Long-Term Use and Perceived Benefits of Goal-Oriented Attentional Self-Regulation Training in Chronic Brain Injury.

To investigate the long-term use and perceived benefit(s) of strategies included in Goal-Oriented Attentional Self-Regulation (GOALS) training (Novakovic-Agopian et al., 2011) by individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI) and chronic executive dysfunction. Longitudinal follow-up of training.

Assessment of subcomponents of executive functioning in ecologically valid settings: the goal processing scale.

Objectives: To validate a new functional assessment tool, the Goal Processing Scale (GPS), and to apply it for testing for sources of dysfunction in patients with acquired brain injury. Determining which component processes of executive functioning underlie poor performance in complex, low-structure settings would be valuable for the assessment of deficits and for evaluating the effectiveness of treatments.

Participants: Nineteen individuals with chronic acquired brain injury (mean age = 41.

Training of goal-directed attention regulation enhances control over neural processing for individuals with brain injury.

Deficits in attention and executive control are some of the most common, debilitating and persistent consequences of brain injuries. Understanding neural mechanisms that support clinically significant improvements, when they do occur, may help advance treatment development. Intervening via rehabilitation provides an opportunity to probe such mechanisms.

Rehabilitation of executive functioning with training in attention regulation applied to individually defined goals: a pilot study bridging theory, assessment, and treatment.

Objective: To assess feasibility and effects of training in goal-oriented attentional self-regulation for patients with brain injury and chronic executive dysfunction.

Participants: Sixteen individuals with chronic brain injury and mild to moderate executive dysfunction.

Design: Participants were divided into 2 groups: one group completed goal-oriented attentional self-regulation training during the first 5 weeks, followed by a brief (2-hour) educational instruction session as a control midway through the second 5 weeks; the other group participated in reverse order.