TBI Patients Can Recover Some Memory

A study has shown that patients who suffer traumatic brain injury (TBI) can recover some of their memory function by learning to use alternate brain networks. The study was published in the August 2002 issue of the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

Researchers compared brain function in two groups of adults: six patients who had suffered a moderate-to-severe TBI four years earlier (with several days of coma in some cases) and had made a strong recovery versus 11 healthy adults who matched the first group in age and education. All underwent memory testing, during which their brain activity was monitored with positron emission tomography (PET). Afterward, the researchers compared the patterns of brain activity in both groups as they tried to remember a word.

Although the patterns were similar, patients with TBI showed larger areas of activation in frontal and posterior brain regions known to be involved in memory. The larger areas, say the researchers, reflect a reorganization of brain function that likely occurred in the weeks and months during the recovery of these patients from TBI. The study was performed by researchers at The Rotman Institute at Baycrest Center (Toronto, Canada), led by Dr. Brian Levine.

"The brain is a flexible organ that can compensate for damage by engaging new systems to perform the same memory tasks,” said Dr. Levine. "Bain imaging studies like this one can help to track these changes and to understand why some patients make a good recovery and others do not.”




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The Rotman Institute