Brain Injury Case Study
Part I: Brain Injury Case Studies
Critical Thinking: Brain Injury
Read each case study below and answer the questions below carefully considering the information given. Use the 3D Brain application on your iPad or tablet or go to the following link to help you search the various brain structure functions.
http://www.g2conline.org/2022. The info section in the 3D Brain app is particularly helpful. Be prepared to discuss your group’s findings.
1. Michael is a 16 year old high school football player who was brought into the E.R. after suffering a head injury during one of the games. Upon initial review, Michael was experiencing dizzy spells which resulted in difficulty standing or walking. Through numerous tests, spinal cord damaged was ruled out and Michael was diagnosed with having a concussion. Although his doctors expect him to make a full recovery he continues to have difficulty with fine motor movements, particularly when brushing his teeth, combing his hair or writing.
a. Which structure of Michael’s brain is likely affected? Explain your answer.
2. Roger is a 45 year old man with a brain injury resulting from a motorcycle accident two years ago. Following the accident, Rogers’ brain was so swollen he had surgery to remove part of his skull. He has recovered from most of his physical injuries but is still affected from the brain injury. When Roger walks he shuffles his feet and his left arm shakes making it difficult to perform manual tasks. He has not been able to drive since the accident because he loses his sense of direction rather easily.
a. Which hemisphere of Roger’s brain is likely affected?
b. Which lobe of his brain is likely affected?
3. Jessica was involved in a serious car accident when she was 22 years old. She and her best friend Erin were driving on a slippery road when Jessica lost control of the car. The car hydroplaned, and flipped several times before landing on its top. Both Jessica and Erin survived the accident.
Jessica received numerous physical injuries during the accident. Most of which she has recovered from, but she continues with speech therapy. Since her accident, Jessica has had difficulty expressing her speech. She is increasingly frustrated as she understands language expressed from others in both verbal and written form. But, she has difficulty speaking and also has difficulty expressing herself with written language.
a. Which side of Jessica’s brain seems to be the most affected, right or left? Explain your answer.
b. Which lobe of the brain seems to be affected?
c. What specific structure/area of the brain seems to be affected?
4. In the examples below, identify whether the abilities being measured are related to the functioning of the right hemisphere, left hemisphere or both.
a. A nine year old with several problems, but who is thought to be gifted, has been referred for testing by his teacher. One portion of the test assesses his ability to read and apply detailed instructions regarding geometrical forms, for example, “Put the red trapezoid inside the blue hexagon under the orange parabola.” To the delight of his teacher, he performs these tasks perfectly.
i. Right hemisphere
ii. Left hemisphere
iii. Both
b. Another portion of the test taken by this child requires him to read simple sentences aloud. This proves exceedingly difficult for the child; the words are garbled and typically stated in an improper sequence.
i. Right hemisphere
ii. Left hemisphere
iii. Both
c. A third portion of the test requires the child to remember and reproduce sequences of photographs after they are scrambled. There are four sets of photographs, each set containing five pictures of a person posed identically except for facial expression. The child performs perfectly.
i. Right hemisphere
ii. Left hemisphere
iii. Both
d. The last portion of the test assesses manual dexterity in the nondominant arm and hand. Since the boy is left-handed, he is required to perform all sorts of mechanical tasks with his right hand. He fails this part of the test miserably, not completing a single task.
i. Right hemisphere
ii. Left hemisphere
iii. Both
e. Given the complexity of the child’s symptoms and considering your responses in a-d, what hemisphere of the brain does he seem to have the most difficulty with?
i. Right hemisphere
ii. Left hemisphere
Part II: Are You Left Brain or Right Brain?
Go to the following link to complete the assessment and answer the question below. https://testyourself.psychtests.com/testid/3178
1. What were your results? Do you agree with your results? Why or why not? What did you find helpful about this quiz?
