Javier Oltra-Cucarella

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• Ph.D, neuropsychologist. Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche
• Professor at Miguel Hernández University of Elche

Objective: There is limited evidence about the efficacy of cognitive interventions for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, aside from the methodological quality of the studies analyzed, the methodology used in previous meta-analyses is itself a risk of bias as different types of effect sizes (ESs) were calculated and combined. This study aimed at ex...

INTRODUCTION: Research into neuropsychological impairments present in the patients suffering from anorexia nervosa (AN) has advanced considerably, in the past decades. It now provides neuropsychologists with a wide field of knowledge of the changes found in the cerebral and cognitive capabilities of these patients, as well as their reversible or st...

This work was aimed at obtaining a profile of neuropsychological impairments in young Spanish participants with anorexia nervosa (AN) to demonstrate that right-hemisphere and frontal capacity impairments are present not only in the acute phase but also after weight recovery in a Spanish sample compared with a healthy control group. Twelve patients...

Verbal memory impairments are among the most frequent and devastating consequences after brain injury and are commonly identified as a first symptom in dementias such as Alzheimer’s Disease. Rehabilitative interventions aimed at improving memory function after brain injury and degenerative illnesses have been given much attention in recent years. A...

Introduction The aim of this study is to test the encoding deficit hypothesis in Alzheimer disease (AD) using a recent method for correcting memory tests. To this end, a Spanish-language adaptation of the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test was interpreted using the Item Specific Deficit Approach (ISDA), which provides three indices: Encoding De...

Background Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a promising technology for enhancing the health care of older individuals, particularly in the domains of cognition, physical activity, and social engagement. However, existing VR products and services have limited availability and affordability; hence, there is a need for a scientifically validated an...

Background/Aims Older age and cognitive inactivity have been associated with cognitive impairment, which in turn is linked to economic and societal burdens due to the high costs of care, especially for care homes and informal care. Emerging non-pharmacological interventions using new technologies, such as virtual reality (VR) delivered on a head-mo...

Background/Aims Older age and cognitive inactivity have been associated with cognitive impairment, which in turn is linked to economic and societal burdens due to the high costs of care, especially for care homes and informal care. Emerging non-pharmacological interventions using new technologies, such as virtual reality (VR) delivered on a head-mo...

BACKGROUND Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a promising technology for enhancing the health care of older individuals, particularly in the domains of cognition, physical activity, and social engagement. However, existing VR products and services are limited in availability and affordability, emphasizing the need for a scientifically validated an...

Background: Cognitive impairment is a central feature of Huntington's disease (HD), but it is unclear to what extent more aggressive cognitive phenotypes exist in HD among individuals with the same genetic load and equivalence in other clinical and sociodemographic variables. Methods: We included Enroll-HD study participants in early and early-m...

An increased cognitive reserve is associated with changes in the pattern of cognitive decline during aging. Thus, normative data adapted to the characteristics of the target population are needed to reduce the possibility of false diagnoses. The aim of this work was to develop normative data for the Phonemic Verbal Fluency test, the Semantic Verbal...

The linear regression-based reliable change index (RCI) is widely used to identify memory impairments through longitudinal assessment. However, the minimum sample size required for estimates to be reliable has never been specified. Using data from 920 participants from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative data as true parameters, we run...

After the paper Cognition or genetics. Predicting progression to Alzheimer's disease with practice effects, APOE genotype and brain metabolism [Neurobiol Aging, 2018; 71:234-240] was published, we identified a coding error of one of the variables analyzed. To correct, update and expand the previous work, this study compared simple and complex regre...

The aim of this work was to develop normative data for neuropsychological tests for the assessment of independent and cognitively active Spanish older adults over 55 years of age. Methods: regression-based normative data were calculated from a sample of 103 nondepressed independent community-dwelling adults aged 55 or older (66% women). The raw d...

In this work, we developed normative data for the neuropsychological assessment of independent and cognitively active Spanish older adults over 55 years of age. Method: Regression-based normative data were calculated from a sample of 103 non-depressed independent community-dwelling adults aged 55 or older (67% women). Raw data for Digit Span (DS)...

Background: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are considered common facilitating factors, along with other infections, in triggering febrile seizures (FS). The main purpose of our study was to identify specific inflammatory patterns of UTI cases from other infections in a specific cluster, using a combination of inflammatory biomarkers to differentia...

Along with the burden commonly experienced by informal caregivers (ICs) of people with dementia (PwD), associated with the progressive decline that accompanies dementia, the lockdown due to the public health crisis has had a great negative impact on the emotional wellbeing, physical health, and social relationships of ICs. Support interventions thr...

The linear regression-based Reliable Change Index (RCI) is widely used to identify memory impairments through longitudinal assessment. However, the minimum sample size required for estimates to be reliable has never been specified. Using the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative data as true parameters, we run simulations for samples of size...

Introduction: The increase in the incidence and prevalence of dementia has changed the research focus towards its early identification. Several constructs have been developed in order to identify individuals with a high risk of developing dementia, with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) being the term most commonly used in the last decades. However,...

The brain activity that is measured by electroencephalography (EEG) can be modified through operant conditioning, specifically using neurofeedback (NF). NF has been applied to several disorders claiming that a change in the erratic brain activity would be accompanied by a reduction of the symptoms. However, the expected results are not always achie...

Obtaining one or more low scores, or scores indicative of impairment, is common in neuropsychological batteries that include several measures even among cognitively normal individuals. However, the expected number of low scores in batteries with differing number of tests is unknown. Using 10 neuropsychological measures from the National Alzheimer’s...

Children with learning disabilities (LD) can have difficulties in reading at word level, text comprehension, writing or arithmetic. Several studies have shown the efficacy of neurofeedback (NF) in improving learning skills through brainwave operant conditioning in children with LD. The aim of this work was to show the efficacy of live z-score NF tr...

Learning disabilities (LDs) have an estimated prevalence between 5% and 9% in the pediatric population and are associated with difficulties in reading, arithmetic, and writing. Previous electroencephalography (EEG) research has reported a lag in alpha-band development in specific LD phenotypes, which seems to offer a possible explanation for differ...

Objective: the aim of the present work was to develop and validate a recognition task to be used with the Spanish version of the 16-items Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test (FCSRT). Method: ninety-six (67.7% women) cognitively healthy, functionally independent community-dwelling participants aged 55 years or older underwent a comprehensive...

Objective/Background: Theta-to-Beta ratio is one of the most studied electroencephalography findings in ADHD in the neurotherapy field, alongside the neurofeedback (NF) protocols whose objective is reducing it. The NF field has developed to a great level in the last decade. One of the approaches that became of particular interest to the clinicians...

Background Patients with eating disorders (ED) or obesity show difficulties in tasks assessing decision-making, set-shifting abilities and central coherence. Aims The aim of this study was to explore executive functions in eating and weight-related problems, ranging from restricting types of ED to obesity. Method Two hundred and eighty-eight fema...

Objetivo: La calidad de la evaluación neuropsicológica y el seguimiento de programas de rehabilitación se apoyan en gran medida en tests, escalas e inventarios neuropsicológicos. Sin embargo, la interpretación de las pruebas estadísticas utilizadas en investigación neuropsicológica puede ser difícil para muchos neuropsicólogos. El objetivo de este...

To determine the prevalence of low scores on two neuropsychological tests commonly used to evaluate learning and memory in children. 6,030 healthy children from 10 countries in Latin America and Spain were administered Rey–Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF) and the Test de Aprendizaje y Memoria Verbal–Infantil (TAMV-I). Results showed that low scores...

Introduction: Neuropsychological assessment is mandatory in order to identify cognitive changes that occur during either normal or pathological aging. However, normative data adapted to the characteristics of the population are needed in order to reduce the probability of false diagnoses of cognitive impairment. The aim of the present work was to c...

This study examined the relations between problematic cannabis use, physical assault, and getting involved in a motor vehicle accident under the influence of cannabis in a sample of adolescents randomly selected from 25 public and semiprivate high schools in Alicante (Spain). Participants (n = 648) completed The Spanish National Standardized Survey...

Objective/Background: Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder in the general population. Pharmacological treatments have shown efficacy in the short term, yet the symptoms return once the treatment has been withdrawn. In the search for treatment options with long-lasting effects, neurofeedback (NF) has arisen as a therapeutic option. Neurofeedba...

Esta guía constituye una herramienta de gran ayuda para la evaluación de la atención tanto en edades infantojuveniles como en adultos. Con un lenguaje claro y conciso, apto para todos los profesionales de la salud y de la educación, se estructura y desarrolla desde la vertiente clínica con el objetivo de ayudar y asesorar al evaluador en el análisi...

Palabras clave: Afecto. Anorexia nerviosa. Flexibilidad cognitiva. Toma de decisiones. Obesidad. Resumen Introducción: los trastornos de la conducta alimentaria (TCA) como la anorexia nerviosa (AN) o la bulimia nerviosa (BN), así como la obesidad (OB), se relacionan con alteraciones neuropsicológicas en flexibilidad cognitiva, coherencia central, t...

Eating disorders (ED) are associated with cognitive and emotional impairments. Cognitive and Emotional Remediation Skill Training (CREST) was developed as an intervention program targeting patients' thinking styles and their skills in recognizing and managing emotions. AIM: to analyze the effects of the CREST intervention in a group format in femal...

INTRODUCTION eating disorders (ED) such as anorexia nervosa (AN) or bulimia nervosa (BN), as well as obesity (OB), are related to emotional and neuropsychological impairments on measures of cognitive flexibility, central coherence or decision making. However, little is known about the association among emotional regulation, neuropsychological varia...

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether aMCI identified with visual memory tests conveys an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease (risk-AD), and if the risk-AD differs from that associated with aMCI based on verbal memory tests. PARTICIPANTS: 4,771 participants aged 70.76 (SD=6.74, 45.4% females) from five community-based studies, each a member of the...

Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is a heterogeneous condition between normal aging and dementia. Upon neuropsychological testing, MCI can be divided into four groups: single-domain amnestic MCI (sd-aMCI), multiple-domain amnestic MCI (md-aMCI), single- and multiple-domain non-amnestic MCI (sd-naMCI, md-naMCI). Some controversy exists about whether t...

This study examined the predictive validity of the Spanish version of the Suicide Risk Assessment Manual (S-RAMM) and the Historical-Clinical-Risk Management-20 (HCR-20) in a sample of violent offenders with schizophrenia and other psychosis, who had committed violent crimes and had been sentenced to compulsory psychiatric treatment by the criminal...

Objective: The efficacy of cognition-focused interventions (CFIs) for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been questioned recently. To date, the specific effects of cognitive rehabilitation (CR), cognitive training (CT), and cognitive stimulation [CS] have not been analyzed due to inconsistencies in the use of the comparison groups. This...

As practice effects are common in neuropsychological assessment, this study analyzed their utility to identify individuals with amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI) at the greatest risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD-risk), and compared practice effects with APOE and brain metabolism biomarkers. We regressed Auditory Verbal Learning Test delayed...

This presentation reports the methods and results of the project Visual/Verbal memory tests in amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment, published as a research paper in International Psychogeriatrics (2018)

This work aims to analyze encoding impairments using new assessment scores in patients with naMCI who present to memory clinics with subjective cognitive complaints. The sample included 102 participants, of whom 28 were classified as healthy controls (HC), 24 as amnestic MCI (aMCI), 24 as naMCI and 26 patients as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Research...

This study examined the predictive validity of the Spanish version of the Suicide Risk Assessment Manual (S-RAMM) and the Historical-Clinical-Risk Management-20 (HCR-20) in a sample of violent offenders with schizophrenia and other psychosis, who had committed violent crimes and had been sentenced to compulsory psychiatric treatment by the criminal...

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether aMCI identified with visual memory tests conveys an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease (risk-AD), and if the risk-AD differs from that associated with aMCI based on verbal memory tests. PARTICIPANTS: 4,771 participants aged 70.76 (SD=6.74, 45.4% females) from five community-based studies, each a member of the...

Objectives To investigate the implications of obtaining one or more low scores on a battery of cognitive tests on diagnosing mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Design Observational longitudinal study. Setting Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Participants Normal controls (NC, n = 280) and participants with MCI (n = 415) according to Pet...

In this paper, we developed new algorithm for diagnosing MCI that used the base rate of low scores (1.5SD or more below the mean) observed in cognitively normal individuals.

Introduction: Moyamoya disease (MMD) is an occlusive cerebrovascular disease characterized by progressive stenosis or occlusion in the terminal portion of the bilateral internal carotid arteries, affecting both children and adults. Aim: To conduct a review and update on MMD from a clinical, neuroradiological, neuropsychological and genetic persp...

Cognitive remediation and emotion skills training was initially designed by the Tchanturia group for individual intervention in patients with eating disorders. The purpose of the present study is to present its adaptation to patients with obesity in group format. It is structured in 8 weekly sessions that work on central executive functions, the re...

La identificación de las causas y circunstancias que rodean un hecho delictivo es fundamental para guiar la investigación policial. El análisis minucioso de las evidencias halladas en la escena de un delito, permite llevar a cabo una reconstrucción de la escena del crimen, esclarecer la autoría de los hechos investigados, la personalidad del delinc...

Introduction: Tourette's disorder is the result of fronto-striatal brain dysfunction affecting people of all ages, with a debut in early childhood and continuing into adolescence and adulthood. Development: This article reviews the main cognitive, functional neuroimaging and creativity-related studies in a disorder characterized by an excess of...

Introduction: Interpretation of the performance on cognitive tests for neuropsychological assessment in multiple sclerosis (MS) differs according to the educational level of the examinee. Aims: To provide normative data for the Brief Neuropsychological Battery (BNB) for MS stratified by age and education, as well as to demonstrate the utility of...

Despite its wide range and availability over the Internet, many emerging abuse drugs remain unknown to many doctors and health professionals. Herbal marijuana alternatives (also known as synthetic marijuana), such as K2 or ‘spice’, are a group of herbal mixtures containing vegetable matter in addition to synthetic cannabinoids. Kratom is a plant pr...

Synthetic cathinones are a new class of designer drug of the hallucinogenic stimulant type with effects similar to cocaine, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and other amphetamines. The abuse of synthetic cathinones often included in products sold as “bath salts” became fashionable in early 2009, which led to legislative classification across Eu...

Despite its wide range and availability over the Internet, many emerging abuse drugs remain unknown to many doctors and health professionals. Herbal marijuana alternatives (also known as synthetic marijuana), such as K2 or 'spice', are a group of herbal mixtures containing vegetable matter in addition to synthetic cannabinoids. Kratom is a plant pr...

Synthetic cathinones are a new class of designer drug of the hallucinogenic stimulant type with effects similar to cocaine, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and other amphetamines. The abuse of synthetic cathinones often included in products sold as "bath salts" became fashionable in early 2009, which led to legislative classification across Eu...

How executive functioning affects delayed verbal recall in AN has never been tested. We investigated the influence of speed of information processing (SIP) and inhibition on delayed verbal recall in females with AN.Methods Measures of SIP and inhibition from 35 females with AN were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression after controlling f...

Introducción El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo comprobar la hipótesis del déficit de codificación en la enfermedad de Alzheimer (EA) mediante el uso de una reciente metodología de corrección de test de memoria. Para ello, una adaptación española del Free and Cued Selective Reminder Test fue interpretada mediante el Item Specific Deficit Appro...

Eating disorders (ED) are complex and severe illnesses in which eating behavior is abnormal mainly as a consequence of the patient’s dramatic will to control their body and weight. Anorexia Nervosa (AN) can lead to death in up to 10% of the cases, and ¼ of people affected by AN suffer the illness chronically. Continued binge behaviors or vomiting a...

Verbal memory impairments are among the most frequent and devastating consequences after brain injury and are commonly identified as a first symptom in dementias such as Alzheimer's Disease. Rehabilitative interventions aimed at improving memory function after brain injury and degenerative illnesses have been given much attention in recent years. A...

Introduction: Research into neuropsychological impairments present in the patients suffering from anorexia nervosa (AN) has advanced considerably, in the past decades. It now provides neuropsychologists with a wide field of knowledge of the changes found in the cerebral and cognitive capabilities of these patients, as well as their reversible or s...