Cognitive performance ‘improved by computerised brain training after TBI’

Computerised brain training can significantly improve cognitive performance in people who have sustained brain injury, even those who have lived with its consequences for years. 

Neuroplasticity-based brain training can deliver improvements for patients with mild, moderate or severe TBI, said researchers at New York University. 

Millions of people globally, including an estimated 5.3 million in the United States aline, live with chronic disability as a result of TBI. 

Cognitive deficits are a signature symptom of TBI and can constrain the ability to perform everyday functions, leading to resultant issues around factors like employment options. 

The most common cognitive deficits are in speed of processing, attention, and working memory.

The 48-person study included 27 patients with severe TBI, 15 patients with moderate TBI, and five patients with mild TBI. 

They had symptoms that had persisted for more than eight years, on average, since their brain injuries. 

Participants were 52 per cent male, 69 per cent white, and average age of 44. They were randomised into a control group and an intervention group, which was asked to engage in a total of 40 hours of computerised auditory exercises over a 13-week period.

The researchers, using the BrainHQ brain fitness app, found the brain training intervention group had significant improvements in standard objective measures of verbal attention and working memory, as well as speed of processing. 

In addition, the brain training participants showed improvements in standard subjective measures of their own cognitive abilities in everyday tasks.

“This study represents a significant advance because it shows gains in both objective and self-report measures,” said Dr. Henry Mahncke, CEO of Posit Science, the company behind BrainHQ. 

“That means that the researchers not only saw significant improvements in cognitive performance – but also that those gains were noticeable and significant to the study participants themselves. 

“This certainly adds momentum to moving this type of training into clinical practice with appropriate clinical guidelines.”

Last month, Dr. Mahncke was the lead author of the 83-person, four-year BRAVE Study among mild TBI patients at five military and Veterans’ medical centres, which found the intervention group using BrainHQ exercises had statistically and clinically significant improvements in overall cognition as compared to a video games control group. 

That was the first multi-site randomised controlled trial to show a scalable intervention to address cognitive deficits from mild TBI, building on what was learned in four prior studies.