The Nature of Processing Speed Deficits in Traumatic Brain Injury: is Less Brain More?
| Journal | Brain Imaging and Behavior |
| Publisher | Springer New York |
| ISSN | 1931-7557 (Print) 1931-7565 (Online) |
| Issue | Volume 4, Number 2 / June, 2010 |
| DOI | 10.1007/s11682-010-9094-z |
| Pages | 141-154 |
| Subject Collection | Behavioral Science |
| SpringerLink Date | Saturday, May 01, 2010 |
Frank G. Hillary1, 2, 6 
, Helen M. Genova3, John D. Medaglia1, Neal M. Fitzpatrick4, Kathy S. Chiou1, Britney M. Wardecker1, Robert G. Franklin Jr.1, Jianli Wang4 and John DeLuca3, 5
The cognitive constructs working memory (WM) and processing speed are fundamental components to general intellectual functioning in humans and highly susceptible to disruption following neurological insult. Much of the work to date examining speeded working memory deficits in clinical samples using functional imaging has demonstrated recruitment of network areas including prefrontal cortex (PFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). What remains unclear is the nature of this neural recruitment. The goal of this study was to isolate the neural networks distinct from those evident in healthy adults and to determine if reaction time (RT) reliably predicts observable between-group differences. The current data indicate that much of the neural recruitment in TBI during a speeded visual scanning task is positively correlated with RT. These data indicate that recruitment in PFC during tasks of rapid information processing are at least partially attributable to normal recruitment of PFC support resources during slowed task processing.
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11682-010-9094-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Keywords TBI - fMRI - Reorganization - Working memory - Processing speed
