Amantadine and Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) as a Neurotherapeutic for Disordered Consciousness after Traumatic Brain Injury

This study investigated, in a sample of persons with traumatic brain injury who have had remote injury, the effectiveness of a medication which serves as a stimulant for persons recovering from injury (Amantadine), as well as the effects of an innovative and “cutting-edge” magnetic field intervention (rTMS) which has shown, and now in human subjects, greater improvements in cognitive recovery in a number of areas over time compared with a control group.  Treatment conditions were randomized and treatment involved a subject from On With Life’s long-term skilled care program, located in Glenwood, Iowa, who presented with a Disorder of Consciousness. This subject was treated with Amantadine at our Glenwood campus and assessed for increased responsivity using, as a primary but not sole assessment instrument, the Disorders of Consciousness Scale (DOCS).  The subject also was treated with the rTMS, and assessed for progress, at Northwestern University/Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital. Click here to read the study.

Primary Investigator: Theresa Pape, Dr.P.H.
Sponsoring Sites: Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital, Northwestern University, Edward Hines, Jr. Veterans Affairs Hospital