Learning in post-traumatic amnesia following extremely severe closed head injury.
Verbal and spatial tests of learning were administered in five repeated sessions to nine subjects who were in post-traumatic amnesia (PTA) following extremely severe closed head injuries. PTA was operationally defined as having a score of 75 or less on the Galveston Orientation and Amnesia Test. Subjects showed no ability to learn verbal information (free recall and recognition of a word list) but showed some savings of spatial location information over the first three sessions. Results were interpreted as suggestive of a primarily passive mode of learning during PTA, regardless of the nature of the material to be learned.
Gasquoine
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PG
Head Injury Center, Lewis Bay, Hyannis, Massachusetts.
D000328:Adult; D000647:Amnesia / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D001924:Brain Concussion / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009949:Orientation; D014706:Verbal Learning