New treatment for traumatic brain injury sufferers studiedRSS Feed

A new treatment for cognitive impairments suffered by people with traumatic brain injury may have been discovered by researchers.

Research by scientists from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia indicated that amino acids fed to brain-injured animals restored cognitive abilities.

Study leader Akiva S Cohen, a neuroscientist at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said: "We have shown in an animal model that dietary intervention can restore a proper balance of neurochemicals in the injured part of the brain, and simultaneously improves cognitive performance."

In the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, animals were given a cocktail of leucine, isoleucine and valine, which are branched chain amino acids (BCAAs).

Previous research shows that people with severe brain injuries experienced mild functional improvements after receiving BCAAs intravenously.

Learning ability in the animals was restored after they received a cocktail of amino acids, as was a normal balance of neural activity.

Earlier this week, researchers elsewhere in America received £1.5 million to study the regeneration of neuronal tissue, which could result in a cure for neural problems, including traumatic brain injury.

News from Serious Law, specialist traumatic brain injury solicitors.

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