Some Good News as we Observe Brain Injury Awareness Month
SAN FRANCISCO — A timely literature review — during this Brain Injury Awareness Month — indicates that brain training can help not just with cognitive rehabilitation, but also with cognitive resilience and cognitive abilities that help prevent maladaptive behaviors (e.g., substance use and suicide). The review in the journal Military Medicine builds on the findings of the Warfighter Brain Fitness Study, published recently in the same journal. There are two interventions examined in both journal articles: the top-down, strategy-based executive function training program SMARTTM from the UT Dallas Center for Brain Health and the bottom-up, adaptive, and progressively challenging BrainHQ from Posit Science.
The Warfighter Brain Fitness Study enrolled 406 healthy National Guard servicemembers, who trained in alternating sequences of BrainHQ and SMART training. That study found participants benefitted from either training across multiple key measures of cognitive resilience — a health and readiness priority of the US military — as evaluated using the BrainHealth Index. Improvements were shown across all measures (including cognitive performance and psychological well-being).
“Cognitive resilience is increasingly a priority health and readiness issue, not just for US warfighters, but for many whose work demands peak performance under challenging conditions,” observed Dr. Henry Mahncke, CEO of Posit Science. “By building cognitive resilience, we help people optimize performance, adapt, and recover from adversity. While this work began with showing we can help with recovery from injuries, increasingly it’s deployed to strengthen capabilities and resilience, and monitor cognitive readiness.”
In the literature review published this week, the reviewers noted studies of the two interventions and the factors associated with the training that help prevent brain injury by reducing the risk of maladaptive behaviors (such as substance use and suicide), including (1) improved higher order cognitive functions; (2) reduced symptoms of psychological distress; and (3) improved social connectedness.
The researchers noted the ongoing challenge of preventing maladaptive behaviors and the wide variety of interventions: “Based upon this literature review, there is a compelling case for cognitive training to be among these interventions. Not only does cognitive training bolster protective factors such as emotional regulation, problem-solving, and psychological well-being, but it reduces risk factors such as social isolation and impaired social skills. Furthermore, because cognitive training is beneficial to healthy (ie, nonclinical) populations, it can be appropriately framed as a tool to improve brain fitness, rather than as a ‘mental health’ intervention, the latter of which may be met with some resistance in military populations.”
Prior studies of BrainHQ usage in addressing traumatic brain injuries have shown its effectiveness in cognitive rehabilitation. Notably, the BRAVE Study (conducted at five VA and military hospitals) was the first randomized controlled trial of computerized brain training in veterans and servicemembers (with symptoms that had persisted for an average of 7+ years post-injury), to show significant improvement in overall cognition, with gains of 0.64 standard deviations (equivalent to moving from the 50th to the 74th percentile on a bell curve).
BrainHQ exercises have shown benefits in more than 300 peer-reviewed studies (including eight military studies). Such benefits include gains in cognition (attention, speed, memory, decision-making), in quality of life (depressive symptoms, confidence and control, health-related quality of life) and in real-world activities (health outcomes, balance, driving, workplace activities). BrainHQ is used by leading health plans, medical centers, clinics, and communities, and by elite athletes, the military, first responders, and other organizations focused on split-second peak performance and resilience. Consumers can try a BrainHQ exercise for free daily at https://www.brainhq.com.