Abstract
Spatial learning and memory may be one of the most critical, under-recognized, cognitive abilities known to be impaired by traumatic brain injury (TBI).  This ability to learn, remember, and navigate through three-dimensional space has been linked to the hippocampus and temporal lobes, both of which are often damaged in TBI.  The present study asked if TBI impairs this ability using a computer-generated, “virtual space,” analogue of a task (Jacobs, Laurance, & Thomas, 1997) developed by behavioral neuroscience, the Morris water maze.  We found that about 2/3 of the participants with TBI showed substantial place-learning deficits in comparison to age-, sex- and education-matched uninjured participants.  These deficits ranged from slight to a complete inability to learn and/or remember the location of an invisible target with no recall of the layout of the computer-generated room.  Performance correlated with self-reported frequency of wayfinding problems in everyday life and with scores on the Rivermead Behavioural Memory Task.  These data indicate that a) impairments of topographical orientation may be common after TBI and, b) the Virtual Arena provides a new method to assess them.