CERTIFIED BRAIN INJURY SPECIALIST 504 2026
COMPREHENSIVE QUESTIONS SOLUTIONS
GRADED A PLUS COGNITIVE REHABILITATION
PRACTICE PACKAGE
◉ What is receptive language?
Answer: the ability to understand language
◉ What is apraxia of speech?
Answer: an oral motor speech disorder in which a person cannot
translate what they want to say into motor plans to initiate speech
◉ What is dysarthria?
Answer: a speech disorder in which muscle weakness affects speech
production
◉ What is the difference between compensatory and restorative
approaches to cognitive rehabilitation?
Answer: compensatory approach may assume certain cognitive
functions cannot be completely recovered d/t neurologic damage
whereas restorative approach is based on the premise that repeated
exposure and repetition of stimulation through experience can
change the brain's circuitry
,◉ What is environmental stimuli management?
Answer: involves modification of the therapy environment (from
quiet to distracting); as individuals master tasks in quiet, controlled
environments, tx can then move to increasingly distracting
environments
◉ What is task complexity?
Answer: Number of parts or components in a skill, and the attention
demands on the task
◉ What is cognitive distance?
Answer: concrete to abstract
◉ What are the three principles of cognitive rehabilitation?
Answer: environmental stimulus, task complexity, and cognitive
distance
◉ What is hemiplegia?
Answer: complete paralysis of one side of the body
◉ What is motor learning?
,Answer: a set of internal processes associated with practice or
experience leading to relatively permanent changes in the capability
for skilled behavior
◉ What are the basic principles of neuroplasticity?
Answer: use it or lose it, use it improve it, be specific, repetition is
essential, intensity matters, salience is important, age must be
addressed, transference, interference, patient expectation, reward or
feedback, environment, fun, helping others
◉ What is hydrocephalus?
Answer: the abnormal accumulation of CSF within the ventricles
(considered acquired hydrocephalus in the case of BI)
◉ In mod-severe brain injury, what % of individuals experience
hydrocephalus?
Answer: 2/3
◉ What is obstructive or non-communicating hydrocephalus?
Answer: occurs when there is obstruction of the flow of CSF around
the brain after trauma; risk factor for poor functional outcome; best
tx is to prevent any ventricular enlargement
◉ What is hydrocephalus ex-vacuo?
, Answer: occurs after TBI; brain tissue that has been injured will
cause neuronal loss and shrinking of the brain tissue which will lead
to a look of ventricular enlargement on scans
◉ What is the most common tx for hydrocephalus?
Answer: surgical placement of a shunt system (made of shunt,
catheter, and valve); the one-way valve controls the flow of CSF
◉ What are complications that can occur with shunt placement after
hydrocephalus?
Answer: over-drainage causing headache, development of
hemorrhage from tearing of blood vessels, under-shunting, infection
c/b fever, neck stiffness, change in alertness
◉ What is spasticity?
Answer: a motor disorder c/b velocity-dependent increase in tonic
stretch with exaggerated tendon reflexes resulting from excitability
of the stretch reflex, meaning that the faster an individual's
extremity is moved, the stronger the spasm will be
◉ What are the symptoms of spasticity?
Answer: increased muscle tone, exaggerated tendon reflexes, and
clonus
COMPREHENSIVE QUESTIONS SOLUTIONS
GRADED A PLUS COGNITIVE REHABILITATION
PRACTICE PACKAGE
◉ What is receptive language?
Answer: the ability to understand language
◉ What is apraxia of speech?
Answer: an oral motor speech disorder in which a person cannot
translate what they want to say into motor plans to initiate speech
◉ What is dysarthria?
Answer: a speech disorder in which muscle weakness affects speech
production
◉ What is the difference between compensatory and restorative
approaches to cognitive rehabilitation?
Answer: compensatory approach may assume certain cognitive
functions cannot be completely recovered d/t neurologic damage
whereas restorative approach is based on the premise that repeated
exposure and repetition of stimulation through experience can
change the brain's circuitry
,◉ What is environmental stimuli management?
Answer: involves modification of the therapy environment (from
quiet to distracting); as individuals master tasks in quiet, controlled
environments, tx can then move to increasingly distracting
environments
◉ What is task complexity?
Answer: Number of parts or components in a skill, and the attention
demands on the task
◉ What is cognitive distance?
Answer: concrete to abstract
◉ What are the three principles of cognitive rehabilitation?
Answer: environmental stimulus, task complexity, and cognitive
distance
◉ What is hemiplegia?
Answer: complete paralysis of one side of the body
◉ What is motor learning?
,Answer: a set of internal processes associated with practice or
experience leading to relatively permanent changes in the capability
for skilled behavior
◉ What are the basic principles of neuroplasticity?
Answer: use it or lose it, use it improve it, be specific, repetition is
essential, intensity matters, salience is important, age must be
addressed, transference, interference, patient expectation, reward or
feedback, environment, fun, helping others
◉ What is hydrocephalus?
Answer: the abnormal accumulation of CSF within the ventricles
(considered acquired hydrocephalus in the case of BI)
◉ In mod-severe brain injury, what % of individuals experience
hydrocephalus?
Answer: 2/3
◉ What is obstructive or non-communicating hydrocephalus?
Answer: occurs when there is obstruction of the flow of CSF around
the brain after trauma; risk factor for poor functional outcome; best
tx is to prevent any ventricular enlargement
◉ What is hydrocephalus ex-vacuo?
, Answer: occurs after TBI; brain tissue that has been injured will
cause neuronal loss and shrinking of the brain tissue which will lead
to a look of ventricular enlargement on scans
◉ What is the most common tx for hydrocephalus?
Answer: surgical placement of a shunt system (made of shunt,
catheter, and valve); the one-way valve controls the flow of CSF
◉ What are complications that can occur with shunt placement after
hydrocephalus?
Answer: over-drainage causing headache, development of
hemorrhage from tearing of blood vessels, under-shunting, infection
c/b fever, neck stiffness, change in alertness
◉ What is spasticity?
Answer: a motor disorder c/b velocity-dependent increase in tonic
stretch with exaggerated tendon reflexes resulting from excitability
of the stretch reflex, meaning that the faster an individual's
extremity is moved, the stronger the spasm will be
◉ What are the symptoms of spasticity?
Answer: increased muscle tone, exaggerated tendon reflexes, and
clonus