Attentional mechanisms during the intracarotid amobarbital test.
We investigated the integrity of attentional mechanisms following unilateral intracarotid amobarbital injection in 23 patients undergoing preoperative evaluation for epilepsy surgery. Performance for ipsilateral hand-button response to a quasi-random strobe flash was markedly altered following unilateral amobarbital injection as evidenced by decreased correct responses and increased perseverative errors. The increase in perseverations was inversely correlated with subsequent memory performance. The results indicate that unilateral amobarbital injection commonly produces a marked reduction in attention as well as disturbances in strategic control mechanisms.
Huh
K
K
Department of Neurology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta 30912.
Meador
K J
KJ
Loring
D W
DW
Lee
G P
GP
Brooks
B S
BS
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000654:Amobarbital; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002339:Carotid Arteries; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007269:Injections, Intra-Arterial; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis
D000654:Amobarbital