Dl. Damos et Es. Parker, HIGH FALSE ALARM RATES ON A VIGILANCE TASK MAY INDICATE RECREATIONAL DRUG-USE, Neuropsychology, development, and cognition. Section A, Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology, 16(5), 1994, pp. 713-722
Neuropsychologists need more sensitive methods to detect and measure r
ecreational drug use in both research and clinical settings. In a stud
y comparing the sensitivity of information processing tasks and neurop
sychological instruments to detect early HIV-related cognitive decreme
nts, 18 of 129 subjects tested positive for recreational drugs. Sixtee
n of these 18 subjects had elevated false alarm rates on one of the in
formation processing tasks, the vigilance task. Another 45 subjects wh
o tested negative for recreational drugs also had elevated false alarm
rates. Neuropsychological measures of premorbid functioning, attentio
n, speed of information processing, and manual dexterity were lower in
the high false alarm subjects than in the remaining 66 drug-negative,
low false alarm subjects. These results suggest that a high false ala
rm rate may reflect long-standing cognitive disturbances and the effec
ts of drug use. The vigilance task may be a sensitive and efficient sc
reening tool for recreational drug use.