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.

Wounded Warrior Project initiates $100 million commitment to launch national medical care network

Wounded Warrior Project, a national nonprofit veterans service organization based in Jacksonville, Florida, has initiated a $100 million commitment to launch a first-of-its-kind national medical care network to connect wounded veterans and their families with world-class, individualized health care.

3 Jun 2015

Women who suffer from fibromyalgia benefit from hyperbaric oxygen therapy

Women who suffer from fibromyalgia benefit from a treatment regimen in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, according to researchers at Rice University and institutes in Israel.

3 Jun 2015

New study on vestibulo-ocular dysfunction in pediatric sports-related concussion

Researchers from the Canada North Concussion Network in Manitoba investigated the frequency of vestibulo-ocular dysfunction in children and adolescents with sports-related concussion and found that its presence was predictive of a prolonged recovery.

2 Jun 2015

RI-MUHC researchers receive innovations grants to build technologies to address cancer challenges

"Thanks to the Innovation Fund, our donors to the MGH Foundation and the vision of the Max Pacioretty Foundation, this new specialized MRI will place the Montreal General Hospital as one of the leading level 1 trauma centres in Canada. This valuable piece of healthcare technology will also allow our world-class researchers to better understand brain injuries, which will lead to improved patient diagnosis and treatment," adds Jean-Guy Gourdeau, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Montreal General Hospital Foundation at the MUHC.

1 Jun 2015

People with cognitive impairment have altered responses to pain

People with dementia and other forms of cognitive impairment (CI) have altered responses to pain, with many conditions associated with increased pain sensitivity, concludes a research review in PAIN, the official publication of the International Association for the Study of Pain.

29 May 2015

Strategy-based cognitive training improves cognitive, psychological health after traumatic brain injury

In the first study of its kind, veterans and civilians with traumatic brain injury showed improved cognitive performance and psychological and neural health following strategy-based cognitive training. The Department of Defense-funded study, published this week in Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, was conducted by an interdisciplinary team of cognitive neuroscientists, rehabilitation specialists, and neuroimaging experts from the Center for BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas.

29 May 2015

Depression may be a risk factor for Parkinson's disease, say Umeå University researchers

People with depression may be more likely to develop Parkinson's disease, according to a large study by researchers at Umeå University, Sweden, published on 20 May, 2015, in the online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

21 May 2015

Vitamin E helps build strong muscles

Body builders have it right: vitamin E does help build strong muscles, and scientists appear to have figured out one important way it does it.

19 May 2015

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