Signs of cognitive deficit in military personnel with brain injury

Abstract

Background. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the russian federation into the territory of Ukraine, there has been an extensive use of high-explosive weapons that exert strong impact on the human body. Both military personnel performing assigned tasks and civilians located far from the contact line are exposed to such weapons. One of the consequences of exposure to such powerful weapons is traumatic brain injury of varying severity. Such injury contributes to the emergence of disorders of the emotional-volitional, cognitive and behavioral domains. In the medical scientific literature, there is a sufficient number of publications devoted to the diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of patients with traumatic brain injuries. However, in the psychological scientific literature, there is a certain shortage of such scientific research. Of particular relevance are studies related to the features of the manifestation of the consequences of traumatic brain injury in servicemen who received it while executing combat mission. Therefore, the purpose of the article is to psychologically analyze the signs of cognitive deficit in servicemen with traumatic brain injuries.
Methods. To achieve the objective, theoretical research methods were employed, including analysis, synthesis, generalization, which made it possible to conduct a theoretical examination of the features of the traumatic brain injury consequences sustained by servicemen during combat operations.
Results. The data on the characteristics of the manifestation of the traumatic brain injury consequences depending on the site of injury and the intensity of the blast wave impact were systematized. The authors of the scientific article describe the features of the cognitive deficit manifestation: impaired memory, thinking, attention, and perception processes.
Conclusions. An analysis of medical and psychological scientific literature was conducted, enabling clarification of the nature of traumatic brain injury in servicemen who perform assigned tasks and are exposed to the blast effects of modern weapons; types of traumatic brain injury are characterized depending on the type, severity, and nature of injury; the cognitive consequences of traumatic brain injury in military personnel were described, which collectively represent cognitive deficit.