TBI ( Traumatic Brain Injury ) and ABI ( Acquired Brain Injury )
Brain injury can occur as a result of internal dysfunction such as a stroke, which is referred to as Acquired Brain Injury (ABI). It may also come about through an external trauma such as a car accident which is known as Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Brain injuries may be classified as primary (occurring at the time of trauma) or secondary (occurring some time after the trauma) but may also be distinguished as a penetrating or closed head injury. Within each of these categories is a list of possible ways the brain could be damaged, whether through internal bleeding, swelling, skull fracturing, blood clots or a brain infection.
Problems experienced as a result of brain injury
The kind of difficulties experienced by a person with a brain injury will depend on the extent and location of swelling, clotting, bruising or fracturing of the brain. There are three main parts of the brain that may be affected in a case of brain injury: the brain stem (responsible for basic functions such as respiration), the cerebellum (responsible for coordinating muscle movements) and/or the cortex, which comprises the frontal lobes (behaviour, movement, speech), the parietal lobes (sensory information, reading), the temporal lobes (hearing, information processing, memory, language comprehension) and the occipital lobes (vision).
Although different parts of the brain are responsible for particular functions, at any given time we tend to employ a combination of abilities and rely on our neural network to communicate the correct messages to the multiple areas of the brain we need to access at that point. This explains why even if a localised area of the brain is damaged, the thousands of neural pathways in and out of that area will be affected and disrupt the smooth flow of information to other parts of the brain.
People who have suffered a traumatic or acquired brain injury may experience a variety of physical problems. Some of the most common of these include:
| Headaches
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| Dizziness and nausea
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| Blurry vision
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| Loss of sensitivity for smell or taste
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| Decreased strength in limbs
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The extent of the brain damage may affect areas of cognitive ability and cause the following:
| Poor memory for recent information
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| More time needed for adequate comprehension
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| Inability to selectively listen or focus in a noisy environment
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| Poor organisation of speech, thoughts or physical space
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| Trouble with solving problems or using reasoning
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| Short attention span
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It is also possible for people with brain injuries to suffer from communication deficiencies. Some of these include:
| Poor expressive and/or receptive communication
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| Difficulty comprehending or producing written material
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| Trouble responding and contributing to a conversation through listening, body language and attentiveness
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| Inability to perceive subtleties of communication such as sarcasm or irony
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| Problems with adapting behaviour to fit different contexts
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In addition to all these possible problems, emotional differences such as higher levels of irritability or frustration may also arise.
Treatment and support for brain injury
Most people who suffer any form of brain damage will see a specialist in their area of difficulty. People with physical problems may seek physiotherapy while those with speech or communication problems may consult a speech pathologist.
It is important to acknowledge that, as a result of a brain injury, a person's abilities, strengths, and personality can all change significantly. People who suffer brain damage do not only have to deal with pain of their injury but also with the fact that it can change their personality and have significant effects on their relationships. Listen And Learn Centre provides counselling to clients who have suffered brain injury. Counselling assists clients to identify and accept reactions such as shock, anxiety, denial, grief, depression and withdrawal. Counselling aims to support clients to move towards acceptance of their condition and regain a sense of personal power over their lives. For more information about out our counselling service, click on the counselling page.
Listen And Learn Centre also provides Neurofeedback training to further assist client’s capacity to adapt to their changed circumstances. Although many types of brain damage will not resolve with time and cannot be reversed, the brain remains open to being restructured. Plasticity describes how the process of learning can actually retrain and reorganise the brain so that it functions at a more efficient level. Earlier theories stated that plasticity was only present in younger children and that the brain becomes fixed once adulthood is reached but research demonstrates that this is not the case. While the plasticity of children’s brains is certainly greater than that of adults, adults’ brains can also change. While damaged areas of the brain cannot be repaired, the healthy parts can be retrained so that a person’s functioning is optimised.
For more information about how neurofeedback works, go to our neurofeedback page.
How Neurofeedback training can assist people with minor brain damage
Major head injuries are difficult to treat using Neurofeedback, purely because the injured person must have retained enough cognitive ability to respond to the information they receive from the EEG machine. This is why Neurofeedback is most appropriate for people with milder brain damage whose main symptoms include memory loss, depression, anxiety, dizziness, vertigo, inattention, lethargy, headaches, sleeplessness, chronic pain or irritability.
The gains made by people with brain injury who undertake Neurofeedback training are sustained over time. The treatment acts to restore the brain to a level of self-regulation – although it may be lower than what the person previously lived with, it can be gradually relearnt and the effects can be lasting.
Overall, neurofeedback appears to have positive effects for most people who choose it as a mode of therapy; in addition there are no side-effects, which makes it an attractive alternative to medication. It is not a cure so much as it is a neural organiser, assisting the brain to discover and maintain its most efficient level of operation in spite of its injury.
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