Computerised working memory training in acquired brain injury
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The impact of concurrent BRAIN STimulation and wORking Memory trainING on cognitive performance in acquired brain injury (BRAINSTORMING)
IRAS ID
238990
Contact name
Kimron Shapiro
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Birmingham
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Working memory is a limited capacity cognitive system in which information is held temporarily in order to make it available for processing. The amount of information that can be held in mind varies considerably from person to person and changes across the lifespan (Conway, Jarrold, Kane, Miyake, & Towse, 2008)
Working memory is frequently affected following brain injury. As working memory is important for cognitive skills such as problem solving, planning and active listening, a deficit in working memory can lead to difficulties with many everyday activities that are necessary for work, study and general functioning (Christodoulou et al., 2001). Impaired working memory may consequently have a significant impact on a person’s quality of life and ability to participate in previous social roles, with potential for effects on mood and emotional wellbeing.
Evidence shows that non-invasive transcranial direct current brain stimulation (tDCS) can be used in combination with computerized memory training (CT) over multiple days, to enhance working memory in healthy (Au et al., 2016; Rolle, Anguera, Skinner, Voytek, & Gazzaley, 2017)and clinical populations. In patients with an acquired brain injury (ABI), cognitive training (Åkerlund, Esbjörnsson, Sunnerhagen, & Björkdahl, 2013; Lundqvist, Grundström, Samuelsson, & Rönnberg, 2010; Nyberg, Lövdén, Riklund, Lindenberger, & Bäckman, 2012; Rolle et al., 2017; Westerberg et al., 2007) or brain stimulation (Kang, Kim, & Paik, 2012) have been used alone to improve attention or memory-related impairment, but the effect of the concurrent used of the two interventions over multiple days is yet to be investigated.
With this research we propose to investigate the effect of the combined use of tDCS and CT to improve memory performance in patients with acquired brain injury. We propose to use a multi-day cognitive training regime to exercise working memory, while stimulating the brain with low intensity direct currents. Success will be measured as improvement in performance in several cognitive domain, before and after training.REC name
West Midlands - Black Country Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/WM/0232
Date of REC Opinion
12 Nov 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion