Interactions between divided attention and working-memory load in patients with severe traumatic brain injury.
The aim of this study was to assess the relationships between divided-attention deficits and working-memory limitations after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Severe TBI patients (n = 43) and controls were given a n-back task of three different load levels, which was performed as a single and a dual task. Patients demonstrated, as expected, a difficulty in dual-task processing and an increased susceptibility to high working-memory load, but dual-task performance and working-memory load did not interact as expected. These results are in accordance with recent findings suggesting that dual-task performance and other working-memory functions represent dissociable although interrelated abilities.
Asloun
Sybille
S
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Versailles Saint-Quentin, Versailles, France.
Soury
Stephane
S
Couillet
Josette
J
Giroire
Jean-Michel
JM
Joseph
Pierre-Alain
PA
Mazaux
Jean-Michel
JM
Azouvi
Philippe
P
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires