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Kristen Barlow-Ogden, MA; William Poynter, PhD

Mild traumatic brain injury and posttraumatic stress disorder: Investigation of visual attention in Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom veterans. Kristen Barlow-Ogden, MA; William Poynter, PhD. Aim

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Kristen Barlow-Ogden, MA; William Poynter, PhD

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  1. Mild traumatic brain injury and posttraumatic stress disorder:Investigation of visual attention in Operation Iraqi Freedom/OperationEnduring Freedom veterans Kristen Barlow-Ogden, MA; William Poynter, PhD

  2. Aim • Compare visual attentional performance of veterans diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) + posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), PTSD only, or neither (controls). • Relevance • Veterans with mTBI commonly report attention problems, but relatively few studies have investigated types and levels of behavioral attentional deficits in veterans with mTBI + PTSD.

  3. Methods • 47 combat veterans participated. • 19 to 45 yr old. • Served in Operation Iraqi and/or Enduring Freedom • Used LANT (lateralized attention network task). • Computerized visual attention task that measures speed and accuracy with which subjects shift attention to locations in visual field (VF) and selectively focus attention on target stimuli. • Selectively flashes stimuli to the right and left VFs, so hemispheric asymmetries in attentional performance can also be measured.

  4. Visual stimuli and timeline of LANT stimulus sequence.

  5. Results • mTBI+PTSD group (vs PTSD and control groups): • Slower attentional responses. • More variable responses. • Suggests difficulty with attentional vigilance. • Hemispheric asymmetries in attentional performance. • Participants with mTBI+PTSD were less efficient in orienting visual attention to stimuli flashed to the left VF. • Suggests right hemisphere deficit.

  6. Conclusion • Overall, veterans with mTBI + PTSD displayed longer response times and were less accurate than PTSD only and control groups, especially when cues were presented to left VF.

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