TeL, mémoire et antécédents 4
Abstract
Mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) leads
to
cognitive sequelae and the origin and duration
of
such consequences are presently the subject
of
controversy. The present study is aimed at
verifying the hypothesis put forward that MTBI patients with premorbid risk factors
experience more mnemonic problems than those who have
no
premorbid risk factors. The
California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) was administered
to
a group
of
86
MTBI
participants with premorbid risk factors, a second group consisting
of
22 MTBI participants
without premorbid risk factors and a control group composed
of
90
participants, all between
the ages
of
16
and 65. The results revealed
no
significant differences between the MTBI
group without premorbid risk factors and the control group with respect to learning capacity,
therefore demonstrating that MTBI alone does not lead
to
mnemonic deficits. However, the
MTBI group with premorbid risk factors differed in all areas from the control group, in
addition
to
displaying lesser verballearning capacity than the participants in the MTBI group
without risk factors. Furthermore, the MTBI group with premorbid risk factors benefited
significantly more from the recognition task than the control group, suggesting that their
learning problems stem more from a registration/retrieval deficit than a storage deficit.
Finally, the MTBI group with premorbid risk factors has demonstrated problems in
executive functions, illustrated by a greater number
of
intrusions and a lesser number
of
semantic c1usters.
Key words: Mild traumatic brain injury, memory, verballearning, executive functions,
mnemonic processes, premorbid risk factors.