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.
Department of Psychology, Second University of Naples, Via Vivaldi 43, IT-81100 Caserta, Italy. luigi.trojano@unina2.it
Luigi
L
Trojano
Pasquale
P
Moretta
Anna
A
Estraneo
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