The UW is one of three research centers to receive a five-year NIH grant to investigate executive functions following moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. The other collaborating centers are at Baylor (lead center) and Emory universities.
The UW research team includes Sureyya Dikmen, professor of rehabilitation medicine, Nancy Temkin, associate professor of neurological surgery and biostatistics, and Elizabeth Aylward, professor of radiology. Dikmen is the principal investigator on the $1,471,065 grant.
The researchers will use functional magnetic resonance imaging to obtain pictures of the brain as it performs executive function tasks. Executive functions, frequently impaired in more severe traumatic brain injury, include abilities such as working memory, planning, and flexibility in problem solving.
The UW team will work on two studies. In the first they will attempt to characterize cortical representation of executive functions in patients with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury, and to examine changes over time that may shed light on potential mechanisms responsible for recovery. This study will also examine the relationship between patterns of brain activation and performance on traditional measures of executive functions. The second project, a randomized clinical trial, will examine the effects of methylphenidate in improving working memory in such patients and explore the potential mechanisms responsible for treatment response.
May 10, 2002