Information processing following mild head injury.
Research has shown that individuals who have sustained mild head injury demonstrate a slowed speed of processing that is exacerbated by fatigue/stress. We administered the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) at the beginning and at the end of a 4-h experimental protocol to determine whether fatigue or a stressor would result in poorer scores for individuals who had previously sustained mild head injury. A significant improvement was found between the first and second administration for both head-injured and control subjects, but difference scores revealed a significant between-groups difference for the first of the four trials, with the head-injured participants performing worse than controls. Apparently, head-injured participants were slower to develop, as well as slower to regain, a means of efficiently processing rapidly presented information.
O'Jile
Judith R
JR
Department of Psychiatry & Human Behavior, University of Mississippi Medical Center, 2500 North State Street, Jackson, MS 39216, USA. jojile@psychiatry.umsmed.edu
Ryan
Laurie M
LM
Betz
Brian
B
Parks-Levy
Judith
J
Hilsabeck
Robin C
RC
Rhudy
Jamie L
JL
Gouvier
Wm Drew
WD
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011214:Practice, Psychological