Verbal memory impairment in severe closed head injury: The role of encoding and consolidation

We applied the item-specific deficit approach (ISDA) to California Verbal Learning Test data obtained from 56 severe, acceleration–deceleration closed head injury (CHI) participants and 62 controls. The CHI group demonstrated deficits on all ISDA indices in comparison to controls. Regression analyses indicated that encoding deficits, followed by consolidation deficits, accounted for most of the variance in delayed recall. Additionally, level of...