A severe brain injury is often characterized as a condition in which the patient has been unconscious for 6 hours or more, or a post-traumatic amnesia lasting 24 hours or longer. Once the acute period has gone, these individuals are likely to be hospitalized and get therapy. However, some patients may experience slow improvement or stabilization of their symptoms. In general, the more severely you injure your brain, the longer you will remain in this state. After several months, even years, can pass without any significant change happening to you. But this depends on many factors such as how young you are when you get injured, what kind of injury it is, etc. Young children may not show much improvement because their brains are still developing. As adults, we know that learning new skills or gaining new abilities usually requires our brains to grow cells called neurons. Studies have shown that this neural growth also occurs after childhood injuries, but it is not as great as it does in adults who never had an injury. The most important thing is that you keep your brain healthy. This means having no chronic diseases or infections that could cause harm to your brain tissue. It also means not using drugs that could damage brain cells. Finally, it means getting adequate rest and relaxation so your brain can repair itself between accidents days, weeks, or months later.