Remediating deficits of switching attention in patients with acquired brain injury

Objective: This study was designed to evaluate the remediating effects of two types of aid on a test of switching attention administered to patients with acquired brain injury (ABI). Based on the separation of cognitive functions suggested by a neural network model, it was hypothesized that external inhibition of obsolete rules, and increased salience Of stimuli, would differentially improve the WCST performance of participants with ABI. Design and method: The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) performance of 24 patients with ABI assigned to three treatment groups (no treatment, external inhibition, increased stimulus salience) was compared to normal controls. Main outcomes: External inhibition of learned rules reduced perseverative errors, while increased stimuli salience reduced random errors, committed by patients with ABI. Conclusions: The pattern of results supports the separation of functions in switching attention suggested by a neural network model, and establishes minimal aids necessary for remediating deficits associated with ABI.