The effect of donepezil on the cognitive ability early in the course of recovery from traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of donepezil on cognitive ability in patients who have sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI). We hypothesized that donepezil, an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, would enhance cognitive recovery beyond that of usual care in an acute rehabilitation facility. METHODS: This retrospective, longitudinal analysis included 55 patients who were non-randomly prescribed donepezil during acute care and compared them to 74 patients who received usual rehabilitation treatment. All 129 patients completed neuropsychological assessment at two time points. Donepezil was increased from 5 to 10 mg 7-10 days after initiation and maintained until follow-up cognitive assessment. MAIN OUTCOMES: Primary cognitive abilities of interest included processing speed, attention and memory. Cognitive and functional abilities were assessed by a standard neuropsychological battery for TBI. RESULTS: Propensity scores were used to adjust for differences between groups. Mixed effect model analysis showed no significant differences between treatment and control groups on all neuropsychological subtests over time. CONCLUSIONS: Acute administration of donepezil did not significantly improve measures of cognitive or functional ability beyond that of treatment as usual in patients with moderate-to-severe TBI.

Is It Dating Violence or Just "Drunken Behavior"? Judgments of Intimate Partner Violence When the Perpetrator Is Under the Influence of Alcohol.

BACKGROUND: Previous research has shown a strong bias for laypersons to believe alcohol use and aggression to go hand-in-hand (see Quigley & Leonard, 2006 ). Furthermore, research has shown that alcohol use can be seen as a mitigating circumstance for aggression, resulting in a reduction of blame and accountability (Bullock, 2002 ; Katz & Arias, 2001 ; Tryggvesson, 2004 ). OBJECTIVES: The present study investigated observers' judgments of intimate partner violence (IPV) when the perpetrator was under the influence of alcohol. We hypothesized that participants would view violent behavior as more common and less abusive if they thought the perpetrator was under the influence of alcohol. METHODS: College students (n = 79) viewed a video depicting an increasingly abusive interaction between college-age dating partners (see Witte & Kendra, 2010 ) and half of the participants were lead to believe that the perpetrator was drinking alcohol prior to the interaction. Participants rated the videotaped vignette at four timepoints to assess the degree to which they believed the interaction was normal/common and abusive. RESULTS: Observers judged the abusive behavior as more common and less abusive when alcohol was involved, but only for psychologically abusive behaviors and moderately severe physically abusive behaviors. CONCLUSIONS/IMPORTANCE: The results of this study provide support for the notion that direct observers of IPV judge moderately abusive behavior as more common and less abusive when alcohol is involved. With this, theories concerning alcohol expectancies and interpretations of interpersonal violence can be more readily applied to real-life scenarios, such as in the validity of eye-witness testimony.