PSYC 330 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Action Potential, Motor System, Substantia Nigra
4 Jun 2018
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CH10 Neuropsychological Tests and Executive Attention Deficits
Assessing attention deficits
- Paper and pencil tests
Trail Making Test (TMT)
- Part A: connect numbers from 1 to 25 randomly
scattered on a sheet of paper
- Part B: it has 13 numbers and 13 letters, connect no and
letters in alternation
- Limitation: performance may reflect some form of
attention deficit, but doesn’t say beyond that (ie what
kind, how severe)
Pace Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT)
- Measure speed of processing
- The subjects hear a series of numbers and must add the
two most recently presented ones together
- Eg if the subject hear 4, 7, 3, 9, he must add (4+7)
together, and inhibit the sum (11) when the next number
is presented, and then add (7+3) and so on
Test of Attention Performance (TAP)
- Different subtests helps narrow down which functions are performing below normal level
→ more informative
■ Alertness (respond to tone, reaction time )
■ Attention shifting (symbolic location cue)
■ Divided attention (4 crosses on screen that move around, when they line up to form a
square, press button while doing auditory task where you press button when the auditory
pattern changes)
■ Express saccades (attentional disengagement; e.g., quicker saccades when fixation
cross disappears before the target shows up)
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find more resources at oneclass.com
2
■ Flexibility (switching between target types)
- Alternate between trials that involve making a decision on letters and trails that
involve making decisions on shapes
■ Go-nogo (to measure response suppression)
- Trials where you don't respond to target and trials where you respond to target
- Lack of inhibitory response → respond anyway
- e.g., those with ADHD have difficulty not responding
■ Incompatibility (resistance to interference)
- Respond when arrow on right side pointing to the right, but not when it points to
the left; & vice versa with the left side
- Similar to Stroop tasks
■ Cross-modal integration (visual-auditory)
- Arrow pointing up/down while high/low tone plays
- Respond when {up arrow, high tone} or {down arrow, low tone}
■ Visual field/neglect
- See visual stimuli on left/ right side, response speed may be slower/ non existent
depending
■ Visual search (with hard-to-find targets)
- 4x4 grid with boxes, with a gap in each box. Target box has gap on the top. Or
there are no target boxes.
Test of Everyday Attention (TEA)
■ P are asked questions that solve problems
■ e.g., Sara is driving at 60km/h to Calgary,
■ Limitation: doesn’t narrow down what kind of deficit there is
Head injuries
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBI)
- 85% of head injuries are concussions
- Tend to be mild (mTBI) → not taken seriously
- Common causes: children/ elderly fall,
teenagers doing sports, middle-aged adults
having transportation accidents
Biomechanics
- Concussion results when our brain rocks in our
cranial cavity
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find more resources at oneclass.com
3
- Doesn’t even have to be an impact, can just be a
whiplash
■ Contrecoup injury:
- “Rebound injury - injury via rocking back and
forth → front/ back of brain gets injured
■ Woodpeckers
- Unlike our brain, their brains are a tight fit inside
their skull → no rocking back and forth
- Their cranium is also nice and smooth on the
inside → even if brain does move, there’s little
friction to hurt the brain
■ The 2 brain hemispheres are very separated → the Corpus callosum is very important
for communication b/w the hemispheres
- Concussions where one hemisphere moves forward and the other moves
backwards → shearing of corpus callosum (more severe form of concussion)
■ Helmets do not prevent concussion
- There will always be rocking inside the head (unless you fill in the space in your
head with foam LOL)
Diagnostic tests
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Part a: connect numbers from 1 to 25 randomly scattered on a sheet of paper. Part b: it has 13 numbers and 13 letters, connect no and letters in alternation. Limitation: performance may reflect some form of attention deficit, but doesn"t say beyond that (ie what kind, how severe) The subjects hear a series of numbers and must add the two most recently presented ones together. Eg if the subject hear 4, 7, 3, 9, he must add (4+7) together, and inhibit the sum (11) when the next number is presented, and then add (7+3) and so on. Different subtests helps narrow down which functions are performing below normal level. Alertness (respond to tone, reaction time ) Divided attention (4 crosses on screen that move around, when they line up to form a square, press button while doing auditory task where you press button when the auditory pattern changes)
