Acquired Brain Injury
Acquired Brain Injury - or "ABI" – is a complex condition that refers to any damage to the brain that occurs after birth. Acquired brain injury is different from an intellectual disability, which is a congenital condition affecting global/overall intellectual functioning. A person with an ABI may retain their intellect; however have difficulty with specific mental abilities such as memory, concentration or planning.
There are five main areas in which people with ABI may experience short and long term changes:
· Medical difficulties (e.g. difficulty swallowing, chronic pain, headaches, epilepsy)
· Changes in physical and sensory abilities (e.g. balance and coordination, fatigue, changes in vision, hearing)
· Changes in the ability to think (cognition) and learn (e.g. memory deficits, poor attention, problem solving and planning)
· Changes in behaviour and personality (e.g. irritability, impulsivity, mood changes, loss of emotional control and disinhibition)
· Communication difficulties (e.g. speech impairment, excessive talking)
Traumatic Brain Injury
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) – the second most common form of ABI after stroke - occurs when a sudden trauma causes damage to the brain. This may be the result of a motor vehicle accident, fall, assault, sporting accident, gunshot wound or violent shaking.
What impact does a TBI have on the brain?
The physical, behavioural, or cognitive changes that can result from TBI depend on the areas of the brain that are injured. Most injuries cause:
- focal damage - damage confined to a small area of the brain. The focal damage is most often at the point where the head hits an object or where an object enters the brain.
- diffuse damage - damage to several other areas of the brain. The diffuse damage occurs when the impact of the injury causes the brain to move back and forth against the inside of the skull. The frontal and temporal lobes of the brain, the major speech and language areas, often receive the most damage in this way because they sit in pockets of the skull that allow more room for the brain to shift and sustain injury.
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