All TBIs Have Some Level of Permanent Brain Damage
Dr. Marilyn Kraus, associate professor of psychiatry and neurology at the University of Illinois at Chicago along with colleagues examined a number of patients with traumatic brain injury ranging from mild to severe. The study used diffusion tensor imaging, a new technology of MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) that measures the diffusion of water molecules in the brain. The technology measures diffusion in multiple directions and aids researchers in mapping the direction of connectivity in white matter fibers located in different regions of the brain. What they found was that patients with traumatic brain injury have structural changes in the white matter of their brains that account for the cognitive impairments they experience despite how mild the injury is. Thirty-seven TBI patients were in the study for 6 months post injury. Twenty of which had mild TBI and 17 with moderate to severe TBI. Each patient was considered high functioning because they were working or in school. As part of the study 18 non-TBI people were given the diffusion tensor imaging screenings and were tested to evaluate their memory, attention spans and their cognitive functions that control and regulate behaviors.
