Cognitive rehabilitation of executive functioning in a case of craniopharyngioma

Craniopharyngiomas are rare brain tumors within the area of the craniopharyngeal duct. They are often diagnosed in children and young people and can be associated with significant cognitive impairments such as memory and executive problems. This single-case report describes a brief investigation into the effectiveness of goal management training for dysexecutive problems following the removal and treatment of a craniopharyngioma in a young woman. In contrast to previous laboratory-based studies, we exploited naturally occurring distractions within the patient's work environment as periodic alerts to facilitate goal management. Following a 2-month intervention, the patient reported improvements in her ability to focus attention at work and performed significantly better on neuropsychological tests requiring organized behavior posttraining relative to pretraining. Thus, the exploitation of naturally occurring external distractions as periodic alerts to facilitate goal management can be an effective and easy-to-adopt cognitive rehabilitation strategy for dysexecutive problems associated with craniopharyngioma.