Traumatic Brain Injury Overview

What is Post-Traumatic Amnesia? Post-traumatic amnesia (PTA) is a state of confusion that occurs following a traumatic brain injury or concussion in which a person is disoriented and unable to remember certain things associated with the event itself and/or remember things before and after the event.  The term is also used in a broader context involving the inability of a person, after brain injury, to create new memories.  When continuous memory returns, PTA is considered resolved.  There are two types of amnesia: retrograde amnesia (loss of memories that were formed shortly before the injury) and anterograde amnesia (problems with creating new

Our Changing Brain Neuroplasticity is an umbrella term that refers to changes in neural pathways and synapses in the brain due to changes in behavior, environment, neural processes, thinking, and emotions, as well as changes resulting from bodily injury.  This occurs on a variety of levels, ranging from cellular changes due to learning, to large-scale changes involved in cortical remapping in response to traumatic brain injury.  Think of it this way. Your brain is not a “static” structure.  It’s a dynamic and ever-changing organ with seemingly a life of its own, not unlike a standalone organism.  Initially, the brain goes