The Impact of Concussion on Processing Speed and Individual Reaction Time Components
Author | : Liora Greenberg |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : |
Release | : 2016 |
Genre | : |
ISBN | : |
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Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is associated with an increased risk for neurocognitive and neurobehavioral deficits. Because these impairments can be difficult to detect using current neuroimaging methods, it is important to identify instruments that are brief and reliable assessments of neuropsychological functioning post injury. Slower reaction times (RTs) have been associated with mTBI. Because RT is comprised of several interactive processes including drift rate (v), boundary separation (a), and Ter, slower RTs may arise due to changes to any of these components. The goal of this study is to determine whether and which RT components are impacted by mTBI, and whether they relate to other neuropsychological variables. Performance on a 25-trial forced choice response task (the Computerized Assessment of Response Bias; CARB) was used to extract Drift Diffusion Model (DDM) estimates of v, a, and Ter. At baseline, 214 college athletes were administered a neuropsychological evaluation and had useable diffusion variables. 166 of these sustained a sports-related concussion. 7 of these participants had useable diffusion variables at a post-concussion visit. Additionally, 39 college athletes had useable diffusion variables at a post-concussion follow-up visit, irrespective of their baseline diffusion data. Baseline analyses indicated associations between v and neuropsychological functioning. However no significant relationships emerged between DDM variables and symptom severity. RT components were generally unaffected by concussion. DDM analyses did not differ among athletes who sustained a concussion versus others. This may be due primarily to the combination of the error rate demanded by the DDM and the typically low error rate of the CARB, as well as possible motivational influences in this particular population.