Recovery of visual search following moderate to severe traumatic brain injury.

INTRODUCTION: Deficits in attentional abilities can significantly impact rehabilitation and recovery from traumatic brain injury (TBI). This study investigated the nature and recovery of preattentive (parallel) and attentive (serial) visual search abilities after TBI.

METHOD: Participants were 40 individuals with moderate to severe TBI who were tested following emergence from posttraumatic amnesia and approximately 8 months post injury, as well as 40 age- and education-matched controls. Preattentive (automatic) and attentive (controlled) visual search situations were created by manipulating the saliency of the target item amongst distractor items in visual displays. The relationship between preattentive and attentive visual search rates and follow-up community integration were also explored.

RESULTS: The results revealed intact parallel (automatic) processing skills in the TBI group both postacutely and at follow-up. In contrast, when attentional demands on visual search were increased by reducing the saliency of the target, the TBI group demonstrated poorer performances than the control group both postacutely and 8 months post injury. Neither preattentive nor attentive visual search slope values correlated with follow-up community integration.

CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that utilizing intact preattentive visual search skills during rehabilitation may help to reduce high mental workload situations, thereby improving the rehabilitation process. For example, making commonly used objects more salient in the environment should increase reliance or more automatic visual search processes and reduce visual search time for individuals with TBI.