The Impact of Computerized Cognitive Rehabilitation on Working Memory Performance in Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury

Working memory deficits are common in traumatic brain injury
and causing much compromise in patients’ activity of daily living. Research has
shown possiblility to improve working memory through cognitive training. The
purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of computerized cognitive
rehabilitation on working memory performance in patients with traumatic brain
injury.
Fifty two patients with traumatic brain injury aged 16-40 who
fulfilled the inclusion criteria, were randomly assigned to experimental and waiting-list control groups. The experimental group was trained for 8 session with a Memory rehabilitation software while the waiting-list control group did not receive any intervention and the training was postponed until after the conclusion of this research. The Wechsler memory index was employed to assess the working memory at baseline, post-test, and follow-up time points.
The results of ANCOVA suggested a significant difference between the means of working memory in experimental and waiting-list control groups. The posttest
and follow-up scores in the experimental group were not statistically
different.
The computerized cognitive rehabilitation appeared to
exert a significant effect on working memory performance in patients with
traumatic brain injury.