The Effect of Methylphenidate on Attention in Acquired Brain Injury as Recorded by Useful Field of View

SUMMARY This study demonstrates that,with aclinical population of patients with ABIthe UFOV test can provide assessmentof attention,which seems able to cap-ture and to quantify the effects of theintroduction of methylphenidate.Thesedata seem to further support our previ-ous work suggesting that the UFOV testmay be an efficient and important toolfor the measurement of a cognitive vari-able critical for the recovery of patientswith ABI. REFERENCES 1. Rao V,Lyketsos,CG.Psychiatric aspects oftraumatic brain injury. Psychiatr Clin NorthAm .2002;25:43-69.2. Chan RCK.Attentional deficits in patientswith postconcussion symptoms:a componen-tial perspective. Brain Inj .2001;15:71-943. Kaelin DL,Cifu DX,Matthies B.Methylphenidate effect on attention deficit inthe acutely brain-injured adult. Arch PhysMed Rehabil .1996;77:6-9.4. Wroblewski BA,Glenn MB.Pharmacologicaltreatment of arousal and cognitive deficits. JHead Trauma Rehabil .1994;9:19-42.5. Bate AJ,Mathias JL,Crawford JR.Performance on the test of everyday atten-tion and standard tests of attention followingsevere traumatic brain injury.