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Effect of acute hypoglycemia on visual information processing in adults with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Acute hypoglycemia in people with type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus causes general impairment in cognitive performance. The effects on more specific cognitive processes are less well defined. Acute hypoglycemia has been shown to impair visual information processing in nondiabetic human subjects and has now been examined in 16 adult subjects with type 1 diabetes. All subjects had normal visual acuity and no diabetic retinopathy, and their median (range) age was 24 (18-47) years with a median (range) duration of type 1 diabetes of 8 (2-18) years and a mean (SD) HbA1c of 8.5 (1.3)%. A hyperinsulinemic glucose clamp technique was used to maintain arterialized blood glucose at 5.0 mmol l(-1), and on separate test days, either euglycemia was continued or hypoglycemia (2.6 mmol l(-1)) was induced. During each condition subjects performed tests of visual processing and cognitive function. Hypoglycemia caused a significant disruption in general cognitive ability as assessed by digit symbol (p < 0.001) and trail-making B (p < 0.05) tasks. Conventional measures of visual acuity were unaffected by hypoglycemia, but visual information processing deteriorated significantly as indexed by inspection time (p < 0.005) and visual change detection (p < 0.01). Contrast sensitivity tended to deteriorate during hypoglycemia (p = 0.06). In conclusion, hypoglycemia impairs important aspects of early visual information processing and contrast sensitivity in adults with type 1 diabetes. Further research is needed to evaluate the functional relevance of such changes for everyday tasks that require the intake of visual information at speed and under conditions of low contrast.

Adolescent↗

Effects of severe closed-head injury on three stages of information processing.

The present study investigated the loci of the information-processing delay that characteristically follows severe closed-head injury (CHI). Sternberg's additive-factors logic was used to determine the effects of severe CHI on the central information-processing stages of stimulus encoding, memory comparison, and decision-making/response-selection. The task variables used to define the stages operationally were stimulus quality, memory set size, and stimulus-response compatibility. Twenty subjects who had sustained a severe CHI more than 18 months earlier and 20 matched control subjects completed a stimulus encoding by response selection task in Experiment 1, and a Sternberg high-speed memory scanning task in Experiment 2. The CHI group performed the stimulus encoding and decision-making/response-selection stages of processing significantly slower than did the control group. However, no significant group differences were found on the memory comparison stage, suggesting that memory comparison processes may be relatively intact in long-term patients with severe head trauma. The results are discussed in relation to a global and a late-specificity hypothesis of central processing deficits following severe CHI. The possibility that cognitive processes demanding less attention may be more resilient to injury is also considered.

Adult↗

Scopolamine and lorazepam exert different patterns of effects in a test battery assessing stages of information processing.

The effects of a single dose of scopolamine (0.5 mg) SC and of lorazepam (2.5 mg) PO were tested in two independent studies for their effects on performance in a psychometric battery which measured functions related to different stages of information processing. Attention and vigilance were measured by a continuous attention task and a vigilance task, respectively. Working memory and reasoning were evaluated by the rapid information processing and logical reasoning task; memory acquisition and storage were measured by pre- and post-drug immediate and delayed recall using visual material. The following pattern of effects was revealed; both scopolamine and lorazepam impaired performance in attentional and vigilance tasks as well as in the rapid information processing task significantly (P < 0.05) when compared with their own placebo; in the logical reasoning task lorazepam significantly prolonged the time required to solve a problem; scopolamine did not have any effect on this task. Scopolamine impaired performance in the immediate recall but left delayed recall unaffected; lorazepam impaired only delayed recall, immediate recall remaining unaffected. These data suggest that scopolamine at this dose impaired mostly attention and early stages of information processes; lorazepam at the dose tested impaired also the later acquisition and encoding aspects of memory.

Adult↗

Neuronal activity and information processing in motor control: from stages to continuous flow.

Some years ago, we proposed, along with others, that the isomorphism between models of information processing by stages and the organization of neural pathways connecting functionally specialized neuronal networks was a guideline for conducting experiments in which the integration of methods and concepts of cognitive psychology and of neurophysiology was a promising approach to increase our knowledge of the processes responsible for motor control. At a time when models of serially organized information processing stages are being increasingly challenged, the deciphering of the underlying brain processes increasingly suggests that current views about the linkage between neural structures and behavioural functions must be reconsidered. First, at the "molar" level, the notion of a functional specialization of neuronal networks as, for example, being "sensory", "sensorimotor" or "motor", has to be viewed as a quantitative and not as a qualitative concept. Second, at the "molecular" level, the notion of a clear-cut functional differentiation between neuronal units, or between small sets of neurons, must similarly be revised: a neuron may be more or less "sensory" or "motor" and, moreover, may share both these functional properties to varying degrees. When the brain processes responsible for movement control are reconsidered in the light of these two concepts--that is a functional heterogeneity of structurally defined neuronal networks, as well as a continuum in functional specification of isolated neuronal units--data collected by using single-cell recording of neuronal activity fit well into the model of a continuous flow of information processing: neural pathways from the cortical parietal association areas to the corticospinal apparatus appear as a privileged sensorimotor information stream along which the amount of neuronal activity responsible for movement planning progressively decreases, while the amount of neuronal activity involved in movement execution progressively increases.

Animals↗

A compendium of information processing functions in nursing. Development and pilot study.

Before introducing computers or other tools to support nursing care, it is important to have a clear picture of the information processing functions required in this area. This article presents a compendium of information processing functions used in nursing. This compendium can be used to support management of information systems in planning and monitoring nursing information systems. The article describes the development of the first version of this compendium and its evaluation in a pilot study. The results of this evaluation show that the compendium can be used to assess the quality of information processing in nursing.

Germany↗

Analysis of information processing and cognitive disability theory.

This study used the information-processing approach to conceptualize planning and problem-solving abilities and to expand the theoretical and empirical data base of Claudia Allen's cognitive disability model. The congruent validity of the Allen Cognitive Levels (ACL) test as a measure of cognition, specifically of the fluid information-processing abilities that underlie learning, was investigated. Criterion measures used were subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised edition (WAIS-R). Forty adult psychiatric patients participated in the study. Spearman r coefficients showed moderately high correlations between the ACL test and the WAIS-R subtests measuring fluid abilities, and Performance scale IQ. These results indicate that Allen's model and test can be useful in guiding occupational therapy planning when expected outcomes depend on the patient's learning potential.

Adolescent↗

The research process: informed consent.

Informed consent is a vital part of the research proposal and study. Informed consent is based on principles of autonomy ie, individuals have a right to full disclosure of information in order to make an informed decision and to assume responsibility for the consequences of their decision. Informed consent also contains a legal element whereby failure to obtain it is considered negligence and/or battery. Conducting studies when patients are medicated, ill, or very young or very old require special steps to verify that subjects are fully informed. It is important that PACU nurses pay particular attention to the informed consent process when planning and conducting research studies.

Consent Forms↗

The effects of stimulant drugs on information processing in elderly adults.

The effects of stimulant drug on information processing in elderly adults was studied. In Experiment 1, the effect of methylphenidate (MP) was examined in 8 young and 8 elderly women using a task (SERS) in which stimulus and response complexities were varied. MP speeded processing in the young but not in the elderly women. A second experiment was then conducted to isolate the age-stimulant effects. In Experiment 2, the effects of MP and 10 mg of d-amphetamine (DAMP) were studied in 12 young and 12 elderly men on different types of information processing. Stimulants changed performance on a continuous performance task in both groups. Both stimulants speeded processing on SERS in young, but not in elderly men. MP, however, speeded processing in both groups on a response processing task. The findings suggest that stimulants act on response processing and there appear to be several such processes. Some of these stages decline with age whereas others do not.

Adult↗

Medical information processing skills: guide posts to clinical assessment.

This is a review of the skills involved in processing medical information in order to solve medical problems. The review starts by describing recognized stages in problem solving then moves on to offer practical suggestions on how to obtain medical information, how to record it, and how to present it.

Clinical Competence↗

Analysis of the morphological substrate for information processing in the striatum based on the organizational characteristics of its afferent projections.

Retrograde axonal transport of markers was used to study the afferent projections arising from functionally diverse cortical and subcortical structures and running to various segments of the caudate nucleus, nucleus accumbens, and putamen of the dog brain. The characteristics of the spatial organization of these projections were used to analyze the morphological aspects of the segregated and convergent conduction and processing of information in the striatum which underlie striatal function.

Afferent Pathways↗

Impulsivity and speed-accuracy tradeoffs in information processing.

Despite its theoretical importance for such areas of research as reflection-impulsivity (Kagan, 1966), there is little evidence to support the assumption that individual differences in the personality trait of impulsivity are associated with differences in the willingness to sacrifice accuracy for speed of information processing. The present studies explored this association further. In Experiment 1, high, medium, and low impulsives (identified by self-report) performed a visual-comparison task under conditions differing in the monetary payoff for speed relative to accuracy. High impulsives were consistently faster and less accurate than other subjects. However, an analysis based on Sternberg's (1969) additive-factor method indicated that high impulsives performed at least one stage of information processing as slowly and accurately as other subjects. In Experiment 2, it was found that high impulsives were actually more accurate than low impulsives when all subjects were required to process information extremely rapidly. Experiment 3 identified the response execution stage as one that high impulsives carry out just as slowly and accurately as other individuals. The data from these experiments pose problems for a simple speed-accuracy tradeoff model of impulsive cognitive functioning.

Adult↗

Information processing and neuroleptic response in acute and stabilized schizophrenic patients.

Information processing was measured in 13 acute and 18 stabilized schizophrenic patients using the span of apprehension task. Acutely disturbed patients demonstrated improved performance on this task after 14 days of treatment with haloperidol. Stabilized patients maintained on fluphenazine decanoate did not show a significant change in performance during 3 months of treatment. Among the acutely disturbed patients, those with good baseline performance or the greatest initial improvement on the span of apprehension task showed the greatest reduction in various aspects of schizophrenic thought disturbance in response to drug treatment. These preliminary results suggest that information-processing measures may be useful in defining clinically meaningful subtypes in schizophrenia.

Adult↗

Information processing in borderline patients.

An experiment was conducted to determine whether depressed borderline patients could be distinguished from normal controls and psychotic patients on the basis of a visual backward masking task that measures speed of information processing. Results showed that a) borderline patients could not be distinguished from normal controls on the information-processing task; b) both the borderline patients and the normal controls were superior to psychotic patients with diagnoses of major depressive, schizoaffective, and manic disorders; and c) among the three psychotic groups, the schizoaffective subjects were the most impaired. The data support the idea that borderline patients have normal-range information-processing functions. In distinction, all three psychotic groups showed disruption of this fundamental ego function by which information is processed. The results of related experiments indicate that schizotypal patients (in distinction to borderline patients) are abnormal information processors. Taken together, these findings support the contention that the schizotypal/borderline distinction is valid.

Adult↗

Information processing in the olfactory systems of insects and vertebrates.

Insects and vertebrates separately evolved remarkably similar mechanisms to process olfactory information. Odors are sampled by huge numbers of receptor neurons, which converge type-wise upon a much smaller number of principal neurons within glomeruli. There, odor information is transformed by inhibitory interneuron-mediated, cross-glomerular circuit interactions that impose slow temporal structures and fast oscillations onto the firing patterns of principal neurons. The transformations appear to improve signal-to-noise characteristics, define odor categories, achieve precise odor identification, extract invariant features, and begin the process of sparsening the neural representations of odors for efficient discrimination, memorization, and recognition.

Animals↗

Impaired speed of visual information processing in marijuana intoxication.

The authors conducted a double-blind crossover study to investigate the effects of marijuana on visual information processing. The authors used a tachistoscopic paradigm, and the results show no marijuana effect on the critical stimulus duration, a measure of stimulus intake. The visual backward masking data are compatible with a marijuana-induced slowness of information processing from labile unconscious iconic memory to more permanent memory processes. These results are discussed in relation to reports of marijuana's effects on perception and early information processing.

Adult↗

[Significance of information processing systems for schizophrenic diseases, exemplified by deficient memory functions].

The occurrance of interference as a basic disturbance in sensory input and information processing in schizophrenic patients is explained both by means of a theoretical model implying a deficit in filtering, as well as describing a time delay in the information processing. Such basic disturbances seem to be at least partly, due to short-term memory processing when it is considering that this kind of storage represents a main function of the information processing system. The results presented here, indicate that schizophrenic patients show disturbances in various memory functions, in relationship to their subjective awareness of these disturbances. Immediate memorizing is a task that is particularly affected here, especially when examined under non-artificial, that is, everyday conditions requiring the simultaneous solving of a variety of tasks and entailing a disruption in attention. Schizophrenics were found to deviate highly significantly from nonschizophrenics regarding their ability to retain short-term material. The main cause for these results is their low resistance towards distraction, and the potential to be disturbed through interference. The question that arises here is: how the main schizophrenic symptom, known as thought disorder, can be explained by the handicap of a short-term memory, and not neglect the possible importance of the correlation with other psychic functions such as attention and concentration. The pathological significance of a malfunctioning memory can be illustrated by the significant correlations seen between immediate memory and the prognosis of the disease schizophrenia.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

Drama advertisements: moderating effects of self-relevance on the relations among empathy, information processing, and attitudes.

The effects of drama versus lecture format in public service advertisements are studied in a 2 (format) x 2 (malaria vs AIDS) factorial design. Two structural equation models are built (one for each level of self-relevance), showing two distinct patterns. In both low and high self-relevant situations, empathy plays a key role. Under low self-relevance conditions, drama enhances information processing through empathy. Under high self-relevant conditions, the advertisement format has neither significant cognitive or empathetic effects. The information processing generated by the highly relevant topic affects viewers' empathy, which in turn affects the attitude the advertisement and the behavioral intent. As predicted by the Elaboration Likelihood Model, the advertisement format enhances the attitudes and information processing mostly under low self-relevant conditions. Under low self-relevant conditions, empathy enhances information processing while under high self-relevance, the converse relation holds.

Adolescent↗

Resource for temporal information processing in interval production.

The resource required to process temporal information in interval production was investigated. 12 undergraduates performed 4-sec. interval production and nontemporal tasks, the probe digit task and the missing digit task. Although both tasks required memory search and employed the same modality for input and for responding, the probe digit task required a phonological resource and the missing digit task required a spatial resource. Analysis showed that both concurrent nontemporal tasks caused interval productions to be longer, suggesting that the temporal processing required a resource which both tasks used commonly. This resource may be a general purpose, capacity-limited resource associated with a central executive function in working memory.

Adult↗