Dec. 9, 2013 Scientists from Case Western Reserve University and University of Kansas Medical Center have restored behavior -- in this case, the ability to reach through a narrow opening and grasp food -- using a neural prosthesis in a rat model of brain injury. Ultimately, the team hopes to develop a device that rapidly and substantially improves function after brain injury in humans. There is no such commercial treatment for the 1.5 million Americans, including soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq, who suffer traumatic brain injuries (TBI), or the nearly 800,000 stroke victims who suffer weakness or paralysis in the United States, annually. The prosthesis, called a brain-machine-brain interface, is a closed-loop microelectronic system. It records signals from one part of the brain, processes them in real time, and then bridges the injury by stimulating a second part of the brain that had lost connectivity. Their work is published online this week in the science journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "If you use the device to couple activity from one part of the brain to another, is it possible to induce recovery from TBI? That's the core of this investigation," said Pedram Mohseni, professor of electrical engineering … Continue reading →

Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE Until Wed., Dec. 11, 2013, 2 p.m. ET Newswise Philadelphia, Dec. 11, 2013 Scientists who fed a cocktail of key amino acids to mice improved sleep disturbances caused by brain injuries in the animals. These new findings suggest a potential dietary treatment for millions of people affected by traumatic brain injury (TBI)a condition that is currently untreatable. If this type of dietary treatment is proved to help patients recover function after traumatic brain injury, it could become an important public health benefit, said study co-leader Akiva S. Cohen, Ph.D., a neuroscientist at The Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Cohen is the co-senior author of the animal TBI study appearing today in Science Translational Medicine. He collaborated with two experts in sleep medicine: co-senior author Allan I. Pack, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania; and first author Miranda M. Lim, M.D., Ph.D., formerly at the Penn Sleep Center, and now on faculty at the Portland VA Medical Center and Oregon Health and Science University. Every year in the U.S., an estimated 2 million people suffer … Continue reading →

December 12, 2013 redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports Your Universe Online New research appearing in the journal Science Translational Medicine has found that amino acids can help correct sleep disturbances in mice suffering from traumatic brain injuries. In the study, experts from the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvanias Perelman School of Medicine and the Oregon Health and Science University report that these organic compounds could potentially be used as a dietary treatment for the millions of people affected by traumatic brain injuries or concussions. The study authors investigated the use of something known as selected branched chain amino acids (BCAA). These amino acids are predecessors of the neurotransmitters glutamate and GABA, which help neurons communicate with each other while also helping to maintain the normal balance of brain activity. If this type of dietary treatment is proved to help patients recover function after traumatic brain injury, it could become an important public health benefit, explained study co-leader Dr. Akiva S. Cohen, who was previously a member of a research team that demonstrated that a BCAA-rich diet helped restore cognitive function in rodents with brain injuries. When they compared healthy mice with those with experimentally induced traumatic brain … Continue reading →

Appeal for witnesses from Yeovil brain injury victim 1:00pm Tuesday 10th December 2013 in News A YEOVIL cyclist who suffered a serious brain injury when he was involved in a head-on collision has appealed for anyone who witnessed the incident to come forward. Antony Richardson spent several weeks in a medically-induced coma following the crash, which happened on August 1 last year on Lyde Road. Although he eventually regained consciousness and subsequently returned home, Mr Richardson, 39, suffered a catalogue of injuries including a serious brain injury. He has no recollection of the incident itself, and he is now appealing through his lawyer for any witnesses to help piece together exactly what happened, to help him secure the long-term care and treatment he will need. Vijay Mehan, a specialist serious injury lawyer with Slater & Gordon, said that Mr Richardson was lucky to be alive. This was a horrific incident, one which has had a catastrophic impact on Antony and his family, said Mr Mehan. Antony was riding his bike along Lyde Road, near to the junction which forms the entrance to the Lidl supermarket, when he collided head-on with a vehicle coming in the other direction. Mr Richardson, of … Continue reading →

Published:Wednesday, December 11, 2013 Updated:Wednesday, December 11, 2013 00:12 Research professor Mayland Chang is taking to heart the maxim a mind is a terrible thing to waste in two ways, as she uses her mind to the fullest by working to develop a treatment for traumatic brain injury (TBI). Chang, director of the Chemistry-Biochemistry-Biology Interface (CBBI) Program, said she and other researchers have been studying a group of 27 enzymes called Matrix metalloproteinases (MPPs) for more than a decade. She said the team has found a promising use for one of these enzymes, Matrix metallopeptidase nine (MPP-9), in treating TBI. We thought that this group of enzymes would be important for many diseases. Not much was known, so we started making inhibitors, Chang said. It turns out MPP-9 plays a critical role in the pathology of TBI. Chang said every case of TBI essentially can be divided into two injuries, each with different effects. You have the primary injury, the blow to the head, Chang said. There is absolutely nothing you can do for the brain cells that die in the primary injury. This is followed by a cascade of events, starting with damage to the blood-brain barrier, that result … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 11-Dec-2013 Contact: Todd Murphy murphyt@ohsu.edu 503-494-8231 Oregon Health & Science University PORTLAND, Ore. Scientists have discovered how to fix sleep disturbances in mice with traumatic brain injuries a discovery that could lead to help for hundreds of thousands of people who have long-term and debilitating sleep and wakefulness issues after they suffer concussions. What scientists found helpful was giving the mice something all humans produce from foods in their normal diets something called branched chain amino acids. "If further research confirms what this study suggests, we could develop a dietary supplement of these amino acids that could be a viable therapy to help people after a concussion," said Miranda Lim, M.D., Ph.D., a neurologist and sleep medicine specialist at the Portland VA Medical Center and an assistant professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine, neurology and behavioral neuroscience at Oregon Health & Science University. Lim is the first author of the study, published online today in Science Translational Medicine. Lim performed this research during her sleep medicine fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. Senior authors on the study are Akiva S. Cohen, Ph.D., a neuroscientist at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Allan I. Pack, M.D., Ph.D., … Continue reading →

Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) December 12, 2013 InfraScan, a medical device company specializing in brain injury diagnostic products, announced today that it has obtained regulatory clearances in Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand for the Infrascanner Model 2000, a ruggedized handheld brain hematoma detector. The Infrascanner Model 2000 has also received clearances from the US FDA, the European CE Mark, and Health Canada. The Infrascanner Model 2000 is a handheld device with a disposable patient interface that uses Near-Infrared (NIR) technology to detect intracranial bleeding, identifying those patients who would most benefit from immediate referral to a CT scan and neurosurgical intervention. In the triage of head trauma patients, the Infrascanner can identify patients most likely to have intracranial bleeding. The Infrascanner is being used in the following applications: for battlefield triage of soldiers with traumatic brain injury, for triage in remote and suburban locations, on the sidelines of sporting events, and by first responders in ambulances. It is also being used for triage in emergency rooms of hospitals, and for bedside monitoring in intensive care units. "The regulatory approvals in Asia allow InfraScan to offer an industry first, powerful tool for use by medical professionals in some of the main world … Continue reading →

Dec. 11, 2013 The lifelong fallout of a concussive brain injury is well-documented. A blow to the head -- whether it comes from an NFL tackle, a battlefield explosion or a fall off a ladder -- can cause brain damage responsible for a debilitating degree of memory loss, mood swings, seizures and more. And though the blunt instrument that inflicts such damage is typically known, the cellular mechanisms that inflict such trouble have so far remained a mystery. Now, a biology student at Stanford and researchers at the National Institutes of Health have devised a method for observing the immediate effects of a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) in real time in mice. The work has revealed how individual cells respond to the injury and has helped the researchers suggest a possible therapeutic approach for limiting brain damage in humans. The results were published online in Nature on Dec. 8. The bulk of direct research concerning the physiological effects of TBIs is conducted post mortem. Scientists dissect a deceased patient's tissue to learn the full extent of the injury and what types of brain cells were damaged or killed. But very little is known about what happens at the cellular … Continue reading →