Modelling traumatic brain injury using neuropsychological, neurosurgical, neurochemical, and neuroradiological measures [ 2002 - 2004 ]

Research Grant

Researchers: Prof Jane Mathias (Principal investigator) ,  Dr Dianne Taylor ,  Nigel Jones ,  Prof Erin Bigler ,  Prof Stephen Bowden

Brief description Post mortem and brain imaging studies of patients who have had a traumatic brain injury (TBI) indicate that they sustain both focal damage and widespread diffuse damage. This diffuse damage is more difficult to detect but has been found to occur even after mild injuries and in the absence of focal brain damage. Moreover, diffuse damage is thought to contribute both to changes in a patient's level of consciousness at the time of injury and to the long-term problems experienced by patients after a TBI, suggesting that diffuse damage may provide a valuable index of the amount of brain damage that has been sustained as a result of an injury. While clinicians presently assess many cognitive abilities, they do not target the cognitive problems that are thought to arise from diffuse damage. This is largely due to an absence of validated measures and a limited understanding of the effects of diffuse damage on cognitive functioning. Consequently, we do not have a clear understanding of the extent to which diffuse damage contributes to patient outcome after a TBI. The present study is designed to provide a model of the effects of TBI that will include neuropsychological, neurosurgical, neurochemical and neuroradiological variables. The cognitive effects of diffuse damage will be assessed and related to neurochemical and brain imaging indices of diffuse damage in order to examine the relationship between brain structure and function. This study will improve our understanding of the effects of diffuse damage on cognitive functioning and will lead to the development of measures that can be used to assess the consequences of diffuse damage. In doing so, this study will improve the accuracy with which we are able to diagnose the cognitive problems of patients who have suffered a TBI. This will, in turn, reduce the public health, insurance and litigation costs associated with this type of injury.

Funding Amount $AUD 403,370.00

Funding Scheme NHMRC Project Grants

Notes Standard Project Grant