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Perception is the process within the brain of the interpretation of the information it is receiving through the senses. It is how we ‘see’ the world around us. This ability to process this sensory information may be damaged following a brain injury.
Sight is the sense most often disrupted following a brain injury. This may result in problems such as not being able to recognise objects or faces, losing the ability to see on one side, being unable to judge distances between the person and an object, or phenomena such as unilateral neglect which is a condition where a person may not be aware of the existence of one side of their body. Other senses such as hearing, taste, touch or smell can all be affected in various ways.
A brain injury can also affect the perception of time. We all have an inbuilt ‘clock’. Disruption of this sense of time may for example result in someone spending 4 hours in a shower and not be aware of how long they have been there.