“Swiss Cheese” Memory
Amnesia After Brain Injury is Not Typically a Total Loss
Loss of Memory May Not Be Complete
In all likelihood, there will holes in memory, but no predicting where and when the holes will appear. That is why the term “Swiss Cheese Memory” is used. The location of the memory holes, at any given layer of memory, may be as difficult to predict as the location of the holes in a slice of Swiss cheese.
Amnesia is perhaps the easiest element to reconstruct. A detailed interview of the client and his or her family will often identify the amnesia. Watch for “confabulation,” the brain injured person reconstructing memory, and/or filling in the blanks.
The length of amnesia may be a better predictor of the severity of brain injury than the traditional method of classifying based upon the length of loss of consciousness. Injuries are regarded as severe if post traumatic amnesia (PTA) exceeds 24 hours and very severe if the PTA exceeds one week.
NEXT: Focal Neurological Deficits.
Understanding Subtle Brain Injury
The concussions that disable, are almost always more symptomatic at 24 hours, than at the 2-4 hour time frame when injured persons are evaluated in the emergency room. Brain injury symptoms escalate over the first 24 hours, because brain injury involves a cascade of events. It is critical that if you are still symptomatic the day after your injury, go back to the same Emergency Room, don’t wait for a doctors appointment. It is critical that the Emergency Room personnel see that the symptoms still persist or have gotten worse.
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