WHY IS SLOW INFORMATION PROCESSING IMPORTANT FOR MANY STUDENTS AFTER TBI?
From a neurologic perspective, generally slowed information processing can be a consequence of widespread diffuse axonal injury (DAI), frontal lobe injury, damage in any of the circuits that support storage and retrieval of information, or damage to multiple sites in the brain. [See Tutorials on Diffuse Axonal Injury; Frontal Lobe Injury] Furthermore, a variety of medications, including anti-convulsants, can slow information processing. DAI, which is common in closed head injury, has been strongly linked to slow information processing. DAI results in shearing of white matter pathways in subcortical brain regions. These pathways are often important linkages between cortical areas. Damage to these pathways therefore interferes with interconnections within the brain, thereby slowing all types of complex information processing. Significant amounts of DAI may be manifest as enlarged ventricles on images of the brain (e.g., CT or MRI scans). From a cognitive perspective, students with TBI ma
