Brain connectivity changes with working memory after TBI

  • A brain imaging study reveals how working memory is impaired after traumatic brain injury.

Brain imaging while 11 individuals with traumatic brain injury and 15 healthy controls performed a working memory task has revealed that those with TBI showed greater connectivity between the hemispheres in the fronto-parietal regions (involved in working memory) and less organized flow of information from posterior to anterior parts.

The study used a new task, known as CapMan, which allows working memory capacity and the mental manipulation of information in working memory to be distinguished from each other.

The discovery may help in the development of more effective therapies.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-10/kf-njs102015.php

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