Traumatic Brain Injury
‘Brain Surfing’: Ultrasound waves focused on prefrontal cortex elevate mood and change brain connectivity in human volunteers
A team of researchers at the University of Arizona has found that low-intensity ultrasound waves directed at a particular region of the brain’s prefrontal cortex in healthy subjects can elevate mood, and decrease connectivity in a brain network that has been shown to be hyperactive in psychiatric disorders. The method uses transcranial focused ultrasound (‘tFUS’), a painless, non-invasive technique to modulate brain function comparable to transcranial magnetic stimulation (‘TMS’), and transcranial direct current stimulation (‘tDCS’). This study shows, for the first time, a correlation between tFUS-induced mood enhancement, and reorganization of brain circuits.
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Brain Scan-Blood Test Panel Promises Improved Diagnosis of Brain Trauma Following Battlefield Blast Exposure
New brain scans and blood tests move researchers towards more sensitive diagnosis of battlefield brain trauma and evaluation of new drugs
Read moreStudy Reveals New Way to Treat Stroke Using an Already FDA-Approved Drug
Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (GCSF) is currently used to treat neutropenia due to chemotherapy and has been successfully used for patients who require bone marrow transplants. The study is the first to report on the neuroprotective effect of GCSF in vivo and showed that it improved neurological deficits that occur in the first few days following cerebral ischemia. GCSF improved long-term behavioral outcomes while also stimulating a neural progenitor recovery response in a mouse model.
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Researchers develop cell therapy to improve memory and stop seizures in mice following traumatic brain injury
Researchers from the University of California, Irvine developed a breakthrough cell therapy to improve memory and prevent seizures in mice following traumatic brain injury. The study, titled “Transplanted interneurons improve memory precision after traumatic brain injury,” was published today in Nature Communications.
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Man with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury Lives to Tell the Tale
John Kaczmarczyk, 58, was unconscious at the bottom of a flight of stairs in his home when his wife and son found him.
Read morePenn Medicine Researchers Receive $9.7 Million NIH Grant to Study Traumatic Brain Injuries and Neurodegeneration
An international team of experts led by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Glasgow has been awarded a $9.7 million, five-year grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and National Institute for Aging (NIA) to establish CONNECT-TBI—a program spanning 12 institutions which will study traumatic brain injury (TBI) and related neurodegenerative diseases.
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Study identifies brain injury as a cause of dementia in some older adults
A UCLA-led study finds that, with the use of MRI scans, it is possible to distinguish between memory loss caused by Alzheimer’s disease and traumatic brain injury.
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