Improved quality of life and psychological symptoms following mindfulness and cognitive rehabilitation in multiple sclerosis and their mediating role for cognition: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) frequently gives rise to depressive and anxiety symptoms, but these are often undertreated. This study investigated the effect of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) and cognitive rehabilitation therapy (CRT) on psychological outcomes and quality of life (QoL), and whether they mediate treatment effects on MS-related cognitive problems.

Methods: This randomized controlled trial included MS patients with cognitive complaints (n = 99) and compared MBCT (n = 32) and CRT (n = 32) to enhanced treatment as usual (n = 35).

Neurophysiological brain function predicts response to cognitive rehabilitation and mindfulness in multiple sclerosis: a randomized trial.

Background: Cognitive treatment response varies highly in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). Identification of mechanisms is essential for predicting response.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate whether brain network function predicts response to cognitive rehabilitation therapy (CRT) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT).

Game-supported cognitive strategy training for slowed information processing speed after acquired brain injury: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Many individuals with acquired brain injury tend to experience problems with slowed information processing speed (IPS). A potentially beneficial and cost-effective supplement for cognitive rehabilitation of impaired IPS may be the implementation of serious gaming that focuses on compensatory learning as part of cognitive training. However, most digital platforms used during cognitive rehabilitation focus on restoring cognitive function and evidence for skill transfer from digital practice to everyday life is lacking.

Cognitive rehabilitation and mindfulness reduce cognitive complaints in multiple sclerosis (REMIND-MS): A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Cognitive problems, both complaints and objective impairments, are frequent and disabling in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and profoundly affect daily living. However, intervention studies that focus on cognitive problems that patients experience in their daily lives are limited. This study therefore aimed to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation therapy (CRT) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) on patient-reported cognitive complaints in MS.

Two Ecological Tools for Testing Slowness of Information Processing in Italian Patients with Moderate-to-Severe Traumatic Brain Injury.

Unlabelled: Slowness of Information Processing (SIP) is frequently experienced after traumatic brain injury (TBI); however, the impact of SIP on everyday functioning may be underestimated by standard neuropsychological tests.

Objective: we aimed to adapt two ecological instruments assessing SIP in Italian patients with moderate-to-severe TBI, as formerly proposed by Winkens and colleagues for persons with stroke, testing also its possible relation with other neuropsychological processes and functional outcomes.

Method: we performed an observational study on 37 patients with moderate-to-severe TBI and 35 demographically matched healthy controls, who underwent the Mental Slowness Observation Test (MSOT) and the Mental Slowness Questionnaire (MSQ), which had been adapted through a pilot study on independent sample of participants; extensive neuropsychological and functional evaluations were performed as well.

Neurobehavioral Initiation and Motivation Problems After Acquired Brain Injury.

Motivation is a primary and permanent source of human behavior and adaptation. Motivational deficits, along with deficiencies in initiation, frequently occur in individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI). These neurobehavioral problems are associated with consequences at the participation level: patients are reluctant to engage in rehabilitation, and their subsequent social reintegration is often at risk.

Caregivers' effects of augmented cognitive-behavioural therapy for post-stroke depressive symptoms in patients: secondary analyses to a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To investigate the concomitant effects of two patient-directed interventions for post-stroke depressive symptoms on caregivers' well-being.

Design: Secondary analyses of the results of a randomized controlled trial.

Subjects: Fifty caregivers of stroke patients receiving outpatient rehabilitation.

Social cognition and emotion regulation: a multifaceted treatment (T-ScEmo) for patients with traumatic brain injury.

Background: Many patients with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury have deficits in social cognition. Social cognition refers to the ability to perceive, interpret, and act upon social information. Few studies have investigated the effectiveness of treatment for impairments of social cognition in patients with traumatic brain injury.

Participation after traumatic brain injury: the surplus value of social cognition tests beyond measures for executive functioning and dysexecutive behavior in a statistical prediction model.

: This study evaluates the contribution of measures for social cognition (SC), executive functioning (EF) and dysexecutive behavior to the statistical prediction of social and vocational participation in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI), taking into account age and injury severity.: A total of 63 patients with moderate to severe TBI participated. They were administered a semi-structured Role Resumption List for social (RRL-SR) and vocational participation (RRL-RTW).

Incorporation of a working memory strategy in GMT to facilitate serial-order behaviour in brain-injured patients.

Goal Management Training (GMT) is an effective method for improving disorganised behaviour in multistep real-life tasks after brain damage. In the present study we incorporated Working Memory Training (WMT) in GMT to explore their combined efficacy in facilitating the serial-order maintenance of the steps that had to be learned. GMT+WMT was compared to a control WMT designed for other purposes.

Memory Strategy Training in Older Adults with Subjective Memory Complaints: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objectives: Subjective memory complaints (SMC) in older adults are associated with a decline in everyday functioning and an increased risk for future cognitive decline. This study examines the effect of a memory strategy training compared to a control memory training on memory functioning in daily life.

Methods: This was a randomized controlled trial with baseline, post-treatment, and 6-month follow-up assessments conducted in 60 older adults (50-87 years) with SMC.

The clinical value of the patient-reported multiple sclerosis neuropsychological screening questionnaire.

Background: Cognitive problems are difficult to identify in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Objective: To investigate the clinical applicability of the patient-reported MS Neuropsychological Screening Questionnaire (MSNQ-P).

Methods: Cut-off scores were determined to differentiate between cognitively impaired ( = 90), mildly cognitively impaired ( = 115), and cognitively preserved ( = 147) MS patients using receiver operating characteristic analyses.

The influence of cognitive reserve and age on the use of memory strategies.

Background: Whether older adults use effective memory strategies to compensate for their memory decline partly depends on their executive functioning (EF). However, many studies have overlooked the role of cognitive reserve (CR). This study examines the effects of age, EF, and CR on memory strategy use.

Cognitive rehabilitation and mindfulness in multiple sclerosis (REMIND-MS): a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Cognitive problems frequently occur in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and profoundly affect their quality of life. So far, the best cognitive treatment options for MS patients are a matter of debate. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effectiveness of two promising non-pharmacological treatments: cognitive rehabilitation therapy (CRT) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT).

Destination memory in social interaction: better memory for older than for younger destinations in normal aging?

Destination memory, a memory component allowing the attribution of information to its appropriate receiver (e.g., to whom did I lend my pen?), is compromised in normal aging.

Effectiveness of a Treatment for Impairments in Social Cognition and Emotion Regulation (T-ScEmo) After Traumatic Brain Injury: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of a multifaceted Treatment for Social cognition and Emotion regulation (T-ScEmo) in patients with a traumatic brain injury.

Participants: Sixty-one patients with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury randomly assigned to an experimental T-ScEmo intervention or a Cogniplus control condition.

Interventions: T-ScEmo is a compensatory strategy training for impairments in emotion recognition, theory of mind, and social behavioral skills.

Augmented Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Poststroke Depressive Symptoms: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of individually tailored cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for reducing depressive symptoms with or without anxiety poststroke.

Design: Multicenter, assessor-blinded, randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Ambulatory rehabilitation setting.

Intelligence moderates the benefits of strategy instructions on memory performance: an adult-lifespan examination.

Whether older adults can compensate for their associative memory deficit by using memory strategies efficiently might depend on their general cognitive abilities. This study examined the moderating role of an IQ estimate on the beneficial effects of strategy instructions. A total of 142 participants (aged 18-85 years) received either intentional learning or strategy ("sentence generation") instructions during encoding of word pairs.

Preserved and attenuated electrophysiological correlates of visual spatial attention in elderly subjects.

Healthy aging is associated with changes in many neurocognitive functions. While on the behavioral level, visual spatial attention capacities are relatively stable with increasing age, the underlying neural processes change. In this study, we investigated attention-related modulations of the stimulus-locked event-related potential (ERP) and occipital oscillations in the alpha band (8-14Hz) in young and elderly participants.

Memory strategy use in older adults with subjective memory complaints.

Background: Subjective memory complaints (SMC) are common among older adults, but it is unclear to what extent adults with SMC spontaneously use memory strategies to compensate for their memory problems. As SMC may be a risk factor for memory decline later, it is important to extend our knowledge about spontaneous compensatory mechanisms in older adults with SMC.

Method: Self-reported strategy use and observed strategy use were assessed in 38 adults with and 38 without SMC.

Transfer effects of errorless Goal Management Training on cognitive function and quality of life in brain-injured persons.

Background: Previous findings had shown that the addition of errorless learning to traditional Goal Management Training (GMT) resulted in superior results when training everyday tasks in persons with executive deficits after brain injury.

Objective: To investigate the additional effects of an errorless GMT on cognitive function and quality of life after acquired brain injury.

Methods: This is a supplementary analysis of findings from an RCT in which 67 patients with executive impairments after acquired brain injury were randomly allocated to an experimental errorless GMT (n = 33) or conventional GMT (n = 34) to train two individually chosen everyday tasks.

Do Old Errors Always Lead to New Truths? A Randomized Controlled Trial of Errorless Goal Management Training in Brain-Injured Patients.

Both errorless learning (EL) and Goal Management Training (GMT) have been shown effective cognitive rehabilitation methods aimed at optimizing the performance on everyday skills after brain injury. We examine whether a combination of EL and GMT is superior to traditional GMT for training complex daily tasks in brain-injured patients with executive dysfunction. This was an assessor-blinded randomized controlled trial conducted in 67 patients with executive impairments due to brain injury of non-progressive nature (minimal post-onset time: 3 months), referred for outpatient rehabilitation.

Moderators, Mediators, and Nonspecific Predictors of Treatment Outcome in an Intervention for Everyday Task Improvement in Persons With Executive Deficits After Brain Injury.

Objective: To identify moderators, mediators, and predictors of everyday task performance after an experimental combination of errorless learning and goal management training.

Design: Predictor analysis of a randomized controlled intervention trial.

Setting: Outpatient rehabilitation centers.

Reliability of an Adapted Version of the Modified Six Elements Test as a Measure of Executive Function.

The Modified Six Elements Test (MSET) is used to examine executive deficits-more specifically, planning deficits. This study investigates the reliability of an adapted version of the MSET and proposes a novel scoring method. Two parallel versions of the adapted MSET were administered in 60 healthy participants in a counterbalanced order.