Perceptualand Motor Skills, 1991, 72, 593-594. O Perceptual and Motor Skills 1991
PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY AS A MEDIATOR O F NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL TEST PERFORMANCE I N ALCOHOLICS '"' ' JOHN T. BRAGGIO AND VLADIMIR PISHKIN Oklahoma City Veterans Affairs Medical Center University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Willow View Hospital, Oklahoma City Summary.-Resting levels of electromyogram and systolic blood pressure modulated the performance of 54 alcoholics on Raven's Matrices, a neuropsychological test of abstraction.
Pishkin and Braggio (1988) reported that alcoholics above the median on resting frontal electromyogram (EMG) performed worse on neuropsychological tests than patients below the median. Braggio and Pishkin (1989) found that alcoholics above the median on resting systolic blood pressure made more errors on neuropsychological tests than volunteers below the the median. The purpose of this study was to assess whether alcoholics above the median on both E M G and systolic blood pressure had worse neuropsychological test performance than those below the median on both measures. A total of 54 alcoholics and 26 controls were equated on age, education, and Shipley Vocabulary Age, but, as expected, still differed in chronicity of alcoholism. The groups were compared on the Wechsler Comprehension subtest, Raven's Progressive Matrices, Set I, Memory for Designs and Digit Vigilance; see Table 1. Subjects in the two groups were subdivided into four subgroups based on a median split of resting EMG (MA= 295.7 pV, M, = 304.0 PV) and systolic blood pressure (MA= 122.33 mmHg, M, = 120.67 mmHg). Because some of the four subgroups differed in education and Shipley Vocabulary, a 2 x 4 multivariate analysis of covariance design was used to analyze scores on the four neuropsychological tests. The covariates were education and Shipley Vocabulary Age. There were significant multivariate effects for the group (F,,&,= 4.18, p < .01) and EMG/SBP factor (F,,,,,,,,,= 1.84, p < .05). For the Group factor the simple WAIS effects for Wechsler Comprehension (F,,,, = 4.85, p < .05) and Digit Vigilance (rime) (F,,,, = 6.59, p< .01) were significant. For the EMGISBP factor the simple effects for Wechsler Comprehension (F,,,, = 3.47, p < .05) and Raven's Matrices scores (F,,,,= 4.54, p < .01) were significant. Multiple comparisons among treatment means using the Newman-Keuls 'Supported by VA Medical Research funds and Oklahoma Health Research Contract 3608. 'The authors thank Cynthia Saborini for typing the manuscript. 'Send reprint requests to John T. Braggio, Ph.D., Behavioral Sciences Laboratories (151A), Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 921 NE 13th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73104.
594
J. T. BRAGGIO & V. PISHKIN
TABLE 1 COMPARISON OF ALCOI~OLICS AND CONTROLS ON SELECTED VARLABLES Variable
Alcoholics M
SD
Controls Range
M
SD
Range
Age Education (years) Shipley Vocabulary Age Duration of Alcoholism (years) Wechsler comprehension Raven's, Set I Memory for Designs (errors) Digit Vigilance (seconds)
test indicated that only on the Raven's Matrices did alcoholics with Low EMG/Low SBP have higher scores (better performance) than patients with High EMG/High SBl? Controls with Low EMG/Low SBP had more correct responses on the Raven's Matrices than controls with High EMG/High SBl? Alcoholics with Low EMG/Low SBP outperformed controls with High EMG/High SBP on Raven's Matrices. These results show that resting levels of both EMG and SBP modulate the performance of alcoholics on a test of abstraction, Raven's Matrices. Therefore, our concIusion is that the severity of alcoholics' abstracting deficit is a function of both long-term alcohol abuse and resting level of E M G and systolic blood pressure. REFERENCES
BRAGGIO, J. T., & PISHKIN, V. (1989) Systolic blood pressure and neuropsychological test performance in alcoholics. Psychophysiology, 26S, 16s. & BRAGGIO, J. T. (1988) Psychophysiological activity and neuropsychological test performance in alcoholics Alcoholirm: Clinical and Experimental Research, 12, 334.
PISI-IW, V.,
Accepted March 20, 1931.
PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY AS A MEDIATOR O F NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL TEST PERFORMANCE I N ALCOHOLICS '"' ' JOHN T. BRAGGIO AND VLADIMIR PISHKIN Oklahoma City Veterans Affairs Medical Center University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Willow View Hospital, Oklahoma City Summary.-Resting levels of electromyogram and systolic blood pressure modulated the performance of 54 alcoholics on Raven's Matrices, a neuropsychological test of abstraction.
Pishkin and Braggio (1988) reported that alcoholics above the median on resting frontal electromyogram (EMG) performed worse on neuropsychological tests than patients below the median. Braggio and Pishkin (1989) found that alcoholics above the median on resting systolic blood pressure made more errors on neuropsychological tests than volunteers below the the median. The purpose of this study was to assess whether alcoholics above the median on both E M G and systolic blood pressure had worse neuropsychological test performance than those below the median on both measures. A total of 54 alcoholics and 26 controls were equated on age, education, and Shipley Vocabulary Age, but, as expected, still differed in chronicity of alcoholism. The groups were compared on the Wechsler Comprehension subtest, Raven's Progressive Matrices, Set I, Memory for Designs and Digit Vigilance; see Table 1. Subjects in the two groups were subdivided into four subgroups based on a median split of resting EMG (MA= 295.7 pV, M, = 304.0 PV) and systolic blood pressure (MA= 122.33 mmHg, M, = 120.67 mmHg). Because some of the four subgroups differed in education and Shipley Vocabulary, a 2 x 4 multivariate analysis of covariance design was used to analyze scores on the four neuropsychological tests. The covariates were education and Shipley Vocabulary Age. There were significant multivariate effects for the group (F,,&,= 4.18, p < .01) and EMG/SBP factor (F,,,,,,,,,= 1.84, p < .05). For the Group factor the simple WAIS effects for Wechsler Comprehension (F,,,, = 4.85, p < .05) and Digit Vigilance (rime) (F,,,, = 6.59, p< .01) were significant. For the EMGISBP factor the simple effects for Wechsler Comprehension (F,,,, = 3.47, p < .05) and Raven's Matrices scores (F,,,,= 4.54, p < .01) were significant. Multiple comparisons among treatment means using the Newman-Keuls 'Supported by VA Medical Research funds and Oklahoma Health Research Contract 3608. 'The authors thank Cynthia Saborini for typing the manuscript. 'Send reprint requests to John T. Braggio, Ph.D., Behavioral Sciences Laboratories (151A), Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 921 NE 13th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73104.
594
J. T. BRAGGIO & V. PISHKIN
TABLE 1 COMPARISON OF ALCOI~OLICS AND CONTROLS ON SELECTED VARLABLES Variable
Alcoholics M
SD
Controls Range
M
SD
Range
Age Education (years) Shipley Vocabulary Age Duration of Alcoholism (years) Wechsler comprehension Raven's, Set I Memory for Designs (errors) Digit Vigilance (seconds)
test indicated that only on the Raven's Matrices did alcoholics with Low EMG/Low SBP have higher scores (better performance) than patients with High EMG/High SBl? Controls with Low EMG/Low SBP had more correct responses on the Raven's Matrices than controls with High EMG/High SBl? Alcoholics with Low EMG/Low SBP outperformed controls with High EMG/High SBP on Raven's Matrices. These results show that resting levels of both EMG and SBP modulate the performance of alcoholics on a test of abstraction, Raven's Matrices. Therefore, our concIusion is that the severity of alcoholics' abstracting deficit is a function of both long-term alcohol abuse and resting level of E M G and systolic blood pressure. REFERENCES
BRAGGIO, J. T., & PISHKIN, V. (1989) Systolic blood pressure and neuropsychological test performance in alcoholics. Psychophysiology, 26S, 16s. & BRAGGIO, J. T. (1988) Psychophysiological activity and neuropsychological test performance in alcoholics Alcoholirm: Clinical and Experimental Research, 12, 334.
PISI-IW, V.,
Accepted March 20, 1931.
