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academies
17
th
International Conference on
4
th
International Conference on
NEUROLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCE
&
MENTAL HEALTH AND PRIMARY CARE
October 16-18, 2017 | Toronto, Canada
J Neurol Neurorehabil Res 2017 | Volume 2 Issue 3
F
orty-four subjects were enrolled into a seven-month-
long FDA, double-blind clinical trial designed to evaluate
the efficiency of our unique, multi-modal approach to
neurorehabilitation for chronic symptoms associated
with mild-to-moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI). Our
intervention combines the use of targeted training, breathing
and awareness exercise, and non-invasive neurostimulation
delivered transcutaneously through the tongue. While
results are preliminary, effects of the intervention on
disordered sleep, chronic headache, and processing
speed are clear. At the time of enrollment, 36 participants
had negatively impacted sleep quality, 37 experienced
chronic headache or migraine, and 17 had below average
processing speed. Between two weeks and three months of
intervention the number of positive responders to treatment
for sleep, headache, and processing speed was 22, 27,
and 39 respectively. Already, we can see that the range of
improvement includes several significant outcomes. These
results are highly encouraging regarding the applicability of
our therapy to rehabilitate several chronic conditions that
often result from TBI. Disordered sleep, chronic headache,
and decreased cognitive processing speed are common and
often untreatable manifestations of traumatic brain injury
that can devastate an individual’s quality of life. Our results
demonstrate the recoverability of chronic symptoms beyond
what was previously thought possible. These findings have
important applications in the fields of applied neuroscience
and rehabilitation.
Speaker Biography
Dafna Paltin was an Executive Member of her university’s Neuroscience Honor
Society (Nu Rho Psi) and a recipient of the Diamond Peer Scholar Award. She got her
start in behavioral neuroscience research at the Center for Neural Decision Making
(CNDM) in Philadelphia, where she assisted in the study of neuro-economics. After
her independent research on neuroplasticity and sensory substitution captured the
attention of scientific director, Dr. Danilov and then she was invited to join him in
Madison at the Tactile Communications and Neurorehabilitation Laboratory (TCNL).
There she performs all the neuropsychological and cognitive testing with clinical
research participants. Her recent achievements include scientific publication in peer-
reviewed journals as well as poster presentations at conferences. She will continue
to seek out diverse opportunities that relate to her interests in Neuroscience and
Psychology as she progresses towards her goal of enrolling into a graduate program for
the study of Clinical Psychology.
e:
paltin@wisc.eduNeurorehabilitation of disordered sleep, chronic headache and processing speed after traumatic
brain injury
Dafna Paltin, Yuri Danilov
and
Mitch Tyler
University of Wisconsin, USA