Strengthening Older Adults Remembering (SOARing): Research protocol for a multi-site randomized clinical trial examining the efficacy of the Kessler Foundation modified Story Memory Technique (KF-mSMT®) in Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).

Background: Long-term memory dysfunction is the hallmark feature of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) resulting in substantial negative impact on everyday functioning and quality of life. The Kessler Foundation modified Story Memory Technique (KF-mSMT®) is a 10-session memory rehabilitation protocol in which participants are taught to utilize imagery and context to facilitate learning. This paper describes the protocol for a double blind, placebo controlled, randomized clinical trial (RCT) examining the efficacy of the KF-mSMT® in persons who meet criteria for aMCI.

Applying the Kessler Foundation Modified Story Memory Technique to Improve New Learning in Aging Populations.

Introduction: The current study examined the efficacy of the 10-session Kessler Foundation modified Story Memory Technique (KF-mSMT) to improve new learning in older adults.

Methods: This double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial included twenty-eight individuals over age 65 randomized to the treatment group ( = 17) or placebo control group ( = 13). Participants completed a baseline neuropsychological assessment, including questionnaires assessing everyday memory, and a repeat assessment immediately post-treatment.

Speed of processing training to improve cognition in moderate to severe TBI: a randomized clinical trial.

Background: Moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) often results in cognitive deficits. Processing speed (PS) deficits are common, exerting a significant impact on daily life. Few studies have examined the efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation specifically for PS deficits in moderate to severe TBI.

Kessler Foundation Strategy-Based Training to Enhance Memory (KF-STEM™): Study protocol for a single site double-blind randomized, clinical trial in Multiple Sclerosis.

New learning and memory impairments are common in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and negatively impact everyday life, including occupational and social functioning. Despite the demand for learning and memory treatments, few cognitive rehabilitation protocols are supported by Class I research evidence, limiting the degree to which effective treatments may be utilized with persons with MS. The present double-blind, placebo controlled randomized clinical trial (RCT) examines the efficacy of an 8-session cognitive rehabilitation protocol encompassing training in the application of three strategies with the strongest empirical evidence (self-generation, spaced learning and retrieval practice) to treat impaired learning and memory in persons with MS, ™.

The relationship between processing speed and verbal and non-verbal new learning and memory in progressive multiple sclerosis.

Objective: Processing speed (PS) deficits are the most common cognitive deficits in multiple sclerosis (MS), followed by learning and memory deficits, and are often an early cognitive problem. It has been argued that impaired PS is a primary consequence of MS, which in turn decreases learning. The current analysis examined the association between PS and learning in a large cohort of individuals with progressive MS.

The efficacy of speed of processing training for improving processing speed in individuals with multiple sclerosis: a randomized clinical trial.

Objective: The current study examines the efficacy of speed of processing training (SOPT) to improve processing speed (PS) in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). Outcomes included changes in the useful field of view (UFOV) and neuropsychological evaluation (NPE).

Methods: This double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial included 84 participants with clinically definite MS and impaired PS, 43 in the treatment group and 41 in the placebo control group.

The emotional impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals with progressive multiple sclerosis.

Objective: Individuals with pre-existing chronic illness have shown increased anxiety and depression due to COVID-19. Here, we examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on emotional symptomatology and quality of life in individuals with Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (PMS).

Methods: Data were obtained during a randomized clinical trial on rehabilitation taking place at 11 centers in North America and Europe.

The application of in multiple sclerosis: A pilot RCT.

New learning and memory (NLM) impairments are common in multiple sclerosis (MS), negatively impacting daily life. Few studies seek to remediate these deficits to improve everyday functioning. Self-generation, spaced learning and retrieval practice have been shown to improve NLM in healthy persons and have been incorporated into an 8-session treatment protocol, teaches participants about each of the techniques, how to apply them in daily life and provides practice.

The efficacy of the modified Story Memory Technique in progressive MS.

Background: Impairments in new learning and memory are common in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS), negatively impacting everyday life, including occupational and social functioning.

Objective: This study examined the efficacy of the modified Story Memory Technique (mSMT) in a progressive multiple sclerosis (PMS) sample through a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial (RCT).

Methods: Thirty (30) individuals with PMS, naïve to the mSMT, were randomized to the treatment or placebo control group.

An RCT to Treat Learning Impairment in Traumatic Brain Injury: The TBI-MEM Trial.

Objective: To examine the efficacy of the modified Story Memory Technique (mSMT) to improve learning (ie, acquisition) and memory in participants with TBI. The mSMT is a behavioral intervention that teaches context and imagery to facilitate learning within 10 sessions over 5 weeks.

Methods: A total of 69 participants with moderate-severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), 35 in the treatment group and 34 in the placebo control group, completed this double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial.

An RCT to treat learning impairment in multiple sclerosis: The MEMREHAB trial.

Objective: To examine the efficacy of the modified Story Memory Technique (mSMT), a 10-session behavioral intervention teaching context and imagery to facilitate learning, to improve learning and memory abilities in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Methods: This double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial included 86 participants with clinically definite MS, 41 in the treatment group and 45 in the placebo control group. Participants completed a baseline neuropsychological assessment, including questionnaires assessing everyday memory, a repeat assessment immediately posttreatment, and a long-term follow-up assessment 6 months after treatment.

Processing speed versus working memory: contributions to an information-processing task in multiple sclerosis.

Individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) often experience cognitive impairments in information processing. However, the relative contributions of processing speed abilities and working memory abilities to information-processing tasks are not yet fully understood. The current study examined the extent to which processing speed and/or working memory abilities contributed to an information-processing task, the Keeping Track Task (KTT).

The relative contributions of processing speed and cognitive load to working memory accuracy in multiple sclerosis.

Cognitive symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) include processing-speed deficits and working memory impairment. The precise manner in which these deficits interact in individuals with MS remains to be explicated. We hypothesized that providing more time on a complex working memory task would result in performance benefits for individuals with MS relative to healthy controls.

The Relationship Between Neurocognitive Behavior of Executive Functions and the EFPT in Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis.

The current study examined the relationship between two separate but complementary methods of assessing executive functions in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS): (1) a neurocognitive approach with the Tower of London(-DX) (TOL-DX) test and (2) a functional top-down approach with the Executive Function Performance Test (EFPT). Sixty-eight individuals with MS (79% female) and 38 healthy controls (68% female) were administered both the TOL-DX test and the EFPT. For the group with MS, significant differences were found on the TOL-DX test and the EFPT executive components and functional tasks.

Actual reality: a new approach to functional assessment in persons with multiple sclerosis.

Objective: To examine the use of an innovative approach for assessing everyday life activities of people with multiple sclerosis (MS): Actual Reality. Actual Reality is a performance-based assessment approach that involves the use of the internet to perform real, everyday life activities.

Design: A between-subjects design.

Learning and generalization deficits in patients with memory impairments due to anterior communicating artery aneurysm rupture or hypoxic brain injury.

Human anterograde amnesia can result from a variety of etiologies, including hypoxic brain injury and anterior communicating artery (ACoA) aneurysm rupture. Although each etiology can cause a similarly severe disruption in declarative memory for verbal and visual material, there may be differences in incrementally acquired, feedback-based learning, as well as generalization. Here, 6 individuals who survived hypoxic brain injury, 7 individuals who survived ACoA aneurysm rupture, and 13 matched controls were tested on 2 tasks that included a feedback-based learning phase followed by a transfer phase in which familiar information is presented in new ways.

The Open-Trial Selective Reminding Test (OT-SRT) as a tool for the assessment of learning and memory.

The Open Trial Selective Reminding Test (OT-SRT) is a modification of the SRT that also evaluates new learning abilities. The examinee is asked to learn a list of 10 words over a maximum of 15 trials. Using a criterion-referenced approach, the list is repeatedly administered until a criterion of complete recall on two consecutive trials is achieved.

The relationship between cognitive deficits and everyday functional activities in multiple sclerosis.

Considerable evidence indicates that cognitive dysfunction and impairments in everyday life activities are common in multiple sclerosis (MS). However, the relationship between these cognitive and functional deficits has not been thoroughly investigated. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of cognitive dysfunction in the functional status of individuals with MS.

Relationship of the Multiple Sclerosis Neuropsychological Questionnaire (MSNQ) to functional, emotional, and neuropsychological outcomes.

Objective: To explore the relationship of the Multiple Sclerosis Neuropsychology Questionnaire (MSNQ; [Benedict, R. H. B.

Processing speed interacts with working memory efficiency in multiple sclerosis.

Information processing speed was assessed using the visual threshold serial addition test (VT-SAT), a computerized modification of the PASAT designed to assess processing speed by controlling for performance accuracy. Persons with MS (N=43) and healthy individuals (N=32) were administered the VT-SAT varying working memory loads (1-back versus 2-back). Results indicated that at the lower working memory load (1-back) all individuals with MS were able to achieve a working memory performance level equivalent to healthy individuals, but required significantly more processing time to do so.

The relation between subjective and objective measures of everyday life activities in persons with multiple sclerosis.

Objectives: To investigate the relation between subjective and objective performance-based measures of functional status in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS), and to compare their performance with healthy controls.

Design: A between-groups design, using a correlational approach to examine the relation between objective and subjective measures of functional capacity.

Setting: Outpatient rehabilitation research institution.

Treating learning impairments improves memory performance in multiple sclerosis: a randomized clinical trial.

This randomized clinical trial utilized established techniques to improve new learning and memory performance in multiple sclerosis (MS) participants with learning impairment. Participants were 29 individuals with clinically definite MS with documented learning deficits, randomly assigned to the experimental or control group. The experimental group underwent eight sessions of the Story Memory Technique (SMT), while the control group participated in eight sessions of memory exercises.