Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology
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J Clin Exp Neuropsychol · Jan 2014
Development of a novel task for investigating decision making in a social context following traumatic brain injury.
Examination of social cognition as a target for assessment and intervention is beginning to gain momentum in a number of illnesses and acquired disorders. One facet of social cognition is decision making within interpersonal situations. This skill forms an important part of our everyday lives and is commonly impaired in those with neurological and mental health conditions. A novel task was developed to allow the assessment of decision making specifically within a social context and was examined within a group known to experience this difficulty. ⋯ The SDMT offers a novel way of examining decision making within a social context following TBI and may also be useful in other populations known to have specific social cognition impairment. Future research should aim to provide further clarification of the mechanisms of action and neuroanatomical correlates of poor performance on this task.
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J Clin Exp Neuropsychol · Jan 2014
"Good-old-days" bias: a prospective follow-up study to examine the preinjury supernormal status in patients with mild traumatic brain injury.
Postconcussion symptoms (PCS) are common following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). A psychological misperception, the "good-old-days" bias, has been indicated as one of the influencing factors on symptom reporting after injury. To date, this response bias has only been examined in a small number of cross-sectional studies. This study thus prospectively evaluated the "good-old-days" bias in patients with mTBI. ⋯ This study thus might be the first one to prospectively reveal the progression of the "good-old-days" bias in patients with mTBI.
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J Clin Exp Neuropsychol · Jan 2014
Premorbid predictors of postconcussion symptoms in collegiate athletes.
In recent years, the sports community has been faced with the challenge of determining when it is safe to return concussed athletes to play. Given that return-to-play decisions are partially dependent upon athletes' endorsement of symptoms, better understanding what factors contribute to the presence of symptoms following concussion is crucial. The purpose of the present study was to better characterize the symptoms that athletes endorse at baseline and to determine what impact various premorbid (or preinjury) characteristics have on the presence and severity of postconcussion symptoms in the acute injury period following concussion. ⋯ These findings show that certain baseline characteristics of athletes confer risk for greater symptomatology postconcussion. Knowledge of these risk factors can assist the management and treatment of sports-related concussion.
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J Clin Exp Neuropsychol · Jan 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialImpact of diagnosis threat on academic self-efficacy in mild traumatic brain injury.
The current study examined the effect of diagnosis threat on self-efficacy and neuropsychological performance in mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). Forty-nine participants with a history of mild TBI were randomized to a diagnosis threat or control group. ⋯ The groups performed differently on only one neuropsychological measure. These results suggest that diagnosis threat may have a greater impact on psychological factors than on cognitive performance.
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J Clin Exp Neuropsychol · Jan 2013
Does the presence of posttraumatic anosmia mean that you will be disinhibited?
Dispute has surrounded the issue of whether the relationship between anosmia and executive dysfunction in traumatic brain injury (TBI) may be artefactual due to poor ascertainment. Three groups matched for age, gender, education, Full Scale IQ, and the Wechsler Working Memory Index and showing adequate symptom validity were compared: 30 anosmic TBIs (TBI-A) matched for posttraumatic amnesia (PTA) and working memory functioning with 36 nonanosmic TBIs (TBI-NA) and 51 controls. The groups performed the FAS test, the Animal Fluency test, the Stroop Neurological Screening Test (SNST), the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test-64 (WCST-64) and the Trail Making Test (TMT-B) as well as tests of emotional functioning and return to work outcome. ⋯ The two groups did not differ in terms of their affective functioning (i.e., Beck Depression Inventory or Beck Anxiety Inventory), or in terms of their outcome with regard to return to work. The findings support the notion that the TBI-A group demonstrated considerably weaker performance on executive tasks than did the nonanosmic TBIs. These patients were not, however, more prone to an error-prone pattern of performance, and, if anything, their executive deficit was more likely attributable to a reduced productivity of response.