Depictions of head-injury patients in movies and television almost always show the patient experiencing some type of amnesia, or memory loss. Indeed, memory loss is the most common cognitive side effect of a severe traumatic brain injury. In patients with a milder TBI, memory loss is still one of the most common symptoms. And the more severe the patient’s memory loss is, the more severe the brain damage is likely to be.
Temporary Memory Loss and TBI
Some traumatic brain injury-related amnesia is temporary; such patients are usually unable to recall what happened directly before, during and after their accidents. This is often caused by edema, or a swelling of the brain in response to the damage it sustained. Because the brain is pressed against the skull, parts that were not injured are still not able to work. As the swelling goes down, the patient’s memory returns, often slowly over a period of weeks, months or even years. Temporary memory loss may also be an emotional response to the stress of the event that caused the TBI.
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