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R3216 --> Cognitive and memory impairments are often observed in disorders common to US Veterans, specifically traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Further, sleep disturbances including excessive daytime sleepiness, insomnia, and circadian rhythm sleep disorders are highly prevalent in Veterans with TBI and/or PTSD. Sleep disturbances themselves impact cognitive function. Few therapeutic strategies exist to improve cognition, particularly in Veterans with comorbid neuropsychiatric trauma. Cognitive rehabilitative therapy is a common approach, but suffers from variable efficacy rates. Given the strong bidirectional relationship between sleep‐impairments and cognitive function, we sought to investigate whether administering morning bright light therapy (MBLT) as an adjunctive therapy to improve sleep would improve response to cognitive therapy. A total of n=16 Veterans with mTBI enrolled in VA Neuropsychology based 8‐week clinical, group‐based cognitive rehabilitative therapy program (3 separate cohorts) were consented and randomized to either receive standard of care (CRT, n=8; 69.7±7.8 years of age; 2 female) or engage in morning bright light therapy (MBLT; 60 minutes every morning to be completed ~2 hours after waking) as an adjunctive therapy (CRT+MBLT, n=8; 63.4±11.1 years of age; 2 female). Self‐report questionnaires targeting cognitive function (global, executive function, and memory), sleep, and a variety of other major domains were administered pre‐ and post‐cognitive therapy. Veterans in the CRT+MBLT group self‐reported using the lightbox >90% of all days and had a positive experience using the lightbox. Self‐reported cognitive function was unchanged in the CRT group, yet significantly improved in those receiving adjunctive MBLT (p=0.004). This lack of change in self‐reported cognition was coincident with no change in sleep in the CRT group. Sleep significantly improvement in the CRT+MBLT group (p=0.02). Additionally, depression and neuropsychiatric trauma symptom severity were unchanged in the CRT group, but significantly improved in the CRT+MBLT group (p<0.05). Traditional cognitive therapy shows variable rates of efficacy but may be improved with adjunctive MBLT for sleep. These data support the need for a fully powered randomized controlled clinical trial in Veterans with TBI/PTSD‐related cognitive dysfunction. Additional work should also include comprehensive neuropsychological evaluations and objective metrics of sleep (e.g., wrist actigraphy or home‐based polysomnography). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]