A case study is presented of a 14-year-old right-handed Caucasian female diagnosed with the Landau-Kleffner Syndrome (LKS) at the age 3 1/2 years. Her LKS symptoms presented with abrupt disruption in language after normal development, electroencephalogram (EEG) brain-wave abnormality, seizure activity, inability to read, and impairment in her motor skills. After 11 years of pharmacological and special education interventions with no significant improvement in any measurable area of function, a multimodal approach using techniques purportedly aimed at facilitating inter-hemispheric communication was provided. At completion of the program, EEG was controlled, reading, language, and auditory processing improved and objective behavioral-social measures improved significantly.

Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) is resultant from neurological injury and damage to visual pathways or vision centers in the brain. CVI is sometimes undiagnosed in individuals with brain injuries due to the complexity of the human visual system. The International Institute for the Brain (iBrain) is a specialized school for students ages 5 to 21 who have a brain disorder or an acquired brain injury. They often present with noticeable CVI. While there are various metrics and interventions for the pediatric population, the adequacy has been lacking in terms of the vulnerability of this non-verbal population. Assessing the safety and effectiveness of rehabilitative interventions for this fragile student population can be challenging as most traditional metrics cannot be used. In this methodological review paper, available metrics were investigated and their applicability for this specific population is discussed with the end goal of identifying the best metrics that could be used to determine treatment effectiveness and providing a way for monitoring adverse effects. Combining pulse oximetry, cortisol response sensor, and galvanic skin response as biometrics theoretically offers a comprehensive assessment of autonomic activity and responses and establishes objective measures to identify treatment outcomes and adverse reactions. However, future experimental studies are needed to verify if the proposed protocol is feasible and if it is well tolerated by the iBrain students before it can be implemented to monitor adverse reaction to intervention and as a potential treatment outcome measure for children affected by CVI.

Primary care physicians see a very high incidence of vertigo, dizziness, and balance issues resultant from a broad spectrum of etiologies from vestibular dysfunction, brain injury, neck trauma, metabolic diseases to autonomic dysfunction and psychological conditions. Because dizziness is by definition a subjective condition, self-report questionnaires such as the Dizziness Handicap Index (DHI) are commonly utilized in assessing the impact of vestibular dysfunction in patients. However, objective metrics like Computerized Dynamic Posturography (CDP) can be useful tools for the assessment of dizziness and the validation of diagnoses and treatment effectiveness. In this retrospective study of 50 patients charts, the effectiveness of Cortical Integrative Therapy (PedroCIT®) was evaluated using the DHI and CDP. In particular, the therapy outcome was investigated to determine if it was affected by a vertigo diagnosis, a vertigo comorbidity or by the simple presence of vertigo symptoms. The result of this investigation showed that PedroCIT® is indeed an effective treatment method for vertigo and dizziness: subjects demonstrated and reported improvement in their clinical outcomes, and both CDP and DHI metric in general reflected the significant improvement the subject experienced. For those subjects that still were in the worse categories according to the CDP and DHI metrics, the effect of treatment were potentially influenced by uncontrolled variables such as a change in medications, mental status, or concomitant worsening in the subject's comorbidities, amongst other unknown variables contributing to individual unsatisfying outcomes. Further studies involving larger number of subjects are needed to address these issues.

Migraine is a common neurological disorder that is characterized by a host of symptoms including severe throbbing headaches. In this retrospective chart review, the effectiveness of Cortical Integrative Therapy (PedroCIT®) was examined in adults with migraines. Multivariate General Linear Model (M-GLM) was utilized to determine if the emotional, functional, and overall difficulties, as well as the intensity of pain experienced with headaches decreased from before to after PedroCIT® treatment in individuals with mild to complete disability resulting from headaches. Repeated Measures General Linear Model (RM-GLM) was also used to investigate if postural stability increased from pre- to post-treatment. The results of the M-GLM showed that PedroCIT® was effective in reducing emotional, functional, overall disability, and intensity of pain resulting from headaches. Furthermore, RM-GLM indicated that patients who underwent PedroCIT® improved their postural stability from pre- to post-treatment. Finally, the findings also showed that the duration of the treatment did not have any effect among patients with varied degrees of headache disability. This study illustrates the effectiveness of PedroCIT® in the treatment of headaches and postural instability in migraine patients.

Post-Concussion Syndrome (PCS) is a relatively prevalent condition that emerges after sustaining a head injury. Individuals with PCS experience prolonged impairments and distress associated with the injury which can impact the individuals’ quality of life experiences. In this retrospective chart review of refractory adult patients diagnosed with PCS and mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI), the effectiveness of Cortical Integrative Therapy (PedroCIT®) was investigated by comparing measures of postural stability, brain sequencing and timing, and self-reports of physical and psychosocial symptoms of PCS obtained before and after PedroCIT®. Multivariate and Repeated Measures General Linear Models showed improvements across the measures from before to after treatment in all subjects, highlighting the effectiveness of PedroCIT®. To further underscore the capacity of PedroCIT® to elicit improvements in patients who have been resistant to treatment prior to PedroCIT®, the duration of time that the subjects underwent PedroCIT® was compared to the duration of time since the injury to the subjects’ first PedroCIT® intervention session. The findings of this study showed significant improvements from pre- to post-treatment in postural stability, brain sequencing and timing, and self-reported symptoms for patients affected by PCS and mTBI, and treatment outcomes were largely not contingent upon the severity of the condition at the beginning of treatment. Altogether, this retrospective study suggests that refractory individuals affected by PCS and mTBI can benefit from undergoing PedroCIT® and their treatment outcomes may not be related to the degree of impairment presented at the beginning of treatment.