Alice was a B -plus student through her first three years at college. During the winter holidays in her senior year, while she was driving during a storm, her car ran off the road and hit a tree. Alice banged her head on the steering stake but never lost consciousness. She was treated for bruises arel discharged fro hospital within a day.
But, back at her studies, she began to have difficulties. Suddenly her As and Bs were becomings She had trouble remembering what she’d read and was initable and easily distracted.
Alice was referred to a neuropsvchologist for further examination. Although her IQ hadn’t changed and standard neurological tests were normal, detailed neuropsychological tests showed she was having memory. problems. She could still process new information, but it took longer than before and she became" overloaded’’ if she tries to do too much at once.Head injuries are often fatal, or of sufficient severity to require the hospitalisation of victims. But there is a large group of people who sustain head injuries which can go undetected through ordinary medical examination. There are the people who seemingly recover from their injuries but still suffer subtle intellectual and behavioural effect that may seriously impair their ability to work and interact normally with other people. They are the victims of what experts call a “silent epidemic.” Some never lost consciousness and others never even suffered a direct blow to the head, yet brain damage occurred.