Philosophy of mind: coming to terms with traumatic brain injury.

INTRODUCTION

Patients and their families struggle with accepting changes in personality after traumatic brain injury (TBI). A neuroanatomic understanding may assist with this process.

OBJECTIVES

We briefly review the history of the Western conceptualization of the Self, and discuss how neuroscience and changes in personality wrought by brain injuries modify and enrich our understanding of our selves and our patients.

CONCLUSION

The sense of self, while conflated with the concept of a "soul" in Western thinking, is more rationally considered a construct derived from neurophysiologic structures. The self or personality therefore often changes when the brain changes. A neuroanatomic perspective can help patients, families, and clinicians accept and cope with the sequellae of TBI.