Cognitive impairment associated with toxigenic fungal exposure: a response to two critiques.
Fox, Greiffenstein, and Lees-Haley (2005) and McCaffrey and Yantz (2005) criticized our 2004 article that reported neuropsychological evidence of cognitive impairment in a sample of individuals exposed to toxic molds who complained of cognitive difficulties (Gordon et al., 2004). They critiqued the study's justification, design, analyses, and conclusions and characterized it as poor epidemiology. This article is a rebuttal to their comments. It documents that both sets of negative comments are based on frequent inaccuracies, mischaracterizations of our findings, and red herrings. Furthermore, they failed to refute the implications of the study's main findings.
Gordon
Wayne A
WA
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA. wayne.gordon@mssm.edu
Cantor
Joshua B
JB
Spielman
Lisa
L
Ashman
Teresa A
TA
Johanning
Eckardt
E
D015982:Bias; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000523:psychology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D006801:Humans; D009181:Mycoses / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D012107:Research Design