Organic brain injury is used synonymously with dementia, but that isn’t exactly correct. Organic brain disease is the general term for decreased mental function due to any medical disease except a psychiatric illness. Organic Brain syndrome can happen due to trauma such as a slip and fall or an assault or due to a motor vehicle crash. Such an injury can also be caused by a lack of oxygen during birth. Other causes of organic brain syndrome can be blood clots, concussions, strokes, cardiovascular difficulties, or severe infections. Often, the cause of a brain injury may be disputed. Biomechanics, neuropsychologists and other experts can help establish the true cause.

A neuropsychologist often collects extensive medical records of the patient as well as all records of testing and performance during school years. As a result of that, he or she can establish a baseline of how the patient was before the trauma.

In conjunction with a neuropsychological test battery, the neuropsychologist can then testify if the trauma, more probably than not, caused the brain injury.