This is a part of the Hot Topic podcast series from the Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center on Changes in Memory After TBI. Dr. Allison Clark discusses Social Impact of Memory Problems.

If you’re having memory problems, you may have trouble in your social relationships because you’re not remembering to follow up on something important that happened to your friends so say for example that you know your friend recently had a, I don’t know surgery and you hadn’t seen her for a few weeks.

And so after seeing her for the first time in a few weeks you want to follow up and be like oh, how was your, how is your recovery going, how are you feeling, is there anything I can do to help? But if you don’t remember that, then you’re not going to follow up with that and then your friend may feel that, that you know you don’t care about what she’s been through. So that’s an example of how I think a memory problem can impact socially.

And also you know, having, tracking of that details from one conversation to another so you can follow up on things, when you’re getting to know new people. So remembering like for example oh you told me that you were form New York, you know tell me more about what it’s like to be in New York. Again but if you’re not remembering what you talked about from a prior conversation you’re not going to be able to follow up on that in a future conversation and get to know that, continue to get to know that person.

Visit https://msktc.org/tbi and get the answers you need from experts who conduct innovative and high-quality research, provide patient care, and work to improve the health and overall quality of life for people with traumatic brain injury. That’s https://msktc.org/tbi.