Neuropsychological rehabilitation: An experimental study with head-injured patients

Abstract
A pilot study was conducted that was one of the first controlled experiments comparing the efficacy of neuropsychological treatment with a nonstructured treatment providing equivalent professional attention and psychosocial support. The neuropsychological treatment included computer-assisted training modules in the areas of selective attention, spatial integration, memory, and problem solving. Forty head-injured patients were randomly assigned to one of two treatment protocols, each protocol involving daily sessions over an eight-week period, totalling 160 hours of treatment per patient, Analyses of pretreatment and posttreatment data on neuropsychological functioning demonstrated significant improvements for both groups. Moreover, the experimental group achieved greater relative gains on measures of memory and an error reduction for visual selective attention. These findings are discussed with suggestions for further investigation.