Traumatic brain injury effects 'long lasting'RSS Feed

The effects of traumatic brain injury last a long time after the initial incident, research has shown.

A study published in journal Annals of Neurology discovered microglial activation in vivo up to 17 years after a traumatic brain injury took place.

Higher levels of microglial activation in the thalamus were linked to having more severe cognitive impairment.

However, the rate of activation was not found to be correlated with either the time elapsed since the injury or the extent of the brain injury.

Authors concluded that their results suggested that traumatic brain injury triggers a chronic inflammatory response, particularly in subcortical regions.

"This highlights the importance of considering the response to TBI as evolving over time and suggests interventions may be beneficial for longer intervals after trauma than previously assumed," they wrote.

This follows research published online in journal Brain Pathology which revealed that traumatic brain injury survivors still show changes in their brains years after it occurred.

Even in young adults, the brain injury was seen to initiate or accelerate Alzheimer's-like neurodegeneration.

News brought to you by Serious Law specialists in brain injury

Posted by Paul Breen
 

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