Cognitive psychology gave me perspective on a friend’s horrendous car accident and brain injury when we were seventeen. “Anna” was an honor student at a private school and a talented dancer who aspired to be a doctor. At the time of the accident, she was driving with the green light when an 18-wheeler ran a red light slamming into her car. She was airlifted to Shock Trauma, a nationally recognized trauma center, where they ran a non-invasive CT scan using X-Rays and a computer to generate images of her brain. Anna’s CT scan showed swelling in multiple places as well as bruising from the impact of the accident and movement of the brain in her skull. (Anna, 2021)
Anna’s accident put her in a coma that lasted just over two months. Comas are deep states of unconsciousness; the patient will not respond to external stimuli such as light, sound, and pain in this state. The quicker a person comes out of a coma usually reflects a more positive outcome and recovery for that person. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to confirm that Anna had damage to her frontal lobe, parietal lobe, cerebrum, occipital lobe, and the amygdala. (Brazier, 2017)
I now understand the functions of those areas of the brain and what they process due to cognitive psychology. The frontal lobe (lies at the front of the brain) contains the motor cortex which controls fine motor skills and voluntary movements, the premotor cortex aids in movements, and the prefrontal cortex aids in making decisions, using strategies, and stopping inappropriate behaviors. (Anna would strip naked if not watched for a time during her recovery.) The parietal lobe sits in front of the occipital lobe (lobe at the back of the brain primarily used for visual information) and above the temporal lobe (located in front of the occipital lobe and located by our ears); contains the primary area for sensory information from the skin, some visual information plus it also helps to direct your attention. The cerebrum is the largest part of the brain and primarily starts and coordinates movement, aids in speech, judgement, thinking, reasoning, problem-solving, emotions, learning and helps with the senses. Anna’s occipital lobe was damaged and she had issues with spatial awareness, location of objects in relation to her and each other. Lastly, her amygdala injuries resulted in Anna’s inappropriate responses such as laughing when receiving bad news and swearing when she gets mad. (Goldstein, 2014)
A neuropsychologist who studies brain damage would be interested in Anna’s accident. I did not recognize until taking cognitive psychology how remarkable her recovery was with the amount of damage she sustained in the accident. Behaviors and motor skills became manageable and seemed to heal with time. It was once believed the brain did not heal after trauma. Neuroplasticity is the ability for neurons to make adaptive network changes in the brain with structural and functional, molecular, synaptic and cellular changes. I believe her brain was able to utilize this neuroplasticity to aid in her recovery. For example, as Anna recovered, she accessed ASL she had studied before the accident. At first the nurses thought it was merely movement until one of them said something and she corrected them by signing the answer. (Laskowitz & Grant, 2016)
Anna went on to attend Penn State, earn a degree, get married, and have two children. Today she is still a good student, no longer a dancer, and she has a business degree instead of a medical one. Cognitive psychology has given me a new perspective on her accident and the remarkable brain. (Anna, 2021)
Works Cited
Anna. (2021, September 6). Remembering the Recovery. (L. L. Michalek, Interviewer)
Brazier, Y. (2017). What You Need To Know About Coma. Medical News Today, https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/173655.
Goldstein, E. B. (2014). Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research and Everyday Experience. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.
Laskowitz, D., & Grant, G. (2016). Translational Research in Traumatic Brain Injury. Boca Raton: CRC Press/Taylor and Francis Group.