Nancy Chiaravalloti, PhD

“Many of the things that we’re teaching patients to use are things that we implement in our daily lives…One of the techniques we utilize in our memory rehabilitation protocols is self-testing...[which] is actually used very commonly in the educational system.”

As Nancy Chiaravalloti, PhD, director, Centers for Neuropsychology and Neuroscience Research, and Traumatic Brain Injury Research, Kessler Foundation, pointed out in a conversation with 

, the literature is quite robust on the use of cognitive rehabilitation techniques in healthy individuals. While she and colleagues are applying these techniques to those with neurological injury or illness, she noted their roots in daily life.

Many patients are encouraged to engage in practices such as self-tests for memory—similar to how school children are quizzed in class&mdash;and spaced learning&mdash;the separating of time between repetitions of information to maximize retention. These tactics, while being developed specifically for those with traumatic brain injury or multiple sclerosis at Kessler Foundation, are derived from activities that healthy individuals partake in to maximize memory as well.

 on these tactics and what everyday life tasks they are comparable to, and how patients are benefitting from them.

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The director of Centers for Neuropsychology and Neuroscience Research, and Traumatic Brain Injury Research at Kessler Foundation discussed the use of cognitive rehabilitation techniques in healthy individuals.

Nancy Chiaravalloti, PhD: Using Cognitive Rehab Tactics in Healthy Individuals

“What we’ve found is that the 2 patient populations [of MS and TBI] do benefit differently. We think about learning and memory all the time. We think about situations where we may have forgotten our keys, we ‘ve forgotten somebody’s name, we’ve forgotten a phone number—those are very common memory complaints. But memory is really an end-stage cognitive process.”

As Nancy Chiaravalloti, PhD, director, Centers for Neuropsychology and Neuroscience Research, and Traumatic Brain Injury Research, Kessler Foundation, and colleagues know all too well, there is great need for improved cognitive rehabilitation for patients with neurologic injury and disease such traumatic brain injury (TBI) and multiple sclerosis (MS).

This is why Chiaravalloti and her colleagues are exploring a number of novel protocols that incorporate strategy training developed over time. Thus far, the group has found success, though the benefits which patients receive vary in a similar fashion to their condition. For those with MS, processing speed is a common challenge, while those with TBI are more often faced with working memory problems (though processing issues do occur in these individuals).

, Chiaravalloti shared her insight into the challenges that patients and their physicians seek to overcome, and what each patient group gains from the use of strategy training. She also spoke to how this research may have positive clinical impacts as well.

The director of Centers for Neuropsychology and Neuroscience Research, and Traumatic Brain Injury Research at Kessler Foundation shared her perspective on the varying benefits different patient groups derive through strategy training for cognitive rehabilitation.

Nancy Chiaravalloti, PhD: Varying Benefits of Cognitive Rehab in MS and TBI

“There is a very robust literature on strategy training in healthy populations. There are hundreds of studies showing that various types of strategy trainings really do help people learn new information. We’ve taken that and we’ve applied those techniques to people who have neurological injuries…or neurological illness.”

At Kessler Foundation, there has been a widespread effort to develop cognitive rehabilitation treatment protocols that incorporate strategy training—the applications of tactics to aid in the understanding and recollection of new information. Their goal is to use these techniques to improve patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and multiple sclerosis (MS), among other neurologic disorders and injuries.

Nancy Chiaravalloti, PhD, director, Centers for Neuropsychology and Neuroscience Research, and Traumatic Brain Injury Research, Kessler Foundation, has been at the forefront of this effort. In a conversation with 

, Chiaravalloti discussed what prompted these efforts at Kessler Foundation as well as how they’ve been utilized thus far.

Additionally, she shared insight into how she and her colleagues at Kessler developed these programs and what steps they took to take these strategies from the literature into practice.

The director of Centers for Neuropsychology and Neuroscience Research, and Traumatic Brain Injury Research at Kessler Foundation discussed the use of strategy training in the cognitive rehabilitation of patients with MS and TBI.

Nancy Chiaravalloti, PhD

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Nancy Chiaravalloti, PhD: Using Cognitive Rehab Tactics in Healthy Individuals

Nancy Chiaravalloti, PhD: Varying Benefits of Cognitive Rehab in MS and TBI

Nancy Chiaravalloti, PhD: Strategy Training in Cognitive Rehabilitation

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