Areas of Expertise
Pharmacological intervention
Investigators at NCRRN offer expertise in studying pharmacologic influences on cognitive function, particularly attention, executive function, and language (Kim, Kimberg, Stefanatos, Whyte).
Annotated Citations
- Arnsten, AFT. (1998). Catecholamine modulation of prefrontal cortical cognitive function. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2, 436-447.
This is a nice overview, and even though it's a few years old now, it's aged pretty well.
- Whyte J, Hart T, Vaccaro M, Grieb-Neff P, Risser A, Polansky M, Coslett HB: The effects of methylphenidate on attention deficits after traumatic brain injury: A multi-dimensional randomized controlled trial. American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 83(6):401-420, 2004.
This article reports the results of a randomized crossover trial of methylphenidate in TBI suggesting positive impact in several domains of attention. It also illustrates a research method that can be used when many dependent measures of treatment response are of potential interest.
- Martin RT, Whyte J: The effects of methyphenidate on command following and yes/no communication in persons with severe disorders of consciousness: a meta-analysis of n-of-1 studies. American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (in press).
This meta-analysis of single subject experimental trials of methylphenidate in vegetative and minimally conscious patients suggests that the drug may not be effective in enhancing reliability of responding or communicating. In addition, potential pitfalls in extrapolating results from single subjects to groups are discussed.