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Clinics and Laboratories |
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Clinical Neuropsychology Research Laboratory
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Contents
Current Projects
"Diagnosis Threat"
In this series of studies, we are examining how a person's expectations about a diagnosis that they have (mild head injury) or may get (dementia) influences both their self-perceptions of everyday cognitive difficulties and their actual performance on cognitive tests. In a study of older adults, we found that those who had personal experience with Alzheimer's disease were less accurate in their perceptions of their cognitive abilities; actual cognitive performance was not related to perceived Alzheimer's disease threat, but self-reported complaints and depression were. However, in adults who did not have personal experience with Alzheimer's disease, actual memory performance and belief in negative aging stereotypes were both associated with perceived Alzheimer's disease threat. A follow-up of this project is underway.
In another aspect of this research, we found that students with a history of mild head injury who were told that they were specifically participating in a study about cognitive effects of head injury performed worse on some cognitive tests, rated the tests as harder, and rated themselves as providing less effort on the tests, relative to students with a history of mild head injury who were not told that the study was focused on head injury. In a recent published paper, we called this phenomenon "diagnosis threat". An extension and replication of these findings was published in 2005. Two additional extensions of diagnosis threat into other populations have been conducted (chronic headache, pregnancy) and are in various stages of publication. Two more studies of negative expectations and cognitive performance (mild head injury, headache) are currently being planned.Project SCORE (Screening Cognition in Older adults with Repeated Evaluations)
In this series of research projects, we are examining the neuropsychological deficits that are associated with future cognitive decline in older adults. We are now in the fourth year of data collection, with a sample of individuals who have returned for follow-up evaluation, and continued recruitments of new participants in community "memory screening" projects throughout the year. Currently, we are planning additional measures to add to the yearly screening, including measurement of blood flow to the frontal lobes using Near Infrared Spectroscopy.
Participants in this study are also linked to a collaborative project with Dr. Kathi Heffner, which includes measurement of stress hormones after induction of the diagnosis threat information, and its consequent effects on memory and working memory performance.The Neuropsychology of High Risk Behaviors
We have recently completed two projects examining the neuropsychological profiles, personality characteristics, and physiological responses to a gambling task, of individuals who report engaging in a high amount of risky behavior, including substance use/abuse. Preliminary results are exciting, and we are planning additional projects in this area in the future, including functional neuroimaging of "risky" individuals using Near Infrared Spectroscopy. What this series of studies will examine is the importance of considering premorbid personality and its influence on executive performance, in groups who engage in risky behavior that may also damage their frontal lobes (substance abusers, those with mild head injury). A somewhat related study is exploring personality, risky behavior, and executive performance in adults who report symptoms of ADHD, adults who had been diagnosed with ADHD as children, and controls.
Snapshots
Lab Tel: (740) 593-0910
Personnel
Photo Name Position Telephone Julie A. Suhr, Ph.D. Director suhr@ohio.edu (740) 593-1091 Melissa Buelow Graduate Student mb194503@ohio.edu (740) 593-0910 Petya Demireva Graduate Student pd302705@ohio.edu (740) 593-0910 Laurie Fox Graduate Student lf325498@ohiou.edu (740) 593-7462 Jessica Hall Graduate Student jessi_hall@yahoo.com (740) 592-1485 Dustin Hammers Graduate Student dh196704@ohio.edu (740) 593-0910 Erin Mark Graduate Student ep317003@ohiou.edu (740) 593-0052 Tara Riddle Graduate Student tr873606@ohio.edu (740) 593-0910 Brad Spickard Graduate Student bs382603@ohio.edu (740) 593-0910 Eric Zimak Graduate Student ez331705@ohio.edu (740) 593-0910
Recent Publications
Suhr, J.A., & Tsanadis, J. (in press). Affect and personality correlates of the Iowa Gambling Task. Personality and Individual Differences. [Heckman, T.G., Barcikowski, R., Ogles, B., Suhr, J., Carlson, B., Holroyd, K., & Garske, J. (2006). A telephone-delivered coping improvement group intervention for middle-aged and older adults living with HIV/AIDS. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 32, 27-38.] Greub, B., & Suhr, J. (2006). The validity of the Letter Memory Test as a measure of memory malingering: Robustness to coaching. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 21(4), 249-254. Suhr, J.A., Spitznagel, M.B., & Gunstad, J. (2006). An Obsessive-Compulsive Subtype of Schizotypy: Evidence from a Nonclinical Sample. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. Stewart, J., France, C., & Suhr, J.A. (2006). The effect of cardiac cycle phase on reaction time among individuals at varying risk for hypertension. Journal of Psychophysiology, 20, 1-8. Suhr, J.A., & Gunstad, J. (2005). Further exploration of the effect of “diagnosis threat” on cognitive performance in individuals with mild head injury. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 11, 23-29. Barrash, J., Suhr, J.A., & Manzel, K. (2004). Detection of poor effort and malingering with an expanded version of the Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLTX): Validation with clinical samples. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 26, 125-140. Gunstad, J., & Suhr, J.A. (2004). Cognitive factors in postconcussion syndrome symptom report. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 19, 391-405. Spitznagel, M.B., & Suhr, J.A. (2004). Neuropsychological impairment associated with symptoms of schizotypy: Role of depressive and paranoid symptoms. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 192, 382-384. Suhr, J.A., Stewart, J.C., & France, C.R. (2004). The relationship between blood pressure and cognitive performance in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III). Psychosomatic Medicine, 66, 291-297. Suhr, J.A., Hall, J., Patterson, S., & Tong Niinistro, R. (2004). The relation of hydration status to cognitive performance in healthy older adults. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 53, 121-125. Waltje, A.H., Heckman, T.G., Suhr, J.A., Garske, J.P., & Silverthorn, M. (2004). Predictors of nonadherence to antiretroviral therapies in HIV-infected older adults. The Ohio Psychologist, 51, 21-25. Suhr, J.A., Gunstad, J., Greub, B., & Barrash, J. (2004). Exaggeration Index for an Expanded Version of the Auditory Verbal Learning Test: Robustness to Coaching. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 26, 416-427. Gunstad, J., & Suhr, J.A. (2004). Use of the abbreviated Portland Digit Recognition Test in simulated malingering and neurological groups. Journal of Forensic Neuropsychology, 4(1), 33-47. Suhr, J.A. (2003). Neuropsychological impairment in fibromyalgia: The influence of pain, depression, and fatigue. Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 55, 321-329. Suhr, J.A., & Gunstad, J. (2002). PCS symptom report: The relative influence of head injury and depression. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 24, 981-93. Suhr, J.A., & Gunstad, J. (2002). "Diagnosis threat": The effect of negative expectations on cognitive performance. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 24, 448-457. Spitznagel, M.B., & Suhr, J.A. (2002). Executive function deficits associated with symptoms of schizotypy and obsessive compulsive disorder. Psychiatry Research, 110, 151-163. Heckman, T.G., Davantes Heckman, B., Kochman, A., Suhr, J., & Goodkin, K. (2002). Psychological symptoms among persons 50 years of age and older living with HIV disease. Aging and Mental Health, 6, 121-128. Gunstad, J., & Suhr, J.A. (2002). Perceptions of illness: Non-specificity of postconcussion syndrome symptom expectation. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 8, 37-47. Suhr, J.A. (2002). Malingering, coaching, and the serial position effect. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 17, 69-77. Gunstad, J., & Suhr, J.A. (2001). Efficacy of the full and abbreviated forms of the Portland Digit Recognition Test: Vulnerability to coaching. Clinical Neuropsychologist, 15, 397-404. Suhr, J.A., & Spitznagel, M.B. (2001). Factor versus cluster models of schizotypal symptoms II: Relation to neuropsychological deficits. Schizophrenia Research, 52, 241-250. Suhr, J.A., & Spitznagel, M.B. (2001). Factor versus cluster models of schizotypal symptoms I: Comparison in healthy normals and schizotypal individuals. Schizophrenia Research, 52, 231-239. Gunstad, J., & Suhr, J.A. (2001). "Expectation as Etiology" versus "The Good Old Days": Postconcussion syndrome symptom reporting in athletes, headache sufferers, and depressed individuals. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 7, 323-333. Miller, A., Donders, J., & Suhr, J. (2000). Evaluation of malingering with the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test: A cross-validation. Clinical Neuropsychological Assessment, 2, 141-149. Suhr, J.A. & Gunstad, J. (2000). The Effects of Coaching on the Sensitivity and Specificity of Malingering Measures. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 15, 415-424.
Updated: November 1, 2007