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.