HomeAnswersNeurologyhead injuryCan head injury affect a person's intelligence?

Is it possible to lose one's intelligence from a head injury?

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The following is an actual conversation between an iCliniq user and a doctor that has been reviewed and published as a Premium Q&A.

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Published At April 29, 2016
Reviewed AtJuly 27, 2023

Patient's Query

Hi doctor,

I had a bike accident. Is it possible to lose one's intelligence or intelligence quotient (IQ) from a head injury?

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com. I am sorry to hear this. The short answer to your question is that yes. Memory, recall, attention span can all be negatively affected after a head injury. This is dependent on multiple factors like age, associated illness, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings, surgery, post injury rehabilitation, etc. Thus, it is difficult to answer this question without all this information.

Patient's Query

Hi doctor,

Are the effects described by you temporary or permanent? Is it possible to come back to your original life after some time? On what factors would full recovery depend?

Hello,

Welcome back to icliniq.com. The effects can be either temporary or permanent. Thisdepends on severity of the head injury, since it directly affects the brain. This can be determined by the signs (neurological examination), symptoms (concussion, loss of consciousness, seizures and amnesia) at the time of injury and computed tomography (CT) or Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings at the time of injury. Thus, recovery depends mainly on these factors. If you are concerned by these problems, have aneurosurgical consultation and a neuropsychology evaluationto determine your baseline status and then repeat after six months or so.

Same symptoms don't mean you have the same problem. Consult a doctor now!

Dr. Chandan Mohanty
Dr. Chandan Mohanty

Neurosurgery

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