Executive functions deficits and self-awareness after traumatic brain injury

Field: Neuroscience (Life Sciences)

Event Abstract Back to Event Executive functions deficits and self-awareness after traumatic brain injury Umberto Bivona1*, M.P Ciurli1, C. Barba2, G. Onder3, D. Silvestro1, E. Azicnuda1, J. Rigon1 and R. Formisano1 1 Post-Coma Unit, Santa Lucia Foundation, Italy 2 Pediatric Neurology Unit, Children’s Hospital “A. Meyer”, Italy 3 Geriatric Department, Catholic University, Italy Aim of our study was to identify the clinical, neuropsychological and functional predictors of self-awareness (SA) in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Methods: By means of a cross-sectional observational study, we enrolled 37 outpatients [29 males (78 %) and 8 females (22 %)], evaluated from 2006 to 2007 in Santa Lucia Foundation hospital, in Rome, on the basis of the following inclusion criteria: 1) age ≥ 15 years; 2) diagnosis of severe TBI (Glasgow Coma Scale, GCS ≤ 8); 3) post-traumatic amnesia (PTA) resolution; 4) capacity to undergo formal psychometric evaluation despite cognitive and sensory-motor deficits; 5) absence of aphasia; 6) availability of informed consent. Measures: We administered a neuropsychological test battery to assess attention, memory, and executive functions. SA was evaluated by means of the Awareness Questionnaire (AQ, a 17 items questionnaire that evaluates patients’ current functional abilities compared with their pre-injury abilities), administered to both patients and relatives. Results: The executive functions correlated significantly with impaired SA, as assessed by AQ, even when AQ subscales (sensory-motor, cognitive, and behavioral-affective) were considered separately. Conclusion: The significant correlation found between some aspects of executive functions and self-awareness confirmed the importance of addressing this issue in order to treat SA contextually in the rehabilitation of executive functions. Conference: 10th International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience, Bodrum, Türkiye, 1 Sep - 5 Sep, 2008. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Consciousness Citation: Bivona U, Ciurli M, Barba C, Onder G, Silvestro D, Azicnuda E, Rigon J and Formisano R (2008). Executive functions deficits and self-awareness after traumatic brain injury. Conference Abstract: 10th International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.09.2009.01.180 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 08 Dec 2008; Published Online: 08 Dec 2008. * Correspondence: Umberto Bivona, Post-Coma Unit, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy, u.bivona@hsantalucia.it Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Umberto Bivona M.P Ciurli C. Barba G. Onder D. Silvestro E. Azicnuda J. Rigon R. Formisano Google Umberto Bivona M.P Ciurli C. Barba G. Onder D. Silvestro E. Azicnuda J. Rigon R. Formisano Google Scholar Umberto Bivona M.P Ciurli C. Barba G. Onder D. Silvestro E. Azicnuda J. Rigon R. Formisano PubMed Umberto Bivona M.P Ciurli C. Barba G. Onder D. Silvestro E. Azicnuda J. Rigon R. Formisano Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.