Treatment with amantadine potentiated motor learning in a patient with traumatic brain injury of 15 years' duration

This study sought to determine whether pharmacotherapy with amantadine pote ntiates motor recovery in an 18-year-old man with traumatic brain injury (T BI) of 15 years' duration. This uncontrolled single-case multiple-baseline design allowed preliminary evaluation of amantadine within the context of s tandard data-collection procedures on the TBI unit. Measurements tracked sp eed of wheelchair propulsion, wheelchair transfer, donning shirt, and inser ting pegs into holes. Data were collected during a 3-week practice period, followed by a 6-week period of practice plus daily treatment with amantadin e. The rate at which performance improved was significantly increased with drug treatment in the wheelchair transfer task. There was a statistically i nsignificant trend toward improvement in donning shia. Amantadine did not a ppear to potentiate recovery in the wheelchair propulsion or peg placement tasks. The results suggest that amantadine facilitates some measures of mot or recovery in chronic brain injury. Further trials are warranted to invest igate this issue.