Ashita Gurnani

• Master of Arts
• PhD Student at University of Colorado Colorado Springs

Background In the realm of neuropsychological assessment, the Boston Process Approach is a method to analyze the errors made along the process that individuals take to the solution. Considering the clinical utility of base rates in estimating the probability of an individual being cognitively normal or impaired, the present study aimed at reporting...

Objective: The Colorado Cognitive Assessment (CoCA) was designed to improve upon existing screening tests in a number of ways, including enhanced psychometric properties and minimization of bias across diverse groups. This paper describes the initial validation study of the CoCA, which seeks to describe the test; demonstrate its construct validity...

Objective: The Colorado Cognitive Assessment (CoCA) was designed to improve upon existing screening tests in a number of ways, including enhanced psychometric properties and minimization of bias across diverse groups. The goal of this study is to describe the development of the CoCA, provide initial evidence of its validity; examine its measurement...

Differential diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) from normal aging and other dementia etiologies is imperative for disease specific treatment options and long-term care planning. Neuropathological confirmation is the gold standard for neurodegenerative disease diagnosis, yet most published studies examining the use of neuropsychological tests in...

Objective: Two main approaches to the interpretation of cognitive test performance have been utilized for the characterization of disease: evaluating shared variance across tests, as with measures of severity, and evaluating the unique variance across tests, as with pattern and error analysis. Both methods provide necessary information, but the uni...

Two of the most commonly used methods to assess memory functioning in studies of cognitive aging and dementia are story memory and list learning tests. We hypothesized that the most commonly used story memory test, Wechsler's Logical Memory, would generate more pronounced practice effects than a well validated but less common list learning test, th...

Background Dementia severity can be modeled as the construct δ, representing the “cognitive correlates of functionalstatus.” Objective We recently validated a model for estimating δ in the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center’s Uniform Data Set; however, the association of δ with neuropathology remains untested. Methods We used data from 727...

Longitudinal Validation and Extension of the Latent Dementia Phenotype in the ADNI Datase

The Effect of Mind-Body Exercises on Cognitive Performance in Healthy Older Adults: A Meta-Analysis

Longitudinal normative data obtained from a robust elderly sample (i.e., believed to be free from neurodegenerative disease) are sparse. The purpose of the present study was to develop reliable change indices (RCIs) that can assist with interpretation of test score changes relative to a healthy sample of older adults (ages 50+). Participants were 4...

Feasibility and outcomes of a national memory screening day at a community senior mental health clinic

The current study developed regression-based normative adjustments for a bi-factor model of the The Brief Test of Adult Cognition by Telephone (BTACT). Archival data from the Midlife Development in the United States-II Cognitive Project were used to develop eight separate linear regression models that predicted bi-factor BTACT scores, accounting fo...

Objective: Royall and colleagues identified a latent dementia phenotype, “δ”, reflecting the “cognitive correlates of functional status.” We sought to cross-validate and extend these findings in a large clinical case series of adults with and without dementia. Method: A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) model for δ was fit to National Alzheimer’s...

Background: Capgras syndrome is characterized by the recurrent, transient belief that a person has been replaced by an identical imposter. We reviewed clinical characteristics of Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) patients with Capgras syndrome compared to those without Capgras. Methods: We identified 55 consecutive DLB patients (11 cases with Capg...

There is little information on the role of nitric oxide (NO) in innate immunity to respiratory coronavirus (CoV) infections. We examined NO levels by Greiss assay in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) of pigs infected with either porcine respiratory coronavirus (PRCV) or porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), a member of Nidovirales...