title: Impairments in theory of mind shortly after traumatic brain injury and at 1-year follow-up.
abstract: Most studies into acquired theory of mind (ToM) deficits assessed patients once, long after the onset of brain injury. As a result, the time course of acquired ToM impairments is largely unknown. The present study examined whether ToM impairments following traumatic brain injury (TBI) recover, remain stable, or worsen over time. Because of the alleged association between ToM and social communication, ToM impairments may deteriorate because of changes in patients' social environment following injury. ToM ability and executive functioning were assessed shortly after injury and at 1-year follow-up. Compared with the orthopedic control group, the TBI group was impaired on ToM and executive functioning tasks at both assessments. Furthermore, the ToM impairments in the TBI group remained stable over time.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen.
authors.forename: Maarten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Milders
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen.
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4576-9393
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ietswaart
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen.
authors.forename: John R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Crawford
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Currie
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology*; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices