Cognitive and Social Development

Differences in Individuals with TBI 

Alejandra Aguilar, Jason Grossman,

Kent Hsieh, & Joanne Wong 

Introduction

Please give your attention to the tallest member of our group

Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI)

Occur when an individual’s head hits an

object but that object does not break through

the skull.

Who is susceptible to a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)?

Anyone, including- Babies - Children- Young adults- Parents- Students- Professionals - Athletes - Soldiers

What the studies show

Individuals who have sustained a TBI have to work harder than individuals from the same backgrounds (socioeconomic and educational) than those who have not.

The studies showed how those who sustained the injury scored lower on tests while simultaneously requiring more time to do so.

Each year

2% of the population are effected

(Ouellet, & Morin, 2006)

Unlike broken bones or sprains a TBI remains with the victim for the rest of their lives

Classification of TBI

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders labels TBI as an Axis III Disorder

An Axis III disorder is a General Medical Condition

Long term issues

Social problem solving and community integration

(Rath, Hennessy, & Diller, 2003) Performance decrements

Learning abilities Work performance Social interactions

Personal Work Educational

Causes of Injuries

Cognitive Development

Usually refers to how an individual thinks and gains understanding based on his or her genetic and learned factors.

Information processing, memory, reasoning, and intelligence are usually gathered to measure one’s cognitive development

Memory

Memory loss is one of the most common cognitive side effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Even in mild TBI, memory loss is still very common.

The more severe the victim's memory loss after the TBI, the more significant the brain damage will most likely be.

Memory (Continued)

At the current time, there is no treatment for memory loss following TBI.

If the memory does not come back on its own, it will be lost permanently.

There is a great deal of research in the field of TBI and memory loss, but, unfortunately, there are no cures for memory loss following TBI. (Newsome et al., 2008)

Personality

Personality changes are a common effect of traumatic brain injury, and are often cited by family and friends as the most difficult effect to deal with.

In some cases personality changes are short term and resolve as the patient recovers, whereas in other cases the personality changes are permanent.

Personality (Continued)

Depression Anxiety Apathy Irritability Anger Confusion Agitation Insomnia Mood swings…etc

Treatment for Personality Changes

Most survivors of traumatic brain injury who suffer from personality changes, emotional problems, and problem behaviors will be treated with a combination of psychotherapy and medication.

(Rush, Malec, Brown, & Moessner et al.,2006)

Social Development

Social is the interaction between organisms. Interpreting social cues

Thumbs up High Five These are different cross-culturally

Taking into consideration the needs of others and maintaining interpersonal relationships

Interpreting Social Cues

TBI patients sometimes lose the ability to recognize facial expression (Knox & Douglas, 2008).

Interaction is hampered through the limitations on the individual (Long, McDonald, Tate, Togher, & Bornhofen, 2008) .

TBI can result in social isolation through-> Loss of self Decreased self-esteem Deceased self-efficacy

(Landau & Hissett, 2008)

Relationships

Loss of self Decreased self-esteem Deceased self-efficacy Relationships are often broken because of the

three factors. Through this series of events, depression is

common.

Recovery

Through a social support system, the impact of TBI can be lessened. (Engberg & Teasdale, 1998 )

Social development recovery rates for children are higher than for adults demonstrating a level of plasticity (Hanten, et al., 2008).

However children with TBI still lack the social skills of children without brain trauma.

Conclusion

• Studies on patients with TBI reveal differences in cognitive and social development

Further Research

Longitudinal Changes Blame attribution Association with

other psychiatric disorders (Hart et al., 2007)

Further Research (Continued)

Reasons for the variety of outcomes among brain injury patients (Drotar et al., 2009)

TBI Patient’s Future

Regardless of TBI’s effects on people, studies show that there is still hope for a small amount of functional impairment to be actually caused by brain injury.

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