Eyes may provide new insight into brain problems

The eyes may be the window to the soul, but researchers are finding they also provide a view into the brain that could help detect neurological damage from bomb blasts, sports concussions and a wide range of diseases, including Alzheimers and multiple sclerosis.

If initial results are borne out, it might eventually be possible to use simple eye tests to evaluate soldiers, athletes or accident victims and to monitor the effectiveness of drugs and other treatments, several scientists said Sunday in Seattle at a meeting of the worlds largest vision-research organization.

More than 12,000 researchers and clinicians are in town for the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, which runs through Thursday.

Sundays session brought together some of the nations top researchers on brain injuries in veterans and athletes, including psychiatrist Elaine Peskind, of the University of Washington and the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System.

Nearly 2.4 million U.S. troops have served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. About 20 percent of them were exposed to blasts from roadside bombs and other explosives, Peskind said.

The veterans she studied experienced an average of 14 blasts, though some were exposed to 100 or more.

Many reported symptoms that include memory loss, headache, muddled thinking and irritability.

Though Peskind has used sophisticated brain scans to document permanent brain damage among blast-exposed veterans, theres no easy way to tell which soldiers may go on to develop more severe problems, including dementia, as a result of their injuries.

The most definitive test for the type of advanced brain injury common to some soldiers and concussion-prone athletes can only be done after death, when brain-tissue sections reveal tangles of abnormal protein deposits.

Thats why the possibility of using the eyes for diagnosis is so exciting, the scientists said.

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Eyes may provide new insight into brain problems