Primary objective: An emerging body of research examines the role of computer-mediated communication in supporting social connection in persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI). We examine the cognitive impacts of engaging with images posted to social media for persons with moderate-severe TBI.
Research design: Prior work shows that after viewing social media posts, adults have better memory for posts when they generate a comment about the post. We examined if persons with TBI experience a memory benefit for commented-upon social media images similar to non-injured comparison participants.
Methods and procedures: 53 persons with moderate-to-severe TBI and 52 non-injured comparison participants viewed arrays of real social media images and were prompted to comment on some of them. After a brief delay, a surprise two-alternative forced choice recognition memory test measured memory for these images.
Main outcomes and results: Persons with TBI remembered social media images at above-chance levels and experienced a commenting-related memory boost much like non-injured comparison participants.
Conclusions: These findings add to a growing literature on the potential benefits of social media use in individuals with TBI and point to the benefits of active engagement for memory in social media contexts in TBI.
Keywords: Traumatic brain injury; computer-mediated communication; generation; memory; social media.