Acquired Brain Injury - Effect On Memory

Effect On Memory

Following acquired brain injury it is common for patients to experience memory loss, memory disorders are one of the most prevalent cognitive deficits experienced in sufferers. However because some aspects of memory are directly linked to attention it can be challenging to assess what components of a deficit are caused by memory and which are fundamentally attention problems. There is often partial recovery of memory functioning following the initial recovery phase, however permanent handicaps are often reported with ABI patients reporting significantly more memory difficulties when compared people without an acquired brain injury.

In order to cope more efficiently with memory disorders many people with ABI use memory aids; these included external items such as diaries, notebooks and electronic organizers, internal strategies for example visual associations, and environmental adaptations such as labeling kitchen cupboards. Research has found that ABI patients use an increased number of memory aids after their injury than they did prior to it and these aids vary in their degree of effectiveness. One popular aid is the use of a diary, studies have found that the use of a diary is more effective if it is paired with self-instructional training, this was related to more frequent use of the diary over time and proved to be more successful as a memory aid.