Psychological performance

Organic solvents have acute narcotic effects. Aromatic and chlorinated hydrocarbons seem to be especially effective. As stated, the combined effect of several organic solvents is usually considered to be additive. However, there is some evidence that the combined effect may in fact be synergistic. The symptoms caused by organic solvents, often called prenarcotic symptoms, resemble those caused by the use of alcohol. A decrease in reaction time and impairment in various psychological performances can be observed. Acute neurotoxicity can also be detected as abnormalities in the electroencephalogram (EEG i, which records the electrical activity of the brain. " ... 

Campara P, D Andrea F, Micciolo R, et al. 1984. Psychological performance of workers with blood-lead concentration below the current threshold limit value. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 53 233-246. 

Haenninen H, Hemberg S, Mantere P, et al. 1978. Psychological performance of subjects with low exposure to lead. J Occup Med 20 683-689. 

Parrott AC (1986). The effects of transdermal scopolamine and four dose levels of oral scopolamine (0.15, 0.3, 0.6, and 1.2mg) upon psychological performance. Psychopharmacology, 89(3), 347-354. 

Parrott AC (1987). Assessment of psychological performance in applied situations. In I Hindmarch and PD Stonier (eds), Human Psychopharmacology Measures and Methods (Vol. 1). John Wiley Sons, Chichester, UK. 

Parrott AC (1989). Transdermal scopolamine A review of its effects upon motion sickness, psychological performance, and physiological functioning. Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine, 60, 1-9. 

Piikivi L, Hanninen H. 1989. Subjective symptoms and psychological performance of chlor-alkali workers. Scand J Work Environ Health 15(l) 69-74. 

Linstrom K. Psychological performances of workers exposed to various solvents. Work Environ Health 1973 10 151-5. 

Araki S, Yokoyama K, Aono H, et al Psychological performance in relation to central and peripheral nerve conduction in workers exposed to lead, zinc, and copper. Am J Ind Med 9 535-542,1986... 

Haenninen H, Hernberg S, Mantere P, et al Psychological performance of subjects with low exposure to lead. J Occup Med 20 683-689, 1978 ffai-Waug T, Y ou-Xin L, Xiao-Hong H, et al Alterations of monoamine metabolites and neu-robehavioral function in lead-exposed workers. Biomed Environ Sci 8 23-29,1995 Hanninen H, Mantere P, Hernberg S, et al Subjective symptoms in low-level exposure to lead. Neurotoxicology 1 333-347,1979... 

British Journal of Industrial Medicine 43 374-380,1986 Winegar DA, Levy BS, Andrews JS Jr, et al Chronic occupational exposure to lead an evaluation of the health of smelter workers. J Occup Med 19 603-606, 1977 Yokoyama K, Araki S, Aono H Reversibility of psychological performance in subclin-ical lead absorption. Neurotoxicology 9 405-410,1988 Zimmermann-Tansella C, Campara P, Andrea FD, et al Psychological and physical complaints of subjects with low exposure to lead. Human Toxicology 2 615-623, 1983... 

Smith RG, Vorwald AJ, Patil LS, et al Effects of exposure to mercury in the manufacture of chlorine. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J 31 687-700, 1970 Soleo L, Urbano ML, Petrera V, et al Effects of low exposure to inorganic mercury on psychological performance. British Journal of Industrial Medicine 47 105-109, 1990... 

Yokoyama K, Araki S, Murata K Effects of low level styrene exposure on psychological performance in FRP boat laminating workers. Neurotoxicology 13 551-556, 1992... 

Some contrasting effects have also been reported. One study suggested that alcohol might mitigate the effects of loprazolam on psychological performance. Similarly, some antagonism has been reported between chlordiazepoxide and alcohol, but this is unlikely to be of practical importance. The development of tolerance between benzodiazepines and alcohol with chronic use has also been suggested. ... 

McManus IC, Ankier SI, Norfolk J, Phillips M, Priest RG. Effects on psychological performance of the benzodiazepine, loprazolam, alone and with alcohol. BrJ Clin Pharmacol (1983) 16, 291-300. 

A study in 30 healthy subjects found that single and multiple doses of amlodipine 10 mg for 15 days (with or without lisinopril and simvastatin) had no effect on the pharmacokinetics of alcohol 0.8 g/kg nor on subjective psychological performance. Alcohol did not alter the pharmacokinetics of amlodipine. ... 

Velasco, M., Velasco, E, Velasco, A.L., Velasco, G., and Jimenez, E Effect of chronic electrical stimulation of the centromedian thalamic nuclei on various intractable seizure patterns II. Psychological performance and background activity. Epilepsia 1993b, 34 1065-1074. 

Lindstrom, K, Changes in psychological performances of solvent-poisoned and solvent-exposed workers. Am. J. Ind. Med., 1, 69, 1980. 

If "what gets measured gets done," what are we measuring when we measure performance From a systems standpoint, performance means output. In the context of psychology, performance means behavior or output from a human system. We cannot discuss measurement and evaluation without an operational definition of performance. Let us examine different definitions more closely. 

Adverse CNS effects (including neuropsychiatric disorders, mental symptoms, and neurobehavioral performance) are observed following exposures to solvent mixtures at levels well below accepted TLVs [13]. The neurotoxicity of n-hexane (3.90) is potentiated by 2-butanone (0.29), which itself exhibits little or no neurotoxicity to humans [14]. In one study, 100 automobile painters who had long-term exposure to car paint fumes composed of toluene (2.73), xylene (3.15), aliphatic hydrocarbons (3.90-5.50), ethanol (-0.31), isopropanol (0.05), butanol (0.88), ethyl acetate (0.73), butyl acetate (1.78), acetone (—0.17), MEK (0.29), MIBK (1.19), and pinene (4.83) at mean concentrations far below TLVs were shown to have impairments in psychological performances as well as personahty changes compared to 102 control individuals [15]. 

The aims of our present study are to establish which of the lead indicators are better correlated with the scores on psychometric tests to define the minimum level which is associated with deficits in psychological performance for each of the lead indicators to determine the most suitable neurological tests for evaluating the early effects of low lead exposure. 

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