Home-based, Online, Mindfulness and Cognitive Training for Soldiers and Veterans with TBI

Abstract

We examined whether a home-based, adaptive cognitive training, and problem-solving training program would lead to changes in performance on untrained cognitive and functional tasks in TBI Veterans. Scope: 23 veterans with MCI (age = 50.43, SD=12.77) were randomly assigned to either combined cognitive and problem-solving training(Intervention Group, IG, BrainHQ Movingforward) or an active control group (AC, casual computer games VA information session). Participants were instructed to train on their assigned programs for 40 minutes per day, five days per week, over 12 weeks (40 hours of total program usage). Participants completed tests of cognitive (processing speed, memory, and executive control) and functional abilities before, after 12 weeks of training, and after 6 months from the initiation of training to measure the retention benefit from the training. Up-to-date report of progress: We successfully developed a training website with embedded problem-solving and cognitive training programs. Participant recruitment was initiated in the middle of 2017. Fifteen out of 23 randomized participants completed the training and 13 participants completed entire post-training and 3-month follow-up assessments, and 2 participants completed only partial post- and follow-up assessments due to COVID-19. The mean number of sessions completed was 32.6 out of 60 total sessions (SD = 23.88). Major Finding: There was no group difference in baseline performances demonstrating successful participants' randomization. The intervention group showed strong improvement on the trained task performance, suggesting that TBI participants are capable of learning home-based computerized tasks. Although there was some numerical improvement favoring IG over AC, there was no significant interaction found between-group (IG and AC) and time (baseline vs. post-training) in untrained cognitive performance and functional ability.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2021
Accession Number
AD1156471

Entities

People

  • Hyun K. Lee

Organizations

  • Posit Science Corporation
  • VA Connecticut Research and Education Foundation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Biomedical Research
  • Brain
  • Brain Injuries
  • Cognitive Impairment
  • Computers
  • Delivery Of Health Care
  • Health Services
  • Information Processing
  • Institutional Review Board
  • Medical Personnel
  • Mindfulness
  • Psychology
  • Quality Of Life
  • Training
  • Traumatic Stress Disorder
  • Video Games

Fields of Study

  • Psychology

Readers

  • Brain and Cognitive Science; Experimental Psychology; Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Clinical Trial Research.
  • Psychological Intervention/Treatment for Stress, Anxiety, PTSD, and Related Emotional and Cognitive Health Symptoms.