A - 153 Differing Impacts of Divided Auditory and Visual Attention on Abstract Reasoning among Patients with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

Abstract

Although not all mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBIs) lead to long-term effects, they can still have significant cognitive and emotional impacts. One of the common lasting symptoms of mTBI is attentional deficit, with divided attention being specifically negatively impacted by mTBIs. This study investigated the impacts of divided auditory attention and divided visual attention on executive functioning among patients with mTBI. Participants were 98 mTBI patients. Ethnicity was self-identified as 77.5% White, 6.3%, Asian, 2.7% Hispanic, and 13.5% Mixed/Other, gender was 68% women. Tests included the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (NAB) Numbers & Letters Test to assess divided visual attention, Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT) for divided auditory attention, and the Halstead Category Test (HCT) to assess the abstract reasoning domain of executive functioning as part of a full neuropsychological evaluation at a private outpatient clinic. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the data. The overall model was statistically significant (F(3,94) = 3.23, p = 0.03, R2 = 0.09). Results indicated a significant positive relationship between abstract reasoning and auditory divided attention (β= 2.42, p = 0.03), but no significant relationship between abstract reasoning and visual divided attention (β= 1.5, p = 0.2). The findings of this study suggest that divided auditory and visual attention may impact the abstract reasoning and problem-solving domain of executive functioning differently among those who have sustained mild traumatic brain injury. Specifically, divided auditory attention may play a more significant role in abstract reasoning abilities than visual divided attention.