Dr. Lauro Quadrana tells us about his experience with using MindLenses Professional in children and adolescents with attention disorders and dyslexia in one of the largest university hospitals in Rome.
UPDATES SPRING 2024: Since this interview, a lot has happened!
- Restorative’s team and Umberto I co-authored a study about the beneficial effect of MindLenses in the treatment of dyslexia in the scientific journal Scientific Reports. Data were collected at the hospital by dr. Quadrana’s collaborators. Read it here.
- Repubblica.it, one of the most important newspaper in Italy, featured the presence of MindLenses at Umberto I hospital in an article. Read it here.
Today we listen to the experience of dr. Lauro Quadrana, Specialist in Neuropsychology and Psychodiagnostics and manager of the Psychodiagnostics service of the Adolescent Psychiatric Day Hospital of the Child Neuropsychiatry Unit at the Policlinico Umberto I of Rome, “La Sapienza” University.
Dr. Quadrana is teaches psychology at the Faculty of Medicine of the “La Sapienza” University. His main interests concern psychopathology in adolescence, in particular in the relationship between neurodevelopment and psychopathological disorders. He is also the author of numerous publications relating to psychopathological and neuropsychiatric problems of the developmental age.
We asked dr. Quadrana to answer some questions regarding his experience with MindLenses Professional.
How did you hear about MindLenses Professional and what inspired you to try it?
I have long been working in the field of diagnoses relating to neurodevelopmental disorders, in particular attention/deficit hyperactivity disorded (ADHD) and learning disorders such as dyslexia. In my department, between first visits and re-evaluations, we see around 300-400 patients per year. I always try to push the limits of my clinical practice, and I’ve long been looking into everything related to non-invasive neuromodulation technologies, such as transcranial electrical stimulation (tDCS), alternating current stimulation (tACS), repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), and prismatic adaptation. I read the research works published by Massimiliano Olivieri and his team, I understood that it was exactly the piece I was looking for: I immediately wanted to try MindLenses.
There is also a personal aspect that pushed me to delve into the literature and try the device: I wanted to find a way to help my 9-year-old daughter, who has a problem with concentration and attention.
Who are you patients, and in which cases do you use MindLenses Professional at Policlinico Umberto I?
My patients are children and adolescents between the ages of 7 and 18 who have neurodevelopmental disorders. Very often, I conduct assessments on patients with problems relating to attention deficits (ADHD) or learning disorders associated with psychiatric comorbidity, in particular anxiety disorders, obsessive disorders, depressive states.
I use MindLenses Professional with patients who have completed our own diagnostic evaluation cycle and who receive a diagnosis of ADHD, dyslexia or developmental dyscalculia.
We are studying the effects of MindLenses Professional on these patients. We have, for example, just completed a study, which is being published, on a sample of 70 subjects with developmental dyslexia [since this interview, the results of this study have been published]. We are also carrying out research on a sample of subjects with ADHD and another with dyscalculia disorders. At the same time, we are also carrying out research in a more psychiatric area, in particular relating to obsessive compulsive disorder and anxiety disorders.
It is an attractive tool for patients and I believe this is also the key turning point compared to many other therapies
What is the reaction of patients and their parents to the introduction of MindLenses therapy?
Both the prismatic lenses and the serious games are designed to stimulate attention and curiosity as much as possible: so far, all the teenagers and children I have met have shown themselves to be very involved in the therapy. It is an attractive tool for patients and I believe this is also the key turning point compared to many other therapies.
The patients’ parents, however, always breathe a sigh of relief when they discover that it is a finite-term and very well-structured therapy. In fact, one of the first things they ask me is the duration: “Will I have to take my child for 6 months? 1 years?”. They feel reassured when they discover that there are only 12 meetings (including the initial and final evaluation), and that almost all of them last about 30 minutes.
What is the aspect that you appreciate the most about MindLenses?
Certainly the fact that it is a tool that is working. In fact, we are seeing results through scientific evidence, also documented in the study currently being published.
In particular, we noticed significant changes in cognitive tests (WISC-IV), a very important test that evaluates the cognitive organization of children and adolescents through four indices: Verbal Comprehension (ICV), Visual-Perceptual Reasoning (IRP ), Working Memory (IML) and Processing Speed (IVE). After treatment with MindLenses Professional, we found a significant improvement in the Working Memory index score and Processing Speed index score. Working memory is very important in everyday life, because it allows us to memorize new information, store it in short-term memory, keep our attention focused and manipulate it to arrive at a solution.
We are also obtaining important results in cases of dyslexia, particularly in reading speed, and general improvements in attention levels.
Do you have any stories to tell us about patients who have also experienced an improvement in their daily life after therapy with MindLenses Professional?
So many! I have numerous thank you emails from parents and teachers of children who have received the treatment and who notice an improvement in their daily life.
This mainly happens in adolescents, and what is reported to me most frequently is the increase in the ability to concentrate. I think of the parent who wrote to me: “Usually my son lost concentration after just 20 minutes of studying, the other day I saw him sit for 1 and a half hours!”; or to the teachers who tell me: “Before, the student was almost unmanageable in the fourth and fifth period: he had to get up and move constantly. After the treatment, however, we see him remaining in a state of concentration much longer.”
This happens because we have documented, through the use of specific tests, an improvement also with regard to the organization of executive functions. After therapy with MindLenses, patients appear to be more organized and less distracted in daily life activities.
More information on the Child Neuropsychiatry Unit of the Policlinico Umberto I University Hospital
The Child Neuropsychiatry Operational Unit of the Policlinico Umberto I, La Sapienza University of Rome, is a national center of excellence. It is located in Via dei Sabelli, 108 in Rome, in the historic district of San Lorenzo. For information on therapies with MindLenses Professional, you can contact Dr. Lauro Quadrana at the email address lauro.quadrana@uniroma1.it.
