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Research on the relationship between sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) and scores on neuropsychological tests (such as those measuring processing speed and reaction time) is inconclusive, and the association between SCT and motor incoordination and dysgraphia has not been objectively investigated. Mothers of 413 elementary school children (6–12 years of age) rated their children on the Pediatric Behavior Scale (PBS), which yields psychological problem scores, including SCT. Children were administered an extensive battery of neuropsychological tests assessing processing and performance speed, working memory, immediate and delayed recall, sustained attention, response inhibition, cognitive flexibility, fine motor manipulative skill, verbal fluency and retrieval, set shifting, and interference control, as well as intelligence and reading and math achievement. Only three of the 19 correlations between SCT and neuropsychological scores were significant, and all involved graphomotor tests (two timed and one untimed). In regression analysis, the strongest independent predictor of SCT was the maternal PBS incoordination factor score, followed by ratings of autism, inattention, and depression. Neuropsychological test scores did not contribute significantly more to predicting SCT. Among the incoordination PBS factor items, clumsy and draws or writes poorly were significant SCT predictors. Our novel and unexpected findings showed that motor incoordination was a stronger correlate of SCT than other variables assessed in our study, including those previously linked with SCT. Future SCT research needs to include measures of incoordination and dysgraphia in order to replicate and expand upon the current findings. Our results suggest that SCT traits are not reliably measured by currently available neuropsychological tests.

Objective We completed a case study to investigate whether there are cognitive changes after Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) surgery in the treatment of refractory Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder (OCD) as an initiation of a quality analysis due to increased referrals for this procedure at our institution. Method We evaluated a 21-year-old male before and after bilateral nucleus accumbens DBS placement for OCD. His pre-operative neurosurgery evaluation and brain imaging were unremarkable. Post-operative imaging revealed stable changes of bilateral DBS lead placement. Pre and post-operative neuropsychological testing included measures of mental status, language, memory, attention, and executive functioning. Results A reliable change estimate was obtained for each test. There was no significant change in performance on the Mini-Mental State Exam, Boston Naming Test, Logical Memory I/II, Faces I, Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT) immediate and delayed recall, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test-64, Trail Making Tests A & B, Letter Fluency, Animal Fluency, and Stroop Color and Word Test (Stroop) color and color-word condition. There was significant decline for all California Verbal Learning Test-Second Edition trials (trials 1–5, short delay recall, and long delay recall) and RCFT recognition. There was significant improvement for the Stroop word condition. Conclusions. Given mixed findings, it is unclear the extent to which DBS impacted this patient’s overall cognitive functioning. Meanwhile, he showed improvement in OCD symptoms, to the degree that he could live alone, maintain employment, and independently manage daily activities. There is need for future studies to examine the cognitive effects of DBS for OCD, with larger samples and a control group.