Could Neurotracker be used as a clinical marker of recovery following pediatric mild traumatic brain injury? An exploratory study.

PRIMARY

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to explore the potential for the Neurotracker, a perceptual-cognitive, multiple-object tracking test, and train paradigm, as a marker of functional recovery after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). It is hypothesized that Neurotracker could serve as a proxy for assessing cerebral functioning.

RESEARCH

DESIGN

A comparative, 6 time points, longitudinal study design was used to compare Neurotracker performance between children and adolescents who were clinically recovered from mTBI and healthy controls.

METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Clinical measures were collected at the initial and final visits. Neurotracker trainings were performed at each of the 6 visits. Speed thresholds (Neurotracker performance) were recorded at each visit.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND

RESULTS

A two-way repeated measures ANOVA suggested no differences between the groups but a significant time effect was apparent.

CONCLUSIONS

Clinically recovered children and adolescents exhibit similar training abilities to control subjects on this task. These results support further investigations using Neurotracker as a marker of recovery following mTBI.