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Speed of word retrieval in postconcussion syndrome

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2006

MARIA A. CRAWFORD ,
ROBERT G. KNIGHT  and
BRENT L. ALSOP
MARIA A. CRAWFORD
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand Maria Crawford is now employed as a clinical psychologist by the Southland District Health Board, Invercargill, New Zealand
ROBERT G. KNIGHT
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
BRENT L. ALSOP
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
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Abstract

Speed of information processing in persons with postconcussion syndrome (PCS) was examined using word fluency tasks. Twenty patients with PCS and twenty controls matched for age, gender, and occupation were given two word fluency tasks, and the speed of word generation was measured. Response latencies were analyzed to determine whether slowed retrieval or degradation of words in semantic memory was responsible for problems with word retrieval after traumatic brain injury. The PCS group recalled fewer words, had significantly longer interresponse times, and took significantly longer to generate their first word than the controls. There was no evidence that either structure loss or slowness in word retrieval from semantic memory could account for the word fluency deficits. Rather, the findings suggest that the primary cause of word retrieval difficulties in patients with PCS is a generalized slowness of cognitive processing (JINS, 2007, 13, 178–182.)The study described was part of Maria Crawford's doctoral thesis. This research was supported by a University of Otago Research Grant awarded to Robert G. Knight and a Ph.D. scholarship awarded to Maria Crawford.

Keywords

Postconcussion syndromeInformation processingRetrieval speedWord fluencyMemoryAttention
Type
BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , January 2007 , pp. 178 - 182
Copyright
© 2007 The International Neuropsychological Society

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