Brain Health & Wellness Classes for Veterans With Traumatic Brain Injury

This is a pragmatic, randomized controlled trial of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in 120 Veterans with comorbid PTSD and chronic mTBI. Half of the participants are randomly assigned to MBSR and the other half, to a Brain Health education class, which serves as an active control group. A battery of standardized psychological and cognitive measures are administered prior to and following the class interventions to assess change in response to the intervention, with an additional 6-month follow-up assessment to test for lasting changes. The primary outcome measures include the Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory IV (functional outcome), PTSD Checklist (psychological outcome), and cognitive control test (cognitive outcome).

Inclusion criteria

• 18-75 years old
• chronic history (>6 months) of one or more mTBIs
• current diagnosis of PTSD
• at least one self-reported cognitive symptom

Exclusion criteria

• no history of other neurologic disease (e.g., tumor, stroke, dementia, Parkinson's)
• no history of major brain surgery
• no history of moderate or severe TBI
• no active alcohol or drug dependence or abuse within previous 30 days
• no history of severe psychotic disorder (e.g., schizophrenia)
• no current suicidal ideation/risk
• no clinically severe medical illness requiring treatment