BrainBlog

From the CBC : Concussion prevention effort features mobile app Four sports organizations partner with government on new education programs CBC News Posted: Jan 19, 2012 11:27 AM ET Last Updated: Jan 19, 2012 3:19 PM ET [snip] Four sports organizations will receive $1.5 million in federal funding for new education programs designed to reduce concussions and other brain injuries in children and youth who play team sports. The Public Health Agency of Canada's "Active and Safe" program is supporting a joint project of ThinkFirst Canada, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, the Coaching Association of Canada, and Hockey Canada to help coachers, trainers, parents, and athletes recognize and prevent serious brain injuries. In announcing the funding in Ottawa Thursday, Minister of State for Amateur Sport Bal Gosal noted that an estimated 90 per cent of severe brain injuries were preventable if parents, coaches and the kids themselves knew more about the risks. "We can...

From the Mind Hacks blog: A Relationship Through Brain Injury

Role of Neuropsychologists in the Evaluation and Management of Sport-related Concussion: An Inter-Organization Position Statement Clin Neuropsychol. 2011 Nov; 25(8): 1289-1294 Echemendia RJ, Iverson GL, McCrea M, Broshek DK, Gioia GA, Sautter SW, Macciocchi SN, Barr WB Abstract Over the past 20 years, clinical neuropsychologists have been at the forefront of both scientific and clinical initiatives aimed at developing evidence-based approaches to the evaluation and management of sport-related concussion. These efforts have directly impacted current policy on strategies for injury assessment and return-to-play by athletes after concussion. Many states are considering legislation requiring (a) education of athletes, parents, coaches, and school/organization officials on the recognition, evaluation, and management of sport-related concussions; (b) removal from play of any youth athlete that is suspected of having sustained a concussion; and (c) not allowing the student to return to parti...

Today, NPR's All Things Considered will be airing a report it prepared with ProPublica about problems with the US military's approach to testing the cognitive function of individuals. Here is a link to a ProPublica article about the issue: Testing Program Fails Soldiers An audio link and a transcript of the report will likely be made available by NPR on the All Things Considered website after it airs. The ProPublica report includes links to a number of documents about the issue, for those interested in looking deeper into the controversy. ADDENDUM: The NPR story can be listened to and/or downloaded at this link: Listen here .

Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapy for Traumatic Brain Injury: Evaluating the Evidence Institute of Medicine Released: 11 October 2011 For more information, click here

Are self-reported symptoms of executive dysfunction associated with objective executive function performance following mild to moderate traumatic brain injury? Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology . 2011 Jul;33(6):704-14 Schiehser DM, Delis DC, Filoteo JV, Delano-Wood L, Han SD, Jak AJ, Drake AI, Bondi MW Abstract Background and objective: We examined the relationship between self-reported pre- and post-injury changes in executive dysfunction, apathy, disinhibition, and depression, and performance on neuropsychological tests of executive function, attention/processing speed, and memory in relation to mood levels and effort test performance in individuals in the early stages of recovery from mild to moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI). Method: Participants were 71 noncombat military personnel who were in a semiacute stage of recovery ( PMID: 21958432 [PubMed - in process]

Conference Website From the homepage: "Plan now to attend the ACRM-ASNR 2011 Annual Conference at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta. This annual conference draws rehabilitation researchers and clinicians from 20+ countries with a welcoming ambiance suited to seasoned and early career professionals alike. Attendees enjoy exceptional continuing education programs with productive networking opportunities. "Choose from internationally recognized plenary speakers, and symposia covering methodology and technology; practice, policy and reimbursement; neuroscience and neurorehabilitation; and musculoskeletal, aging, and development. "In addition, there are six pre-conference symposia and an Early Career Course on Wednesday. Paper presentations and poster displays, and an exhibition featuring state-of-the-art equipment and services for the rehabilitation professional. As always, there is the opportunity to meet new friends and greet old ones."

An active area of test development and research in contemporary clinical neuropsychology: Social Cognition Impairments in Relation to General Cognitive Deficits, Injury Severity and Prefrontal Lesions in Traumatic Brain Injury Patients. Journal of Neurotrauma . 2011 Sep 20; Authors: Spikman JM, Van der Naalt J, Timmerman ME, Milders MV, Veenstra WS Abstract Impairments in social behavior are frequently found in moderate to severe TBI patients and are associated with an unfavorable outcome with regard to return to work and social reintegration. Neuropsychological tests measuring aspects of social cognition are thought to be sensitive to these problems. However, little is known about the effect of general cognitive problems on these tests, nor about their sensitivity to injury severity and frontal lesions. In the present study 28 chronic TBI patients with a moderate to severe TBI were assessed with tests for social cognition (emotion recognition, Theory of Mind and empathy) and for gener...

From the conference webpage: Brain Injury Rehabilitation Trust (BIRT) Brain Injury Conference 2011 Inspiring learning and innovation in brain injury rehabilitation 21-22 September 2011, The Bristol Marriott Hotel, Old Market, Bristol "The 2011 conference from the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Trust will look at the latest developments and strategies for the treatment and rehabilitation of people with acquired brain injury. This is the fourth in BIRT's series of biennial brain injury conferences. "The first day's plenary sessions provide an opportunity to hear international speakers present their latest research and theories. "Day two is devoted to symposia and practical 'hands on' workshops, enabling delegates to participate in debate, discussion, learn new techniques and share good practice." Conference webpage: Click here

From the Agency for Heatlhcare Research and Quality: Clinician Guide: Depression After Traumatic Brain Injury 13 April 2011 Read the guide

From The Atlantic.com : Giffords's Superspecialized Brain Doctor: Adding Insight to Injury by Ford Vox The Atlantic.com 07 February 2011 "A crucial part of Gabby Giffords's intensive brain injury rehabilitation at The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR) in Houston involves serial assessments and counsel by a neuropsychologist, a superspecialized breed of clinician many people know little about. "Rehabilitation teams count count on expert neuropsychologists to administer formal standardized tests and analyze those results in light of clinical data. The best neuropsychological reports are veritable Rosetta stones." Read the article

Military Still Failing To Diagnose, Treat Brain Injuries by T. CHRISTIAN MILLER and DANIEL ZWERDLING. Includes a link to the NPR All Things Considered presentation.

Study raises questions about military's brain injury assessment tool BY KATHERINE MCINTIRE PETERS 24 May 2010 next.gov.com

Several days ago, the CDC released a report entitled, "Traumatic Brain Injury in the United States: Emergency Department Visits, Hospitalizations, and Deaths, 2002-2006" - available as a .pdf (and .doc) download. Download the report

Today's recommended reading addresses proposed efficacy measures for use in clinical trials related to traumatic brain injury (TBI): Bagiella E, Novack TA, Ansel B, Diaz-Arrastia R, Dikmen S, Hart T, & Temkin N. Measuring Outcome in Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment Trials: Recommendations From the Traumatic Brain Injury Clinical Trials Network. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation. 2010. BACKGROUND: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) involves several aspects of a patient's condition, including physical, mental, emotional, cognitive, social, and functional changes. Therefore, a clinical trial with individuals with TBI should consider outcome measures that reflect their global status. METHODS: We present the work of the National Institute of Child Health and Development-sponsored Traumatic Brain Injury Clinical Trials Network Outcome Measures subcommittee and its choice of outcome measures for a phase III clinical trial of patients with complicated mild to severe TBI. RESULTS: ...

From The Guardian : Sex hormone progesterone may save lives after brain injury A major clinical trial will test whether the female sex hormone can minimise damage and improve recovery after brain injury Ian Sample, San Diego guardian.co.uk Friday 19 February 2010 21.30 GMT An article about the proTECT III clinical trial. Read the article === Here is the ClinicalTrials.gov entry for this study: proTECT III ===

From The New Yorker : Author Malcolm Gladwell has a live chat about brain injuries and sports tomorrow at 1430 hrs ET. The chat can be found at the link found below. If you wish to submit a question for the essayist and author, go to that link and you can submit a question in advance of the event. Questions for Gladwell/Live Chat

Batting Helmet is Safer, but Players Hate the Look By DAVID WALDSTEIN The New York Times Published: August 13, 2009 "Some major league players don’t want to sacrifice comfort and style for the added protection of Rawlings’ new helmet." Read article [Note: The helmet is called the Rawlings S100 and the company's website has promotional material about it's features.}

An interesting feature article from the front page of yesterday's New York Times : After Injury, Fighting to Regain a Sense of Self By BENEDICT CAREY The New York Times Published: August 9, 2009 "Scientists are investigating delusions caused by brain trauma for clues to one of the most confounding problems in brain science: identity." Read the full article

BASIC: Brain and Spinal Injury Centre visit website With a shout out to Andy_G, who is on the plinth in Trafalgar Square right now wearing a BASIC shirt and is a part of the One & Other art event. From the website: "BASIC is a specialist resource for people and their families in crisis followinga traumatic brain injury or neurological diagnosis. This includes people recovering from severe head injury, brain haemorrhage, brain tumour and otherbrain-related conditions such as stroke and brain cancer."