TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury)
Conditions
Keywords
cognitive rehabilitation, attention, executive function
Brief summary
The purpose of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of a technique designed to improve divided attention and set-shifting impairments in persons with a traumatic brain injury (TBI). The study is designed to evaluate how well this technique can help people with TBI increase their attention and ability to function better in everyday life.
Detailed description
A pilot study will be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of a technique designed to improve higher level attention (switching between tasks and multi-tasking) for persons with a traumatic brain injury. 32 individuals with TBI will be recruited. Baseline assessment includes neuropsychological evaluation using traditional measures as well as a completion of a number of questionnaires designed to measure everyday attention and everyday functioning. Participants are random assigned to either the experimental or control groups. Experimental and control treatments include two 60 minute sessions, twice per week, for 5 weeks. Follow-up assessment includes a neuropsychological evaluation using traditional measures as well as a completion of a number of questionnaires designed to measure everyday attention and everyday functioning. Protocol efficacy will be determined by improvements between baseline and follow-up on several objective and functional measures of divided attention and set-shifting.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALVirtual Reality Executive Function Training (VREFT)
Sponsors
National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research
Kessler Foundation
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
TRIPLE (Subject, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* between the ages of 18-65 * diagnosis of TBI * can read and speak English fluently
Exclusion criteria
* prior stroke or neurological disease other than TBI * unstable or uncontrolled seizures * currently taking benzodiazepines
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Total divided attention post-treatment (covarying for baseline performance) | 7 weeks (between pre- and post-testing) | Comparison between treatment and control groups on post-treatment Auditory Consonant Trigrams |
| Total set-shifting post-treatment (covarying for baseline performance) | 7 weeks (between pre- and post-testing) | Comparison between treatment and control groups on post-treatment Stroop interference |
Countries
United States
Contacts
Primary ContactDenise Krch, PhD
Backup ContactAngela Smith, BA
Outcome results
None listed