Event-based prospective memory following severe closed-head injury

Twenty-four severe closed-head injury (CHI) participants and 24 controls completed event-based prospective memory tasks concurrently with an ongoing working memory task. The event cue was either integrated with the ongoing working memory task (focal cue) or peripheral to it. Prospective remembering was poorer for the CHI group in both the focal- and peripheral-cue conditions. The groups did not differ on the ongoing task. The peripheral cue and the integrated focal cue also did not differ in ability to trigger prospective remembering. The results suggest that, even with highly salient event cues, severe CHI participants (> 1 year postinjury) are more likely than controls to exhibit prospective memory failures. The data revealed a link between CHI participants' prospective memory failures and momentary lapses of intention.