title: Comparison of blast-exposed OEF/OIF veterans with and without a history of TBI symptoms on a brief computerized neuropsychological battery.
abstract: Mild traumatic brain injuries (mild TBIs) resulting from exposure to Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) are highly prevalent among veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This exploratory study compared the neurocognitive performance of blast-exposed veterans with (n = 19) and without (n = 15) reported symptoms of mild TBI. All subjects had diagnoses of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Neurocognitive testing was administered using a well-established computerized battery, the Penn Computerized Neuropsychological Battery (CNB), and groups were well matched on age, race, education, and time since most recent blast exposure. Although differences were not observed on CNB accuracy scores, MANOVAs revealed slower processing speed in the mTBI group when answering correctly on tests of simple and sustained attention, with large effect sizes. Results suggest a potential speed-accuracy tradeoff in blast-related mild TBI, which should be further examined in larger samples.
authors.affiliation: a Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , USA.|b Department of Psychiatry , Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , USA.
authors.forename: Solomon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kalkstein
authors.affiliation: a Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , USA.|b Department of Psychiatry , Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , USA.|c VISN4 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , USA.
authors.forename: J Cobb
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.affiliation: a Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , USA.|b Department of Psychiatry , Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , USA.
authors.forename: Rosette
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Biester
authors.affiliation: a Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , USA.|b Department of Psychiatry , Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , USA.
authors.forename: Janeese A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Brownlow
authors.affiliation: d Yale University School of Medicine , New Haven , Connecticut , USA.|e Clinical Neurosciences Division, Veterans Affairs Connecticut Health Care System, National Center for PTSD , West Haven , Connecticut , USA.
authors.forename: Ilan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Harpaz-Rotem
authors.affiliation: a Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , USA.|b Department of Psychiatry , Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , USA.|c VISN4 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , USA.
authors.forename: Ruben C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Gur
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001753:Blast Injuries / Q000150:complications*; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Blast; cognitive; neuropsychological; posttraumatic stress disorder; traumatic brain injury