Clinical trial NCT00927576: PC-Based Cognitive Rehabilitation for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Official title: PC-Based Cognitive Rehabilitation for TBI
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Traumatic Brain Injury
Keywords: cognitive training
neuroplasticity
cognitive impairment
recovery of function
memory
attention
Lead sponsor: VA Office of Research and Development
Sponsor class: FED
First posted: 2009-06-25
Enrollment: 265
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 78
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Observational model: ECOLOGIC_OR_COMMUNITY
Time perspective: CROSS_SECTIONAL
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Controls subjects of various ages (approximately 230), and TBI patients (approximately 30).

Brief summary: The investigators evaluated whether it was possible to improve the measurement of memory, attention, and executive function in patients who have suffered traumatic brain injury through the use of computer-based testing.

Note: the original design of the study was altered due to failure to recruit sufficient numbers of patients who were willing to undergo prolonged cognitive training.

Detailed description: Here we describe a series of computer-based tests that were used to evaluate memory, attention, and executive function in large groups of control subjects and in patients with chronic mild and moderate/severe TBI. This extensive battery of neuropsychological tests (NPTs) and subjective rating scale measures were obtained at study entry from the TBI cohort. NPT and rating scale data were compared to those obtained from control subjects to characterize the cognitive deficits following mild, moderate and severe TBI. .

Normative data were obtained by regressing the influences of age, education, and computer use on scores to create normed z-scores on different NPTs,. We hypothesized that patient with TBI would show deficits on tests of memory, attention, and executive function relative to their predicted z-scores (based on the aforementioned regression functions) and that deficits would be more pronounced in patients with severe TBI than in patients with mild TBI.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

Control subjects were required to meet the following inclusion criteria:

* (a) fluency in the English language
* (b) no current or prior history of bipolar disorder, mania, or schizophrenia
* (c) no current substance abuse
* (d) no concurrent history of neurologic disease known to affect cognitive functioning
* (e) on a stable dosage of any required medication
* (f) auditory functioning sufficient to understanding normal conversational speech and visual acuity normal or corrected to 20/40 or better

Exclusion criteria:

* History of TBI

Exclusion Criteria for TBI patients:

* TBI patients had to meet the same inclusion criteria as the controls with the exception that they were required to have a history of TBI. They also had to be in the chronic phase, i.e., 1-4 yrs post-injury.
* Exclusion criteria:

  * current substance abuse
  * current psychiatric diagnosis other than PTSD

Primary outcomes:
measure: Performance in TBI Patients and Controls
timeFrame: Subjects were tested in a single 2-hr session.
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
Study officials:
affiliation: VA Northern California HCS
name: David L. Woods, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Atkins Whitmer D, Woods DL. Analysis of the cost effectiveness of a suicide barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge. Crisis. 2013;34(2):98-106. doi: 10.1027/0227-5910/a000179.
citation: Disbrow EA, Russo KA, Higginson CI, Yund EW, Ventura MI, Zhang L, Malhado-Chang N, Woods DL, Sigvardt KA. Efficacy of tailored computer-based neurorehabilitation for improvement of movement initiation in Parkinson's disease. Brain Res. 2012 May 3;1452:151-64. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2012.02.073. Epub 2012 Mar 9.
citation: Whitaker KJ, Kang X, Herron TJ, Woods DL, Robertson LC, Alvarez BD. White matter microstructure throughout the brain correlates with visual imagery in grapheme-color synesthesia. Neuroimage. 2014 Apr 15;90:52-9. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.12.054. Epub 2014 Jan 7.
citation: Woods DL, Herron TJ, Yund EW, Hink RF, Kishiyama MM, Reed B. Computerized analysis of error patterns in digit span recall. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 2011 Aug;33(7):721-34. doi: 10.1080/13803395.2010.550602.
citation: Hubel KA, Reed B, Yund EW, Herron TJ, Woods DL. Computerized measures of finger tapping: effects of hand dominance, age, and sex. Percept Mot Skills. 2013 Jun;116(3):929-52. doi: 10.2466/25.29.PMS.116.3.929-952.
citation: Hubel KA, Yund EW, Herron TJ, Woods DL. Computerized measures of finger tapping: reliability, malingering and traumatic brain injury. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 2013;35(7):745-58. doi: 10.1080/13803395.2013.824070. Epub 2013 Aug 15.
citation: Woods DL, Kishiyamaa MM, Lund EW, Herron TJ, Edwards B, Poliva O, Hink RF, Reed B. Improving digit span assessment of short-term verbal memory. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 2011 Jan;33(1):101-11. doi: 10.1080/13803395.2010.493149.