Memory functioning after traumatic brain injury in children.

Immediate and 45-minute delayed recall of a paragraph-length story and of a complex geometric figure were investigated in a sample of 30 children with traumatic brain injury. There was no significant difference between children with mild to moderate injuries and children with severe injuries with regard to general level of verbal recall. However, there was a trend for children with mild to moderate injuries to have better recall of visual information than children with severe injuries. Recall of verbally presented information deteriorated significantly over the 45-minute delay, regardless of injury severity. No such deterioration was found for recall of visually presented information. Clinical and research implications are discussed.