Asymptomatic perinatal brain injury compromising recovery from mild traumatic brain injury

344 Abstracts of 16th Annual Meeting Kaminska, A., Adams, F., & Gates, R. D. Asymptomatic Perinatal Brain Injury Compromising Recovery From Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. Neuropsychological theory posits that the brain's "reservoir" of functional capacities is sufficient for considerable if not complete recovery after mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) in young adults. This case demonstrates, however, that a pre-existing and asymptomatic brain injury may compromise those putative cerebral reserves, making the unsuspecting individual vulnerable to dementia in the event of an MTBI. Our patient was a 26-year-old university educated male who sustained blunt trauma to his head in a motor vehicle accident (MVA), resulting in fractures to his skull and nasal septum. He felt drowsy and dazed at the time and developed generalized body pain with gradual onset of post-concussive cognitive symptoms. Brain scans subsequently revealed structural evidence (gliosis and atrophy) of an unsuspected, remote injury to the fight frontal and parietal lobes (CT) and functional deficits in the right frontal and parieto-occipital regions (SPECT). After the accident he was unsuccessful in resuming an academic career or obtaining a job. Results of repeated neuropsychological evaluations were consistent and revealed marked and persistent impairments of neurocognitive abilities across a broad range of domains, with psychometric and clinical evidence of borderline intelligence with dementia. In this case, acceleration-deceleration injury from a minor MVA resulted not only in surprising neurobehavioral devastation, but also serendipitous discovery of a previously silent perinatal lesion which likely diminished his chances for recovery. Kelland, D. Z., & Pieniadz, J. To Report or Not to Report (Quantitative Data, That Is): A Survey of Actual Practice and Training in Neuropsychology. Freides' (1993) proposal that neuropsychological reports include a display of all quantitative findings prompted a debate within the field regarding the ethical implications of routinely appending such data (Freides, 1995; Matarazzo, 1995; Naugle & McSweeny, 1995). In an attempt to gather information on this issue regarding the actual practice and training of neuropsychologists, we conducted a brief survey by mail of 137 directors of neuropsychology training programs, achieving a 59% return rate (n = 81). The respondents averaged 14.3 (SD = 6.3) years of practice in neuropsychology and were responsible for the supervision of 217 interns (M = 2.7; SD = 3.1) and 136 post-doctoral fellows (M = 1.7; SD = 1.7) and for the weekly production of approximately 456 reports (M = 6.0; SD = 4.2). Regarding the practice of routinely appending neuropsychological test scores to reports: 35% responded in the affirmative and 63% responded in the negative. The most frequently endorsed reasons for appending data were thoroughness and facilitation of comparison. The most commonly endorsed explanation to the contrary was data protection (i.e., to avoid misinterpretation by unqualified persons). Those who routinely append data also endorsed routinely requesting data from others. Just over half of the respondents who themselves do not routinely append data expressed a preference that scores were reported by others. Midwestern-trained neuropsychologists were evenly divided regarding the inclusion of quantitative findings, whereas most other regions responded approximately 2 to 1 against the routine appending of data. This regional effect will be explored further to examine the influence of factors such as the approach to testing, program setting, referral source, and question. Kibby, M. Y., & Long, C. J. The Relationship Between Measures of Phonological Processing, Word Fluency and Speech Rate and Measures of Short-Term Verbal Memory in Children With Dyslexia. Dyslexia is a learning disorder which is believed to result from an anomaly of left hemisphere  (...truncated)