Abstract
While the physiologic effects of modern conducted electrical weapons (CEW) have been the subject of numerous studies, their effects on neurocognitive functioning, both short-term and long-term, are less well understood. It is also unclear how these effects compare to other use-of-force options or other arrest-related stressors. We compared the neurocognitive effects of an exposure to a TASER® (TASER International, Inc, Scottsdale, AZ) X26™ CEW to four other use-of-force scenarios during a training exercise using a well-established neurocognitive metric administered repeatedly over 1 h. Overall, we found that there was a decline in neurocognitive performance immediately post-scenario in all groups, but this effect was transient, of questionable clinical significance, and returned to baseline by 1 h post-scenario.
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TASER International, Inc. provided funding and material support for this study. Dr. Ho is the medical director for TASER. Dr. Dawes is a consultant to TASER. Mr. Brave is the national litigation counsel for TASER. Drs. Ho and Dawes and Mr. Brave own shares of stock in the company. The University of Oklahoma holds the exclusive contract for the development of ANAM.
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Dawes, D.M., Ho, J.D., Vincent, A.S. et al. The neurocognitive effects of simulated use-of-force scenarios. Forensic Sci Med Pathol 10, 9–17 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-013-9510-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-013-9510-y