Cognitive contributions to differences in learning after moderate to severe traumatic brain injury

Model System:

Reference Type:

Accession No.:

Journal:

Year, Volume, Issue, Page(s):

Publication Website:

Abstract:

Study investigated the contribution of executive functioning and other cognitive processes to verbal learning after moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). It wash hypothesized that adults with TBI who have verbal learning deficits would perform worse on executive measures than adults who are able to learn. Participants were 51 community-dwelling adult volunteers (ages 18–59) with moderate and severe TBI. Injury severity was determined by Glasgow Coma Scale score ≤12 and corroborating information from medical records. Group membership (TBI-learners or TBI-nonlearners) was determined by a learning criterion of perfect recall on 2 consecutive trials within 15 trials on the open-trial Selective Reminding Test. All participants completed a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery. Group differences were examined using independent-samples t tests, and logistic regression was used to determine significant predictors of learning ability. Results showed that the TBI-learner group performed better than the TBI-nonlearner group most consistently on tasks of executive control and working memory. The results of a logistic regression showed that working memory capacity was the most significant predictor of learning ability after TBI. The findings suggest that working memory significantly influences the ability to learn verbal information after TBI. The documented relationship between working memory and learning will guide the development of more efficacious treatments to rehabilitate learning and memory deficits after TBI.

Author(s):

Participating Centers: