Traumatic Brain Injury News and Research

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Traumatic brain injury (TBI), a form of acquired brain injury, occurs when a sudden trauma causes damage to the brain. TBI can result when the head suddenly and violently hits an object, or when an object pierces the skull and enters brain tissue. Symptoms of a TBI can be mild, moderate, or severe, depending on the extent of the damage to the brain. A person with a mild TBI may remain conscious or may experience a loss of consciousness for a few seconds or minutes. Other symptoms of mild TBI include headache, confusion, lightheadedness, dizziness, blurred vision or tired eyes, ringing in the ears, bad taste in the mouth, fatigue or lethargy, a change in sleep patterns, behavioral or mood changes, and trouble with memory, concentration, attention, or thinking. A person with a moderate or severe TBI may show these same symptoms, but may also have a headache that gets worse or does not go away, repeated vomiting or nausea, convulsions or seizures, an inability to awaken from sleep, dilation of one or both pupils of the eyes, slurred speech, weakness or numbness in the extremities, loss of coordination, and increased confusion, restlessness, or agitation.

Study identifies promising drug target to prevent neurodegenerative conditions

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common form of neurodegenerative disease and afflicts more than ten million people worldwide. While current therapies address disease symptoms, they do not prevent the underlying neurodegeneration that drives the disease.

6 Jul 2026

Trial evaluates interdisciplinary care for veterans with brain trauma and PTSD

The Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) is leading a new multi-center clinical trial to evaluate an interdisciplinary rehabilitation model for military veterans and first responders with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and co-occurring disorders such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

30 Jun 2026

Brighter daytime light is linked to a lower dementia risk

The study finds that greater exposure to daytime light may lower dementia risk, pointing to light's role in enhancing circadian rhythms and cognitive function.

29 Jun 2026

Simple bedside eye test may predict consciousness recovery after brain injury

A simple bedside eye test may help predict recovery of consciousness in patients with severe brain injuries, according to new research presented at the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) Congress 2026.

28 Jun 2026

Advanced chip-based sensor identifies traumatic brain injury markers

Researchers have developed a chip-based metasurface biosensor that can detect traumatic brain injury (TBI) biomarkers at extremely low levels.

23 Jun 2026

Repeated low-level blast exposure linked to higher anger risk in veterans

Careers that tend to expose people to repeated low-level shockwaves are associated with a slightly higher risk of clinically documented anger, aggression, and violence, new research from University of Utah Health has found.

18 Jun 2026

Neurological disorders may raise traumatic brain injury risk in older adults

For traumatic brain injury (TBI) and certain brain diseases, it looks like the risk may go in both directions, according to a study published on June 17, 2026, in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

17 Jun 2026

Research links low-energy falls to triage undertreatment in female brain injuries

Female patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) are 26% less likely to be admitted to a specialized trauma center than males, according to a study on data from Ontario published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.251721. This difference persisted even after the researchers accounted for factors such as age, severity of injury, other health conditions, and socioeconomic circumstances.

15 Jun 2026

Study identifies immune pathway driving long-term concussion damage

Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) - even mild concussions - may trigger a chain reaction in the brain that disrupts neuronal communication, long-term memory, and cognition, according to University of California, Riverside research investigating how the brain's immune system responds after injury.

12 Jun 2026

Many stroke patients miss intensive rehabilitation after hospitalization

Fewer than one in four people with stroke and fewer than one in seven people with traumatic brain injury receive inpatient rehabilitation care after being hospitalized, according to a study published on June 10, 2026, in Neurology Open Access, an official journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

10 Jun 2026

Brain injury survivors face higher risk of brain cancer death

Daniel Daneshvar, MD, PhD, director of the HealthSpan Lab and Chief of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Mass General Brigham, and Charlotte Luster, of the HealthSpan Lab, are the senior and lead authors of a paper published in Neuroepidemiology, "Brain Cancer Mortality following Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): A TBI Model Systems Study."

10 Jun 2026

Researchers identify hidden self-harm histories using machine learning

Important mental health history is often present in medical records but hard to find, especially when it is missing from the diagnosis codes that clinicians, researchers and health systems use to search and count conditions.

5 Jun 2026

New PET imaging approach may enable early CTE diagnosis

A first-in-class PET imaging approach can accurately detect a biomarker for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a devastating neurodegenerative disease associated with repeated head impact.

31 May 2026

Disrupted sleep rhythms may increase dementia risk through impaired waste clearance

Why are conditions such as chronic stress, depression, cardiovascular disease, fragmented sleep, and aging all associated with a higher risk of dementia? In a new review piece in Science, University of Rochester Medicine neuroscientist Maiken Nedergaard, MD, DMSc, proposes that many of these seemingly different conditions may converge on the same biological problem: disruption of a sleep-dependent brain rhythm that helps clear waste from the brain.

22 May 2026

How does the brain recognize new faces and places in milliseconds?

This Communications Biology study used intracranial EEG in 22 epilepsy patients to map how the human brain processes new images of faces and places within milliseconds.. It found that visual information flows from the occipital cortex through parallel dorsal and ventral pathways toward frontal and limbic regions, with distinct timing patterns for faces and places.

19 May 2026

Brain injury survivors use psychedelics to manage symptoms

A new study from the University of Victoria (UVic) has identified a segment of traumatic brain injury survivors who are using psychedelics to self-medicate for cognitive, mood and somatic symptoms such as headaches.

27 Apr 2026

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy shows dual effects in glioblastoma treatment

Glioblastoma remains a highly challenging malignancy with a pronounced tendency for recurrence. The hypoxic microenvironment is a key contributor to its therapy resistance.

23 Apr 2026

New fiber probe enables real-time monitoring of key biomarkers

A new fiber probe developed by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin delivers two major innovations in health monitoring to help both patients around the world and the clinicians who care for them.

22 Apr 2026

How the immune system may influence Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and related diseases

This review argues that neurodegeneration is shaped not only by toxic protein buildup but also by immune signaling, with microglia and T cells able to either protect the brain or worsen damage depending on context. It also highlights aging, head injury, and viral infection as major forces that reshape CNS immunity and may influence disease progression and future treatment strategies.

16 Apr 2026