Cognitive Training Improved Persistent Brain Fog in Traumatic Brain Injuries

Participants with long-lasting symptoms of traumatic brain injury (TBI), who were treated with brain-training software (BrainHQ; Posit Science, San Francisco CA), had improved cognition, neural connectivity, and other symptoms compared with participants who did not receive training. 

All participants took standard cognitive tests for attention, memory, and executive function.  Those who had brain training showed significant improvement. Participants showed no significant group differences in cognitive function or resting-state functional connectivity at the baseline. Participants received imaging and those who had brain training had significant improvement in the functional connectivity of the default mode network (DMN).

Participants who had brain training participants had significant (P<.001) group×time interactions in repeated measures of analysis of variance (ANOVA), suggesting training-related changes in connectivity and cognitive function were correlated. 

“This new study confirms and extends what has been seen in seven prior studies of chronic TBI and BrainHQ, which have shown study participants improved measures of cognitive abilities and symptoms, with imaging showing functional re-organization of the brain” observed Dr. Henry Mahncke, CEO of Posit Science.

For this study, 21 individuals with chronic TBI symptoms (mean 7 years) were enrolled and separated into a intervention group or control group for 13 weeks of observation. The intervention group completed 40 hours of training over 13 weeks total. After the 13-week period, brain connectivity was measured with fMRI brain imaging.