Processing deficits negatively impact memory in adults with acquired brain injury

Key takeaways:

• Processing speed predicted delayed recall for verbal memory and overall memory performance.
• People with an acquired brain injury should receive cognitive rehabilitation, the researchers wrote.

Deficits in processing speed negatively affects memory in individuals with acquired brain injury, strongly suggesting lack of memory recall is associated with poor processing and information acquisition, data show.

“More than 12 million people with a traumatic brain injury and stroke in the United States have a chronic disability, with most experiencing cognitive deficits,” Maria Camilla P. Estelle, MA, of the department of psychology at New York University, and Gerald T. Voelbel, PhD, an assistant professor in the department of rehabilitation medicine at NYU Langone Health, wrote in Brain Injury. “Memory complaints are one of the most frequent cognitive complaints of people with an [acquired brain injury].”

Estelle and Voelbel aimed to investigate the influence of processing speed and working memory on recall for verbal and visual memory, as well as overall memory in adults living with a chronic acquired brain injury (ABI).

Their study included 63 individuals aged 18 to 70 years, recruited from neuro-related outpatient clinics in the New York City metro area. Eligible patients were living with a chronic ABI, were at least 1 year post-injury and had no diagnosis of alcohol or substance use disorders, schizophrenia or bipolar diagnosis and no current use of benzodiazepines or other psychostimulants.

All participants were cognitively assessed with the CNS-Vital Signs (CNS-VS) computerized cognitive battery and Wechsler Test of Adult Reading. Scores were calculated for all participants in processing speed, working memory and memory composite.

Estelle and Voelbel utilized linear regression analyses to assess the influence of processing speed and working memory on recall measures.

According to results, mean scores for all participants were the following: 90.03 (processing speed), 95.31 (working memory) and 85.98 (memory composite).

Additionally, scores for recall were the following: 0.81 (verbal-immediate recall), 0.78 (verbal-delayed recall), 0.72 (visual-immediate recall) and 0.7 (visual-delayed recall).

Estelle and Voelbel found the CNS-VS Processing Speed significantly predicted delayed recall for verbal memory as well as for overall memory performance. However, the CNS-VS Working Memory was not a significant predictor of memory recall.

“This relationship between processing speed and memory recall suggests that people with an [acquired brain injury] with memory deficits should receive targeted cognitive rehabilitation,” the researchers wrote.