Articles: traumatic-brain-injuries.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Nov 2014
Imaging "brain strain" in youth athletes with mild traumatic brain injury during dual-task performance.
Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a common cause of injury in youth athletes. Much of what is known about the sequelae of mTBI is yielded from the adult literature, and it appears that it is mainly those with persistent post-injury symptoms who have ongoing cognitive and neural abnormalities. However, most studies have employed single-task paradigms, which may not be challenging enough to uncover subtle deficits. ⋯ The injured youths also exhibited abnormal recruitment of brain structures involved in both working memory and dual-tasking. These data show that the dual-task paradigm can uncover functional impairments in youth with mTBI who are not highly symptomatic and who do not exhibit neuropsychological dysfunction. Moreover, neural recruitment abnormalities were noted in both task conditions, which we argue suggests mTBI-related disruptions in achieving efficient cognitive control and allocation of processing resources.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Nov 2014
Executive Functions and Theory of Mind as Predictors of Social Adjustment in Childhood Traumatic Brain Injury.
This study examined whether executive function and theory of mind mediate the effects of pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) on social adjustment, relative to children with orthopedic injury (OI). Participants included 19 children with severe TBI, 41 children with complicated mild/moderate TBI, and 57 children with OI. They completed measures of executive function, as well as cognitive, affective, and conative theory of mind. ⋯ Theory of mind was a significant independent mediator when predicting social skills, but executive function was not. TBI in children, particularly severe injury, is associated with poor social adjustment. The impact of TBI on children's social adjustment is likely mediated by its effects on executive function and theory of mind.
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A recent meta-analysis by Hedman et al. allows for accurate estimation of brain volume changes throughout the life span. Additionally, Tate et al. showed that intracranial volume at a later point in life can be used to estimate reliably brain volume at an earlier point in life. These advancements were combined to create a model which allowed the estimation of brain volume just prior to injury in a group of patients with mild or moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI). This volume estimation model was used in combination with actual measurements of brain volume to test hypotheses about progressive brain volume changes in the patients. ⋯ During the first few months after injury, patients with mild or moderate TBI have rapid atrophy of WBP and CWM, and rapid enlargement of SCN+IFT. The magnitude and pattern of the changes in volume may allow for the eventual development of diagnostic tools based on the volume estimation approach.
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Neuroscience letters · Nov 2014
Nociceptive sensitization and BDNF up-regulation in a rat model of traumatic brain injury.
Chronic pain after traumatic brain injury (TBI) is very common, but the mechanisms linking TBI to pain experienced in the periphery have not been described. In this set of studies we examined nociceptive sensitization and changes in spinal cord gene expression using the rat lateral fluid percussion model of mild TBI. ⋯ We also found that spinal cord levels of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) but not several other pain-related genes were up-regulated one week after injury. Our findings suggest that TBI-induced up-regulation of spinal BDNF levels might contribute to chronic TBI-related pain, and that the lateral fluid percussion model might be useful for exploring this relationship.
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Neurotrauma continues to be a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Prevention of primary neurologic injury is a critical public health concern. ⋯ Critical care management of the patient with neurotrauma is focused on the prevention of secondary injuries. Much research is still needed for potential neuroprotection therapies.