Traumatic Brain Injury News and Research

RSS

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.

Simple blood test can predict evidence of TBI on radiographic imaging, injury severity

New study results show that a simple blood test to measure brain-specific proteins released after a person suffers a traumatic brain injury (TBI) can reliably predict both evidence of TBI on radiographic imaging and injury severity.

19 May 2015

Repetitive head injuries may accelerate aging process, increase dementia risk

Repetitive head injuries that occur during contact sports and military service may accelerate the aging process by increasing the build-up of beta-amyloid in the brain, leading to worse disease and an increased likelihood of developing dementia. In particular, boxers fared the worst among athletes and military veterans with a history of head injuries.

13 May 2015

Special JHTR issue highlights ongoing CDC efforts to reduce population impact of TBI

Ongoing efforts by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reduce the population impact of traumatic brain injury (TBI) are documented in the May/June issue of The Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, official journal of the Brain Injury Association of America.

12 May 2015

Patients with traumatic brain injuries need effective cognitive neuroscience-based therapies

Patients with traumatic brain injuries are not benefiting from recent advances in cognitive neuroscience research - and they should be, scientists report in a special issue of Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences.

30 Apr 2015

16 California research projects selected to receive inaugural seed grants from Cal-BRAIN

Cal-BRAIN, a California research grants program that aims to revolutionize our understanding of the brain, has selected 16 projects to receive inaugural seed grants of $120,000 each. The projects represent efforts around the state to create new technologies capable of measuring brain activity in greater depth, breadth and detail than is currently possible.

29 Apr 2015

New study shows initial promise for treatment that may reduce dementia after TBI

It was once thought that effects of a mild head injury -- dizziness, headaches, memory problems -- were only temporary, and the brain would heal over time. However, while the long-term consequences of head trauma are not fully known, growing evidence suggests that even a mild head injury can increase the risk for later-in-life development of dementias such as Alzheimer's disease.

23 Apr 2015

Individuals with mild Traumatic Brain Injury show brain abnormalities in their white matter

Individuals with mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI), particularly those who have had loss of consciousness (LOC), show structural brain abnormalities in their white matter as measured by Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI).

23 Apr 2015

CorTechs Labs, Novartis partner to advance clinical care, assessment of multiple sclerosis worldwide

CorTechs Labs, the leading medical software innovator providing solutions for quantitative brain volume analysis is pleased to announce a partnership agreement with Novartis Pharma AG, a global pharmaceutical company.

21 Apr 2015

MEMREHAB trial shows that treatment with mSMT may be adversely affected by cognitive dysfunction

Kessler Foundation researchers published a subanalysis of their MEMREHAB trial, which shows that treatment with the modified Story Memory Technique (mSMT) may be affected by cognitive dysfunction. Investigators looked at the influence of processing speed on benefits of the mSMT, a 10-session cognitive intervention protocol shown to improve new learning and memory in individuals with MS.

13 Apr 2015

Understanding emotional processing deficit

Kessler Foundation researchers have linked the inability to recognize facial affect (emotion) with white matter damage after traumatic brain injury (TBI), an important first step toward understanding this emotional processing deficit. Their findings indicate a pattern of white matter damage and gray matter atrophy associated with this specific impairment of social cognition after TBI.

9 Apr 2015

RAND report examines sleep problems in U.S. military members

Improving the quality and quantity of U.S. military members' sleep following deployment could help reduce other health problems, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

8 Apr 2015

Researchers test effects of light therapy on brain function

Following up on promising results from pilot work, researchers at the VA Boston Healthcare System are testing the effects of light therapy on brain function in veterans with Gulf War Illness.

3 Apr 2015

Researchers present new studies on cognition and reasoning at CNS conference in San Francisco

Even rats can imagine: A new study finds that rats have the ability to link cause and effect such that they can expect, or imagine, something happening even if it isn't.

30 Mar 2015

Immunotherapy reverses memory problems in animal model of Alzheimer's disease

A new study from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston has revealed that a single dose of an immunotherapy reverses memory problems in an animal model of Alzheimer's disease. The article appears in the March 25 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

26 Mar 2015

Researchers identify possible blood biomarkers for concussion

By looking at the molecular aftermath of concussion in an unusual way, a team of researchers at Brown University and the Lifespan health system has developed a candidate panel of blood biomarkers that can accurately signal mild traumatic brain injury within hours using standard, widely available lab arrays.

26 Mar 2015

Serious head injuries may contribute to faster brain ageing, new study reveals

People who have suffered serious head injuries show changes in brain structure resembling those seen in older people, according to a new study.

25 Mar 2015

Mesenchymal stem cell transplantation reduces opioid tolerance, opioid-induced pain

Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation reduced opioid tolerance and opioid-induced hyperalgesia caused by daily morphine injections in rats, according to new research.

25 Mar 2015

A new approach to TBI therapy

Innovative angles of attack in research that focus on how the human brain protects and repairs itself will help develop treatments for one of the most common, costly, deadly and scientifically frustrating medical conditions worldwide: traumatic brain injury.

24 Mar 2015

Deuterium-containing sigma-1 agonist demonstrates anti-seizure, anti-inflammatory effects in TBI model

Research results published in the Journal of Neurotrauma and conducted by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) as part of a collaboration with Concert Pharmaceuticals, Inc. showed that a novel deuterium-containing sigma-1 agonist invented at Concert, called C-10068, demonstrated anti-seizure and anti-inflammatory effects in a preclinical model of traumatic brain injury (TBI).