Abstract Details

Title Targeted Cognitive Training Improves the Clarity of Neural Representation of Goal-Relevant Stimuli in Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury

Topic Neural Repair/Rehabilitation

Presentation(s) P04 - (-)

Poster/Presentation
Number 024

Objective

Background BACKGROUND: Targeted cognitive training was recently shown in a randomized controlled trial to significantly improve executive function, strategic memory, and reasoning in patients with chronic TBI.

Design/Methods DESIGN/METHODS: Eight patients greater than two years post-TBI participated in eight weeks of strategic memory and reasoning training and had fMRI scans before and afterwards, including completion of an attention task during which they were to attend to and hold in mind task-relevant visual stimuli interleaved with non-relevant stimuli. In order to index the clarity of representation of goal-relevance, machine learning algorithms were used to train and test the distinctiveness of multi-voxel patterns associated with relevant and non-relevant stimuli. Patterns were analyzed for two pre-defined brain regions of interest: middle frontal gyrus (MFG) and visual association cortex (VAC).

Results RESULTS: Overall classifier accuracy was higher in the MFG than VAC (p = 0.002), consistent with stronger representation of goal-relevance in the prefrontal cortex. Accuracy in the VAC was significantly increased after training (p = 0.001). Post-hoc analyses showed that this improvement was driven by increased accuracy in classifying relevant trials (p = 0.002), although non-relevant trial accuracy was also increased (p = 0.022). There was not a similar increase amongst the patients who did not receive targeted training.

Conclusions CONCLUSIONS: After training, neural representations of an abstract quality of presented stimuli, goal-relevance, were more clearly represented. This sharpening of goal-based neural processing may underlie improvements after strategic memory and reasoning training. This biomarker at baseline may be used in the future to predict response to training and assignment to specific training duration.

Authors/Disclosures
Maulik Shah, MD (UCSF Neurology) PRESENTER	Dr. Shah has received personal compensation in the range of $5,000-$9,999 for serving as a Consultant for National Football League.
Made Wenten	No disclosure on file
Anthony Chen, MD (VA Northern California Health Care System)	No disclosure on file
	No disclosure on file
	No disclosure on file
	No disclosure on file
	No disclosure on file
	No disclosure on file
Mark T. D'Esposito, MD, FAAN (University of California)	No disclosure on file
	No disclosure on file

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