TBI TBI Cognitive & Behavioral Outcomes 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which cognitive domain is most commonly impaired following mild TBI?
- Long-term memory
- Attention and processing speed (Correct answer)
- Language comprehension
- Spatial navigation
Correct answer: Attention and processing speed
Attention deficits and slowed processing speed are the most consistently reported cognitive impairments after mild TBI/concussion.
Question 2: What is 'post-traumatic amnesia' (PTA) and why is its duration clinically important?
- Inability to recall events before the injury; predicts emotional outcomes
- Period of confusion and inability to form new memories after injury; predicts severity and prognosis (Correct answer)
- Memory loss for personal identity; indicates frontal lobe damage
- Forgetting medication names; guides pharmacological planning
Correct answer: Period of confusion and inability to form new memories after injury; predicts severity and prognosis
PTA duration — the time until continuous memory returns — is a strong predictor of TBI severity and long-term functional outcome.
Question 3: Frontal lobe damage from TBI most commonly results in which behavioral changes?
- Impaired vision and hearing
- Disinhibition, impulsivity, poor executive function, and emotional dysregulation (Correct answer)
- Loss of long-term memories
- Inability to recognize faces
Correct answer: Disinhibition, impulsivity, poor executive function, and emotional dysregulation
The frontal lobe governs executive function and behavioral control; damage causes disinhibition, impulsivity, and difficulty planning.
Question 4: Which standardized tool is used to assess post-traumatic amnesia and track cognitive recovery?
- Berg Balance Scale
- Westmead PTA Scale (Correct answer)
- Functional Independence Measure
- ASIA Impairment Scale
Correct answer: Westmead PTA Scale
The Westmead PTA Scale is a validated bedside tool used to track orientation and memory during the PTA phase of TBI recovery.
Question 5: Pseudobulbar affect (PBA) after TBI is characterized by which symptom pattern?
- Inability to swallow
- Involuntary, uncontrollable episodes of laughing or crying disproportionate to mood (Correct answer)
- Expressive aphasia
- Bilateral facial weakness
Correct answer: Involuntary, uncontrollable episodes of laughing or crying disproportionate to mood
PBA involves involuntary emotional expression — laughing or crying — disconnected from the patient's actual emotional state due to corticobulbar pathway disruption.
Question 6: Depression following TBI is attributed to which combination of factors?
- Only psychological adjustment to disability
- Both neurobiological changes (limbic/prefrontal disruption) and psychosocial stressors (Correct answer)
- Only premorbid personality disorders
- Solely medication side effects
Correct answer: Both neurobiological changes (limbic/prefrontal disruption) and psychosocial stressors
Post-TBI depression has both neurobiological origins (damage to mood-regulating circuits) and psychosocial components (loss of function, identity, relationships).
TBI TBI Cognitive & Behavioral Outcomes 1
Which cognitive domain is most commonly impaired following mild TBI?