Traumatic brain injury and stroke: does recovery differ?

BACKGROUND: Traumatic brain injury and stroke often lead to cognitive, neurological and psychological disorders, which can result in many difficulties. Despite the existence of various disorders, improving cognitive capacities may be possible for these two pathologies.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to assess cognitive recovery in patients with traumatic brain injury and stroke and compare recovery between both groups.

PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: Forty-nine adults who had suffered from mild to severe traumatic brain injury and 42 from stroke were assessed third with a minimum of 2 months between assessments. The French version of the Barrow Neurological Institute Scale was used to examine cognitive abilities and included six subscales on language, memory, guidance, visual spatial functions, affectivity and attention.

RESULTS: Cognitive performances were similar for the two groups at both assessments, with the exception of language performances, which were higher for participants with traumatic brain injury. An improvement was observed for several cognitive abilities, but no significant differences were found between traumatic brain injury and stroke groups.

CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study reveal the possibility of cognitive recovery after brain damage. No recovery differences were found for vascular and traumatic lesions.