Attentional deficits in concussion.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE The purpose of the present study was to examine deficits in the alerting, orienting and executive components of attention in individuals who have recently suffered a concussion. RESEARCH DESIGN A group design was used in which the performance by individuals with concussion was compared to control subjects matched for age, height, weight and activity level. METHODS AND PROCEDURES Participants completed the Attentional Network Test (ANT) that breaks down attention into alerting, orienting and executive components. Reaction time and response accuracy were the dependent variables. MAIN OUTCOMES AND RESULTS It was found that only the orienting and executive components of attention were affected by concussion, whereas the alerting component was normal. Furthermore, participants with concussion required a significantly longer time than controls to initiate correct responses. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that the orienting and executive components of attention are most susceptible to the effects of concussion.