Biomedical subjects

Fofi Constantinidou

Publications and source records attributed to Fofi Constantinidou.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Feature description and categorization of common objects after traumatic brain injury: the effects of a multi-trial paradigm.

This study investigated the ability to describe and categorize common objects following brain injury. Thirteen subjects with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and 13 noninjured controls participated in this project. The project consisted of 3 parts: 1. A spontaneous condition, 2. A training session, and 3. An application condition. During the spontaneous condition, subjects were asked to describe common objects. Following the spontaneous condition, subjects participated in a multi-trial training session to learn 8 perceptual features. The protocol concluded with an application condition where subjects were asked to apply all 8 features to describe additional objects. Overall, noninjured subjects provided more features than the group with TBI. However, subjects with TBI benefited from the training session, as they were able to learn more features across the repeated trials. Furthermore, both groups performed better during the application condition compared to the spontaneous description of objects. The results indicate that the multi-trial training session was effective in teaching subjects the 8 perceptual features.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Stimulus modality and verbal learning performance in normal aging.

The present study investigated the effects of modality presentation on the verbal learning performance of 26 older adults and 26 younger cohorts. A multitrial free-recall paradigm was implemented incorporating three modalities: Auditory, Visual, and simultaneous Auditory plus Visual. Older subjects learned fewer words than younger subjects but their rate of learning was similar to that of the younger group. The visual presentation of objects (with or without the simultaneous auditory presentation of names) resulted in better learning, recall, and retrieval of information than the auditory presentation alone.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of categorization training in patients with TBI during postacute rehabilitation: preliminary findings.

BACKGROUND: Previous research suggests that traumatic brain injury (TBI) interferes with the ability to extract and use attributes to describe objects. This study explored the effects of a systematic Categorization Program (CP) in participants with TBI and noninjured controls. PARTICIPANTS: Ten persons with moderate to severe TBI who received comprehensive postacute rehabilitation services and 13 matched noninjured controls participated in the study. INTERVENTION: All participants received CP training for 3 to 5 hours per week for 10 to 12 weeks that consisted of 8 levels and targeted concept formation, object categorization, and decision-making abilities. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory-3 (MPAI-3) and the Community Integration Questionnaire (CIQ). Two Categorization Tests (administered pretraining and posttraining) and 3 Probe Tasks (administered at specified intervals during training) assessed skills relating to categorization. RESULTS: Both groups showed significant improvement in categorization performance after the CP training on the 2 Categorization Tests related to the CP. They also were able to generalize and apply categorization and sorting skills in new situations (as measured by the Probe Tasks). Participants with TBI had improved functional outcome performance measured by the MPAI-3 and the CIQ. CONCLUSIONS: The systematic and hierarchical structure of the CP is beneficial to participants with TBI during postacute rehabilitation. This study contributes to the growing body of evidence supporting cognitive rehabilitation after moderate to severe TBI.

Adult↗