Objective:To explore the time course of memory recovery during post-traumatic amnesia after brain injury.Methods:A patient (WGS,aged 34) with lesions in the left temporal lobe was compared with four matched control subjects on various cognitive tests.These tests included Galveston Orientation and Amnesia test,Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised Test,Semantic Memory,and Remote Memory Test.WGS was tested at 20th days and 33rd days after the brain injury.Results:During the period of post-traumatic amnesia,marked recovery was observed for orientation,semantic memory and remote memory (especially the recent and the earlier items).While the recovery of learning for new knowledge was slow,learning curve of association of unrelated items was flat.Conclusion:The differential time courses for recovery of cognitive functions should be well considered in rehabilitative training after traumatic brain injury.

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