Using dual-task methods to enhance cognitive performance in the acute phase of stroke: a proof of concept study

Objective: To test the effectiveness of using a non-targeted, dual-task methodology to promote positive cognitive behavior change in acute stroke. Method: Three stroke survivors, selected because they exhibited different recovery profiles, different lesion sites, and time since suffering a stroke, were administered an anagram task five or six times across a two-week period in the days following a stroke. Task difficulty increased across sessions by means of adding a category instance detection task, where participants had to identify instances from either one or two different semantic categories. The same regime was administered to a control group over a two-week period. Results: All three participants were in the clinical range on early tests but were in non-clinical range on their last test session. Dual-task effects on completion time were also similar across participants as were anagram length effects. The three participants exhibited enhanced cognitive performance. Conclusions: The results suggest the possibility that cognitive interventions aimed at restoring lost function can be administered in the early days post-stroke and can produce beneficial outcomes, in much the same way that early motor or speech intervention programs have been shown to produce long-term benefits.