TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY: Part 4

HOW DAMAGE AFFECTS FUNCTION:

When certain areas of the brain are damaged, there will be different functional losses depending on which area or hemisphere it is.

CEREBRUM:

  • Left Hemisphere: Will affect the function of the right side of the body and has control over use of language. If left hemisphere is completely damaged a person will have no language ability.

  • Right Hemisphere: Will affect the function of the left side

FRONTAL LOBE:

  • Back: Weakness or paralysis on left or right

  • Middle: Apathy, inattentiveness, unmotivated, slow thinking and processing.

  • Middle of back on Left (Broca area): difficulty expressing thoughts-expressive aphasia

  • Front: Difficulty retaining information, decreased fluency of speech, apathy, delayed responses, lack of inhibitions-including socially inappropriate behavior

PARIETAL LOBE:

  • Front: Numbness, loss of sensation (pain, heat, cold, vibration, touch, and texture)

  • Middle: Cannot tell right side from left side, difficulty with calculations and writing

  • Non Dominant Lobe: coordination eg. combing hair, not able to understand how objects relate to each other, unable to draw or construct thing, get lost in their own neighborhood

TEMPORAL LOBE:

  • Left: Loss of memory for words and ability to understand language-Wernicke aphasia

  • Right: Loss of memory for sound and music- may not be able to sing

  • Seizures: Temporal lobe seizures may cause the experience of smelling a bad odor, being dazed, unaware of surroundings and make repeated movements, (like repeatedly smacking lips) or personality changes

OCCIPITAL LOBE:

  • If both sides are damaged people cannot recognize objects by sight-cortical blindness. They make make up descriptions of things and not realize they are un-real

  • Seizures: Seizures involving the occipital lobe may cause hallucinations

Many functions of the brain are by different areas of the brain working together, known as “networks”. When these networks are damaged the following can occur:

  • Agnosia: loss of ability to identify objects by one or more senses

  • Amnesia: Total or partial loss of ability to recall experiences or events

  • Aphasia: Partial or complete loss of ability to express or to understand spoken or written language

  • Dysarthria: Loss of ability to articulate words normally

CEREBELLUM:

  • Loss of coordination of motor movements- asynergia

  • Inability to judge distance and when to stop- dysmetria

  • Inability to perform rapid, alternating movements- adiadochokinesia

  • Movement tremors-intention tremors

  • Staggering, wide-base walking- ataxic gait

  • Tending towards falling

  • Weak muscles- hypotonia

  • Slurred speech- ataxic dysarthria

  • Abnormal eye movements- nystagmus

BRAIN STEM:

  • Headache

  • Confusion

  • Temporary loss of consciousness

  • Nausea & Vomiting

  • Fatigue & dizziness

  • Memory loss

  • Difficulty with speech

  • Sleep disturbances

  • Breathing difficulty- may require permanent ventilation

  • Locked-in syndrome- fully awake but cannot move or communicate except for eye movement and blinking

  • Paralysis

  • Coma

  • Hemorrhagic stroke

  • Death

HYPOTHALAMUS:

  • Diabetes Insipidus:- passing large amounts of urine die to vasopressin production interference

  • Insomnia- effects wake-sleep cycle

  • Fluctuations in body temperature

  • Appetite regulation disfunction

  • Uncontrolled hormone production

  • Sexual dysfunction

  • Uncontrolled blood pressure

  • Fatigue/weakness

  • Headache

  • Vision loss

  • Lack of interest in activities- anhedonia

  • Anxiety & mood swings