Early Neuropsychological Change in HIV Infection

The neuropsychological and psychosocial functioning of 15 Ss infected with HIV+ was examined. Performance by the HIV+ Ss was compared with that of 15 at-risk HIV-Ss. Relative to the HIV-Ss, the HIV+ Ss were impaired on measures of attention, verbal fluency, and visual memory. The pattern of deficit exhibited by the HIV+ Ss was suggestive of a subcortical dysfunction. Despite this, the HIV+ Ss did not exhibit greater levels of psychosocial impairment. There was no relationship between depression and neuropsychological test performance for the HIV+ Ss. The development of specific criteria for defining impairment when assessing the neuropsychological consequences of HIV infection is recommended.