title: Cognition in early human immunodeficiency virus infection.
abstract: Relatively little is known about cognitive changes in early human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. This study examined cognitive functioning in 46 HIV-positive gay men relative to an age and education equivalent group of 13 HIV-negative gay men. The HIV-positive men were asymptomatic except for lymphadenopathy or T4 counts less than 700. The cognitive battery measured language, memory, visuospatial, information processing speeds, reasoning, attention, and psychomotor processes. The HIV-positive group was significantly slower in processing information and performed significantly less well than the HIV-negative group on certain verbal memory measures. Deviations of 1 as well as 2 SDs from the norm/control group mean on four or more tests were observed in 43% and 22% of the HIV-positive subjects, respectively, compared with 8% and none of the HIV-negative subjects, respectively. The results suggest that cognitive inefficiency occurs in a subsample of individuals during early HIV infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Miami, School of Medicine, FL 33136.
authors.forename: F L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Wilkie
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Eisdorfer
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Loewenstein
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Szapocznik
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000523:psychology*; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011930:Reaction Time; D013997:Time Factors