Cognitive Impairment in Traumatic Brain Injury Cases
(Cont’d)
Impaired Judgment
The quality of rational judgment is very subjective and can best be compared only for a single individual pre- and post-injury. When the difference is subtle, it can be difficult to determine if it is the result of organic injury or psychological side effects. In either case, if impaired judgment seems to be leading to dangerous situations, intervention of some form or another is called for.
Difficulty Planning and Executing
This is another situation that may be best evaluated based on the patient’s abilities pre-injury and post-injury. Sometimes called “impaired executive function,” it is characterized by the inability to plan and execute several sequential steps needed to complete a task, such as making coffee. This symptom is associated with frontal lobe injury.
Problems with Language
Speech, reading and writing are among the more complex functions to which the human brain has become adapted. Subtle injuries can interfere with these capabilities in a myriad of ways:
- Problems with reading
- Unable to express language
- Unable to recognize words
- Problems in understanding spoken words
- Unable to locate the words for writing
- Unable to focus visual attention
- Problems with identification of, and verbalization about, objects
- Problems with drawing objects
- Unable to name an object
- Problems in recognizing drawn objects
Reduction in Intellect
Someone who knows the injured person well can usually tell if intellectual function is impaired. The loss of ability to perform math, or decreased problem solving ability may become apparent. More subtle effects may be thought processes becoming more rigid and less flexible.
Very specific problems can arise such as the inability to categorize objects, or being unable to recognize faces. Acute symptoms such as these are often the result of severe injury to specific areas of the brain responsible for these types of functions.
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