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

Abstract

<jats:p>(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.</jats:p>

The influential factors and non-pharmacological interventions of cognitive impairment in children with ischemic stroke

“…A randomized controlled study of children with central nervous system injuries found that a cognitive remediation program (CRP) improved both attention and academic performance ( 64 ). Recla et al showed that a 1-month intensive memory-focused training program (IM-FTP) improved children's ability to learn semantically related and irrelevant words, while also improving their immediate prose memory ( 65 ). Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analyses of these children revealed that the IM-FTP treatment was associated with functional changes in the left lower frontal cortex.…”

“…Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analyses of these children revealed that the IM-FTP treatment was associated with functional changes in the left lower frontal cortex. The left lower frontal gyrus is closely associated with the left posterior middle temporal gyrus, which plays a vital role in syntactic analysis ( 66 ) and vocabulary selection ( 67 ), which is why this is an area that is stimulated during intensive memory training ( 65 ).…”