The aim of this study was to explore multitasking skills in a Chinese sample of 22 children with attention deficit–hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) compared with 22 healthy controls matched by gender, age, and IQ. All of the participants completed the children's version of the Six Elements Test (C-SET) and neuropsychological tests that captured specific domains of attention, memory, and executive function. Children with ADHD performed significantly worse than the healthy controls in all domains except the number of rules broken in the C-SET. The majority of the C-SET domain scores correlated significantly with measures of executive function. The ADHD group also demonstrated deficits in various neurocognitive test performances compared with the healthy group. This preliminary study suggests that the C-SET is sensitive to multitasking behavior in Chinese children with ADHD. The main impairments of multitasking behavior in this clinical group involve the inhibition of goal-directed planning, flexible strategy generation, and self-monitoring. (JINS, 2006, 12, 575–579.)

The Amnesias: A Clinical Textbook of Memory Disorders, by Andrew C. Papanicolaou. 2005. New York: Oxford University Press, 336 pp., $57.50 (HB).

Memory is one of the best-studied complex cognitive functions described in the neuropsychological literature. Excellent textbooks and research articles about memory and the brain are, and continue to be, published. Yet, it is difficult to integrate clinical and applied features of memory disorders with basic science data. This may be due to our uncertainty about whether a damaged brain functions like a healthy brain and whether results about cerebral functioning and memory processes for a healthy individual can be applied equally well to someone who has incurred brain damage. Brain circuitry is altered in the presence of brain injury, including the mechanisms of remembering and forgetting. Basic clinical studies of normal memory teach us what is “not” normal but we have learned far less about “how” the brain really functions in the presence of amnesia.

Visual Agnosia (Second Edition). Martha J. Farah (Ed.). 2005. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press/Bradford Books, 192 pp., $25.00 (PB).

Martha Farah published her influential volume Visual Agnosia in 1990. As she notes in the Preface to the second edition of this book, she undertook the project in the interest of “reviewing and systematizing the case literature and posing some basic questions that could, in principle, be answered by such cases.” The first edition of Visual Agnosia accomplished her objectives. From the extraordinarily rich but often confusing body of neuropsychological data, Dr. Farah developed a comprehensive account of visual processing disorders that was both true to the clinical phenomena and informed by then-current accounts of normal vision. Her short monograph quickly gained a wide audience and has become a standard reference. It has occupied a readily accessible spot on my bookshelf for years.

This study examined whether memory span was impaired during the acute and post-acute phases following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Twenty-two adults with mTBI were compared with 22 controls on computerized tasks of immediate memory for verbal, spatial, and hand movement sequences under no interference (baseline) and articulatory suppression conditions. Groups were assessed within a month and followed up 3–12 months post-injury. In the acute phase, there were no group differences across tasks under either condition. At follow-up, all spatial and verbal span scores and associated practice effects were equivalent across groups. Yet for the hand movement task, baseline movement span was worse for the mTBI group suggesting that they failed to benefit from practice to the same extent as controls. Furthermore, the fact that this group difference in span scores disappeared when articulatory suppression was imposed indicates that successful hand movement task performance involves verbal recoding. (JINS, 2006, 12, 580–584.)

Verbal learning and the organization of memory in patients with schizophrenia or schizotypal disorder were compared with normal subjects. Three indices of memory organization (semantic clustering, serial clustering, and subjective clustering) were calculated from participants' responses on the Japanese Verbal Learning Test. Schizophrenic and schizotypal patients showed similar decrements in semantic organization compared with normal subjects. Neither patient group showed any effect of learning on their use of semantic organization, although both groups recalled more items as the number of trials increased. These results suggest that impairment of memory organization is a common characteristic of schizophrenia spectrum disorders (JINS, 2006, 12, 750–754.)

We explored the effect of education and occupational complexity on the rate of cognitive decline (as measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination) in 171 patients with a confirmed Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis. Complexity was measured as substantive complexity of work and complexity of work with data, people, and things. Average lifetime occupational complexity was calculated based on years at each occupation. Participants were followed for an average of 2.5 years and 3.7 visits. In multivariate mixed-effects models, high education, high substantive complexity, and high complexity of work with data and people predicted faster rates of cognitive decline, controlling for age, gender, native language, dementia severity, and entry into the analyses at initial versus follow-up testing. These results provide support for the concept of cognitive reserve according to which greater reserve may postpone clinical onset of AD but also accelerate cognitive decline after the onset. (JINS, 2006, 12, 147–152.)

Forensic Neuropsychology Casebook. Robert L. Heilbronner (Ed.). 2005. New York: The Guilford Press. 370 pp., $50.00 (HB).

The chapters in Forensic Neuropsychology Casebook read like a collection of short stories. An experienced forensic neuropsychologist authors each chapter and each case is presented from a personal point of view, a viewpoint generally not found in mainstream textbooks. The case background, test results, and legal proceedings are described along with the neuropsychologist's thoughts, feelings, insights, and lessons learned. The practitioners and topics were well chosen to display the diversity of forensic neuropsychology. Included are adult, pediatric, civil, and criminal cases. Besides the more common cases such as traumatic brain injury, medical malpractice, and workers' compensation, more esoteric topics are covered such as electrical injury, sexual consent capacity in an Alzheimer's patient, and competence to confess.

A Compendium of Neuropsychological Tests, Third Edition: Administration, Norms, and Commentary, by Esther Strauss, Elisabeth M.S. Sherman, and Otfried Spreen. 2006. New York: Oxford University Press, 1216 pp., $99.00 (HB).

Many regard A Compendium of Neuropsychological Tests as an essential reference text. Principally valued for its test reviews, normative data, administration instructions, and commentary, its reviews of cognitive domains have also provided a useful overview of the field of neuropsychology. Published eight years after the second edition, one might expect the Third Edition to feature revised entries for updated tests, new entries for recently published tests, pruning of tests that are no longer in general use, and other minor revisions where appropriate. In fact, the new edition of the Compendium delivers dramatically more. As stated in the preface, the goal for this edition was to create a user-friendly reference work that covered all the relevant details of the most frequently used neuropsychological tests, and to provide a general overview of issues “germane to neuropsychological assessment.” In short: To help you “know your tools” and to function as a guidebook to the practice of neuropsychology. These goals are surely met—beyond all expectations.

The following books were received in recent months.

The following books were received in recent months.

Giovannetti and co-authors (Giovannetti et al., 2006) highlight the importance of measuring activities of daily living (ADL) and Instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) for the diagnosis of dementia. The method used, Naturalistic Action Test (NAT), is performance based. Study rationale was that “the relevance of diagnosis to everyday functioning has gone largely unexplored.” However, this statement seems to be invalid: cognitive impairment interfering with daily/social functioning is one of the DSM-IV dementia criteria. Secondly, many different ADL/IADL scales exist and are used in dementia research, including those that are performance based (Burns et al., 2004). Authors should have reviewed these scales more thoroughly and present a rationale for introducing a new one. NAT items model household chores and preparing a simple meal only. These activities are quite different from and perhaps easier to perform than using the telephone, handling finances, and similar instrumental activities. Simple activities or ADL may not be useful in differentiating dementia from normality, especially in the early stages of dementia.

The Lost Self: Pathologies of the Brain and Identity. Todd E. Feinberg and Julian Paul Keenan (Eds.). 2005. New York: Oxford University Press, 275 pp., $49.95 (HB).

The recent emergence of the field of social cognitive neuroscience has been accompanied by an increasing number of studies aimed at uncovering the neurobiological basis of the self. For instance, several studies have now been published using functional neuroimaging to uncover neural responses to self-related processing in healthy subjects. Complementing this approach, important insights regarding the brain and the self can be obtained from studying neurological and psychiatric conditions that affect the self. Examples of such conditions are frontal lobe impairment, autobiographical disorders, dissociative disorders, schizophrenia, and autism. The Lost Self, edited by Todd E. Feinberg and Julian Paul Keenan, addresses both types of research endeavors. The reader gets even more: a perspective from philosophy and a first-person account.

Cerebrovascular Disease, Cognitive Impairment and Dementia. John O'Brien, David Ames, Lars Gustafson, Marshal Folstein, and Edmond Chiu (Eds.). 2004. London: Martin Dunitz, 406 pp., $79.95 (HB).

Cerebrovascular Disease, Cognitive Impairment and Dementia is the second edition of Cerebrovascular Disease and Dementia (2000). The new edition is over 160 pages longer than the earlier version, with several new chapters devoted to the pathophysiology of cerebrovascular disease [including provocative chapters on neurotransmitter changes in vascular dementia (VaD), the contributions of homocysteine and low vitamin B to VaD, and a good overview of hereditary forms of VaD], vascular mild cognitive impairment, noncognitive symptoms, and an expanded discussion of prevention and treatment. It is written for both clinical and scientific audiences. As in the first edition, there is a laudable comparative emphasis, with epidemiologic studies of vascular dementia in Europe, North America, Japan, and China. Indeed, the editors hail from the U.K, Australia, Sweden, and the U.S, and this affords the volume a useful global perspective. With five editors and 22 additional contributors, however, this book suffers a bit from the “too many cooks” syndrome. There is a good bit of redundancy. After the fifth or sixth description of classification criteria for vascular dementia, the reader begins to feel on the receiving end of some repetitive rehearsal therapy for her own dementia.

The Cognitive Neuropsychology Laboratory at Temple University applies neuropsychological models of action processes to the study of everyday action (EA) in dementia. Our ultimate goals are to develop models of EA impairment and inform interventions that promote EA in the home. Our recent paper (Giovannetti et al., 2006b) was an initial step in this overarching plan. We examined differences in EA between participants with Alzheimer's disease (AD) versus Vascular dementia (VaD), two distinct neurocognitive syndromes (see Libon et al., 2004). The groups obtained comparable overall accomplishment scores, but VaD participants made more commissions and accomplished fewer steps when distractor objects were in the workspace. Thus, VaD participants demonstrated a different pattern of EA impairment than AD participants.

Atypical Parkinsonian Disorders: Clinical and Research Aspects. Irene Litvan (Ed.). 2005. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press, 512 pp., $175.00 (HB).

This edited collection of perspectives on Atypical Parkinson's Disease, or Parkinson's plus as it is often called, is both a treasure and a pleasure. The editor, Irene Litvan, ably accomplishes the daunting task of bringing order to what might be considered a grab bag of diagnostic leftovers in Chapter 1. To the generalist, fair warning that Parkinson's plus may be misconstrued as Parkinson's minus, since tremor, the most commonly recognized symptom may not be a feature of at least some of these syndromes. Litvan provides us with an organizational structure for summarizing clinical features and surmising etiologies. An extensive literature review is distilled to give impressions of when to suspect these diagnoses, hints to the natural progression, and discussion of the validity of specific diagnoses within the atypical PD spectrum. Chapter 2, on historical perspectives, is one that is so tempting to skip in the rush to get to the most up to date science. Please don't, because it is one of the gems of this tome. In his readable style, Christopher Goetz reminds us that clinical skill begins with being a good observer and this will serve the field throughout time. His selection of historical anecdotes, literary passages, and classic photographs illustrates the timelessness of some of these clinical entities. The photograph from the 1925 Lhermitte et al. report so captured the syndrome of cortical basal degeneration, that I suddenly recalled several similar patients and was reassured that there was something more than idiosyncratic imposition of this diagnosis.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Epilepsy: Neuroimaging Techniques (2nd Edition). Rubin I. Kuzniecky and Graeme D. Jackson (Eds.). 2005. New York: Elsevier. 431 pp., $149.95 (HB).

Readers of JINS are aware that the epilepsies are common, costly, and complex. Among the more common comorbidities are cognitive and neuropsychiatric disorders. The potential etiologies of these disorders include factors related to the cause, course, and treatment of the epilepsy, which may exert their effects, at least in part, through alterations in brain structure, metabolism, blood flow, and other dimensions of brain integrity. These effects can be captured and quantified by various neuroimaging techniques and greater familiarity with the diversity of neuroimaging approaches to epilepsy may open a variety of avenues of investigation.

Fatigue as a Window to the Brain, John DeLuca (Ed.). 2005. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 336 pp., $55.00 (HB).

Fatigue is ubiquitous and falls within the purview of several specialties, including neurology, psychiatry, neuropsychology, endocrinology, rheumatology, and immunology. As Simon Wessely points out in the Foreword of Fatigue as a Window to the Brain, fatigue has been virtually overlooked as an area of scientific study, because it is difficult to measure and, as a symptom, rarely aids in differential diagnosis. John DeLuca's edited book is part of the Issues in Clinical and Cognitive Neuropsychology series edited by Jordan Grafman. This is an ambitious book that examines the multidimensional and multifactorial nature of the neurobiology of central fatigue. This book advances the reader's understanding of the neural mechanisms of fatigue through review and integration of empirical data on fatigue and its cognitive correlates in neurological, medical, and psychiatric disorders.

A Casebook of Ethical Challenges in Neuropsychology. Shane S. Bush (Ed.). 2005. New York: Psychology Press. 300 pp., $87.50 (HB).

The publication of Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct by the American Psychological Association (2002) became an impetus for A Casebook of Ethical Challenges in Neuropsychology, edited by Shane Bush. Dr. Bush was also senior co-editor of Ethical Issues in Neuropsychology (Bush & Drexler, 2002), a volume that was specifically intended to aid neuropsychologists who were struggling with ambiguities related to the general guidelines in the APA 1992 Ethics Code. Both volumes are part of the Taylor and Francis series entitled Studies on Neuropsychology, Development, and Cognition. In the current volume's Foreward, Richard Naugle acknowledges how difficult it can be to obtain an overview of the ethics code and emphasizes how important it is that psychologists both understand the code and provide reasoned responses based on its standards in order to engage in ethical practice. His endorsement of this volume as a means to that end is not misguided.

Fatigue as a Window to the Brain, John DeLuca (Ed.). 2005. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 336 pp., $55.00 (HB).

Fatigue is ubiquitous and falls within the purview of several specialties, including neurology, psychiatry, neuropsychology, endocrinology, rheumatology, and immunology. As Simon Wessely points out in the Foreword of Fatigue as a Window to the Brain, fatigue has been virtually overlooked as an area of scientific study, because it is difficult to measure and, as a symptom, rarely aids in differential diagnosis. John DeLuca's edited book is part of the Issues in Clinical and Cognitive Neuropsychology series edited by Jordan Grafman. This is an ambitious book that examines the multidimensional and multifactorial nature of the neurobiology of central fatigue. This book advances the reader's understanding of the neural mechanisms of fatigue through review and integration of empirical data on fatigue and its cognitive correlates in neurological, medical, and psychiatric disorders.

Recent and relevant.