General
| Physical | Communication | Cognitive | Behavioural / Emotional |
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Cognition is the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses. It includes processes such as knowledge, attention, memory and working memory, judgment and evaluation, decision making, comprehension and production of language.
Human cognition is both conscious and unconscious, concrete or abstract, as well as intuitive and conceptual. Cognitive processes involve the use of existing knowledge and the generation of new knowledge.
Unlike physical complaints, which are easily diagnosed, cognitive impairments can be very subtle. This is especially true with higher-level cognitive abilities which are referred to as executive functioning. The primary components of executive functioning are:
- Analysing
- Prioritizing
- Planning
- Sequencing
- Organizing
- Directing
- Multi-tasking
- Monitoring
- Reasoning
- Evaluating
- Troubleshooting
- Problem-solving
The most debilitating cognitive complaint is a lack of awareness of one’s deficits. Without this realization, the person sees no reason to work hard to recover their cognitive abilities and, therefore remain seriously impaired. They may be unable to understand why their life has become so difficult.
Problems in cognition may not be recognised until a person returns home or to education or work. During rehabilitation, cognitive abilities can improve dramatically.
