Can damage to the brain alter your behavior?

Science is still studying how the brain works, and the different ways that injuries to it can impact the victim.

Recent studies have continued to strengthen hypotheses about ties between certain areas of the brain and aspects of behavior or personality.

Emotional and behavioral impacts

According to Mayo Clinic, injuries to the brain manifest in many different ways. Behavior and personality alteration are one of the up-and-coming fields of study in this relationship.

Brain trauma, especially to the frontal lobe, tends to result in strong and noticeable impacts to the victim’s personality and behavior. This is likely due to the fact that the frontal lobe regulates emotions and impulse control.

Thus, victims with damage to this area tend to lash out at others and seem easier to agitate. This is often a big shock for the loved ones of the victim, especially if they were not prone to such actions or behaviors before.

Memory loss and processing difficulties

Memory also ends up impacted frequently, due to the involvement of so many areas of the brain in the storage and processing of memories. For example, implicit memory such as those involved with motor skills resides in the cerebellum and basal ganglia, so damage to this area can affect motor skills.

Short and long term memory end up impacted often, and this has remained one of the most common areas of study in the relationship between brain damage and its effects. Victims may forget moments of the past or find themselves incapable of properly forming short term memories for a period of time.

As science continues its studies, these relationships will become clearer and easier to understand, and treatments will improve.