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Social Behavior and Impairments in Social Cognition Following Traumatic Brain Injury

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2017

Michelle May ,
Maarten Milders ,
Bruce Downey ,
Maggie Whyte ,
Vanessa Higgins ,
Zuzana Wojcik ,
Sophie Amin  and
Suzanne O’Rourke
Michelle May
Affiliation:
Murdostoun Brain Injury Rehabilitation & Neurological Care Centre Murdostoun, Wishaw, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Maarten Milders*
Affiliation:
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Bruce Downey
Affiliation:
National Health Service Grampian, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
Maggie Whyte
Affiliation:
National Health Service Grampian, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
Vanessa Higgins
Affiliation:
University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
Zuzana Wojcik
Affiliation:
National Health Service Grampian, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
Sophie Amin
Affiliation:
Momentum Skills, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
Suzanne O’Rourke
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to: Maarten Milders, Department of Clinical Neuropsychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT Amsterdam, Netherlands. E-mail: m.v.milders@vu.nl
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Abstract

Objectives: The negative effect of changes in social behavior following traumatic brain injury (TBI) are known, but much less is known about the neuropsychological impairments that may underlie and predict these changes. The current study investigated possible associations between post-injury behavior and neuropsychological competencies of emotion recognition, understanding intentions, and response selection, that have been proposed as important for social functioning. Methods: Forty participants with TBI and 32 matched healthy participants completed a battery of tests assessing the three functions of interest. In addition, self- and proxy reports of pre- and post-injury behavior, mood, and community integration were collected. Results: The TBI group performed significantly poorer than the comparison group on all tasks of emotion recognition, understanding intention, and on one task of response selection. Ratings of current behavior suggested significant changes in the TBI group relative to before the injury and showed significantly poorer community integration and interpersonal behavior than the comparison group. Of the three functions considered, emotion recognition was associated with both post-injury behavior and community integration and this association could not be fully explained by injury severity, time since injury, or education. Conclusions: The current study confirmed earlier findings of associations between emotion recognition and post-TBI behavior, providing partial evidence for models proposing emotion recognition as one of the pre-requisites for adequate social functioning. (JINS, 2017, 23, 400–411)

Keywords

Brain injurySocial behaviorModels of social cognitionImpairmentCognitive function
Type
Research Articles
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 23 , Issue 5 , May 2017 , pp. 400 - 411
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2017 

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