Working Memory for Emotions in Adolescents and Young Adults with Traumatic Brain Injury

This preliminary study investigated the interaction between working memory and social cognition in adolescents and young adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI). It was hypothesized that participants with or without TBI would better recognize social information when working memory or social cognitive load was low, and that adolescents and young adults with TBI would be more affected by increased cognitive demand than their uninjured peers. Eight adolescents and young adults with complicated mild-severe TBI (aged 14-22 years) and eight age- and sex-matched typically developing (TD) adolescents completed computer-based n-back tasks requiring recognition of either face identity or facial affect, with 0-back, 1-, and 2-back conditions. The TBI group had lower scores overall than the TD group, and scores for both groups were lower for affect recognition than identity recognition. Scores for both groups were lower in conditions with a higher working memory load. There was a significant group-by-working memory interaction, with larger group differences in high-working memory conditions. Study results and their potential implications for social outcomes are discussed.