Memory and learning after brain injury (Version 1.0).
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Memory and learning after brain injury: A study exploring causes of common memory problems.
IRAS ID
213917
Contact name
Nathan Illman
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 0 days
Research summary
This research asks: Can we improve the memory of people with severe acquired brain injury (ABI) by giving them time to rest after learning new information?
An ABI is some sort of insult to the brain through a stroke, or head injury, for example, and memory problems are very common. People may have trouble remembering really important things, like when to take their medication. Whilst there are some good ways to support memory problems in a rehabilitation setting, there is a need to develop things further.
This study will investigate a technique which has been supported in tightly-controlled laboratory studies, but not yet in a more practical setting of a rehabilitation centre. The technique is to give people a short rest in a quiet environment after learning some information. The existing research shows that people with memory problems can remember more of short stories read to them if they are given a 10 minute rest after learning, as compared to being given some other task that makes them use their thinking skills. This is thought to be because giving people a rest means the brain has less distraction, or ‘interference’, when trying to strengthen the initial bit of information.
We are recruiting English speaking adult patients from the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability – a healthcare organisation that works with people with severe ABIs. Participants must be able to consent to take part and they will be required to participate in about 2.5 hours of memory testing sessions. It is non-invasive and simply involves listening to, and remembering things like stories or short factual pieces of information. It will not interfere with their routine clinical care.
The results could help us understand more about why people forget things, and help tailor interventions to enable patients to remember more important information during their stay.REC name
London - Surrey Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/0453
Date of REC Opinion
7 Mar 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion