Magister Scientiae (Occupational Therapy) - MSc(OT) / The recovery process for traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) can be lengthy and taxing on the patient, family and healthcare resources. Part of this recovery process includes interventions for the improvement of executive functioning (EF) required for high level functioning such as return to work (RTW). However, evidence for best practice interventions to improve EF for RTW post TBI is lacking. Randomised control trials (RCTs) evaluating interventions for EF for RTW post TBI are available but have not been synthesised. The review aimed to determine the best practice interventions for improving EF for successful RTW post TBI. Method: A systematic review using a predetermined search strategy to find relevant titles published from inception to June 2020 in six electronic databases (EBSCOhost and PUBMED [both including MEDLINE]; CINAHL, Cochrane Database for Systematic Reviews, OT Seeker, and Taylor and Francis Online) was conducted following ethics approval by the Institutional Ethics Review Board. / 2023

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Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Social support is a powerful therapeutic against fear and anxiety and is utilized in many psychotherapies. The concept that a familiar or friendly presence helps a person learn to overcome anxiety has been well-known for decades, yet, the basic neural mechanisms that regulate this psychosocial learning remain unknown. A first step towards elucidating these basic mechanisms is the development of a valid preclinical animal model. However, preclinical behavioral models exploring the use of a social presence in reducing anxiety have not been fully characterized. Therefore, it was our goal to identify a useful way in which to study the mechanisms of how a social presence can induce anxiolysis (the reduction of anxiety). We accomplished this goal by characterizing and validating a preclinical model, as well as demonstrating that the model was capable of measuring deficits in rats given a mild traumatic brain injury. To this end, we identified an existing, but uncharacterized model, the social interaction-habituation model, as an effective model of social familiarity-induced anxiolysis (SoFiA), which demonstrates socially enhanced safety learning, or psychosocial learning. We find that as social familiarity develops across time, anxiolysis develops. We identified that the use of a Bright Light Challenge is a useful anxiogenic stimulus to use during SI-habituation training. The anxiolysis acquired following SI-habituation testing is partner specific, and can be blocked by an inhibition of the medical prefrontal cortex, while it can be enhanced by D-cycloserine. We found that this model identified deficits in SoFiA acquisition in rodents exposed to a mild traumatic brain injury, which, in humans, has been linked to psychosocial deficits. This work is a step in creating ways in which we can study and better understand the regulatory processes of emotions mediated by social behavior.

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One of the primary reasons many college students with disabilities, and more specifically college student veterans with disabilities, do not seek support services is due to the stigma associated with disability, especially cognitive and mental health disabilities. The purpose of the present study was to explore how public university faculty in the state of Illinois perceive a college student veteran with the concurrent disabilities of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). This information was gleaned by means of a mixed-method, online survey. Through iterative, comparative, qualitative analysis, characteristics used to describe college student veterans with the PTSD and TBI were classified into six emergent prototypes. These prototypes included (1) the mature independent student; (2) the American hero; (3) the special needs student; (4) the isolated student; (5) the volatile student; and (6) the wounded warrior. Secondary analyses quantitatively examined the relationship between contact with a student veteran and the proportion of positive responses given for each participant as well as the relationship between contact with a student veteran and the proportion of negative responses given for each participant. Pearson correlation analysis indicated no significant relationship between prior contact factor scores and the proportion of positive responses given by faculty r(269) = .032, p = .597 nor was there a significant relationship detected between prior contact factor scores and the proportion of negative responses given by faculty r(269) = -.020, p= .745. Tertiary analysis examined the proportion of positive to negative perceptions by faculty. Overall, faculty responses were more negative than positive. Implications for best practices at the administration level as well as for faculty and students were discussed. Limitations to the study were also discussed.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of song-based music therapy interventions on psychosocial factors for people who have had Acquired Brain Injuries (ABI) or Spinal Cord injuries (SCI) and their caregivers during acute rehabilitation. The psychosocial factors in this study involve mood states, caregiving experiences, and dyadic relationships. The study also examined the correlation between care recipients and caregivers on mood states and the dyadic relationship. A quasi-experimental, two-group pretest-posttest design without a control group was used to investigate the psychosocial factors. A total of 10 dyads were recruited for the study. Group A in this study were care recipients; Group B were caregivers of Group A. The dyad attended four individual music therapy sessions of approximately 45-minute duration over a period of 14 days. During the song-based music therapy protocol, the participants were empowered to choose between singing along or listening to their preferred music. Caregiver participants had the option to participate in either in-person or virtual sessions. Three measures were used to investigate psychosocial factors: Visual Analogue Mood States (VAMS), Positive Aspects of Caregiving (PAC), and Dyadic Relationship Scale (DRS). VAMS was used pre and post each intervention while PAC and DRS were only used before the first session and the last session. All statistical analyses were conducted in R, a statistical program. The Wilcoxon test and Kendall’s rank correlations were used to examine the pre- and post-intervention changes and the correlation between Group A and Group B on mood states and the dyadic relationship. The findings of the study indicated that there were significant changes in mood states for both Group A and Group B. There were four strong correlations in the dyadic relationship between caregivers and care recipients, including feeling closer to each other, feeling angry toward the other, having more patience than they have had in the past, and feeling relationships with each other were strained. Implications for music therapy practice and recommendations for the field and future research are also presented. / Music Therapy

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) in infants is detrimental to their development and can result in death; despite these risks, limited research has been conducted for this population. This studies purpose was to quantify biomechanical properties and microstructural changes after compressive and tensile loading of infant human brain surrogate, fetal porcine brain. Samples were loaded independently at strain rates of 0.00625s-1, 0.025s-1, and 0.10s-1 at strain levels of 0%, 15%, 30%, and 45% using the Mach-1TM Micromechanical Testing Device. After loading to the specified strain level, samples were chemically fixed using 10% formalin. Samples were then stained using H&E to evaluate the microstructure. Results showed strain rate dependency and non-linearity with higher stress levels in compression than in tension. The histological analysis confirmed microstructural changes with statistically relevant deformations after loading. These results can assist in understanding infant TBI and help develop accurate head computational models and optimal protective headgear.

A finite element model was developed for a range of human head-sUAS impacts to provide multiple case scenarios of impact severity at two response regions of interest: global and local. The hypothesis was that for certain impact scenarios, local response injuries of the brain (frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal lobes, and cerebellum) have a higher severity level compared to global response injury, the response at the Center of Gravity (CG) of the head. This study is the first one to predict and quantify the influence of impact parameters such as impact velocity, location, offset, and angle of impact to severity of injury. The findings show that an sUAS has the potential of causing minimal harm under certain impact scenarios, while other scenarios cause fatal injuries. Additionally, results indicate that the human head’s global response as a less viable response region of interest when measuring injury severity for clinical diagnosis. It is hoped that the results from this research can be useful to assist decision making for treatments and may offer different perspectives in sUAS designs or operation environments.