Communicating using the eyes without remembering it: cognitive rehabilitation in a severely brain-injured patient with amnesia, tetraplegia and anarthria.
We describe here a case of cognitive rehabilitation in a young patient with closed head injury, who had dense anterograde amnesia and such disabling neurological defects (tetraplegia and anarthria) that the condition evoked some features of an incomplete locked-in syndrome. After a prolonged period of no communicative possibility, the patient underwent a specific training, based on principles of errorless learning, with the aim of using a computerized eye-tracker system. Although, due to memory disturbances, the patient always denied ever having used the eye-tracker system, learned to use the computerized device and improved interaction with the environment. This favourable outcome may serve as a stimulus for devising new training approaches in patients with complex patterns of cognitive impairments, even when associated with severe motor impairments.
Trojano
Luigi
L
Department of Psychology, Second University of Naples, Via Vivaldi 43, IT-81100 Caserta, Italy. luigi.trojano@unina2.it
Moretta
Pasquale
P
Estraneo
Anna
A
D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000328:Adult; D000647:Amnesia / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D004401:Dysarthria / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005133:Eye Movements; D016489:Head Injuries, Closed / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D009633:Nonverbal Communication / Q000523:psychology; D011782:Quadriplegia / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014584:User-Computer Interface