Purpose: The primary aim of this paper was to identify and describe current social communication assessment tools for adults with traumatic brain injury. Method: We conducted a state-of-the-art review to identify and categorise the range of social communication assessment tools found in the assessment and treatment literature that revealed 42 measures that were coded according to characteristics related to assessment types, psychometrics, and implementation. Result: Of the 42 assessments, 64% evaluated social cognition and the remaining 36% evaluated communication. Coding of implementation categories revealed that only 18/42 (43%) measures were ecologically grounded and 23/42 (55%) were available to clinicians by purchase or in the public domain. Only three measures incorporated questions or an assessment of the examinee’s priorities or concerns. Conclusion: A number of factors limit current social communication assessment. The lack of tools that objectively and reliably evaluate communication or social cognition in ecologically valid ways remains problematic. Of particular concern is the lack of prioritisation of the individual’s communication values and needs. Recommendations include a call to focus research on the development of more contextual, standardised assessments, consider availability and feasibility when tools are being developed, and evaluate assessment processes as well as discrete tools.

Purpose: Social communication deficits are a severely debilitating aspect of traumatic brain injury (TBI), and there is strong clinical and research interest in how social communication interventions work for this population. Informed by a companion paper targeting assessment of social communication impairments post-TBI, this paper reviews relevant treatment theories and provides an inventory of social communication treatment components. Method: We completed a mapping review examining 17 articles from recent literature reviews and 4 updated articles from a literature search to identify treatment targets and ingredients using the Rehabilitation Treatment Specification System (RTSS). Result: Social communication interventions are primarily based on behavioural and cognitive treatment theories. Common social communication treatment targets include changing skilled behaviours and cognitive or affective representations. We offer a menu of therapeutic ingredients and treatment considerations which represent the current state of social communication interventions. Conclusion: By reviewing the social communication intervention literature through a theoretical lens, we identify which treatment targets are missing, which targets are being addressed, and which therapeutic ingredients (i.e. clinician activities) are recommended. A hypothetical case study is provided as a supplement to demonstrate how speech-language pathologists may integrate treatment theory, ingredients, and targets into clinical practice.

To evaluate the effects of participation in a memory group intervention focusing on internal strategy use on persons with traumatic brain injury-related memory impairment. Ninety-four adults with traumatic brain injury (54 in the experimental group and 40 controls) and resulting memory impairment, with severities ranging from mild to severe. All participants were at least 18 years of age at the time of injury and at least 1 year post injury at the time of study. Non randomized pre/posttest group comparison design. Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised and Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test II. Participation in the memory group intervention was associated with improved memory performance immediately postintervention, and improvements were maintained 1 month postintervention. Severe injury was associated with less improvement in memory outcomes than mild and moderate injuries. Age and preinjury education were not related to outcome. Individuals with traumatic brain injury may benefit from memory group intervention focusing on internal strategy use. Study hypotheses should be retested using a randomized, controlled design, and further research is needed to better delineate influences on intervention candidacy and outcomes.

Purpose/aim: Memory impairment post-TBI is common, frequently persistent, and functionally debilitating. The purposes of this pilot study were to assess and to compare immediate behavioral auditory working memory and electrophysiologic effects of three different, randomized, conditions of left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (LDLPFC) transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) applied to four neurotypical adults and four adults with chronic traumatic brain injury (TBI). Materials/methods: Pre- and post-anodal, cathodal, and sham tDCS auditory memory performance, auditory event-related potentials (P300 amplitude and latency) and power of alpha and theta EEG bands were measured across individuals in each group. Results: Post-anodal tDCS only, the neurotypical and TBI groups both demonstrated significantly improved immediate auditory memory function. Also post-anodal tDCS, the TBI group demonstrated significantly increased P300 amplitude versus post-sham tDCS. The neurotypical group demonstrated no pre- post-tDCS electrophysiologic changes across conditions. Conclusions: These findings are consistent with findings of other studies of immediate tDCS effects on other types of memory in neurotypical individuals and in individuals with Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and stroke and suggest that individuals with memory impairments second to chronic TBI may benefit from LDLPFC anodal tDCS. Pairing tDCS with traditional behavioral memory interventions may facilitate TBI rehabilitation outcomes and warrants continued investigation.

Primary objective: To determine test–re-test reliability of the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised (HVLT-R) in a group of individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Research design: Single-group repeated measures design. Methods and procedures: Seventy-five individuals with TBI were administered the HVLT-R twice, with 6–8 weeks between the two test sessions. Main outcomes and results: Test–re-test reliability on HVLT-R scoring parameters ranged from 0.537–0.818, with seven of the eight scoring parameters exhibiting r > 0.6. At re-test, scores did not significantly change on any of the eight HVLT-R scoring parameters. Conclusions: HVLT-R use with individuals with TBI is supported. Test–re-test reliability of total recall and delayed recall sub-scores was particularly high.

Understanding the effects of age on longitudinal traumatic brain injury (TBI) outcomes requires attention to both chronic and evolving TBI effects and age-related changes in health and function. The present study examines the independent and interactive effects of aging and chronicity on functional outcomes after TBI. We leveraged a well-defined cohort of individuals who sustained a moderate/severe TBI and received acute inpatient rehabilitation at specialized centers with high follow up rate as part of their involvement in the TBI Model Systems longitudinal study. We selected individuals at one of two levels of TBI chronicity (either 2 or 10 years post-injury) and used an exact matching procedure to obtain balanced chronicity groups based on age and other characteristics ( N = 1993). We found that both older age and greater injury chronicity were related to greater disability, reduced functional independence, and less community participation. There was a significant age by chronicity interaction, indicating that the adverse effects of greater time post-injury were most pronounced among survivors who were age 75 or older. The inflection point at roughly 75 years of age was corroborated by post hoc analyses, dividing the sample by age at 75 years and examining the interaction between age group and chronicity. These findings point to a need for provision of rehabilitation services in the chronic injury period, particularly for those who are over 75 years old. Future work should investigate the underlying mechanisms of this interaction towards the goal of developing interventions and models of care to promote healthy aging with TBI.