What is cognition?
Cognition is the act of knowing or thinking. It includes the ability to choose, understand, remember and use information. Cognition includes:
- Attention and concentration
- Processing and understanding information
- Memory
- Communication
- Planning, organizing, and assembling
- Reasoning, problem-solving, decision-making, and judgment
- Controlling impulses and desires and being patient
How does TBI affect cognition and what can be done about it?
After a TBI it is common for people to have problems with attention, concentration, speech and language, learning and memory, reasoning, planning and problem-solving.
Attention and concentration
A person with TBI may be unable to focus, pay attention, or attend to more than one thing at a time. This may result in:
- Restlessness and being easily distracted.
- Difficulty finishing a project or working on more than one task at a time.
- Problems carrying on long conversations or sitting still for long periods of time.
Since attention skills are considered a “building block” of higher level skills (such as memory and reasoning), people with attention or concentration problems often show signs of other cognitive problems as well.
What can be done to improve attention and concentration?
- Decrease the distractions. For example, work in a quiet room.
- Focus on one task at a time.
- Begin practicing attention skills on simple, yet practical activities (such as reading a paragraph or adding numbers) in a quiet room. Gradually make the tasks harder (read a short story or balance a checkbook) or work in a more noisy environment.
- Take breaks when you get tired.
Continue —> Cognitive Problems After Traumatic Brain Injury.
TBI Rehabilitation 