It is no surprise that head injuries are a cause for concern in any individual.
However, Fairfield assistant professor of psychology Timothy J. Heitzman presented his latest research, adding some new grounds for distress at the International Neuropsychological Society meeting last month in Portland, Oregon.
Heitzman argues that while a person may seem competent after recovering from a concussion, they can have cognitive and emotional trauma. This trauma may not manifest itself immediately, and could take years to develop.
“Fifty students from psychology classes volunteered to participate in a study that measured their attention, planning and organization in multiple ways i.e., computerized testing, interactive testing, self-reports,” said Heitzman.
Normally, head trauma is thought of as a contact sport injury, but Heitzman’s subjects were mainly young women with only a few head injuries coming from sports. The rest were caused by a variety of accidents and other situations.
Out of the 50 students who volunteered, 12 had suffered a head injury one to four years prior to the study that resulted in a loss of consciousness or memory problems. Most students either received limited medical treatment or none at all.
“These 12 were removed from the group analysis and compared to 12 similar students from the rest of the subject pool,” said Heitzman.
None of the students who suffered a head injury reported any problems with their attention or executive functioning. However, the study found that the injured students performed significantly worse in those categories.
“The 12 subjects who reported head injury – self-reported – that they no longer experienced any problems with attention, planning and organization associated with their injury. However, when compared against subjects without reported head injury, patterns were revealed such that those with head injuries were significantly worse on tests of attention, mental flexibility, planning, organization and processing speed,” said Heitzman.
Yet, the students were still aware of their emotional distress, as they reported symptoms of depressed moods and anxiety.
“They reported greater levels of internalizing problems (i.e. depressed mood, anxiety, etc.) and worse personal adjustment. This pattern of difficulty is very similar to the pattern identified in the previous research of patients with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI),” said Heitzman.
Throughout his research on this subject, Heitzman suggests that anyone with a serious head injury such as a concussion, been “knocked out,” or had a bad headache followed by a blow to the head, should consult with their doctor. If they become disoriented, easily confused, or suffer memory or attention problems, they should consult a neuropsychologist.
Since the brain develops as a child grows, the injury may not discern itself until the child reaches a later stage of development.
“Effects are typically noticed immediately and then gradually resolve,” said Heitzman.
“Within this population [people diagnosed with TBI], we know that a small percentage have problems that linger. These issues tend to surface as workload increases. Given this issue, and considering how structured grade schools and high schools are, if you experienced a serious head injury earlier in school you may not see impairments until college when the workload challenges your attention and organizational skills,” he said.
There is much more information to learn about the brain and how it functions of suffering a trauma. Many of these cases go untreated and unstudied. However, Dr. Heitzman is working towards answering some of these unknowns and discovering the brain’s mechanisms.
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