title: Rehabilitation of Communicative Abilities in Patients with a History of TBI: Behavioral Improvements and Cerebral Changes in Resting-State Activity.
abstract: A targeted training program for the rehabilitation of communicative abilities-Cognitive Pragmatic Treatment (CPT)-has been developed and previously tested on a sample of patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI), whose performance was found to have improved. Since cortical plasticity has been recognized as the main mechanism of functional recovery, we investigated whether and how behavioral improvements following the training program are accompanied by brain modifications. Eight TBI patients took part in the training program and were behaviorally assessed pre- and post-treatment; six of these patients were also evaluated with pre- and post-treatment resting state (rs) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). At the end of the rehabilitation program patients showed improvement in overall communicative performance, in both comprehension and production tasks. A follow-up retest revealed the stability of these results 3 months after completing the training program. At the brain level, we found significant increases in the amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF) index in the bilateral precentral gyrus, in the right middle and superior temporal gyri, in the right cingulate gyrus, and in the left inferior parietal lobule. We discuss these differences of brain activity in terms of their possible contribution to promoting recovery.
authors.affiliation: Imaging and Cerebral Plasticity Research Group, Department of Psychology, University of TurinTurin, Italy; Center for Cognitive Science, Department of Psychology, University of TurinTurin, Italy; Neuroscience Institute of Turin, University of TurinTurin, Italy.
authors.forename: Katiuscia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sacco
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Humanities, Research Unit of Logopedics, Child Language Research Center, University of Oulu Oulu, Finland.
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gabbatore
authors.affiliation: Imaging and Cerebral Plasticity Research Group, Department of Psychology, University of Turin Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Geda
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Institute of Turin, University of TurinTurin, Italy; GCS-fMRI, Koelliker Hospital, Department of Psychology, University of TurinTurin, Italy.
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Duca
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Institute of Turin, University of TurinTurin, Italy; GCS-fMRI, Koelliker Hospital, Department of Psychology, University of TurinTurin, Italy.
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cauda
authors.affiliation: Center for Cognitive Science, Department of Psychology, University of TurinTurin, Italy; Neuroscience Institute of Turin, University of TurinTurin, Italy.
authors.forename: Bruno G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Bara
authors.affiliation: Center for Cognitive Science, Department of Psychology, University of TurinTurin, Italy; Neuroscience Institute of Turin, University of TurinTurin, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Bosco
keywords: cerebral plasticity; cognitive rehabilitation; communicative abilities; functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI); traumatic brain injury (TBI)