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Detecting Behavioral Deficits in Rats After Traumatic Brain Injury
Published on: January 30, 2018
Monetary incentive effects on event-based prospective memory three months after traumatic brain injury in children
Stephen R McCauley1, Claudia Pedroza, Sandra B Chapman
1Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Alliance of Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA. mccauley@bcm.edu
Insights
Monetary incentives can improve event-based prospective memory (EB-PM) in children with moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, severe TBI cases showed no significant EB-PM improvement with incentives.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Pediatric Psychology
- Rehabilitation Medicine
Background:
- Event-based prospective memory (EB-PM) impairments are common after pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI).
- Limited research exists on remediating EB-PM deficits in pediatric TBI populations.
- Understanding factors influencing EB-PM recovery is crucial for effective intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the efficacy of monetary incentives in improving EB-PM in children with orthopedic injuries (OI) and moderate or severe TBI.
- To compare the effects of different incentive levels on EB-PM performance across these groups.
- To determine the time course of EB-PM recovery at 3 months post-injury.
Main Methods:
- A cohort of children (ages 7-16) with OI, moderate TBI, or severe TBI (n=115) participated.
- Participants completed an EB-PM task requiring a specific verbal response to a cue during an ongoing neuropsychological assessment.
- Two monetary incentive conditions (high and low) were applied to assess their impact on EB-PM performance.
Main Results:
- Significant effects of age, incentive condition, time, and group were observed.
- Children with OI and moderate TBI showed significant EB-PM improvement with high incentives compared to low incentives.
- Children with severe TBI did not demonstrate significant EB-PM improvement regardless of incentive level.
Conclusions:
- Monetary incentives can enhance EB-PM in children with moderate TBI approximately 3 months post-injury.
- The effectiveness of incentives for EB-PM remediation appears limited in children with severe TBI.
- Findings suggest tailored rehabilitation strategies may be necessary based on TBI severity.
Abstract:
Information regarding the remediation of event-based prospective memory (EB-PM) impairments following pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) is scarce. Addressing this, two levels of monetary incentives were used to improve EB-PM in children ages 7 to 16 years with orthopedic injuries (OI, n = 51), or moderate (n = 25) and severe (n = 39) TBI at approximately 3 months postinjury. The EB-PM task consisted of the child giving a specific verbal response to a verbal cue from the examiner while performing a battery of neuropsychological measures (ongoing task). Significant effects were found for age-at-test, motivation condition, period, and group. Within-group analyses indicated that OI and moderate TBI groups performed significantly better under the high- than under the low-incentive condition, but the severe TBI group demonstrated no significant improvement. These results indicate that EB-PM can be significantly improved at 3 months postinjury in children with moderate, but not severe, TBI.
