For the past two decades, behavioural ecologists have documented consistent individual differences in behavioural traits within species and found evidence for animal “personality”. It is only ...relatively recently, however, that increasing numbers of researchers have begun to investigate individual differences in cognitive ability within species. It has been suggested that cognitive test batteries may provide an ideal tool for this growing research endeavour. In fact, cognitive test batteries have now been used to examine the causes, consequences and underlying structure of cognitive performance within and between many species. In this review, we document the existing attempts to develop cognitive test batteries for non-human animals and review the claims that these studies have made in terms of the structure and evolution of cognition. We argue that our current test battery methods could be improved on multiple fronts, from the design of tasks, to the domains targeted and the species tested. Refining and optimising test battery design will provide many benefits. In future, we envisage that well-designed cognitive test batteries may provide answers to a range of exciting questions, including giving us greater insight into the evolution and structure of cognition.
Background Chronic kidney disease is common and is associated with cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, and cognitive function, although the nature of this relationship remains uncertain. ...Study Design Cross-sectional cohort using baseline data from the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT). Setting & Participants Participants in SPRINT, a randomized clinical trial of blood pressure targets in older community-dwelling adults with cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, or high cardiovascular disease risk and without diabetes or known stroke, who underwent detailed neurocognitive testing in the cognition substudy, SPRINT−Memory and Cognition in Decreased Hypertension (SPRINT-MIND). Predictors Urine albumin-creatinine ratio (ACR) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Outcomes Cognitive function, a priori defined as 5 cognitive domains based on 11 cognitive tests using z scores, and abnormal white matter volume quantified by brain magnetic resonance imaging. Results Of 9,361 SPRINT participants, 2,800 participated in SPRINT-MIND and 2,707 had complete data; 637 had brain imaging. Mean age was 68 years, 37% were women, 30% were black, and 20% had known cardiovascular disease. Mean eGFR was 70.8 ± 20.9 mL/min/1.73 m2 and median urine ACR was 9.7 (IQR, 5.7-22.5) mg/g. In adjusted analyses, higher ACR was associated with worse global cognitive function, executive function, memory, and attention, such that each doubling of urine ACR had the same association with cognitive performance as being 7, 10, 6, and 14 months older, respectively. Lower eGFR was independently associated with worse global cognitive function and memory. In adjusted models, higher ACR, but not eGFR, was associated with larger abnormal white matter volume. Limitations Cross-sectional only, no patients with diabetes were included. Conclusions In older adults, higher urine ACR and lower eGFR have independent associations with global cognitive performance with different affected domains. Albuminuria concurrently identifies a higher burden of abnormal brain white matter disease, suggesting that vascular disease may mediate these relationships.
The evolution of intellectual capacities has brought forth a continuum of consciousness levels subserved by neuronal networks of varying complexity. Brain pathologies, neurodegenerative, and mental ...diseases affect conscious cognition and behavior. Although impairments in consciousness are among the most devastating consequences of neurological and mental diseases, valid and reliable animal models of consciousness, that could be used for preclinical research are missing. The platform theory holds that the brain enters a conscious operation mode, whenever mental representations of stimuli, associations, concepts, memories, and experiences are effortfully maintained (in working memory) and actively manipulated. We used the platform theory as a framework and evaluation standard to categorize behavioral paradigms with respect to the level of consciousness involved in task performance. According to the platform theory, a behavioral paradigm involves conscious cognitive operations, when the problem posed is unexpected, novel or requires the maintenance and manipulation of a large amount of information to perform cognitive operations on them. Conscious cognitive operations are associated with a relocation of processing resources and the redirection of attentional focus. A consciousness behavioral test battery is proposed that is composed of tests which are assumed to require higher levels of consciousness as compared to other tasks and paradigms. The consciousness test battery for rodents includes the following tests: Working memory in the radial arm maze, episodic-like memory, prospective memory, detour test, and operant conditioning with concurrent variable-interval variable-ratio schedules. Performance in this test battery can be contrasted with the performance in paradigms and tests that require lower levels of consciousness. Additionally, a second more comprehensive behavioral test battery is proposed to control for behavioral phenotypes not related to consciousness. Our theory could serve as a guidance for the decryption of the neurobiological basis of consciousness.
•Animal models of consciousness are discussed.•The level of consciousness varies across behavioral tests.•A consciousness behavioral test battery is proposed.•Composite scores for behavioral test batteries are presented.
Objective:
Previous studies have assessed the construct validity of individual subtests in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Toolbox Cognition Battery (NIHTB-CB), though none have examined the ...construct validity of the cognitive domains. Importantly, the original NIHTB-CB validation studies were administered on a desktop computer, though the NIHTB-CB is now solely administered via an iPad. We examined the construct validity of each cognitive domain assessed in the NIHTB-CB, including a motor dexterity domain using the iPad application compared to a neuropsychological battery in a sample of healthy adults.
Method:
Eighty-three adults aged 20-66 years (M = 44.35 ± 13.41 years) completed the NIHTB-CB and a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. Domain scores for each of six cognitive domains (attention and executive function, episodic memory, working memory, processing speed, language, and motor dexterity) and the fluid composite were computed for both batteries. We then assessed the construct validity using Pearson correlations and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) for both demographically corrected and uncorrected domains.
Results:
We found the attention and executive function, episodic memory, and processing speed domains had poor-to-adequate construct validity (ICCConsistency = −0.029 to 0.517), the working memory and motor dexterity domains and the fluid composite had poor-to-good construct validity (ICCConsistency = 0.215-0.801), and the language domain had adequate-to-good construct validity (ICCConsistency = 0.408-0.829).
Conclusion:
The NIHTB-CB cognitive domains have poor-to-good construct validity, thus researchers should be aware that some tests representing cognitive constructs may not fully reflect the cognitive domain of interest. Future investigation of the construct validity and reliability of the NIHTB-CB administered using the iPad is recommended.
Key Points
Question:
Do the National Institutes of Health Toolbox Cognition Battery (NIHTB-CB) cognitive domains administered via iPad have adequate construct validity when compared to a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment?
Findings:
The NIHTB-CB cognitive domains have poor-to-good construct validity when administered via iPad.
Importance:
The NIHTB-CB is widely utilized in research, but the construct validity of the battery has not been tested since the change to iPad-based administration.
Next Steps:
More rigorous testing of the validity and reliability of the individual tests and cognitive domains assessed in the NIHTB-CB using the iPad administration is recommended.
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to utilize a novel functional test system to facilitate determining the time of return to sports following ACL reconstruction.
Methods
Sixty-nine patients with ...unilateral ACL reconstruction were included in this pilot study. All the patients performed a standardized test battery consisting of one- and two-legged stability tests, counter movement jumps, speedy jumps, plyometric jumps and a quick feed test. The first test was administered on average 170.7 ± 75.1 days post-operatively, and the retest was administered on average 239.1 ± 79.7 days post-operatively. The values of the subtests were compared with the normative data of healthy gender- and age-matched controls to determine the functional capacities of patients following ACL reconstruction.
Results
After the first and second test, 15.9 and 17.4 % of the patients met the criteria for a “return to non-competitive sports”. One patient fulfilled the criteria for a “return to competitive sports” after the second test battery. The most limiting factor was a poor LSI value of <90 % if the dominant leg was involved and <80 % if the non-dominant leg was involved.
Conclusion
This test battery demonstrates that, in terms of neuromuscular abilities, most patients, compared to healthy controls, are most likely not ready for a safe return to sports, even 8 months post-operatively. This should be considered in the future to determine when it is safe to return to sports and should avoid a premature return to competitive sports.
Level of evidence
III.
In Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), a spoofing attack consists of forged signals which possibly cause the attacked receivers to deduce a false position, a false clock, or both. In contrast ...to simplistic spoofing, the induced spoofing captures the victim tracking loops by gradually adjusting it's parameters, e.g., code phase and power. Then the victims smoothly deviates from the correct position or timing. Therefore, it is more difficult to detect the induced spoofing than the simplistic one. In this paper, by utilizing the dynamic nature of such gradual adjustment process, an induced spoofing detection method is proposed based on the S-curve-bias (SCB). Firstly, SCB in the inducing process is theoretically derived. Then, in order to detect the induced spoofing, a detection metric is defined. After that, a series of experiments using the Texas spoofing test battery (TEXBAT) are performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
It is not known whether the neurotoxicity produced by anaesthetics administered to young animals can also occur in children. Exposure of infant macaques to ketamine impairs performance in selected ...domains of the Operant Test Battery (OTB), which can also be administered to children. This study determined whether a similar pattern of results on the OTB is found in children exposed to procedures requiring general anaesthesia before age 3 yr.
We analysed data from the Mayo Anesthesia Safety in Kids (MASK) study, in which unexposed, singly-exposed, and multiply-exposed children born in Olmsted County, MN, USA, from 1994 to 2007 were sampled using a propensity-guided approach and prospectively underwent OTB testing at ages 8–12 or 15–20 yr, using five tasks that generated 15 OTB test scores.
In primary analysis, none of the OTB test scores depended upon anaesthesia exposure status when corrected for multiple comparisons. Cluster analysis identified four clusters of subjects, with cluster membership determined by relative performance on the OTB tasks. There was no evidence of association between exposure status and cluster membership. Exploratory factor analysis showed that the OTB scores loaded onto four factors. The score for one factor was significantly less in multiply-exposed children (mean standardised difference –0.28 95% confidence interval, –0.55 to –0.01; P=0.04), but significance did not survive a sensitivity analysis accounting for outlying values.
These findings provide little evidence to support the hypothesis that children exposed to procedures requiring anaesthesia show deficits on OTB tasks that are similar to those observed in non-human primates.
Timing and rhythm abilities are complex and multidimensional skills that are highly widespread in the general population. This complexity can be partly captured by the Battery for the Assessment of ...Auditory Sensorimotor and Timing Abilities (BAASTA). The battery, consisting of four perceptual and five sensorimotor tests (finger-tapping), has been used in healthy adults and in clinical populations (e.g., Parkinson’s disease, ADHD, developmental dyslexia, stuttering), and shows sensitivity to individual differences and impairment. However, major limitations for the generalized use of this tool are the lack of reliable and standardized norms and of a version of the battery that can be used outside the lab. To circumvent these caveats, we put forward a new version of BAASTA on a tablet device capable of ensuring lab-equivalent measurements of timing and rhythm abilities. We present normative data obtained with this version of BAASTA from over 100 healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 87 years in a test–retest protocol. Moreover, we propose a new composite score to summarize beat-based rhythm capacities, the Beat Tracking Index (BTI), with close to excellent test–retest reliability. BTI derives from two BAASTA tests (beat alignment, paced tapping), and offers a swift and practical way of measuring rhythmic abilities when research imposes strong time constraints. This mobile BAASTA implementation is more inclusive and far-reaching, while opening new possibilities for reliable remote testing of rhythmic abilities by leveraging accessible and cost-efficient technologies.
Trait heritability is necessary for evolution by both natural and artificial selection, yet we know little about the heritability of cognitive traits. Domestic dogs are a valuable study system for ...questions regarding the evolution of phenotypic diversity due to their extraordinary intraspecific variation. While previous studies have investigated morphological and behavioral variation across dog breeds, few studies have systematically assessed breed differences in cognition. We integrated data from Dognition.com—a citizen science project on dog cognition—with breed-averaged genetic data from published sources to estimate the among-breed heritability of cognitive traits using mixed models. The resulting dataset included 11 cognitive measures for 1508 adult dogs across 36 breeds. A factor analysis yielded four factors interpreted as reflecting inhibitory control, communication, memory, and physical reasoning. Narrow-sense among-breed heritability estimates—reflecting the proportion of cognitive variance attributable to additive genetic variation—revealed that scores on the inhibitory control and communication factors were highly heritable (inhibitory control:
h
2
= 0.70; communication:
h
2
= 0.39), while memory and physical reasoning were less heritable (memory:
h
2
= 0.17; physical reasoning:
h
2
= 0.21). Although the heritability of inhibitory control is partially explained by body weight, controlling for breed-average weight still yields a high heritability estimate (
h
2
= 0.50), while other factors are minimally affected. Our results indicate that cognitive phenotypes in dogs covary with breed relatedness and suggest that cognitive traits have strong potential to undergo selection. The highest heritabilities were observed for inhibitory control and communication, both of which are hypothesized to have been altered by domestication.
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