Previous research suggests that the Paced Auditory Serial Attention Task (PASAT) alters mood states, which may induce performance changes and complicate interpretation test scores. In the current design, we examined arousal as one mechanism moderating PASAT performance. It was expected that arousal level would increase during the test, and performance on the test would be related to arousal lev...

OBJECTIVE To assess the difficulty of paced auditory serial addition test (PASAT) in a population of high intellectual level, under ideal cognitive testing circumstances. METHOD One hundred medical students underwent PASAT testing. They had slept well the night before, they had eaten before the assessment, they were not using any drugs that could affect the central nervous system and they did...

We have previously demonstrated that assessment of antisaccades (AS) provides not only measures of motor function in multiple sclerosis (MS), but measures of cognitive control processes in particular, attention and working memory. This study sought to demonstrate the potential for AS measures to sensitively reflect change in functional status in MS. Twenty-four patients with relapsing-remitting...

Background Fire service workers often implement multiple duties in the emergency conditions, with such duties being mostly conducted in various ambient temperatures. Methods The aim of the current study was to assess the firefighters' physiological responses, information processing, and working memory prior to and following simulated firefighting activities in three different hot environments...

AIM To examine the effects of working memory (WM) training in adult patients with stroke. METHODS A randomized pilot study with a treatment group and a passive control group; 18 participants (12 males) in a vocational age group (mean age 54 years) were randomized to either the treatment or the control condition. The intervention consisted of computerized training on various WM tasks for five ...

BACKGROUND Interferon beta-1a (IFNbeta-1a, Avonex) is efficacious in relapsing forms of MS. Studies of other IFNbeta preparations in secondary progressive MS (SPMS) yielded conflicting results. This study was undertaken to determine whether IFNbeta-1a slowed disease progression in SP-MS. METHODS A total of 436 subjects with SPMS and Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score 3.5 to 6.5 wer...

BACKGROUND The no-go P3a is a variant of the P300 event-related potential (ERP) that indexes speed of information processing and attention allocation. The aim of this study was to compare ERP findings with results from the paced auditory serial addition test (PASAT) and to quantify latency, amplitude and topographical differences in P3a ERP components between multiple sclerosis (MS) patients an...

BACKGROUND The Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite (MSFC) provides a focused and sensitive evaluation of disability in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) that may be more responsive to change than that provided by the Expanded Disability Status Scale. EXPERT CLINICAL OPINION The MSFC is a 3-part quantitative instrument that measures arm, leg, and cognitive function with the 9-Hole Peg ...