la VPI, viéndose la necesidad de ahondar en esta dirección. Uno de los objetivos del presente estudio fue, en primer lugar, explorar el efecto que genera la EM sobre la VPI de los pacientes. Para ello se administraron cuatro tareas de tiempo de reacción (TR) (yendo de menor a mayor complejidad en un continuo) a 27 sujetos controles y 33 pacientes sin SD. Los resultados mostraron que los pacientes sin SD obtuvieron mayores TR respecto a los controles en todas las tareas independientemente de la demanda cognitiva de las mismas. En segundo lugar, se trató de estudiar el impacto de los SD sobre los déficits de la VPI causados por la EM en sí. Para este segundo objetivo se administraron las mismas tareas ya mencionadas a los 33 pacientes sin SD y a 35 pacientes con SD, comprobándose que aquellos que tenían SD obtenían peor rendimiento únicamente en las tareas más complejas. En ambas comparaciones se comprobó que el porcentaje de respuestas correctas no se vio afectado ni por la EM ni los SD. Parece que la EM afecta de forma más generalizada al TR de los pacientes sin importar el tipo de tarea, mientras que los SD añadidos a la EM agravan el TR únicamente en tareas complejas. La precisión no se ve afectada, por lo que el rendimiento de los pacientes es bueno si se les deja el tiempo necesario para realizar las tareas.Item Verbal Fluency Tasks: Influence of Age, Gender, and Education and Normative Data for the Spanish Native Adult Population.(Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 2021) Lubrini, Genny; Periáñez, José A.; Laseca-Zaballa, Garazi; Bernabeu Brotons, Elena; Ríos Lago, MarcosObjective: Phonological and semantic verbal fluency (VF) tasks are frequently used to assess language and executive functions in both clinical and research settings. F, A, and S are the most commonly used letters in phonological tasks across languages and cultures. Unfortunately, the lack of norms for the native Spanish population for these letters, and for certain semantic categories such as “proper names,” may lead to misinterpretation of scores due to demographic differences. The aim of the present study was to provide normative data for F, A, and S and for “proper names,” “animals,” and “fruits and vegetables” for the native Spanish population. Method: 257 healthy subjects took part in the study (ages: 17–100 years, 3–20 years of education). Correlation, multiple regression, and t-tests were used to select the most appropriate variables for stratification. Results: Education was the best predictor of performance in all tasks, followed by age. Given that t-test results showed no differences related to gender, with the only exception of the semantic category “animals,” this variable was not considered for stratification. Consequently, the data were stratified in two education levels (<13, ≥13 years of education) and in two age levels (<60, ≥60) within the low-educational level group. Mean, standard deviation, and percentile scores for each group are provided. Conclusions: The present norms provide a reference for clinicians assessing VF. This data may also facilitate comparisons with other normative studies in cross-cultural and cross-linguistic research.