Cognitive Impairments in Undergraduates with a History of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract

Millions of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) occur in the United States each year with a majority of cases classified as mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI, concussions). Previous findings have demonstrated variable visual working memory (WM) performance following a mTBI. Little is known about the lasting implications of mTBI and whether cognitive deficits persist years after injury. This investigation employs a visual change detection task and a visual attention distractibility task to understand the deficits in undergraduates with a history of mTBI and when they emerge. Additionally, we also collected academic measures from participants, including study questionnaires, self-reported GPA, and change in major. This study found that cognitive performance was heterogeneous for the mTBI group and that academic measures are not a predictor of cognitive performance or mTBI outcome. The results indicate that mTBI participants have mixed outcomes in cognitive performance, with some deficits persisting years after injury.