Understanding, Assessing and Treating Prospective Memory Dysfunctions in Traumatic Brain Injury Patients

Abstract

Our capacity to shape and direct our future behaviour is of fundamental importance in the development, pursuit, and maintenance of independence and autonomy from early childhood to late adulthood. A cognitive ability required for those functions is prospective memory (PM), which is the ability to form and remember to prospectively perform the intended action [1, 2]. Researchers have extensively focused on PM impairment in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) [3]. However, there has been limited research into the assessment and treatment of PM impairment in TBI patients. Reliable and valid tests with normative data are necessary for health professionals working with people with PM impairments. This chapter reviews the principal findings on PM impairment in TBI patients, and the main procedures used to assess and rehabilitate PM.