All-Digital, Real-Time EEG Feedback with Open and Closed Head Trauma
Gregory J. Murrey in Alternate Therapies in the Treatment of Brain Injury and Neurobehavioral Disorders, 2017
Persons with brain injury often present with a multitude of physical, cognitive, and emotional problems. According to Rizzo and Tranel (1996), the symptoms of brain trauma may include impairments in concentration and attention, and may cause headache and neck discomfort; dizziness or vertigo; mood changes such as depression, insomnia, apathy, fatigue, blurred vision, and anhedonia (loss of interest in pleasurable activities). In addition, Ayers (2002) and Quattrocchi and colleagues (1992) reported that people with brain injury are at a high risk for sickness and for developing chronic immune-system problems (since the brain is the regulator of the immune system). For many years, nonpenetrating, closed brain injury has been considered a mild head injury. Recently, however, researchers have found that the term mild brain injury may be an oxymoron. Bergsneider and colleagues (2000) studied positron-emission tomography (PET) scans that showed the glucose levels in brain cells. Examining the PET scans of forty-two patients with mild to severe concussions within thirty days postinjury showed that glucose metabolism was just as low in mild TBI patients as it was in the severely brain-injured patients. In this study, researchers considered a glucose metabolism of 4.9mg/100g per minute below normal, and found the mean glucose level for all of the patients was 3.9mg/100g per minute with a variability of plus or minus 0.6. In the future, PET scans may be valuable diagnostic tools to be used in addition to neuropsychological tests and EEG.
The Development of Neuropsychological Rehabilitation
Barbara A. Wilson, Jill Winegardner, Caroline M. van Heugten, Tamara Ownsworth in Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 2017
The earliest known description of the treatment of brain injury is from an Egyptian document of 2500–3000 years ago. The papyrus was discovered by Edwin Smith in Luxor in 1862 (described by Walsh, 1987). It describes the treatment of 48 cases of injury of which 27 were brain trauma cases. It contains the first known descriptions of the cranial structures, the meninges, the external surface of the brain, the cerebrospinal fluid and the intracranial pulsations. The word ‘brain’ appears for the first time in any language. The treatment procedures demonstrate an Egyptian level of knowledge that surpassed that of Hippocrates, who lived 1000 years later. Among the first cases described are a man with a gaping wound in his head penetrating the bone of his skull, rending open the brain. It has to be said, however, that the procedures described in the Smith Papyrus were more about treatment than rehabilitation.
The Neurologic Disorders in Film
Eelco F. M. Wijdicks in Neurocinema—The Sequel, 2022
At the heart of these questions about the consequences of traumatic brain injury lies the further issue of chronic form of traumatic brain injury and its association with contact sports. We already have a key film to watch. Concussion (2015) , directed by Peter Landesman and starring Will Smith as the neuropathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu, is an important film about sports-related concussions and the recent interest in chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Omalu’s slides show amyloid plaques and tau-positive threads in NFL football players. Omalu explains that gannets, woodpeckers, and rams have internal shock absorbers, adding, “God did not intend for us to play football.” Neurologists may know, for example, that punch-drunk syndrome was first described by the British neurologist McDonald Critchley in a 1949 book as the “chronic traumatic encephalopathy of boxers.”51 James W. Geddes found tau neuropil threads in the depth of sulci in 1999. CTE is now being studied by several academic institutions in the United States, most notably by Boston University’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy. This comprehensive work can be attributed to neuropathologist Ann McKee at the New England Veterans Administration Medical Centers in Boston.52 Omalu’s report of CTE in National Football League (NFL) player, coauthored by neurologist Steven DeKoskey and neurosurgeon Julian Bailes, was first published in the journal Neurosurgery in 2005.53
Traumatic brain injury and social competence among young male offenders
Published in Disability and Rehabilitation, 2020
Mark A. Linden, Conall O’Rourke, Maria Lohan
There is increasing awareness that the prevalence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) among offender populations is many times that seen in members of the general public (25–87% compared to 8.5%) [1–3]. Traumatic brain injury is defined as an insult to the brain by an external force that disrupts the normal functioning of the brain [4]. These injuries occur after birth and can have significant and life-long consequences including deficits in memory, attention, emotion, language, and behavioural control [5–7]. Males are between 1.2 and 4.6 times more likely to sustain a TBI compared to females [4] with the primary mechanism of injury for young people (aged 15–19 years) being road traffic accidents [8]. Traumatic brain injury therefore represents a major health concern for those working within criminal justice.
Client-centred practice in occupational therapy after stroke: A systematic review
Published in Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 2022
María Rodríguez-Bailón, Laura López-González, Jose Antonio Merchán-Baeza
Client-centred practice in occupational therapy has been used to assess and intervene with different groups of patients in diverse occupations [12]. One of the groups with which occupational therapy works and has made interventions based on client-centred practice is adult patients with stroke or traumatic brain injury. Stroke is characterized as a neurological deficit attributed to an acute focal injury of the central nervous system by a vascular cause [13]. Traumatic brain injury is defined as an alteration in brain function, or other evidence of brain pathology, caused by an external force [14]. These diseases are an important cause of disability in adults [15,16], reducing participation in activities of daily living (ADL) [10]. Due to population ageing and increasing life expectancy thanks to medical advances, brain injury has become an increasingly frequent pathology and a topic of interest to clinicians and researchers [5]. In recent years, there have been numerous studies from occupational therapy using methods based on client-centred practice approaches in patients with these diseases [17,18]. However, there are no reviews in the literature to analyze the effects of client-centred practice on different aspects related to occupational performance and participation, as well as in comparison to other types of practice.
Gender role in sleep disturbances among older adults with traumatic brain injury
Published in International Review of Psychiatry, 2020
Conor Ledger, Wael K. Karameh, David G. Munoz, Corinne E. Fischer, Tom A. Schweizer
Brain trauma is one of the main causes of death and disability worldwide. It is estimated by the World Health Organization that Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) will surpass many diseases as the major cause of death and disability by 2020. In the US, an estimated 1.6–3 million TBI’s occur each year (Viola-Saltzman & Watson, 2012). The most common causes of TBI are falls, motor vehicle accidents, and assaults (Rutland-Brown, Langlois, Thomas, & Xi 2006). TBI is defined as ‘an alteration in brain functioning or brain pathology caused by an external force such as blunt trauma or penetrating objects’ (Rao, Neubauer, & Vaishnavi, 2015). It can be classified on a severity level using the Glasgow Coma Scale which rates the level of consciousness after a traumatic head injury. The ratings from this widely used scale classify the TBI into mild (score = 13–15), moderate (score = 9–12), or severe (≤8), based on various symptoms and outcomes surrounding the TBI. Symptoms may be experienced directly post-TBI or several months after, and continue for years. Cognitive, emotional, behavioural, and physical symptoms may result from TBI, affecting one’s quality-of-life. One of the most common outcomes of traumatic brain injury is sleep impairment. Sleep disturbances and disorders can continue long-term post-TBI and impair the brain’s ability to repair and recover from an injury (Wickwire et al., 2016).
Related Knowledge Centers
- Concussion
- Disability
- Skull
- Brain
- Scalp
- Injury
- Closed-Head Injury
- Penetrating Head Injury
- Head Injury
- Falling