Bryan Freilich

📢 Open call for applications! Are you a #neuropsychology trainee interested in a leadership position? The INS Student Liaison Committee has SIX open positions, applications are due June 30th! Check out the positions and requirements here: buff.ly/gWDtd7s

Awesome! Way to go, Jared!

Technology use may lower risk for dementia, study finds | CNN Using technology may be linked with a lower risk of developing cognitive decline later in life, a new study has found.

My post-doc mentor, Jared Benge, published a study featured on CNN about how using technology may reduce risk for dementia: www.cnn.com/2025/04/14/h...

How might AI change our brains?
Neuropsychology's readers were very interested in this question, which was posed in this frequently downloaded 2024 paper from Leon-Dominguez. @apajournals.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1037/neu0...

Don't think I'd do anything sophisticated in this case, and not sure any direct comparison methods even exist. Would prob begin by comparing FSIQ (what was the diff?) and any shared relevant subtests (BD, Sim, Voc, Cod, Arith). Might start with 1 sd diff threshold as representing potential sig

NIH Grants Fueled $95 Billion In FY 2024 Economic Activity, Finds New Report National Institutes of Health grants generated almost $95 billion in economic activity nationwide in FY 2024 according to a new report by United for Medical Research.

New report shows that NIH grants fueled $95 billion in economic activity and 407,782 jobs in 2024.

That's not to mention the countless lives that biomedical research has saved.

Show me a better investment than that.
www.forbes.com/sites/michae...

Sweet! Downloaded to listen to on flight home! Nice to meet you!!

The authors suggest that some of these former players' problems (including suicidality) may stem from the assumption (in part driven by media coverage and public perception) that they have an untreatable neurodegenerative disease.

Point well taken, Jason. But not sure this is best article to highlight link b/w playing football and long-term brain effects. Lead author is one of the biggest critics of CTE. My takeaway of this study is that while 1/3 of players perceive they have CTE, this doesn't necessarily mean they have it.

Thanks, Andrew! Let me know how it goes!

Haha! My pleasure, Lee! Hope you find the norms useful!

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions about our study or would like a copy of the paper and/or Excel calculator!

O*NET OnLine Help: Job Zones O*NET OnLine provides detailed descriptions of the world-of-work for use by job seekers, workforce development and HR professionals, students, developers, researchers, and more. Individuals can find, ...

This is the first study that we are aware of that provides norms that directly account for occupational attainment, as assessed by Job Zones, a 5-point classification system developed by the US Dept of Labor. www.onetonline.org/help/online/...

Neuropsychologists call for elimination of race-norming in clinical tests following NFL concussion controversy Top neuropsychologists have called for the elimination of race-norming in clinical testing, after an ABC News investigation into the NFL's concussion settlement program.

The latter aligns with initiatives by AACN, NAN, and other neuropsychology organizations to research and implement empirically-based and ethically responsible alternatives to using race in neuropsychological norms. abcnews.go.com/US/neuropsyc...

Interestingly, by including measurable social determinants of health like reading ability and occupational attainment in our regression analyses, this reduced the impact of certain other demographic variables such as education and race on cognitive test performance.

We provide convenient look-up tables as well as a handy Excel calculator to generate robust norms for older adults, incorporating a number of demographic variables, including the usual suspects (age, education, sex) but also some new ones.

Montefiore Einstein Robust Geriatric Normative Project: Robust Age- and Regression-Based Demographic Norms for the Repeatable Battery for Neuropsychological Status and Select Neuropsychological Tests ... AbstractObjective. This study introduces the Montefiore Einstein Robust Geriatric Normative Project (MERGER-NP), which provides robust normative data for o

🚨 Excited to share our new paper where we introduce the Montefiore Einstein Robust Geriatric Normative Project (MERGER-NP) and provide age and demographic norms for the RBANS and select neuropsych tests, including the TMT, BNT, and measures of verbal fluency. academic.oup.com/acn/advance-...

Finally got a chance to listen @andrewk-phd.bsky.social . Great job!! Looking forward to the rest of the series!

160| Introduction to Neuropsychological Test Interpretation and Regression-Based Norms – A Conversation With Dr. Andrew Kiselica Podcast Episode · Navigating Neuropsychology · 02/01/2025 · 48m

I had the pleasure of discussing neuropsychological test interpretation on the NavNeuro podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n.... Hope you’ll check it out! Here are the highlights: 1/n

Cover of The Lancet's Jan 18th, 2025 issue. Quote reads: "Disinformation has become a deliberate instrument to attack and discredit scientists and health professionals for political gains. The effects are destructive and damaging to public health."

The spread of health misinformation and disinformation poses a serious threat to public health.

How can we respond to the danger and combat the tide of misinformation and disinformation to protect public health?

Find out more in our latest Editorial: tinyurl.com/mtf95p25

New to #bluesky and excited to share a new publication at the interface of my two main clinical interests in neuropsychiatry.

"New Framework for the Continuum of Concussion and Functional Neurological Disorder" with @silverberglab.bsky.social in BJSM. Thread below 🧵

bjsm.bmj.com/content/earl...

‘That’s just not her’: New study shows falling for financial scams can predict Alzheimer’s | CNN Researchers at USC say that falling for financial scams could be a first sign of early Alzheimer’s disease. Changes in how seniors value money can be a warning call for loved ones to get help for rela...

Grateful to @cnn.com for featuring our #NIA supported work at @uscpsychology.bsky.social linking financial vulnerability in older age and #Alzheimers disease. You can check out the video segment here, which also features my amazing lab running a brain MRI session:
www.cnn.com/2024/12/10/h...

The Montreal Cognitive Assessment: Norms and Reliable Change Indices for Standard and MoCA-22 Administrations AbstractObjective. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is among the most frequently administered cognitive screening tests, yet demographically divers

That said, I think this is something now being considered. @andrewk-phd.bsky.social has maybe done some work in this area with SRB? There's also this recent paper that used advanced regression techniques to account for ceiling effects in MoCA performance/change.
academic.oup.com/acn/article-...

Certainly not an expert, but my understanding is yes, if someone performs near a test's ceiling, there's little room for improvement or practice effects. RCIs and SRB change formulas don't typically adjust for ceiling effects, leading to underestimated gains or exaggerated declines for high scorers.

Nope. Only a few that I'm aware of. Agree that we need more. I can tell you that one more is (hopefully) coming soon! 😉 What are your thoughts on occupational attainment as a proxy for SES with adults? I like the idea of using ADI as well.

Big fan of this paper—it's a staple in my Norms talk! In theory, don’t demo norms that factor in reading/premorbid ability work similarly? They account for it more when it adds significant variance to cognitive tests and less when it doesn’t.

Def more of a high level concept that doesn't get as much attention as it should. I spend a lot of time on it with my trainees but get the sense I'm in the minority. @andrewk-phd.bsky.social 's paper (cited earlier in this thread) should be required reading for first-year neuropsych grad students

I was hoping you might weigh in. I'm a big fan of that paper and recommend it to all my trainees! Looking forward to the podcast!

Sadly, those norms are no longer commercially available. PAR stopped supporting (and selling) the scoring program earlier this year, and the manual only provides age norms.

What if most if not all tests you used had full demo norms available taking into account the same variables? And what if the demo norms considered measurable SDOH like reading ability and SES/occupation in addition to the usual suspects, making race less relevant? Would you then use them?