Memory complaints among older adults are often influenced by depression and anxiety, but the association of stress to memory complaints has received little attention. We examined the associations of perceived stress, life events, and activity level to everyday memory complaints among healthy older women, while controlling for the influence of depression and anxiety. Participants (N=54) completed self-report questionnaires on memory complaints, perceived stress, recent life events, activity level, depression, and anxiety. Partial correlation analyses indicated that higher levels of perceived stress were associated with higher levels of memory complaints when controlling for the influence of depression and anxiety, but that life events and activity level were not related to memory complaints. This study highlights that perceived stress, like depression and anxiety, is a psychological factor that influences the appraisal of cognitive ability; however, larger and more heterogeneous samples will be needed to better understand the multifactorial nature of memory complaints in older adulthood.

No abstract

Deficits involving executive function, working memory, speed of information processing, and new learning occur in many people with mania. Factors that predict impairment remain poorly understood, but there are indications that psychotic features may correspond with increased risk of neurocognitive dysfunction during manic episodes. The current study examined neuropsychological function in 40 inpatients with bipolar I mania, 24 of whom presented with psychotic features. Compared to a control group, the inpatients showed worse executive function, speed of information processing, new learning, and dexterity. Nonetheless, presence of psychotic features failed to distinguish the inpatients with mania. Thus, psychotic features do not appear to increase neurobehavioral morbidity in people with mania, but presence of mania clearly corresponded with neurobehavioral dysfunction. Implications of these data for clinical practice and our understanding of bipolar disorder are discussed.

Ability to make decisions about medical treatment is compromised in significant numbers of people with neurological and psychiatric illness, and this incapacity frequently corresponds with compromised neuropsychological function. Although cognitive deficits occur often in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), no research has studied decisional capacity in that disease. The present investigation examined ability to understand treatment disclosures, which is a core component of decisional capacity, in 36 people with MS and 16 normal controls. MS patients with diminished neuropsychological function showed poor understanding of treatment disclosures compared to the control group, and diminished new-learning and executive function correlated with poorer understanding. Nonetheless, with sufficient cueing, the MS patients with diminished neuropsychological function were able to display understanding that was equivalent to the control group. Implications of these results for clinical practice and medical research involving people with MS are discussed.

No abstract