Neurocognitive Rehabilitation Using Non-Emotionally Charged Material to Re-Learn How to Learn: A Case Report

Abstract

Cognitive disorders following hypoxic ischemic brain injury involve a variety of disorders including consciousness, behavior, mood and affect, impairment of attention, and memory dysfunction. The case of a 45-year-old former military aviator and engineer, now a physician in residency training, presenting with cognitive difficulties, is described. The patient described having difficulty remembering medical knowledge and feeling fatigued. After almost nine months without any medical intervention and the patient’s deteriorating condition, the patient was finally evaluated medically. It was ultimately discovered that the patient suffered from a variety of neurologic impairments that were the direct result of exposures to various toxic substances during his military service. Significant diagnoses included hypoxic ischemic brain damage, severe mixed sleep apnea, and cognitive disorder NOS. Relevant literature about the application of neurocognitive rehabilitation and retraining to treating patients suffering from brain injuries is discussed. The overlap of the neuroscience of emotion with cognitive learning and how emotion and affect impacts learning and education is presented. This case also serves to demonstrate the application of learning and cognition to individual differences and disabilities. Further research is needed to evaluate whether this result is reproducible and generalizable to other patients with similar presenting signs and symptoms.