Recovery of function after brain damage: A theory of the behavioral deficit

Abstract

The present discussion assumes that recovery of function is not an event but rather a process. When it occurs, this process bridges the gap between the occurrence of the brain injury and the reinstatement of a particular behavior disrupted by the brain injury. Accordingly, to understand the process of recovery of function, one must first appreciate the point from which the process begins, that is, the behavioral deficit. It is the thesis of the present discussion that one effect of neural injury is to cause the individual to shift behavioral control to neural systems not directly affected by the neurological insult. The behavioral deficit is then the result of the individual’s attempting to learn new behaviors to compensate for those normally mediated by the damaged neural system. Recovery of function, on the other hand, represents a return to the neural system directly affected by the injury and the utilization of whatever of this system may be spared. © 1980, Psychonomic Society, Inc.. All rights reserved.