NCT03490110

Brain Markers of Improvements in Cognitive Functioning

EEG Markers of Training-Induced Improvements in Cognitive Functioning

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 18 (actual)
• Sponsor: VA Office of Research and Development · Federal
• Sex: All
• Age: 21 Years – 55 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Some of the most common, persistent, and disabling consequences of traumatic brain injury affect an individual's ability to achieve personal goals. Interventions that strengthen abilities such as being able to concentrate, remember, stay calm and overcome challenges, could have far reaching benefits for Veterans. One challenge in rehabilitation is that response to training can be highly variable, and a better understanding of the neural bases for this variability could inform care. This pilot project will test the clinical behavioral effects of a cognitive skill training intervention and explore to what extent changes in markers of the brain's electrical activity (using the non-invasive technique of electroencephalograms, EEG) can explain differences in responses to skill training.

Detailed description

Detailed Description: Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) can impair cognitive functioning long after the initial trauma. Some of the most common, persistent, and disabling consequences of traumatic brain injury are deficits in higher order cognitive functions that direct more basic processes based on an individual's goals. Symptoms such as distractibility and difficulty holding goal-relevant information in memory can affect achievement of personal and professional goals. These cognitive problems can be exacerbated by post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptoms, commonly observed in the Veteran population. Interventions that strengthen goal-directed regulation of cognitive-emotion states could have far reaching benefits for Veterans. One challenge in rehabilitation is that response to training can be highly variable, and a better understanding of the neural bases for this variability could inform patient care. Investigators have developed a system for training neurocognitive skills that can be used in rehabilitation neuroscience studies to elucidate the neural bases of improvements in cognitive functioning. The training system is designed to help patients improve goal-directed brain state regulation, and preliminary work has investigated brain network parameters that may predict response to training. Electroencephalography (EEG) potentially provides easily accessible markers for the neural bases of improvements with training. Objectives in this pilot study are to investigate the potential of EEG markers to: (1) explain differential responses to attention regulation training; and (2) predict responses to training.

Conditions

• TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury)
• Brain Injuries
• Stress
• Attention Deficit
• Executive Dysfunction

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	State regulation skill training	Participants complete seven supervised training sessions. Training sessions last 2 hours, and participants are requested to complete approximately 2.5 hours of additional skill practice over the course of each week outside of session (total \~4.5 hours per week).
OTHER	Treatment-as-usual	Participants receive clinical care as usual over a matched time period.

Timeline

• Start date: 2017-10-01
• Primary completion: 2019-03-01
• Completion: 2019-06-01
• First posted: 2018-04-06
• Last updated: 2020-03-23
• Results posted: 2020-03-23

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States