The impact of level of injury on patterns of cognitive dysfunction in individuals with spinal cord injury

Model System:

SCI

Reference Type:

Journal article

Accession No.:

J84722

Journal:

Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine - JSCM (formerly Journal of the American Paraplegia Society)

Year, Volume, Issue, Page(s):

2020 , 43, 5, 633-641

Publication Website:

Abstract:

Study examined the relationship between lesion level and cognitive performance in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). Fifty-nine individuals with SCI (30 with tetraplegia and 29 with paraplegia) and 30 age-matched healthy controls (HC) completed neuropsychological tests in the domains of attention, working memory, processing speed, executive control, and learning and memory. Results indicated significantly lower test performance in individuals with paraplegia on new learning and memory testing compared to HC. In contrast, compared to HC the group with tetraplegia, showed a significantly impaired performance on a processing speed task, and both the tetraplegia and the paraplegia groups were similarly impaired on a verbal fluency measure. SCI groups did not differ on any cognitive measure. The findings suggest that individuals with SCI may display different patterns of cognitive performance based on their level of injury.

Author(s):