Traumatic Brain Injury

Sex lives often an overlooked casualty of traumatic brain injury

(HealthDay)—For the more than 3 million Americans living with traumatic brain injury, there is often an unspoken problem: Many suffer from sexual dysfunction, something that is easily overlooked as patients ...

Neuroscience created Apr 29, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Traumatic brain injury poses complex diagnostic, management and treatment challenges in older people

Each year more than 1.7 million people in the United States sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI). The incidence of TBI in older adults poses special diagnostic, management and treatment challenges, say experts in a special ...

Neuroscience created May 06, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Naturally produced protein could boost brain repair

(Medical Xpress) -- Scientists from the Medical Research Council (MRC) have discovered that a protein produced by blood vessels in the brain could be used to help the brain repair itself after injury or disease.

Neuroscience created Jan 10, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Scientists report link between traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder

(Medical Xpress) -- UCLA life scientists and their colleagues have provided the first evidence of a causal link between traumatic brain injury and an increased susceptibility to post-traumatic stress disorder.

Psychology & Psychiatry created Feb 15, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Neuroscientists link brain-wave pattern to energy consumption

Different brain states produce different waves of electrical activity, with the alert brain, relaxed brain and sleeping brain producing easily distinguishable electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns. These patterns ...

Neuroscience created Feb 08, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New drug could treat Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis and brain injury

A new class of drug developed at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine shows early promise of being a one-size-fits-all therapy for Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and traumatic ...

Neuroscience created Jul 24, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Study: Old flu drug speeds brain injury recovery

Researchers are reporting the first treatment to speed recovery from severe brain injuries caused by falls and car crashes: a cheap flu medicine whose side benefits were discovered by accident decades ago.

Medical research created Feb 29, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Targeted oxidation-blocker prevents secondary damage after traumatic brain injury

Treatment with an agent that blocks the oxidation of an important component of the mitochondrial membrane prevented the secondary damage of severe traumatic brain injury and preserved function that would otherwise have been ...

Neuroscience created Aug 26, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers first to use common virus to 'fortify' adult stem cells

Using the same strategy that a common virus employs to evade the human immune system, researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center's Institute for Regenerative Medicine have modified adult stem cells to increase their ...

Medical research created Apr 01, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Discovery shows medications can treat inflammation without increasing risk for infection

In a discovery that can fundamentally change how drugs for arthritis, and potentially many other diseases, are made, University of Utah medical researchers have identified a way to treat inflammation while potentially minimizing ...

Inflammatory disorders created Nov 11, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (9) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers find long-term consequences for those suffering traumatic brain injury

Researchers from the University of South Florida and colleagues at the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital studying the long-term consequences of traumatic brain injury (TBI) using rat models, have found that, overtime, TBI ...

Neuroscience created Jan 04, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers map damaged connections in Phineas Gage's brain

(Medical Xpress) -- Poor Phineas Gage. In 1848, the supervisor for the Rutland and Burlington Railroad in Vermont was using a 13-pound, 3-foot-7-inch rod to pack blasting powder into a rock when he triggered ...

Neuroscience created May 17, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Healing hormone provides hope for brain injury

If Don Stein were the kind of man who listened to what others said, he would have shut down his lab years ago. The Emory neuroscientist spent more than two decades investigating progesterone as a treatment ...

Medical research created Apr 24, 2013 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Transmission of tangles in Alzheimer's mice provides more authentic model of tau pathology

Brain diseases associated with the misformed protein tau, including Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration with tau pathologies, are characterized by neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) comprised ...

Neuroscience created Jan 15, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Distinct brain cells recognize novel sights

No matter what novel objects we come to behold, our brains effortlessly take us from an initial "What's that?" to "Oh, that old thing" after a few casual encounters. In research that helps shed light on the ...

Neuroscience created Apr 11, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast


Traumatic brain injury (TBI), also known as intracranial injury, occurs when an external force traumatically injures the brain. TBI can be classified based on severity, mechanism (closed or penetrating head injury), or other features (e.g., occurring in a specific location or over a widespread area). Head injury usually refers to TBI, but is a broader category because it can involve damage to structures other than the brain, such as the scalp and skull.

TBI is a major cause of death and disability worldwide, especially in children and young adults. Causes include falls, vehicle accidents, and violence. Prevention measures include use of technology to protect those suffering from automobile accidents, such as seat belts and sports or motorcycle helmets, as well as efforts to reduce the number of automobile accidents, such as safety education programs and enforcement of traffic laws.

Brain trauma can be caused by a direct impact or by acceleration alone. In addition to the damage caused at the moment of injury, brain trauma causes secondary injury, a variety of events that take place in the minutes and days following the injury. These processes, which include alterations in cerebral blood flow and the pressure within the skull, contribute substantially to the damage from the initial injury.

TBI can cause a host of physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and behavioral effects, and outcome can range from complete recovery to permanent disability or death. The 20th century saw critical developments in diagnosis and treatment that decreased death rates and improved outcome. These include imaging techniques such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Depending on the injury, treatment required may be minimal or may include interventions such as medications and emergency surgery. Physical therapy, speech therapy, recreation therapy, and occupational therapy may be employed for rehabilitation.

This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

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