Language and Cognitive Impairments Associated with Encephalitis

Although the gross deficits of diseases of the brain have been extensively characterized, few studies have examined their associated cognitive impairments. Interest has focused recently on the language and cognitive impairments that develop following encephalitis. The symptoms of impairments following the disease were determined mainly by examining hospital records of those previously admitted with cerebral inflammation, who were assessed at least 20 months after discharge to detect motor, speech and language, and other cognitive (attention, memory, and non-verbal ability) impairments. This chapter deals with language and cognitive disturbances based on the literature and a published case study of a proficient bilingual man suffering from brain damage following intracranial hemorrhage and epileptic seizures related to herpes encephalitis (Ibrahim, 2009a). This case showed somewhat different symptomatologies on language ability measures in first language and second languages.