acquired brain injury

noun

plural acquired brain injuries

: mild to serious injury to the brain (as from stroke, near drowning, anoxia, encephalitis, brain tumor, or a blow to the head) that is not congenital, hereditary, or degenerative and that causes temporary or permanent symptoms including impairments in cognition (such as memory loss or poor concentration), emotional and behavioral changes (such as irritability, impulsivity, agitation, and depression), headaches, dizziness, fatigue, seizures, blurred vision, loss of taste or smell, impaired coordination, and numbness or paralysis of an extremity

She had an acquired brain injury that left her with difficulty swallowing, an inability to communicate and limited use of her extremities.

—David Robinson

According to the University of Georgia, acquired brain injury (ABI) is the leading cause of death and disability for children and young adults. It also can result at any age from aneurysms, brain tumors, infectious diseases, strokes and drug abuse.

—Mercy Medical Center (Springfield, Massachusetts)

—abbreviation ABI compare traumatic brain injury

Examples of acquired brain injury in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Don Summerfield, a resident of Cambridge who uses a wheelchair or cane to get around due to suffering from a traumatic brain injury, acquired brain injury, and an ischemic stroke, said some public spaces do abide by the ADA while others don’t. —Maggie Scales, BostonGlobe.com, 2 Aug. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1917, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

acquired brain injury

noun

: mild to serious injury to the brain (as from stroke, near drowning anoxia, encephalitis, brain tumor, or a blow to the head) that is not congenital, hereditary, or degenerative and that causes temporary or permanent symptoms including impairments in cognition (as memory loss or poor concentration), emotional and behavioral changes (as irritability, impulsivity, agitation, and depression), headaches, dizziness, fatigue, seizures, blurred vision, loss of taste or smell, impaired coordination, and numbness or paralysis of an extremity

According to the University of Georgia, acquired brain injury (ABI) is the leading cause of death and disability for children and young adults. It also can result at any age from aneurysms, brain tumors, infectious diseases, strokes and drug abuse.

—Mercy Medical Center (Springfield, Massachusetts)

—abbreviation ABI see traumatic brain injury