The Impact Of Age On Outcome After Traumatic Brain Injury

This thesis examined how moderate-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) affects the ageing process by comparing individuals with TBI to healthy controls. Key findings revealed that TBI resulted in persistent mental health vulnerabilities, cognitive impairments, and structural brain changes decades after injury, but did not accelerate ageing or worsen age-related decline in older adults. Age-dependent vulnerabilities emerged for verbal memory function and related brain structures. However, as control participants experienced typical age-related decline the relative impairments in the TBI group diminished. These findings revealed both stable and age-dependent changes following injury, rather than exacerbated ageing in older adults with moderate-severe TBI.