Computer-based Attention Training in Patients With Acquired Brain Injury

University of Aarhus78 enrolled

Overview

Investigates computer based cognitive rehabilitation and training using the N-back task with a Visual Search task as an active control. The overall purpose is to provide (further) evidence about the efficacy (or lack of efficacy) of the N-back task and to find points of convergence and divergence between patients with acquired brain injury and non-impaired subjects.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE

Enrollment

Conditions

Brain Injuries

Interventions

N-backBEHAVIORAL

The N-back task required patients to monitor a continuous sequence of stimuli (in this experiment audio and visual stimuli). Press a button if the current stimulus is the same as that shown N back in the sequence. N increases if performance is good and decreases if performance is poor. Subjects train for 20 days, 12 blocks a day, 20+N trials per block. That is 240 blocks in total. A minimum of 10 blocks per day counts as a successfully trained day.

Visual SearchBEHAVIORAL

The Visual Search task consists of a NxN array of shapes. Press the button if a certain target stimulus is present in this array. N increases if performance is good and decreases if performance is poor. Subjects train for 20 days, 12 blocks a day, 20+N trials per block. That is 240 blocks in total. A minimum of 10 blocks per day counts as a successfully trained day.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 70 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion criteria: * subjects should be able to do both task at level at the time of recruitment * Informed consent * (for brain injured patients) training must not interfere with treatment as usual. * (for brain injured patients) no symptoms which hinder testing and training. I.e. aphasia, deafness, tetraplegia etc.