Selective attention tests

Attentional or cognitive impairments have also been observed in rodent models of nicotine withdrawal. These include impaired performance of a test of sustained attention (Shoaib and Bizarro 2005), disrupted contextual fear conditioning (Davis and Gould 2007 Davis et al. 2005), disrupted operant behaviors (Vann et al. 2006), and decreased prepulse inhibition, a test of selective attention (Semenova et al. 2003). 

In many studies on solid waste in which ecotoxicological tests have been used, little attention has been given to such aspects as the selection of test species, sensitivity of the tests, and the... 

Compared with focused attention, fewer studies have examined the effects of benzodiazepines on selective attention. Two studies have shown that performance on the Stroop test was impaired by lorazepam.119 131 Acute administration of triazolam and lorazepam produced dose-dependent decrements in response rate and accuracy in a simultaneous matching-to-sample task, which required subjects to determine which of two comparison visual stimuli was identical to the sample stimulus.148 161 The drug effects differed as a function of task difficulty, such that the benzodiazepine-induced impairment was reduced when discriminability of the non-matching stimulus was increased. 

Table 6.6 presents the individual tests of the NES2 battery. Motor ability, focused attention, selective attention, acquisition, and memory categories of tasks are included in this battery, in addition to a variety of other tasks. The battery is made up of separate tasks performance on combinations of these tasks is potentially altered by exposure to neurotoxic agents such as pesticides, solvents, or carbon monoxide. Many of the tasks are suitable for repeated testing of any individual. Five of the tests are similar to the core tests of the WHO battery.50... 

In a 3-week, double-blind study of the cognitive effects of lithium (serum concentration about 0.8 mmol/1 n = 15) versus placebo (n = 15) in healthy subjects, lithium did not impair implicit recall, ability to process two tasks concurrently and simultaneously, short-term memory, or selective attention, but caused impaired learning during repeated administration of memory tests (226). Since neuropsychological testing could not distinguish lithium treatment from pre- and post-treatment in the lithium group, any lithium effects must be considered subtle at best. 

A series of ecological field observations were carried out. Many different types of analyses were performed because the aim of this pilot study was to focus extra attention on this leg of the Triad. The selection of tests was based on the biological indicator for soil quality (BiSQ Schouten et al., 2000), comprising several microbial parameters (biomass, leucine and thymidine incorporation rate, potential carbon and nitrogen utilisation, microbial community structure), nematode community structure and species abundances, enchytraeid community structure... 

In summary, the above studies show that neurobehavioral evaluation of pesticide workers reveal increased prevalence of neurologic symptoms and changes in neurobehavioral performance indicative of mild cognitive and psychomotor dysfunction. These effects appear to be more prevalent during the period of exposure, but also persist beyond the period of exposure. Total cumulative exposure seems to be a greater risk factor for poor performance than any other covariant. Deficits in visuomotor speed as indexed by the digit symbol substimtion test and the trailmaking tests have been shown to be consistently effected as well as tests of selective attention and memory... 

Selected blood tests in addition to blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine can have value in the management of the patient with ARF. For example, infectious causes of ARF can be ruled out using a CBC with differential. Serum electrolyte values are likely to be abnormal, and particnlar attention shonld be paid to serum potassium and phosphorus values, which can be elevated and canse life-threatening conditions. 

---