We studied the recovery of memory and executive function in 10 patients following anterior communicating artery aneurysm (ACoA) rupture and repair. Patients were tested at 2 consecutive points in time following surgery (approximately at 2 and 3 months). At the first testing, the patients divided into 2 groups based on the severity of impairment on executive measures. Both groups had severe anterograde amnesia, but only patients with severe executive impairments had retrograde amnesia with a temporal gradient. At second testing, both groups had persistent severe anterograde amnesia. The dysexecutive group showed significant improvement in executive deficits and in retrograde amnesia, with attenuation of the temporal gradient. Patients with more severe executive impairments had more extensive bilateral frontal lesions than other patients. These results suggest that the cognitive profile following ACoA rupture changes with time. Time postonset following aneurysm rupture and lesion site are both critical for defining the neuropsychological profile, and determining the underlying cognitive mechanisms in this neurological disorder. (JINS, 1996, 2, 565–570.)

We report the performance of a prosopagnosic patient on face learning tasks under different encoding instructions (i.e., levels of processing manipulations). R.J. performs at chance when given no encoding instructions or when given “shallow” encoding instructions to focus on facial features. By contrast, he performs relatively well with “deep” encoding instructions to rate faces in terms of personality traits or when provided with semantic and name information during the study phase. We propose that the improvement associated with deep encoding instructions may be related to the establishment of distinct visually derived and identity-specific semantic codes. The benefit associated with deep encoding in R.J., however, was found to be restricted to the specific view of the face presented at study and did not generalize to other views of the same face. These observations suggest that deep encoding instructions may enhance memory for concrete or pictorial representations of faces in patients with prosopagnosia, but that these patients cannot compensate for the inability to construct abstract structural codes that normally allow faces to be recognized from different orientations. We postulate further that R.J.'s poor performance on face learning tasks may be attributable to excessive reliance on a feature-based left hemisphere face processing system that operates primarily on view-specific representations. (JINS, 1996, 2, 240–248.)

A 54-year-old woman with clinically diagnosed paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis secondary to adenocarcinoma of the lung is described. Neuropsychological evaluation revealed intact visual perception, visual construction, language, speeded processing, and verbal abstract reasoning in the presence of a severe anterograde amnesia for both verbal and visual information. A profound consolidation problem is discussed in view of other diseases of the mesial temporal lobes resulting in impaired consolidation of new material. (JINS, 1996, 2, 460–466.)

The ability to retrieve and monitor factual information varying in datedness (i.e., dated vs. contemporary) was examined in healthy older adults and patients in an early phase of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Subjects were given free recall and multiple-choice recognition tests of 48 general knowledge questions. For all questions not responded to in recall, subjects made fecling-of-knowing (FOK) judgments. Results indicated dementia-related deficits in both recall and recognition, although both groups showed better recall and recognition with the dated compared with the contemporary questions. Importantly, despite deficits in fact retrieval, the AD patients showed intact monitoring of stored knowledge, as indicated by equivalent FOK accuracy for both groups. In addition, FOK accuracy was similar for the dated and the contemporary information in both groups, suggesting independence between level of general knowledge and the ability to supervise information stored in memory. (JINS, 1996, 2, 350–358.)

Testing hypotheses derived from neuropsychological models of mood, as well as the association of mood states and personality characteristics with global-local visual processing, were examined. Fifty-nine men completed measures associated with depression and positive mood, and were administered a brief perceptual judgment task that assessed global-local visual processing biases. Additionally, 19 of these 59 subjects were administered measures of anxiety and optimism-pessimism and completed an expanded judgment task. Affective and personality variables were then correlated with judgment task performances. Consistent with predictions, positive mood and optimism were directly associated with a global bias and inversely related to a local bias. A converse pattern of findings was obtained with depression and trait anxiety. Implications for research concerning other aspects of visual processing are discussed. (JINS, 1996, 2, 249–255.)

Although the dorsal midbrain has been implicated in cognitive processes in animals, its role in humans is unclear. We report the neuropsychological and postmortem neuropathological findings of a 52-yr-old university professor who developed a profound dementia in association with a focal dorsal midbrain lesion. The patient's disorder appeared to result from a tuberculous granuloma based on the clinical course and autopsy results. Neuropsychologically, he exhibited a generalized impairment across most of the cognitive domains assessed. His deficits were not explained by impaired arousal, specific sensory or motor defects, depression, or hydrocephalus. Although there are inherent limitations to a single-case investigation, our observations are consistent with animal studies that have demonstrated that focal dorsal midbrain lesions may result in cognitive impairment. We propose that the dorsal midbrain is involved in cognitive processing via modulation of thalamocortical networks. (JINS, 1996, 2, 359–367.)

The following is the correction for a printing error that occurred in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, Vol. I, No. 6. On page 597 in the review by Dr. Dean C. Delis titled “Evaluating the Brain's Mind,” Dr. Muriel D. Lezak is listed as the editor of the book Neuropsychological Assessment. She is, in fact, the author and not the editor. Cambridge University Press apologizes for this error.

A 31-yr-old woman demonstrated intact neuropsychological functioning after being submerged for at least 30 minutes in icy cold water. Following submersion, the patient received CPR for approximately 1 hr. Eight hours after submersion, the patient's temperature was 31°C (87°F). She remained nonresponsive for 2 days after the accident. Extensive neuropsychological testing was completed 3 mo after the accident with no objective or subjective deficits evidenced. This case of hypothermically mediated neuroprotection from anoxia in an adult supports the need for further research on the putative neurophysiological mechanisms invoked and the potential for application of clinically induced hypothermia in the acute management of other types of cerebral insults. (JINS, 1996, 2, 256–260.)

A neuropsychological investigation of 21 Persian Gulf veterans and 38 demographically matched controls was conducted in order to make a preliminary determination concerning presence of neuropsychological deficits associated with the Persian Gulf War experience. The neuropsychological test battery consisted of measures of complex attention, memory, and motor skills previously shown to be sensitive to exposure to environmental toxins. It was found that the Persian Gulf veteran group did not demonstrate substantial impairment, but an impairment index derived from 14 test variables was statistically significantly different from controls in the direction of poorer performance. (JINS, 1996, 2, 368–371.)