Implicit and explicit memory outcome in children who have sustained severe traumatic brain injury: impact of age at injury (preliminary findings).
OBJECTIVE
To examine implicit and explicit memory outcome in children who had sustained severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) through childhood. Opposite patterns of impairments were expected: (i) impaired implicit memory in children with early TBI (TBI-EC, < 6 years) and (ii) impaired explicit memory in children with late TBI (TBI-LC, ≥ 6 years).


METHODS
Children who had sustained severe TBI more then 1 year ago were assessed.


METHODS
Fourteen children who had sustained severe TBI (TBI-EC, n = 10 and TBI-LC, n = 4) between 8 months and 13 years 7 months of age and 13 non-injured control subjects (NC) participated. Implicit (repetition priming and skill learning) and explicit verbal memory were examined.


RESULTS
The TBI group performed worse on implicit (repetition priming) and explicit memory tasks compared to the NC group. Moreover, impairments were found in implicit and explicit memory in the TBI-EC, but not in the TBI-LC group.


CONCLUSIONS
This study has shown, for the first time, that severe childhood TBI may compromise not only explicit, but also implicit memory. Nevertheless, instead of a selective implicit memory impairment, it was found that children who sustained injuries in early childhood present with impairments in both memory systems.
School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia. sunnyl@psych.usyd.edu.au
Suncica
S
Lah
Adrienne
A
Epps
Wayne
W
Levick
Louise
L
Parry
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D017668:Age of Onset; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis