BACKGROUND Numerous studies have demonstrated that the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) has utility for the detection of cognitive processing deficits. While the PASAT has demonstrated high levels of internal consistency and test-retest reliability, administration of the PASAT has been known to create undue anxiety and frustration in participants. As a result, degradation of performa...

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...

Impaired information processing speed (IPS) is common in multiple sclerosis (MS). As a measure of IPS the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT), the measure recommended for serial assessments by the National MS Society Task Force, is influenced by practice effects. Within session practice effects for the PASAT were examined in a sample of 30 individuals with MS. Significant practice effec...

Background: The paced auditory serial addition test (PASAT) was primarily developed to assess the effects of traumatic brain injury on cognitive functioning. Working memory (WM) is one of the most important aspects of cognitive function, and WM impairment is one of the clinically remarkable signs of aphasia. To develop the Persian version of PASAT, an initial version was used in individuals wit...

PURPOSE To investigate the effects of divided attention on conventional automated perimetry (CAP) and luminance size threshold perimetry (LSTP). METHODS Ten healthy subjects, ages 27 to 65, with two perimetry types (CAP and LSTP) were tested in random order. At a later session, these tests were given with a mental workload to simulate the effect of anxiety or distraction on subjects performin...

This study aimed to determine autonomic and jaw-muscle activities, and haemodynamic responses, to acute experimental mental stress in humans. Eleven healthy men (25.2 ± 3.0 years of age) and five healthy women (23.0 ± 3.7 years of age) performed a standardized mental stress task, the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT). Autonomic function, such as heart rate variability (HRV), and haemo...

The goal of this dissertation is to account for the fact that young children acquiring English (around age 2 years) often produce utterances like (1), in which they omit a form of the copula, be. Children's production of forms like (1) is interesting for two main reasons: firstly, utterances like these do not occur in the input (adult English); secondly, children's omission of the copula adhere...

INTRODUCTION Cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS) is common even in the early stages of the disease. Our objective was to improve early detection of cognitive impairment in MS. METHODS Seventy-five patients with relapsing remitting (RR) MS and 20 controls were enrolled. Two RRMS groups were defined according to their results at the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT). Patie...

The Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT) is a cognitive task purported to measure working memory, speed of information processing, and sustained and divided attention (Spreen, O. & Strauss, E. (1998). A compendium of neuropsychological tests: administration, norms, and commentary (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.) The current study examined whether treating late responses...