Story Grammar Analyses Capture Discourse Improvement in the First 2 Years Following a Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Linguistics
• Psychology

Background:

• Narrative organization, or story grammar, is crucial for coherent communication.
• Traumatic brain injury (TBI) often impairs narrative abilities, but the long-term recovery of story grammar is understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze story grammar in adults with and without severe TBI.
• To examine differences in narrative organization between groups.
• To investigate longitudinal changes in story grammar over two years post-TBI.

Main Methods:

• Compared story grammar in complex narratives of 57 adults with TBI and 57 controls.
• Analyzed productivity, elaboration, and completeness of narratives at 3, 6, 9, 12, and 24 months post-TBI.
• Used Mann-Whitney U tests and generalized estimating equation (GEE) models.

Main Results:

• Significant differences in productivity and elaboration were found between groups up to 12 months post-TBI.
• All productivity and elaboration measures showed significant improvement over 24 months.
• Educational attainment and posttraumatic amnesia duration influenced recovery.

Conclusions:

• Narrative productivity and elaboration effectively differentiate individuals with and without TBI.
• These story grammar components capture narrative recovery trajectories in the first two years after TBI.