Cognitive Impairment

verb past tense of befuddle, meaning to confuse or perplex

adjective confused or perplexed

• The complex mathematical equation left the students befuddled.
• I was completely befuddled by the instructions for assembling the furniture.
• After the party, he was so befuddled that he couldn't find his way home.
• Her mind was befuddled with conflicting emotions.

noun a chronic or persistent disorder of the mental processes caused by brain disease or injury and marked by memory disorders, personality changes, and impaired reasoning

• Dementia is a neurocognitive disorder characterized by a decline in cognitive function.
• My grandma has dementia and sometimes she forgets who I am.
• My memory is so bad, I feel like I have early-onset dementia.
• The company's financial troubles are a sign of organizational dementia.

noun a symptom of various medical conditions

• The patient reported experiencing brain fog as a side effect of the medication.
• I can't think straight today, I have such bad brain fog.
• I feel like my brain is full of cobwebs, I've got major brain fog.
• After pulling an all-nighter, my brain felt like it was covered in a thick layer of fog.

noun a confused or unintelligible mixture of seemingly random words and phrases, often used to describe nonsensical or incoherent speech or writing.

• The patient's speech was characterized by word salad, making it difficult to understand their thoughts.
• She was so nervous during the presentation that she ended up just spouting out word salad.
• I can't believe he said that in the meeting, it was pure word salad.
• His writing was like a word salad, with random thoughts scattered throughout the page.

noun a brain injury that occurs after birth, usually as a result of trauma or illness

• An acquired brain injury can result from a traumatic event such as a car accident.
• My friend's brother suffered an acquired brain injury after falling off his bike.
• Dude, I heard Jake got messed up and ended up with an acquired brain injury.
• Dealing with that difficult situation was like navigating through an acquired brain injury.