TITLE:
Neurocognitive Rehabilitation Using Non-Emotionally Charged Material to Re-Learn How to Learn: A Case Report
AUTHORS:
Murray R. Berkowitz
KEYWORDS:
Neurocognitive Rehabilitation; Hypoxic Ischemic Brain Damage; Learning; Effects of Emotion on Learning; Re-Learning How to Learn
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.5 No.2,
February
27,
2014
ABSTRACT: Cognitive
disorders following hypoxic ischemic brain injury involve a variety of
disorders including consciousness, behavior, mood and affect, impairment of
attention, and memory dysfunction. The case of a 45-year-old former military
aviator and engineer, now a physician in residency training, presenting with
cognitive difficulties, is described. The patient described having difficulty
remembering medical knowledge and feeling fatigued. After almost nine months
without any medical intervention and the patient’s deteriorating condition, the
patient was finally evaluated medically. It was ultimately discovered that the
patient suffered from a variety of neurologic impairments that were the direct
result of exposures to various toxic substances during his military service. Significant
diagnoses included hypoxic ischemic brain damage, severe mixed sleep apnea, and
cognitive disorder NOS. Relevant literature about the application of
neurocognitive rehabilitation and retraining to treating patients suffering
from brain injuries is discussed. The overlap of the neuroscience of emotion
with cognitive learning and how emotion and affect impacts learning and
education is presented. This case also serves to demonstrate the application of
learning and cognition to individual differences and disabilities. Further
research is needed to evaluate whether this result is reproducible and
generalizable to other patients with similar presenting signs and symptoms.