Feasibility Randomized Trial for an Intensive Memory-Focused Training Program for School-Aged Children with Acquired Brain Injury

TY - JOUR

T1 - Feasibility Randomized Trial for an Intensive Memory-Focused Training Program for School-Aged Children with Acquired Brain Injury

AU - Molteni, Erika

AU - Modat, Marc

PY - 2020/7/7

Y1 - 2020/7/7

N2 - (1) Background: Memory deficits are common sequelae of pediatric Acquired Brain Injury (ABI). Only methods for non-focused cognitive remediation are available to the pediatric field. The aims of this feasibility trial are the description, implementation, and test of an intensive program specific to the training and re-adaptation of memory function in children, called Intensive Memory-Focused Training Program (IM-FTP); (2) Methods: Eleven children and adolescents with ABI (mean age at injury = 12.2 years, brain tumor survivors excluded) were clinically assessed and rehabilitated over 1-month through IM-FTP, including physio-kinesis/occupational, speech, and neuropsychology treatments. Each patient received a psychometric evaluation and a brain functional MRI at enrollment and at discharge. Ten pediatric controls with ABI (mean age at injury = 13.8 years) were clinically assessed, and rehabilitated through a standard program; (3) Results: After treatment, both groups had marked improvement in both immediate and delayed recall. IM-FTP was associated with better learning of semantically related and unrelated words, and larger improvement in immediate recall in prose memory. Imaging showed functional modification in the left frontal inferior cortex; (4) Conclusions: We described an age-independent reproducible multidisciplinary memory-focused rehabilitation protocol, which can be adapted to single patients while preserving inter-subject comparability, and is applicable up to a few months after injury. IM-FTP will now be employed in a powered clinical trial.

AB - (1) Background: Memory deficits are common sequelae of pediatric Acquired Brain Injury (ABI). Only methods for non-focused cognitive remediation are available to the pediatric field. The aims of this feasibility trial are the description, implementation, and test of an intensive program specific to the training and re-adaptation of memory function in children, called Intensive Memory-Focused Training Program (IM-FTP); (2) Methods: Eleven children and adolescents with ABI (mean age at injury = 12.2 years, brain tumor survivors excluded) were clinically assessed and rehabilitated over 1-month through IM-FTP, including physio-kinesis/occupational, speech, and neuropsychology treatments. Each patient received a psychometric evaluation and a brain functional MRI at enrollment and at discharge. Ten pediatric controls with ABI (mean age at injury = 13.8 years) were clinically assessed, and rehabilitated through a standard program; (3) Results: After treatment, both groups had marked improvement in both immediate and delayed recall. IM-FTP was associated with better learning of semantically related and unrelated words, and larger improvement in immediate recall in prose memory. Imaging showed functional modification in the left frontal inferior cortex; (4) Conclusions: We described an age-independent reproducible multidisciplinary memory-focused rehabilitation protocol, which can be adapted to single patients while preserving inter-subject comparability, and is applicable up to a few months after injury. IM-FTP will now be employed in a powered clinical trial.

KW - Child

KW - Immediate and delayed recall

KW - Left inferior frontal gyrus

KW - Memory

KW - Pediatric brain injury

KW - Rehabilitation

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85087752567&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/brainsci10070430

DO - 10.3390/brainsci10070430

M3 - Article

SN - 1341-5301

VL - 10

SP - 1

EP - 20

JO - JOURNAL OF BRAIN SCIENCE

JF - JOURNAL OF BRAIN SCIENCE

IS - 7

M1 - 430

ER -