Training to rebuild thinking skills may give small gains in attention after brain injury.

The review

1. 01

   Who took part

   The review covered 115 studies with 2,014 people who had a brain injury, from a head injury or a stroke.

2. 02

   What they did

   Each study trained people to rebuild thinking skills, like attention or memory, for about 13 weeks. Some studies compared this with a group that got no treatment, usual care or a dummy task. The rest only checked people before and after.

3. 03

   What happened

   Attention and executive skills gained a little more than other groups did, in nine studies. Other groups also improved a bit from retaking the tests, and stroke groups gained more overall. Head injury groups showed no clear gain overall, though the summary says attention training worked there.

What the review found

1. Helped

   In nine studies, attention and executive training helped more than other groups did.

   • Action: Train attention and memory with exercisestested

   Pooled analysis of 9 studies · vs groups with no treatment, usual care or a dummy task · ⚠ whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited; mixes trials with other kinds of study

Source