Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of disability for the 50 million people who sustain these injuries each year. The most common causes of TBI include road traffic accidents, falls, sporting accidents, violence, and wars. TBI refers to injury to the brain as the result of an external insult, such as a blow to the head in the case of an assault or fall or following an acceleration–deceleration movement of the brain, which can occur in a car accident.

The consequence of these injuries can be of sufficient severity to cause damage to the brain beneath the skull. This entry discusses communication disorders cause by TBI, beginning with a brief discussion of the prevalence and range of TBIs and going on to describe cognitive ...