EFFECTS OF MILD TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY ON NARRATIVE DISCOURSE PRODUCTION

Mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) and postconcussive syndrome can res ult in difficult to document complaints regarding subtle language use. Narrative discourse production has been shown to be a sensitive index of linguistic and cognitive deficits in the more severe TBI populatio n. The narrative discourse production of MTBI subjects was investigate d to determine whether cognitive changes were reflected in linguistic production Eight MTBI, five moderate TBI, and five neurologically norm al subjects were matched for age, education, and gender. The TBI subje cts were matched on a number of neuropsychological measures. The subje cts produced marratives about their correct picture sequences on five items from the Wechsler Adult Intelligenbce Scale-Revised picture arra ngement subtest. The narratives were scored for correct arrangement, c ontent: essential information, correct story, and implied meaning. Sig nificant differences were found between the normal control group and b oth the TBI groups on accuracy of narrative description of the correct picture sequences. Although differences in generation of implied mean ing failed to reach significance, a trend was noted for both the TBI g roups to produce fewer implied meanings than the control group. The re sults suggest that cognitive disruptions associated with MTBI may affe ct the quality of narrative discourse.