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# Underlying Mechanisms
/Underlying Mechanisms
Underlying Mechanisms2019-07-12T19:31:32+00:00
## Underlying Mechanisms
Lawton, T. and Huang, M.X. (2019) Dynamic Cognitive Remediation for a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Significantly Improves Attention, Working Memory, Processing Speed, and Reading Fluency, Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, 37, 71–86. DOI 10.3233/RNN-180856
One possible neurobiological mechanism for the timing deficits experienced by older adults is that sluggish magnocellular (motion) neurons found in the dorsal or ‘where’ pathway, including the Lateral Geniculate Nucleus (LGN) and cortical areas V1 (striate cortex) and the Medial Temporal (MT) cortex, make it difficult to attend in direction discrimination tasks, since magnocellular neurons would not signal in advance of the linked pattern or parvocellular neurons. It is likely that the ability of magnocellular neurons to bracket the activity of linked parvocellular neurons over time is what has been disrupted, resulting in temporal and spatial sequencing deficits that cause navigation to be more difficult and causes a reduction in the field of view. Since physiological data demonstrate that magnocellular neurons control the gain of the direction-discrimination network, it is plausible that the older adultís more sluggish, immature magnocellular neurons might be causing a deficit in attentional focus, preventing the linked parvocellular neurons from isolating and sequentially processing the relevant information needed when navigating, especially at night (low light levels) and under stress (more effort needed to complete the task).
Previous results suggest that pictorial working memory, as needed for navigation, is coded by the temporary activation of an ensemble of neurons in the region of the association cortex that processes visual information, rather than by neuronal activity in a brain area specialized for short-term memory tasks. Visual working memory is needed for navigation and driving, a task that some find much more difficult as they age. Neurons with memory-related responses have been reported in multiple brain regions, for example, the posterior parietal and inferior temporal cortices, which are the end stages of the dorsal and ventral visual pathways, respectively. The dorsal prefrontal cortex is connected with the posterior parietal cortex, whereas the ventral prefrontal cortex is linked to the inferior temporal cortex. On the basis of this organization, Goldman-Rakic proposed that working memory is mediated by the sustained activity of neurons in parallel, distributed cortical networks. FMRI studies have verified the concurrent activation of multiple human brain areas during performance of cognitive tasks that engage working memory, confirming the findings of the monkey neurophysiological studies.
Recent fMRI and PET studies indicate that older adults have more prefrontal activation as a result of expending more effort to complete tasks, when compared to younger adults. Studies describe the increased activity in prefrontal cortex as due to recruiting additional prefrontal regions to prevent the performance of older adults from declining. This is supported by finding that prefrontal cortical activity was reduced similarly by aging and by a divided attention task, suggesting that increasing age and effortful cognitive processing put an equal claim on the available attention resources. Practice requiring less conscious processing has been associated with a decrease in frontal activity. Moreover, left-lateralized (ventral) prefrontal activity (encoding information) that is more active than right-lateralized (dorsal) prefrontal activity (retrieving information) in young adults, is equal in older adults, suggesting more effort must be made by older adults to retrieve information from working memory for higher cognitive processing like navigation.
The increased activity in the dorsal pathways of older adults required to retrieve information is consistent with the timing of magnocellular pathways having degraded over time. Moreover, Lawton and Stephey (2009) showed that training on direction discrimination, designed to strengthen magnocellular activity, increased the ability of the dorsal pathway to improve both navigation and memory, in addition to attentive and sequential processing.
These studies provide evidence that that in older adults the timing in their brain is disrupted, affecting attention, processing speed, memory, and navigation. Processing speed and attention have been found to explain a large part of age-related memory deterioration. Reduced information processing speed may explain problems in memory encoding and retrieval because this mental slowing can lead to superficial processing and inefficient strategies where elaboration is required.
TBI patients with severe injuries who have used PATH therapy have improved up to 10 fold in cognitive processing skills, including multi-tasking, focusing attention, memory, and sequential processing after a severe TBI. This improvement is dramatic and permanent!
Lawton, T. and Stephey, D. (2009) “Training direction discrimination improves usable field of view, short term memory, and navigation in older adults”, Optometry and Vision Development, 40:2, 82-93.
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# TBI Testimonials
/TBI Testimonials
TBI Testimonials2023-03-25T17:09:33+00:00
## TBI TESTIMONIALS
**CASE STUDY**
Following a serious head trauma that severely compromised her reading and writing skills, three years of traditional rehabilitation and vision therapy only produced marginal improvements for 18 year-old Chelsea Ellwood. Chelsea was then introduced to Perception Attention Therapy (PATH).
After only 11 weeks of treatment, PATH therapy permanently improved Chelsea’s ability to read, concentrate, pay attention in class and follow instructions. Her reading speed improved from 434 words per minute (wpm) to 1542 wpm and she no longer suffered from headaches.
“PATH therapy seemed to help heal my brain quickly,” she recalls. “I feel I can read much better now than before the accident. I can read much faster and understand what I’m reading much more easily.” Not only has Chelsea successfully graduated from Mira Mesa High School but she will be attending Springfield College, Massachusetts in the fall.
After witnessing her daughters remarkable recovery, Chelsea’s mother, a 7th grade mathematics teacher, now recommends PATH therapy for students who have difficulties reading and retaining information. “Both elementary and high school children can permanently improve their skills with Perception Attention Therapy (PATH). I recommend PATH therapy for many of my students. I believe that low achieving students would greatly benefit. My daughter used PATH therapy and it made a huge difference in her life. This is a wonderful treatment.”
*Chelsea Ellwood, San Diego, CA*
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“I have improved over 10-fold in my cognitive processing skills, including multi-tasking, focusing attention, memory, and sequential processing after a severe Traumatic Brain Injury [at 58 years old].”
*Tim Tanney, Fresno CA*
“ After a severe Traumatic Brain Injury 33 years ago and recently completing the PATH neurotraining program, I have noticed more mental flexibility. I have more of an ability to stop what I am working on without a fear that I will lose my momentum or forget what I was working on when I return. I can synthesize and process information better, engage in complex conversations and follow them, gain insights, and pick up the salient points. I spend less time after meetings to recount the main points and consider the next steps. I did neurofeedback about 16 years ago. For me, it was pretty good but it didn’t offer step change improvements like I am seeing with PATH.
I’ve noticed improvements with working memory which has helped with holding conversations -being able to make my point more clearly. It has also helped me to feel more calm in general because I am less anxious about trying to remember things and less upset that I am not remembering; it’s helped with information processing; and with music as well. With music, I notice being better able to sing and play guitar at the same time, which requires strumming a pattern while singing. That has been very hard for me and this made it easier. I also notice I am better at playing, because I can plan ahead for the notes I will be playing. Additionally, I am finding it easier to learn the different scales across the guitar. I have been dabbling with guitar for a long time and have had major difficulties getting a grasp on playing improvisational guitar and knowing which notes to play to match the chords that someone else is playing. Since using PATH, I have really been able to spring forward with this [at 55 years old].”
*Mark Kent, Philadelphia, PA*
“We had to go out of town with very little notice for a funeral last month. My husband’s family is very, very formal, so lots of last minute planning and shopping for all 4 of us to have the “correct” attire for 3 different functions each over the weekend, and all done in a massive rush. I couldn’t believe how easy planning, packing, shopping and organizing all the details was. For the first time in my life I had everyone ready an entire day ahead of schedule and had the easiest time staying organized during our travel, even with all the moving pieces and constant changes. I know this was a direct result of Path training, because I’m a travel bug, and my whole life I’ve had the hardest time organizing for and staying organized on trips. This time it was easy peasy.”
*Mary Beth, La Jolla, CA.*
“I experienced a concussion as a result of first a bicycle accident, and then a car accident 40 years later (at age 64). The first time I was told by my neurologist it would be a minimum of 14 years until I could take the Qualifying Exams for my Doctorate at UCSB. Fortunately, after PATH neurotraining, I was able to pass these exams 11 months later. This rapid improvement, transitioning from learning to talk and walk again to high-level cognitive skills requiring critical thinking and analysis was completed in less than 11 months.
After my car was totaled I had a concussion that reduced my visual and cognitive skills. I soon discovered that there was no cognitive therapy available from local neurologists to remediate my lost visual and cognitive skills. Since doing PATH neurotraining, I have noticed a remarkable improvement in my ability to direct attention, multitask, remember, and do critical thinking, that was only possible after being trained on the PATH cognitive therapy. I found it best to space out the training sessions, completing one session (5-10 minutes) each morning after breakfast and before reading and answering my email. If I was too tired, my body taking much time to recover from such a severe shock, I postponed doing PATH neurotraining until the next day, since it is best done in the morning, and instead got much needed sleep to recover as quickly as possible.
Fortunately after only 2 months, my cognitive skills were remediated. The concussion caused my memory to be reduced to 50%, attention: 55%, and processing speed: 37%. After 8 weeks of PATH training, memory improved to 99%, attention: 96%, and processing speed: 95%. PATH neurotraining not only provides a good brain tune-up so tasks can be done more automatically, it improves attention, processing speed, reading fluency, multitasking and memory quickly and effectively.”
*Dr. Teri Lawton, neuroscientist, inventor of PATH neurotraining, Encinitas, CA.*
“What makes Dr. Lawton’s product so valuable is that she is offering the only treatment which directly addresses disordered magno-cellular/ parvo-cellular interactions.”
*Prof John Shelley- Tremblay, University South Alabama, Mobile, AL.*
“Gavin was diagnosed with Post Concussion Syndrome following his accident and was having issues dealing with various things such as aggression, memory and being able to focus. I have seen a significant difference in Gavin’s behavior, memory and focus. I feel that this program has impacted Gavin’s recovery significantly, as he feels as well. Now he is able to focus and multitask more effectively, no longer being frustrated, being much more in control. Gavin’s improvements have accelerated significantly in many areas and I believe it can only be attributed to completing the PATH neurotraining. “
*Letter from mother of Gavin, Connie Goff, San Diego, CA*
“Only PATH neurotraining caused me to improve in cognitive speed, attentiveness, and short-term memory after a severe concussion and stroke. PATH neurotraining is a program that works and should be used by others with concussions.”
*Billy Ethridge, Encinitas, CA*
# Remediate cognitive slowdown to improve reading and attention
/, /Remediate cognitive slowdown to improve reading and attention
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## Remediate cognitive slowdown to improve reading and attention
Local workshops aim to help children with reading and attention
By Brittany Woolsey
MARCH 5, 2019, 1:10 PM
A Solana Beach neuroscientist is aiming to help children read better by using a unique method she developed decades ago.
Dr. Teri Lawton will present two local workshops for her PATH training this month, where parents can learn how this technique might be beneficial to their children.
The first workshop will take place March 9 at 2:15 p.m. at the Encinitas Library, followed by a session at the Del Mar Library on March 16 at 2 p.m.
Lawton said the technique —  is similar to a game where children study moving patterns.  **Click on the link below** to learn how this novel breakthrough method improves cognitive slowdown so reading and attention improve quickly.
2019-06-04T06:40:06+00:00
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Phone: (310) 903-6009
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