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Assessing Burrowing, Nest Construction, and Hoarding in Mice
Published on: January 5, 2012
Cognitive performance of individuals with animal hoarding
Luis Henrique Paloski1,2, Elisa Arrienti Ferreira1, Dalton Breno Costa3
1Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul - PUCRS, Av. Ipiranga, 6681, Building 11, 9th floor, Porto Alegre, RS, CEP 90619-900, Brazil.
Background:
The purpose of this study was to characterize the cognitive performance of individuals with animal hoarding.
Methods:
This is a cross-sectional study, in which 33 individuals between the ages of 29 to 84 (M = 61.39; SD = 12.69) with animal hoarding have been assessed. The participants completed a neurocognitive battery including measures of general cognitive functioning, visual memory and organization, verbal fluency, and verbal reasoning.
Results:
Data suggest that individuals with animal hoarding have high rates of cognitive deficits related to visual memory and verbal reasoning.
Conclusions:
Based on the performance tests used, we can suggest the existence of cognitive difficulties related especially to the executive functions of individuals with animal hoarding in this sample.
