Citation

Levin HS, Hanten G, Zhang L, Swank PR, Ewing-Cobbs L, Dennis M, Barnes MA, Max J, Schachar R, Chapman SB, Hunter JV. Neuropsychology 2004; 18(2): 240-247.

Affiliation

Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA. hlevin@bcm.tmc.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, American Psychological Association)

DOI

10.1037/0894-4105.18.2.240

PMID

15099146

Abstract

The impact of traumatic brain injury (TBI) on working memory (WM) was studied in 144 children (79 with mild, 23 with moderate, and 42 with severe injuries) who underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 3 months and were tested at baseline and at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months postinjury. An n-back WM task for letter identity was administered with memory load ranging from 1- to 3-back and a 0-back condition. A TBI Severity x Quadratic Tune interaction showed that net percentage correct (correct detections of targets minus false alarms) was significantly lower in severe than in mild TBI groups. The Left Frontal Lesions x Age interaction approached significance. Mechanisms mediating late decline in WM and the effects of left frontal lesions are discussed.

Language: en