New frontiers in neuropsychology. The Padua Rehabilitation Tool: a new software for rehabilitation using touch-screen technology

Recently, the advancement and the development of new technologies is shaping and establishing new frontiers in neuropsychological rehabilitation. In particular, the use of touchscreen technology, together with the use of mobile devices, is giving new opportunities for the development of innovative programs of rehabilitation tailored to the specific needs of patients The overview of software for rehabilitation today is wide, but the poor availability of such software for Italian population and specifically designed for people with cognitive impairments, some years ago, led me to the development of the first mobile devices’ software for cognitive rehabilitation. The aim of this dissertation is to describe the development process and the efficacy evaluation of this software, the Padua Rehabilitation Tool (PRT). Initially will be described and analyzed the base for every cognitive intervention: the plasticity of brain. In Section1 I will report a study for understanding the relationship between performance in computerized exercises and the performance in standardized tests. None before investigated the relationship between this two different measures of outcome. The perceived relationship is not necessarily automatically provided, thus, it is important to examine how exercises and standardized tests are related: if improvement in therapy exercises mirrors improvement in standardized test. In Section 2, I will describe the development of the PRT and the use of this software in population with different etiologies. Originally, the PRT was designed for people with dementia and thus the most important study of efficacy was conducted on this population. Lastly, given the flexibility and the variety of exercises and cognitive domains engaged by the PRT it was possible to deliver a cognitive rehabilitation to people with acquired brain injury. I will describe the effects of a cognitive rehabilitation with PRT in several single cases including patients after stroke, with a history of traumatic brain injury and an early post-coma rehabilitation