Identifier	Thesis 1702
Author	Matulis, Penny Ann
Title	The effects of seasonal affective disorder on neuropsychological functioning
Publisher	Central Connecticut State University
Date of Publication	2003
Resource Type	Master's Thesis
Abstract	Rosenthal and colleagues coined the term Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a mood disorder, which is seasonal and recurs annually in most cases during the fall and winter. The past two decades have witnessed a surge of interest in the disorder, however, to date, much of the research has focused on the neurophysiological mechanisms and the psychological problems associated with the disorder. Recent studies have suggested that there are neuropsychological changes associated with SAD; however to date, only a handful of studies investigated their changes. The purpose of this study was to examine the pattern of cognitive functioning associated with seasonal changes in SAD and non-SAD participants. Eighteen SAD and seventeen Non-SAD participants were administered brief neuropsychological tests assessing memory, attention, visual-motor speed and coordination, and cognitive failures. Eighteen SAD participants were tested once in the winter and once in the summer to compare functioning between the seasons. Seventeen Non-SAD participants were tested once in the winter to compare the SAD and Non-SAD groups. The results showed significant differences between SAD and Non-SAD on testing in cognitive failures, visual-motor skills, attention and short-term memory. Comparisons showed differences between summer and winter in the SAD group in cognitive failures, visual-motor skills, and memory. Between the winter testing and summer testing, there were significant improvement in measures of cognitive failures, visual-motor skills, and visual memory, however, there was no significant improvement in visual-construction skills. This result suggests that there is persistent right-hemisphere dysfunction in those with SAD.
Subject	Seasonal affective disorder
Department	Department of Psychology
Advisor	Mate-Kole, C. Charles
Type	Text
Digital Format	application/pdf
Language	eng
OCLC number	713734423
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The effects of seasonal affective disorder on neuropsychological functioning

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