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Verbal learning differences in chronic mild traumatic brain injury

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2010

ELIZABETH K. GEARY ,
MARILYN F. KRAUS ,
NEIL H. PLISKIN  and
DEBORAH M. LITTLE
ELIZABETH K. GEARY
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, The University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois Center for Stroke Research, The University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois
MARILYN F. KRAUS
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, The University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois Department of Psychiatry, The University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois Center for Cognitive Medicine, The University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois
NEIL H. PLISKIN
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, The University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois Department of Psychiatry, The University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois Center for Cognitive Medicine, The University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois
DEBORAH M. LITTLE*
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, The University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois Center for Stroke Research, The University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois Center for Cognitive Medicine, The University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois Departments of Anatomy, Ophthalmology, and Psychology, The University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois
*
*Correspondence and reprint requests to: Deborah M. Little, Department of Neurology, MC 796, 912 South Wood Street 855 N, Chicago, Illinois 60612. E-mail: little@uic.edu
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Abstract

Following mild traumatic brain injury (TBI), a percentage of individuals report chronic memory and attention difficulties. Traditional neuropsychological assessments often fail to find evidence for such complaints. We hypothesized that mild TBI patients may, in fact, experience subtle cognitive deficits that reflect diminished initial acquisition that can be explained by changes in cerebral white matter microstructure. In the data presented here, a sample of nonlitigating and gainfully employed mild TBI patients demonstrated statistically significant differences from age and education matched control participants in performance on the first trial of a verbal learning task. Performance on this trial was associated with reduced fractional anisotropy in the uncinate fasciculus and the superior longitudinal fasciculus providing an anatomical correlate for the cognitive findings. Mild TBI patients were not impaired relative to control participants on total learning or memory composite variables. Performance on the first learning trial was not related to any psychological variables including mood. We concluded that patients with mild TBI demonstrate diminished verbal learning that is not often interpreted in standard neuropsychological assessment. (JINS, 2010, 16, 506–516.)

Keywords

ConcussionDiffusion tensor imagingSingle trial learning
Type
Research Articles
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 16 , Issue 3 , May 2010 , pp. 506 - 516
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2010

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