Cognitive Control Impairments in Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract

The componential nature of impaired cognitive control following traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains uncertain. We examined regulative and evaluative components of cognitive control in mild and moderate-to-severe (M/S) TBI patients and demographically-matched comparison participants using the AX-CPT task. We also examined relationships of cognitive control impairment to ratings of cognitive, behavioral, and affective symptomatology on the Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX). Results revealed that M/S, but not mild TBI patients showed deficits in context-processing and post-error strategic adjustments -- extent of impairments correlated with TBI-related symptomatology. Thus, patients with M/S TBI evidence cognitive control dysfunction in the processing and active maintenance of context representations.