We assessed the English vocabulary and verbal fluency of college students who were either bilinguals who were born abroad and spoke English or monolingual speakers of English. We examined the relationship between age of arrival to the U.S. of bilinguals and their English vocabulary. The bilinguals' performance on English vocabulary was in the average range. However, despite arriving to the U.S. at a relatively young age, and having sufficient command of English to attend a competitive university, the bilinguals had lower receptive and expressive English vocabularies than their monolingual peers. Age of arrival was moderately correlated with English vocabulary scores. The younger the bilingual students were when they arrived to the U.S., the better their English vocabulary. Both groups had similar performance on phonetic fluency. However, the bilingual group performed significantly lower in semantic fluency. This pattern of performance in verbal fluency is consistent with that found in previous studies.

No abstract

The present study examined dual-task performance in elders with cognitive impairments and normal controls. The participants (N = 60; M age = 84.6) were recruited from residential facilities and the community. They were assigned to one of three groups: (1) cognitive impairment; (2) residential facility control; (3) community control. Two different dual-task conditions were comprised of simple tests that are presumably processed via separate perceptual modalities: 1 visual-manual and 1 auditory-verbal. The first condition consisted of a visual cancellation test and an auditory digit span. The second condition was comprised of an alternate form of the visual cancellation test and letter fluency. MANOVA examined the effect of cognitive status (3-level independent variable) on 3 indices of dual-task performance (letter fluency, digit span, visual cancellation). Analyses controlled for age, education and performance on each test when performed alone. The results revealed that the cognitive impairment group incurred significantly greater dual-task costs compared to both control groups. Furthermore, as was evident from discriminant function analyses, the dual-task measures were very accurate and better than the traditional neuropsychological measures at discriminating elders with cognitive impairments from normal controls. (JINS, 2004, 10, 230-238.)

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and its sequelae may impact the expression and treatment of psychiatric disorders. The prevalence of TBI in psychiatric patients is unknown and investigations in the general population are limited. This study examined the prevalence of TBI with loss of consciousness in mental health setting patients (n = 231), general hospital and university staff and students (n = 534) and non-psychiatric medical clinical patients (n = 59). The Traumatic Brain Injury Questionnaire was used to assess TBI. A greater percentage of psychiatric patients reported TBI than medical patients or staff and students. Traumatic brain injuries were typically mild--moderate, medical assistance was frequently sought and use of alcohol and drugs was reported in a minority of TBI incidents. Multiple injuries were most common in psychiatric patients. The percentage of medical patients and staff and students reporting TBI was similar to previous research. The greater percentage of psychiatric patients reporting TBI indicates the need to assess TBI in this population. The role of TBI in the emergence, expression and treatment outcome of psychiatric disorders and the risk factors that leave psychiatric patients vulnerable to TBI should be further examined.

This study investigated the prevalence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in an inpatient psychiatric population. We hypothesized increased prevalence of TBI relative to the general population due to a variety of risk factors observed in psychiatric patients. One hundred (mean age = 34) psychiatric inpatients completed the revised Head Injury Questionnaire. Chart review of 17 subjects reporting injuries established whether injuries were documented in medical records. Sixty-eight percent of this psychiatric population reported one or more injuries in which they were unconscious or dazed. This number is higher than the prevalence in the general population. Injuries were generally of mild to moderate severity; multiple injuries were common. Chart review of 17 subjects reporting TBI indicated that histories of TBI had not been noted in the medical record. Finally, 63% of TBI subjects reported that their injury predated the onset of their psychiatric symptoms. These results suggest a possible role of TBI in psychiatric symptomatology and have implications for psychiatric treatment in this population.