Cognition/Neuropsycholoy Processes & environment control

本项目涉及应用社会科学方法来研究基本的认知、神经心理学和精神病理学过程及其受环境的调节。作为该项目的一部分，我们合作提供统计专业知识，并为其他内部研究小组进行创新的统计分析。其中一个这样的合作是与乔丹·格拉夫曼博士（主任，认知神经科学部门NINDS）围绕纵向越南头部损伤研究（VHIS）的长期合作。在与Grafman博士和Salazar博士的合作中，我们使用了基于结构方程模型（SEM）的混合模型，根据他们脑损伤的模式，将VHIS头部受伤的越南退伍军人分类为统计上一致的组。我们还使用扫描电镜来研究这些退伍军人的记忆和认知功能的析因结构。今年，我们已经提供了证据，证明这些统计上一致的退伍军人群体的不同脑损伤模式如何影响他们的记忆和认知功能的方式，这些方式在理论上是有意义的。今年，我们还与格拉夫曼博士的小组合作进行了一项调查研究，他的小组目前正在收集退伍军人头部受伤的性质与社会结构决定的环境条件如何影响心理和社会心理功能之间相互作用的数据。

This project involves the application of the SSES methodological approach to the study of basic cognitive, neuropsychological and psychopathological processes and their modulation by the environment. As part of this project we collaboratively provide statistical expertise and carry out innovative statistical analyses for other intramural research groups. One such collaboration is a longstanding one with Dr. Jordan Grafman (Chief, Cognitive Neuroscience Section NINDS) centering on the longitudinal Vietnam Head Injury Study (VHIS). In collaboration with Dr. Grafman and Dr. Salazar, we have used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) based mixture modeling to categorize the VHIS head injured Vietnam veterans into statistically coherent groups based on the patterns of their brain injuries. We have also used SEM to investigate the factorial structures of both memory and cognitive functioning in these veterans. This year we have provided evidence of how the different patterns of brain injury of these statistically coherent groups of veterans affect the ways in which their memory and cognitive functioning differs from that of the non-brain injured controls in theoretically meaningful ways. This year we also collaborated with Dr. Grafman's group in a survey study for which his group is currently collecting data on the interactions between the nature of the veterans' head injuries and how social-structurally determined environmental conditions affect psychological and psychosocial functioning. This year we have also started a collaboration with Dr. Dennis Murphy, (Chief, Laboratory of Clinical Science, NIMH). The first goal of this collaboration is to use SEM to reliably ascertain the underlying factorial structure of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) symptomatology. A second goal is to use the patterns of interrelations among these factors to distinguish different sub groups of OCD. Our initial analyses suggest that we will be successful in achieving these two goals. We eventually hope to be able to link membership in these different symptom-based groups to differences in heredity and comorbidity. This year we have also completed analyses on data from a number of experimental psychological studies previously carried out by the SSES on a sample of normal and schizophrenic individuals. These analyses have focused on task context, and how the performance of schizophrenic individuals is negatively affected by complex task demands, stimulus-response incompatibility, and by a marked difficulty in dealing with the temporal aspects of context. Taken together with the findings of earlier experiments carried out by the SSES and other investigators, this pattern of results suggests the existence of temporal mini-gaps in schizophrenic individuals? cognitive functioning. Such mini-gaps would seem to be related to Andreasen?s concept of schizophrenic cognitive dysmetria- a loss of smooth continuous function that Andreasen sees as resulting from disruption in the cortico-cerebellar-thalamic-cortical circuit.