View clinical trials related to Acquired Brain Injury.
Filter by:Action Observation Therapy (AOT) is a rehabilitation technique, used for several years, aimed at the recovery of motor function in patients with neurological and orthopedic conditions. The essential element of this approach is the patient's observation and subsequent mime of a sequence of daily actions, aimed at achieving a goal. This task is proposed repeatedly during a single rehabilitation session and repeated for a set number of sessions. The recovery of the presented motor patterns has, as its ultimate goal, the improvement of autonomy in activities of daily living (ADLs). The neurophysiological mechanism underlying motor cortical recovery is related to the activation of mirror neuron circuits and includes mechanisms of neuronal plasticity. In fact, it is well known how motor brain areas injured by a pathological process are able to activate during tasks of imagining or observing movements, with a correspondence between the type of movement observed and the specific motor cortical region involved in the given action. Activation of the brain areas in charge of movement, in addition to keeping the uninjured networks functioning, stimulates the injured ones by promoting, by mechanisms of neuronal plasticity, a reorganization of the primary motor cortex. The physiological basis for motor learning would thus be established, the cortical reorganization being decisive for the formation of a motor memory of the observed gesture and allowing the reacquisition, even partial, of the function of the injured motor cortex. Finally, motor cortical stimulation has a function in preventing dysfunctional cortical reorganization that intervenes after inactivity or disuse. As revealed by systematic review studies on the subject, the protocols used are very heterogeneous in terms of the type of patients to whom they were offered, the type and number of actions shown during treatments, their duration, and the rating scales used.
Disorder of consciousness (DoC) is a state in which consciousness is altered because of brain damage and can occur under a variety of conditions: in fact, the most frequent causes of DoC are vascular disease, head trauma, and cerebral hypoxia. DoCs result from the loss of regulation of neural function of the two components of consciousness, alertness and awareness. Depending on the patient's behavior and responsiveness, DoCs can be identified in different states, from coma to persistent vegetative state (VS) to intermittent minimally conscious state (MCS). Regarding the prognosis of recovery, in patients with DoC the chance of having functional improvement decreases with time, although some positive functional changes have been observed in chronic patients. Therapies for DoC include some drugs, such as dopaminergic, GABAergic and amantadine drugs, which work to facilitate the recovery of consciousness. Neurorehabilitation, however, seems to be the most recognized intervention that aims to strengthen, in uninjured brain regions, the spontaneous neuroplasticity that occurs to compensate for lost function. Simultaneous stimulation of multiple senses, such as hearing, sight and smell, provides the neural network with more stimuli that are more effective than a single stimulus. In fact, multisensory stimuli can more easily activate attention because cortical processing is predominantly multimodal. As for content, it would seem that those with autobiographical and emotionally salient character could engage multiple brain networks and have priority access to attention. Numerous trials show that stimulus-containing content led to increased behavioural activity, improving self-awareness in patients with DoC. Considering that a communication system that can combine both visual and auditory channels proves to be more effective than a "single-sense" channel, multisensory stimulation is likely to provide simultaneous activation of different brain areas by enhancing plasticity processes. Furthermore, the intensity of stimulation could be one of the main variables with greater impact on the patient: in fact, higher intensity would correspond to a greater effect on the brain.
Severe Acquired Brain Injury (sABI), with a more or less prolonged state of coma, generally causes disruption of the physiological modes of swallowing and feeding and the physiological abilities of communication and phonation. There is broad agreement in the scientific literature for early intervention by the entire rehabilitation team. In the specific case of swallowing and phonatory function, speech therapist intervention is indicated with the goal of restoring the automatic and voluntary movements of the muscles involved in the performance of the previously mentioned functions. Speech-language treatment of buccal structures, sensation, motor and praxie is recommended in conjunction with other types of approaches (dietary modifications, compensation techniques, postural modifications). In the acute and early subacute phase of patients with sABI with a vigilance level of less than 4 according to the Levels of Cognitive Functioning scale, alterations in bucco-linguo-facial structures and swallowing can be observed that prevent the execution of a correct motor pattern of phonation and swallowing. For this reason, passive and/or active stimulation aimed at restoring sensitivity, strength, and movement coordination of the bucco-linguo-facial and laryngeal muscles is necessary to rehabilitate the prerequisites for the initiation of feeding, to restore adequate afferents, and to stimulate communication. A careful search of the literature shows that over the past decade many studies in the rehabilitation field have sought to understand the effects of local vibration therapy at various levels of the central nervous system and the possible benefits in neurorehabilitation. From a speech therapy perspective, there are only three studies on the area of dysphonia in cases of upper laryngeal nerve palsy, combining traditional treatment with the use of Novafon®, a sound wave medical device used for Local Vibrational Therapy. The results show greater improvements in vocal function and voice quality when classical treatment is combined with Local Vibrational Therapy. These studies conclude by affirming the need for further research with a larger sample size to analyze the potential effectiveness of Novafon® applied to the recovery of vocal cord paralysis.
About two-third individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI) experience cognitive impairments. Deficits in executive functions is one of the most prevalent cognitive impairments following ABI which result in decline of recovery and independence. Lack of intervention shows evidence of immediate and long-term effect on executive function which is critical after returning to the community. The overall aim of this study is to examine the efficacy of strategy training intervention on executive functions and participation on community-dwelling people with ABI. Findings of the study will provide unequivocal evidence on the duration of effectiveness of strategy training and support the development and application of the program in rehabilitation practice.
The goal of this research is to provide limb training in children with hemiplegia using a bimanual-to-unimanual training approach. Twenty pediatric patients aged 5-17 years with acquired brain injury will receive training on the bimanual-to-unimanual device for a period of 9 weeks. During the training, children use both arms to operate robotic arms to play a video game. We will assess changes in hand impairment after the training.