Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS
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The clinical presentation of electrical injury commonly involves physical, cognitive, and emotional complaints. Neuropsychological studies, including case reports, have indicated that electrical injury (EI) survivors may experience a broad range of impaired neuropsychological functions, although this has not been clarified through controlled investigation. In this study, we describe the neuropsychological test findings in a series of 29 EI patients carefully screened and matched to a group of 29 demographically similar healthy electricians. ⋯ Multivariate analysis of variance was used to assess group differences in the following neuropsychological domains: attention and mental speed, working memory, verbal memory, visual memory, and motor skills. EI patients performed significantly worse on composite measures of attention/mental speed and motor skills, which could not be explained by demographic differences, injury parameters, litigation status, or mood disturbance. Results suggest that cognitive changes do occur in patients suffering from electrical injury.
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J Int Neuropsychol Soc · Oct 2005
Comparative StudyEcstasy (MDMA) exposure and neuropsychological functioning: a polydrug perspective.
Ecstasy (MDMA) is a popular drug that can act as a selective serotonin neurotoxin in several species. The goal of the present study was to examine the relationship between ecstasy exposure and cognitive functioning after controlling for other drug use and demographic variables. Furthermore, we assessed whether gender was a moderator of the relationship between cognitive functioning and ecstasy use. ⋯ Gender was found to significantly moderate the relationship between ecstasy consumption and design fluency. These results suggest primary memory dysfunction among abstinent recreational ecstasy users. This finding is consistent with reports of hippocampal vulnerability, particularly among heavy users.
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J Int Neuropsychol Soc · Jul 2005
Meta Analysis Comparative StudyThe neuropsychological impact of sports-related concussion: a meta-analysis.
There is increasing interest in the potential neuropsychological impact of sports-related concussion. A meta-analysis of the relevant literature was conducted to determine the impact of sports-related concussion across six cognitive domains. The analysis was based on 21 studies involving 790 cases of concussion and 2014 control cases. ⋯ These findings were moderated by cognitive domain and comparison group (control group versus preconcussion self-control). Specifically, delayed memory in studies utilizing a control group remained problematic at 7 days. The implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.
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J Int Neuropsychol Soc · Nov 2004
Clinical TrialQuality of life, emotional, and cognitive function following acute respiratory distress syndrome.
Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) is characterized by lung injury and hypoxemia, has a high mortality rate, and is associated with significant morbidity including cognitive and emotional sequelae and decreased quality of life. There is limited information regarding which of these factors are associated with decreased quality of life. This study assessed the relationships between quality of life, cognitive and emotional function in ARDS survivors at 1-year post-hospital discharge. ⋯ Cognitive impairments did not correlate with decreased quality of life. Illness severity and emotional function, but not cognitive sequelae, are associated with decreased quality of life 1 year following ARDS. ARDS is common and may result in significant cognitive and emotional morbidity and decreased quality of life.
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J Int Neuropsychol Soc · Sep 2004
Comparative StudyParametric manipulation of working memory load in traumatic brain injury: behavioral and neural correlates.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is often associated with enduring impairments in high-level cognitive functioning, including working memory (WM). We examined WM function in predominantly chronic patients with mild, moderate and severe TBI and healthy comparison subjects behaviorally and, in a small subset of moderate-to-severe TBI patients, with event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), using a visual n-back task that parametrically varied WM load. ⋯ Examination of the pattern of behavioral responding and the temporal course of activations suggests that WM deficits in moderate-to-severe TBI are due to associative or strategic aspects of WM, and not impairments in active maintenance of stimulus representations. Overall, results demonstrate that individuals with moderate-to-severe TBI exhibit WM deficits that are associated with dysfunction within a distributed network of brain regions that support verbally mediated WM.