Simple reaction times and performance in the detection of visual stimuli of patients with diabetes

Simple reaction times (SRT) to visual stimuli were investigated through reactions to computer simulations of changes of traffic lights. The performance in the detection of visual stimuli, implying decision processes, was also assessed using the two alternative forced choice (2AFC) method. Subjects were patients affected by diabetes type 2, and observers without diabetes. Results indicated that mean SRT was longer in the group of diabetic patients but was not correlated with age, diabetes duration or fasting glucose. The performance index (d′) was correlated with age and with diabetes duration. Unexpectedly, the correlation between fasting glucose and d′ was not negative.