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.

Concussions accelerate Alzheimer's disease-related brain atrophy and cognitive decline, research finds

New research has found concussions accelerate Alzheimer's disease-related brain atrophy and cognitive decline in people who are at genetic risk for the condition.

12 Jan 2017

Scientist receives $2.7 million DoD grant for research on veterans with chronic TBI

A researcher from the Center for BrainHealth at UT Dallas has been awarded a $2.7 million grant from the Department of Defense under the Joint Warfighter Medical Research Program.

11 Jan 2017

Antibiotics targeting brain’s inflammatory response may exacerbate cognitive deficits in children

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the leading causes of disability and death in infants and children in the United States, with more than half a million affected annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

11 Jan 2017

Cell powerhouses may be good therapeutic target for brain injury

Cell powerhouses are typically long and lean, but with brain injury such as stroke or trauma, they can quickly become bloated and dysfunctional, say scientists who documented the phenomena in real time for the first time in a living brain.

10 Jan 2017

Researchers examine extent and severity of genitourinary injuries among U.S. service members

Because battlefield medical care has improved throughout the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, many more U.S. servicemen have survived what could have been fatal injuries in the past.

10 Jan 2017

Special issue of Optometry and Vision Science features new research on visual dysfunction after TBI

Vision problems are a common and sometimes lasting consequence of head injuries—from children and teens with sports-related concussions to military personnel with combat-related traumatic brain injury (TBI).

9 Jan 2017

Concussed children with vision abnormalities have academic difficulty, research shows

A comprehensive vision assessment should be part of return-to-learn protocols to help determine when children are ready to return to the classroom following concussions -- particularly in children reporting academic difficulty.

5 Jan 2017

Researchers find promising results for treating depression with video game interface

Researchers have found promising results for treating depression with a video game interface that targets underlying cognitive issues associated with depression rather than just managing the symptoms.

4 Jan 2017

Study reports volume and cost of in-home care for children with special medical conditions

U.S. families provide nearly $36 billion annually in uncompensated medical care at home to children who have special health care needs, such as muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis, according to a large national study.

28 Dec 2016

Kessler Foundation researcher receives grant to identify treatments for cognitive deficits in people with SCI

The three-year federal grant will fund research to identify treatments for cognitive difficulties in persons with spinal cord injury.

27 Dec 2016

Study tracks parents' unpaid time assisting children with special health care needs

About half of U.S. children with special health care needs -- 5.6 million children -- receive medical care from uncompensated family members worth billions of dollars, finds a large national study led by Boston Children's Hospital and the University of Southern California (USC).

27 Dec 2016

Groundbreaking research finds concussion biomarker in auditory system

The secret to reliably diagnosing concussions lies in the brain's ability to process sound, according to a new study by researchers from Northwestern University's Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory.

22 Dec 2016

Recovery from TBI appears to go hand-in-hand with improvement of sleep problems

After a traumatic brain injury (TBI), people also experience major sleep problems, including changes in their sleep-wake cycle.

22 Dec 2016

History of head injuries increases risk of negative outcomes for homeless adults with mental illness

Among homeless adults with mental illness, having a history of head injuries is associated with a greater risk of adverse health conditions, new research indicates.

20 Dec 2016

Researchers discover powerful immune cell in the brain that may play key role in neurological diseases

A rare and powerful type of immune cell has been discovered in the meninges around the brain, suggesting the cells may play a critical but previously unappreciated role in battling Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, meningitis and other neurological diseases, in addition to supporting our healthy mental functioning.

19 Dec 2016

Researchers track severely brain injured woman to reveal biological process of recovery

A severely brain injured woman, who recovered the ability to communicate using her left eye, restored connections and function of the areas of her brain responsible for producing expressive language and responding to human speech, according to new research from Weill Cornell Medicine scientists.

9 Dec 2016

High-resolution brain scans could play critical role in helping detect concussions

Simon Fraser University researchers have found that high-resolution brain scans, coupled with computational analysis, could play a critical role in helping to detect concussions that conventional scans might miss.

7 Dec 2016

Sperm tail enzymes inspire nanobiotechnology

Just like workers in a factory, enzymes can create a final product more efficiently if they are stuck together in one place and pass the raw material from enzyme to enzyme, assembly line-style.

2 Dec 2016

Pharmacotherapy combined with rehabilitation program offers hope for traumatic brain injury patients

Pharmacological therapy combined with a rehabilitation program that teaches how to compensate for memory and attention problems offers new hope for people who suffer the consequences of traumatic brain injury.

24 Nov 2016

Individual cognitive therapy effective in relieving PTSD symptoms in active-duty military members

Although both group and individual therapy can ease post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in active-duty military service members, individual therapy relieved PTSD symptoms better and quicker, according to a study led by a Duke University School of Medicine researcher.

23 Nov 2016