Since characteristics of psychiatric disorders are apparently different from those of organic disorder, it is quite difficult to identify the nature of those disorders using existing cognitive function tests.　However, there is a possibility to clarify those characteristics using some kinds of cognitive function tests.　In this article, three psychiatric disorders are presented with cognitive point of view: schizophrenia with the standpoint of an abnormal sense of agency, functional amnesia with retrograde amnesia devoid of anterograde amnesia, autism spectrum disorders with theory of mind, central coherence theory, executive function, sensory processing and emotional cognition.

Therapeutic intervention of aphasia has been performed in three dysfunction levels, such as impairment, activity limitation, and participation restriction according to International Classification of Function （ICF）. Speech and language therapy conducted by speech therapists has been a main treatment option for aphasia, providing constant improvement. Furthermore, a combination of pharmacotherapy and speech therapy has also been reported to be useful for treating aphasia. However, the recovery mechanism in the course of the aphasia impairment has been emerging by recent findings of functional brain imaging such as Positron Emission Tomography （PET）, Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging （f-MRI）, and Near Infra-Red Spectroscopy （NIRS）. Based on the results of brain functional imaging findings, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation （rTMS） has been used to activate the focal brain function and CI therapy for aphasia has been applied. In the case showing little improvement in functional impairment, interventions for communication activity limitation （i.e. communicative abilities training, environmental adjustment and the use of compensatory strategy） have been carried out. Also, in regard to the participation restriction of aphasia, interventions have been performed not only to individual factors, but also to environmental factors through training activities by partners of aphasic patients. Evidence of therapeutic intervention focusing on speech therapy for aphasia is now accumulating, and is not explicitly described in the current rehabilitation guidelines. Further accumulation and deployment of new evidence are needed by conducting therapeutic intervention in the future.

Four anti-dementia drugs can be used for dementia now in Japan. However, efficacy of such drugs are limited, therefore, non-pharmacological treatment has been suggested. We evaluate the efficacy of non-pharmacological treatments （exercise therapy, music therapy, housework therapy and therapy using diary） which were confirmed by previous research. Our study revealed that the non-drug therapy has some efficacy in dementia patient. Patient with severe dementia can be treated by exercise therapy and music therapy even their MMSE-J and HDS-R score are low. On the other hand, diary therapy to be successfully treated in patients with relatively high MMSE-J but HDS-R is low scores. We conclude that non-pharmacological treatments may be useful and how to use for different type of dementia is important.

In recent years, deficit in executive function has been noted as a core symptom of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder （ADHD）. Previously, with the aim of quantitatively assessing the characteristics of children with ADHD from the viewpoint of inhibition among executive functions, we have considered behavioral and frontal brain functions with regard to inhibition vis a vis meaning interference and color interference. In this study also, we undertook additional collection of data at a number of facilities and investigated usefulness as a differential diagnosis aid. A total of 38 ADHD children （age 10.4y±2.3y, 12 medicated） and 46 typical developing children （TD group;age 10.2y±1.7y）, matched （p>0.1） in terms of age, gender, dominant arm and non-verbal intelligence, were the subject of analysis in this study. Utilising a reverse Stroop task （RST）, we measured prefrontal area activity during task performance with near-infrared spectroscopy （OEG-16）. Results were:1） Behavioral results:in the RST, the ADHD children recorded a higher rate of interference （p<0.01） than the TD children. Also, within the ADHD group, the rate of interference showed a positive correlation with the severity of the attention deficit （r=0.48, p<0.01） and the severity of the hyperactivity/impulsivity （r=0.40, p<0.05）. 2） Brain activity:as regards brain activity during the RST, right lateral prefrontal activity was significantly lower （p<0.05） in the ADHD children than in the TD children. 3） Discriminant analysis:based on diagnosis, the result of discriminant analysis with reference to the rate of interference and the rate of prefrontal activation was an overall discrimination rate of 79.8%. Given that there is a correlation between the rate of interference in an RST and severity of ADHD and that right lateral prefrontal brain activity during task performance is lower than for TD children, these results suggest that RST results and changes in brain activity during task performance allow quantitative assessment of the clinical symptom of ADHD. Looking ahead, we think that, in order to construct a model with a higher rate of discrimination, it is necessary to increase the number of participants and carry out further selection of indicators.

We examined the effects of self-regulation of slow cortical potentials （SCP）. Ten children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder （ADHD） participated in SCP training. During pre- and post-training, we conducted various tests for event-related potentials （ERPs） and behavioral indexes to examine the effects of training. In addition, we examined the changes in electroencephalographic （EEG） shifts during SCP training. For ERP index, we used the amplitude of contingent negative variation （CNV） in an attention task that measures the ability to maintain attention. To examine the behavioral index, we used SNAP-J （Japanese version of the Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham rating scale）, which are subjective scales that measure ADHD tendency. For the EEG index, we analyzed the changes in peak amplitude of negative and positive EEG shifts during 16 SCP training sessions. The results showed effects of SCP training on the ERP index, but not on the behavioral index. In the former, the CNV amplitude for pre-training was higher than that for post-training, indicating that the attention ability of children with ADHD might be enhanced due to SCP training. The EEG index showed an increase in the peak amplitude of negative and positive EEG shifts depending on SCP training sessions. These results suggest a relationship between enhancements of CNV amplitude and changes in EEG shifts during SCP sessions. We provide the first evidence for the effect of SCP training in Japan. Future research should carefully examine the relationship between the number of sessions and various indexes （ERP, psychological, and behavioral） and the effect of SCP training by comparing these effects in experimental and control groups.

Several studies have drawn attention to the frequent occurrence of epileptic seizures and electroencephalogram （EEG） abnormalities in children with pervasive developmental disorder （PDD） and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder （ADHD）. The high occurrence of epilepsy and EEG abnormalities in children with PDD/ADHD is a clear indication that PDD/ADHD has a neurobiological basis. The proportion of children with PDD/ADHD who also have paroxysmal abnormality （PA） on EEG is significantly greater than that in the general population. Despite the evidence for this bidirectional relationship between PDD/ADHD and epilepsy, however, performance of a routine EEG in the evaluation of children with suspected PDD/ADHD is not usually recommended. The presence of PA in the EEG of children with behavior disorders may be related to outcome. Some children show transient behavioral and learning difficulties correlated with PA but without clinical epilepsy. The few observations of increased prevalence of EEG PA in children with PDD/ADHD and the experience of using AEDs as a spike suppressor in childhood epilepsies with increased prevalence of focal EEG PA and the scarce experience of using AEDs in children without epilepsy. In our current research, we investigated the association between behavioral problems and EEG PA, and also investigated the usefulness of anti-epileptic drugs （AEDs） in PDD/ADHD patients who had PA and/or epilepsy. In addition, we also investigated the relationships between neuropsychological disturbance, localized PA, and treatment with AEDs. In these studies, EEG improvement with AED treatment showed a high correlation with behavioral improvements. Frontal PA showed a strong correlation with behavioral problems, and that treatment with AEDs was effective both in decreasing PA and in improving behavioral problems in at least some of the patients with PDD/ADHD with frontal PA. Prevailing opinion characterizes PDD/ADHD as a disorder of executive function in the frontal lobes. In PDD/ADHD with EEG abnormalities, paroxysmal activity affects the frontal area and results in those impairments. Damage to the frontal regions during childhood may interrupt normal maturational processes and organization, resulting in impairments to neurobehavioral development. Accordingly, the EEG may be of value in assisting in the management of at least some children with PDD/ADHD. In addition, urgent suppression of PA might be warranted to prevent the progression of neuropsychological impairments. In these findings and our opinion, clinical work up in children with PDD/ADHD should include an EEG with awake and sleep recording and in the presence of EEG PA the use of an AED should be considered.

Neuronuclear imaging has been playing the important role in early and differential diagnosis of dementia mainly involving Alzheimer’s disease. It can evaluate not only brain perfusion or glucose metabolism but also dopamine transporter or amyloid β protein. Typically early Alzheimer’s disease shows decreased perfusion in the posterior cingulate gyrus, precuneus, and parietal cortex and dementia with Lewy bodies shows additional decreased perfusion in the occipital cortex. However early Alzheimer’s disease often shows decreased perfusion in the frontal lobe and dementia with Lewy bodies often shows normal perfusion in the occipital lobe. We have to comprehend etiology of these phenomena for correct diagnosis.

Neuropsychological tests are one of the most important parts of assessments of dementia. Recently, neuropsychological tests have been used to assess one or more cognitive domains in people with dementia, as described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition （DSM-5）. In other words, neuropsychological tests should be used as tools for evaluating multiple cognitive domains in more detail and not only as screening tests for diagnosis. Although the cut-off points of screening tests （e.g., the Mini-Mental State Examination or the Revised version of Hasegawa’s Dementia Scale） provide valuable information for diagnosis, the responses to each item for testing contain additional information about declined or intact cognitive domains. Using multicomponent and standardized neuropsychological tests （e.g., Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale or COGNISTAT）, we can access the individual data more accurately and objectively. In addition, these data contribute to clinical care decisions for people with dementia. For instance, in memory tasks, people who completed the cued recall or recognition tasks may resolve their difficulties in daily living with appropriate support, although they fail the free recall. Thus, the results of neuropsychological test scores can be translated into valuable information for clinical care, and they should not only be treated as test scores. For maximizing the benefits for people with dementia, systems that communicate the meanings of neuropsychological tests are highly required.

Vascular risk factors （VRFs） such as hypertension （HT）, hyperlipidemia （HL） and diabetes mellitus （DM） contribute to develop cerebrovascular stroke. However, those are also the risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease （AD）. Our data showed that AD prevalence was age-dependent, and AD occupied 69% of dementia with age more than 75 years, that neuronal oxidative stress became progressively stronger in hypertensive rats, and that vascular dementia became extensively overlapped with AD in such a super-aged society like Japan. Management of VRFs could reduce AD prevalence by improving neurovascular unit of the brain.

Present study investigated event-related desynchronization （ERD） of EEG alpha band during the Sternberg memory task with two memory scanning conditions using Hiragana and Katakana characters. Graphical Identification （GI） required subjects to distinguish the form of the characters （Hiragana/ Katakana） even though the pronunciation of them were the same. On the other hand, phonemical Identification （PI） does not require to distinguish the Hiragana/Katakana characters. Three conditions differ in memory load （1 /3 /5 characters in the memory set） were presented for both GI and PI task. EEGs were recorded from 128 electrodes scattered over the entire head. ERDs/ERSs in the alpha band during the memory scanning phase were examined to investigate the difference between the two identification modes. As a result, dominant ERD over parieto-occipital region was observed for both GI and PI. ERD suppression time, the time until alpha variance recovered from the suppression after the test item presentation, increased with memory load in GI but not in PI. In GI, significant positive correlation between reaction and suppression times was observed in the occipital, parietal, left central and right central areas. On the other hand, no significant correlation was observed in PI for all the areas. These results suggest that the difference between phonemical and graphical identifications during the memory scanning was reflected on the alpha suppression time. Further investigation will be needed to clarify the region-specificity of the suppression time effect according to the memory item based on EEG signal source analysis.