Can Brain Injury Cause Loss of Memory?

Throughout North Carolina, 75.3 people are hospitalized for brain injuries each year for every 100,000 state residents. Many of these victims will experience short-term or long-term memory problems.

Brain injuries can impact multiple structures in the brain that are involved in memory, according to the Brain Injury Association. The brain must do many things in order for people to remember something. It must take in information, store the information, and retrieve information. Different parts of the brain perform these different functions, so damage to any part that is responsible for any of these stages can cause memory impairment.

While memory loss surrounding the accident leading to the brain injury is common, most brain injury victims will still be able to recall their past and form new memories. Sometimes, however, the damage to the brain will cause long-term problems with memory. Patients suffering from memory loss are said to have amnesia, which means “absence of memory.”

A brain injury sufferer may experience retrograde amnesia if information from prior to the brain injury is forgotten. Most brain injury victims have gaps of anywhere from a few months to a few years where they are unable to remember events. Victims may also suffer from anterograde amnesia, which means they are not able to make new memories to retain information learned after the accident.

Any type of memory loss can cause substantial impairment for brain injury victims. The ability to work may be affected and quality of life may decline. Victims should be compensated for both economic and non-financial losses that occur due to negligence, including in situations where those losses involve memory problems due to brain injury. A Charlotte brain injury attorney can provide assistance in pursuing a claim for compensation for memory-loss victims and their families.