COGNITIVE SEQUELAE OF RIGHT CEREBROVASCULAR ACCIDENT: ISSUES OF VERBAL DEFICIT AND SEX DIFFERENTIAL PATTERNS IN VISUOSPATIAL AND VERBAL PERFORMANCE
Abstract
The purpose of the current study was to (1) determine whether verbal/linguistic deficits are indeed present in right brain damage (RBD) patients and (2) identify sex differential patterns in visuospatial and/or verbal/linguistic performance in this patient population. The subject sample consisted of 64 rehabilitation patients with RBD secondary to a cerebrovascular accident (CVA), and 50 neurologically-normal control subjects accessed from a variety of community organizations. All subjects were clinically rated for the presence of hemiparesis and hemianopia. In the visuospatial domain, the psychometric measures included: WAIS Block Design, WAIS Object Assembly, Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices, yielding both a measure of number of items correct as well as a measure of spatial bias; WMS Visual Reproduction; and Letter Cancellation Test. The verbal/linguistic tests were: WAIS Vocabulary; WAIS Similarities; Conceptual Level Analogies Test; WMS Logical Memory, yielding both a traditional score and a newly-created index of circumlocution; and Word Fluency--FAS and JU. The finding of an RBD-related visuospatial decrement was consistent with prevailing neuropsychological theories. However, in contrast to a number of studies in which RBD-related verbal defects have been only marginally confirmed, the data of this study showed a clearcut RBD verbal/linguistic defect on all measures except Logical Memory. These verbal defects were independent of visual scanning ability, suggesting the presence of an RBD-related verbal cognitive defect, separable from a visuospatial disturbance. The data marginally supported a sex differential pattern of greater male RBD decrements in visuospatial processing and greater female RBD decrements in verbal/linguistic processing only in the limited case of higher-order cognitive variables, as represented in this study by the WAIS subtests. However, a subanalysis by hemianopic ratings suggested that the presence of a visual field cut may mask an RBD-related sex differential pattern in visuospatial performance. Future sex difference studies of RBD patients with normal visual fields is recommended.
Subject Area
Psychotherapy
Recommended Citation
EGELKO, SUSAN ELIZABETH, "COGNITIVE SEQUELAE OF RIGHT CEREBROVASCULAR ACCIDENT: ISSUES OF VERBAL DEFICIT AND SEX DIFFERENTIAL PATTERNS IN VISUOSPATIAL AND VERBAL PERFORMANCE" (1983). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI8326686.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI8326686
