The Effect of Traumatic Brain Injury on Memory

Abstract

Having a good memory is essential for carrying out daily tasks. People cannot study, plan, remember or navigate life effectively if they are memoryless. People may be at risk when mistakes made in the past will be repeated and lessons regarding danger cannot be learned. In the community, traumatic brain injury (TBI) is common and individuals with TBI frequently have memory problems. It is crucial to study how TBI affects memory to better understand the underlying mechanism and to tailor rehabilitation for patients with a range of pathologies and severity levels. Thus, this paper aimed to review studies related to TBI's effect on memory. This review examined recent studies to learn more regarding and comprehend the connection between TBI and memory, including short-term memory (STM), working memory (WM) and long-term memory (LTM). This will undoubtedly have a big impact on how memory problems that may arise after TBI will be addressed. Virtual reality and other technological advancements have given the medical community a new way to investigate rehabilitative therapy.

Keywords: long-term memory; short-term memory; traumatic brain injury; virtual reality; working memory.

Figure 1

Brain with closed-head trauma

Figure 2

An image of a CT scan that indicates an iron piece penetration can be seen from the inside of the cranium

Figure 3

MEG data from a patient with a moderate head injury was examined at different memory tasks (red at rest, yellow, blue and white are three separate memory tasks)