Traumatic Brain Injury and Memory Loss

Depictions of head-injury patients in movies andremember skills he or she had before the TBI.
television almost always show the patientBrain Damage and Anteretrograde Amnesia
experiencing some type of amnesia, or memory loss.A patient with TBI may also develop anteretrograde
Indeed, memory loss is the most common cognitiveamnesia -- an inability to form memories of events
side effect of a severe traumatic brain injury. Inthat happened after the injury. The reason for this is
patients with a milder TBI, memory loss is still one ofnot well understood, but an October 2006 study by
the most common symptoms. And the more severeresearchers at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
the patient's memory loss is, the more severe thefound that TBIs reduce the levels of a protein in the
brain damage is likely to be.brain that helps it balance its activity. Without enough
Temporary Memory Loss and TBIof that protein, the brain can "overload", the
Some traumatic brain injury-related amnesia isresearchers said, interfering with memory formation,
temporary; such patients are usually unable to recallparticularly the ability to learn new things.
what happened directly before, during and after theirTreatment Options for Traumatic Brain Injury
accidents. This is often caused by edema, or aPatients with Amnesia
swelling of the brain in response to the damage itThere is no treatment for memory loss caused by a
sustained. Because the brain is pressed against thetraumatic brain injury; if the memory does not come
skull, parts that were not injured are still not able toback on its own, it is gone forever. However, a
work. As the swelling goes down, the patient'sSeptember 2006 study published in Neurology, the
memory returns, often slowly over a period ofscientific journal of the American Academy of
weeks, months or even years. Temporary memoryNeurology, showed promising results in TBI patients
loss may also be an emotional response to the stresswith anteretrograde memory loss who took the drug
of the event that caused the TBI.rivastigmine.
Other, less common, types of memory lossThe drug, which is sold to Alzheimer's disease
stemming from traumatic brain injury are fixed. Thesepatients under the brand name Exelon, helped
result from damage to the nerves and axonspatients with moderate to severe memory loss score
(connections between nerves) of the brain itself.better on memory tests than another group of
Because the brain cannot heal itself like an arm or apatients that took placebos. The results were not as
leg, any function that is damaged during a TBI isgood for patients who had only mild memory loss. If
permanently impaired unless the brain can learn toyou suffer from traumatic brain injury-related
perform that function differently.memory problems, you may wish to contact an
Fixed amnesia may include inability to rememberexperienced TBI attorney to discuss your options,
events before the injury, or loss of memory of thewhich may include filing a brain injury lawsuit in order
meanings of certain things, such as words or smellsto gain compensation for your medical costs.
or objects. Less commonly, a person may not