Brain Injuries

Focusing on brain injuries, and the cognitive effects of two case studies, we will review things such as memory complications as well as trauma to the brain and how it affects normal functioning. One case study revolves around an 80-year-old woman who suffers a stroke, and the other focuses on a 16-year-old girl who experiences a brain injury—leading to trauma. We will review their conditions, causes of each of the symptoms they experience, and will conclude with potential or possible treatment options for both individuals.

Summarize the Case Studies

Norma is our first case study; she is an 80-year-old woman who suffered a stroke. She had been washing dishes, and upon suddenly feeling strange she drops a dish on the floor. She told her husband that her face felt numb right before she got dizzy and fell to the floor. She was unable to tell her husband which part of her face felt numb—while it does specifically state that she had confusion, short-term memory loss could be a sign after a stroke, or this could have been due to the fall. The answer is unclear what caused her to not answer the question. At the hospital the right side of her body presented with muscle weakness and droopiness, and she had difficultly speaking and had vision issues.

The second case study is 16-year-old Kyla who was in a motor vehicle accident, when she was out driving with friends and a drunk driver ran into their vehicle. Upon arrival at the emergency room, she presented with dilated pupils, unconsciousness for at least 15 minutes, vomiting, headache, slurred speech, aggressiveness, and potentially loss of feeling in extremities. Kyla presents with a concussion (Mayo Clinic, 2022).

In both of the above listed case studies the individuals both displayed a confusion due to short-term memory loss, as well as other symptoms. So, what is memory and what role does it play in brain traumas? “Memory is the process involved in retaining, retrieving, and using information about stimuli, images, events, ideas, and skills after the original information no longer present … memory is active any time some past experience has an effect on the way you think or behave now or in the future,” (Goldstein, 2019). When an individual suffers a stroke it is likely that they may experience short-term memory loss—symptoms of this may include things such as: “confusion or problems with short-term memory; wandering or getting lost in familiar places; difficulty following instructions; trouble making monetary transactions” (American Heart Association, 2022). The American Heart Association (2022) suggests things for managing memory loss after a stroke as doing things such as having a routine or ensuring that everything has a place and that everything is put into its place, use a large calendar to write down events, write things down, keep a notebook handy, use memory cues and break things down into easier steps.

Causes of Memory Loss

There are multiple different reasons why a person my experience short-term memory loss. Some are related to medical conditions, and others are related to injuries, while some are related to outside influences. Brain tumors, cancer treatment, head trauma, concussion, brain infections, lack of oxygen to the brain, alcohol and drug abuse, seizures, heart bypass surgery and depression can all be some of the reasons or causes of short-term memory loss (Zimmermann, 2017). Even experiencing things such as physical, emotional, or sexual trauma can cause short-term memory loss (Rao, 2021).

Depression was found to be linked to memory loss of short-term memory through a study conducted on 2544 individuals, where 87% of the individuals reported at least one depressive symptom (Schweizer et al, 2018). The researchers then investigated the impact of depressive symptoms on subjective memory complaints, and objective memory performance. The results were that depressive symptoms were in fact related to poor memory recall for pictures presented in negative contexts, “even after adjusting for memory for pictures in neutral contexts,” (Schweizer et al, 2018). Thus, these facts lead this learner to believe that situations involving depressive symptoms and experiences will be less likely to fully be remembered after the fact.

This learner would give an example in the way of when an individual attempts suicide, sometimes the individual is asked, “What were you thinking?” and sometimes the individual cannot recall what they were thinking at the moment. This would be related to a study done of 512 young adults who were assessed on memory capabilities, violent daydreaming, and suicidal ideation (Chu et al, 2017). The results indicated that suicidal ideation and violent daydreaming were “significantly associated with greater impairments in everyday memory retrieval and everyday memory encoding,” (Chu et al, 2017). This study additionally showed that depressive symptoms were a large factor in memory impairments as well.

When we look at the two case studies presented to us, we can see that the reason that Norma would have experienced short-term memory loss—or could have, is due to her stoke. Kyla, her head injury or head trauma presented a clear definition for short-term memory loss. Memory loss can affect a variety of people, at a variety of different ages.

Conclusion

In order to properly treat an individuals short-term memory loss, it is first important to determine the cause of the memory loss (Zimmermann, 2017). There are a variety of exercises an individual can do to regain their short-term memory. According to Denslow (2021), who works for a cognitive rehibition association, playing cognitive games such as “Concentration” where you lay several cards face down, and then you flip two over at a time, only keeping the matching ones face up, can help with short-term memory recovery. Also, it is said that physical rehabilitation exercise can help improve mobility after a stroke, but also improve memory (Denslow, 2021).

When suffering a head trauma injury like Kyla, in our second case study, things to treat her short-term memory would be things like using mnemonics to remember different tasks, or using vivid images to remember (i.e., “remember that the car you will drive to the doctor’s office has four wheels, which is what time you need to be there”), test yourself to remember things but gradually increase the repetition time periods so that more time passes before doing the exercise again (Maher, 2020). A few other things that could potentially help is listening to music, writing things down, sleeping, meditating, and exercising (Maher, 2020). By challenging yourself and challenging your brain and keeping your brain healthy and strong you should eventually regain more short-term memory capacity and eventually fully recover from the situation that brought it about—as long as there is not another underlying medical issue at hand.

References

American Heart Association. 2022. Memory Loss. American Heart Association.

https://www.stroke.org/en/about-stroke/effects-of-stroke/cognitive-and-communication-effects-of-stroke/memory-loss

Chu, C., Podlogar, M. C., Rogers, M. L., Buchman-Schmitt, M. S., Negley, J., Joiner, T. E. 2017.

Does Suicidal Ideation Influence Memory? A Study of the Role of Violent Daydreaming in the Relationship between Suicidal Ideation and Everyday Memory. PubMed Central. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4956597/

Denslow, E. 2021. How to Improve Memory After Stroke with Cognitive Rehabilitation. Flint

Rehab. https://www.flintrehab.com/improve-memory-after-stroke/

Goldstein, E. B. 2019. Cognitive Psychology: Connecting mind, research and everyday

experience (5th ed.). Cengage.

Maher, C. 2020. How to Improve Short-Term Memory After Brain Injury. Flint Rehab.

https://www.flintrehab.com/how-to-improve-short-term-memory-after-brain-injury/

Mayo Clinic. 2022. Concussion. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-

conditions/concussion/symptoms-causes/syc-20355594

Rao, V. 2021. Memory Loss After Sexual Assault is Real. Healthy Women.

https://www.healthywomen.org/your-wellness/self-care--mental-health/memory-loss-sexual-assault-real

Schweizer, S., Kievit, R. A., Emery, T., Cam-CAN, Henson, R. N. 2018. Symptoms of

Depression in a Large Healthy Population Cohort Are Related to Subjective Memory Complaints and Memory Performance in Negative Contexts. National Library of Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5729845/

Zimmermann, K. A. 2017. What is Short-Term Memory Loss? Live Science.

https://www.livescience.com/42891-short-term-memory-loss.html