HOW DO BRAIN INJURIES AFFECT MEMORY?

Connecticut residents like you may suffer from memory impairment, loss or damage after a serious accident. Sometimes, these issues last for hours or days. In other cases, they last months, years or a lifetime.

But what is it about brain injuries that impact memory? Does every brain injury result in memory damage?

The impact of TBI severity on memory
Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center discusses the impact brain damage has on memory. The amount of damage your brain takes dictates how your memory will fare. The short term memory gets stored in the front part of the brain. This means damage to this area can result in memory loss or impairment. Short term memory damage is more common than long term. Experts speculate this is due to the location of short term memory in the frontal lobe, which often takes the hardest hits.

Short term memory function
Short term memory covers 15-30 second bursts of time. A brain injury to the area can interfere with your ability to store these memories properly. This means you cannot easily recall things that just happened. As a result, you may forget important appointments or information you were just told. You could put items down and lose them, forgetting where you placed them.

The more severe the injury, the worse the memory damage may be. Depending on the location and severity, you could struggle with a healing memory for years. Some people never fully regain their pre-accident memory capacity and must alter their lifestyle to support their memory better. You are not likely to recover memories of the traumatic incident if you do not remember it initially, too.