Throughout the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) section of our course, we learned that confabulation, the generation of false memories pronounced with strong feelings of rightness without the intention to deceive, is a symptom that can occur post brain injury. Confabulation as a symptom of brain injury has become a fascinating aspect to me in a couple different ways. For one, confabulation is different than lying in that the individual believes to the full extent that what they are saying is true, whereas an individual who is lying or simply just making something up has an underlying consciousness that recognizes what they are saying is not true. Another reason confabulation with brain injury fascinates me is that there has yet to be any strong evidence based treatment for this symptom. This recently published study investigates the effects of neuropsychological treatment for confabulations in brain-injured patients (TBI, stroke, aneurysm).
The authors tested a total of 20 individuals with brain injury with the shared symptom of confabulation. Participants were picked on the basis of doctors or relatives reports of spontaneous confabulations occurring for at least 3 months. Participants then underwent the Dalla Barba Provoked Confabulation Interview and scored a 10 or higher. This interview contained 60 questions that pertained …show more content…
Also, I think patients are likely to believe a therapist over family members when it comes to confabulations. So, working on recalling items with a therapist who has no personal ties with the individual and then showing the individual what they got right and wrong would seem like it would be more effective. I think it would be interesting if this study is re-done to incorporate neuroimaging of the brain before and after the study to see exactly what parts of the brain are improving and at what
The authors tested a total of 20 individuals with brain injury with the shared symptom of confabulation. Participants were picked on the basis of doctors or relatives reports of spontaneous confabulations occurring for at least 3 months. Participants then underwent the Dalla Barba Provoked Confabulation Interview and scored a 10 or higher. This interview contained 60 questions that pertained …show more content…
Also, I think patients are likely to believe a therapist over family members when it comes to confabulations. So, working on recalling items with a therapist who has no personal ties with the individual and then showing the individual what they got right and wrong would seem like it would be more effective. I think it would be interesting if this study is re-done to incorporate neuroimaging of the brain before and after the study to see exactly what parts of the brain are improving and at what