Cognitive problems caused by TBI

Florida residents who may have suffered a traumatic brain injury may possibly experience a loss of cognition and mental ability. Thinking skills and mental tasks are sometimes more difficult for people with TBIs. These negative effects are not consistent from person to person, and they may be hard to predict. However, it is common for them to be of long duration or permanent.

The ability to concentrate may be disrupted. The injured individual may be hypersensitive and unable to work with distractions, or they might be unaware of their surroundings. Their executive functioning, or their ability to begin and complete tasks, may suffer as a result of a TBI. Planning and organizing tasks may become more difficult, and the ability to clearly self-evaluate and self-correct may be hampered. This can also lead to impulsive behavior.

The process of remembering and learning can be damaged by a TBI. The harm that it does to the short-term memory affects the ability to learn new skills as well as the ability to focus and to stay on tasks. Moreover, new information cannot be taken in as quickly as it might have been before. Longer messages and concepts must be conceptually divided into smaller bits and delivered at a slower pace so that they can be processed by the TBI sufferer. However, the long-term memory will be unharmed in most cases.

A traumatic brain injury is one of the worst outcomes that can result from medical malpractice or a surgical error. The life-altering consequences of damage to the brain are immense, and years of therapy may not be enough to recover fully. An attorney’s assistance may be of use to those who wish to recover compensation for their damages from the parties responsible for the injury.

Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, “Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)”, November 12, 2014