Concussions

Scientists may have unearthed a valuable new tool to study brain injuries, in the form of headbutting animals such as bighorn sheep and muskoxen, in which they've discovered hallmarks of head trauma for the very first time.

Scientists at the Houston Methodist Research Institute studying brain impacts have turned to the communities of bacteria in the gut, where they've found that changes following a concussion could be used to reveal the state of recovery.

Researchers have shown in mice how a heightened sense of alert among immune cells may drive some of the long-term consequences to cognitive function after concussion, and opened up new possibilities around therapies for human sufferers.

Although it's important to know if someone has experienced a concussion, the injuries are notoriously difficult to diagnose. According to a new study, however, urine tests may do the trick – plus they could be used to monitor the healing process.

A first-of-its-kind study has explored the connections between repeated concussions and an insidious degenerative brain condition called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and shown how a new drug may be able to prevent it from taking hold.

Detecting concussion can be tricky business but scientists are working on techniques that can provide more definitive answers, including a test that is said to reveal tell-tale signs of brain injury through the saliva.

Engineers at Michigan State University have crafted a new type of liquid foam lining they say can help football helmets better sustain repeated impacts, improving their longevity and the safety of those wearing them.

A blood test that reveals the severity of brain injuries in hours through a key biomarker was recently approved for clinical use, but researchers are now setting their sights on a point-of-care solution that can deliver results within 15 minutes.

Engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW) have been investigating ways of nursing concussed brain cells back to healthy function, and have found that cooling them can protect them from damage and allow them to operate as normal.

Researchers have found that by subjecting people with a mild brain injury to a dose of blue light each morning, they could help to reduce some of its typical side effects such as depression and problems with sleep.

The search is very much on for technologies that can produce unequivocal evidence of concussion, and scientists have taken an exciting step forward with a device that can assess brain cells by pulsing ultra-bright lasers through a patient’s forehead.

​The first diagnostic blood test to evaluate the severity of a concussion has been approved for marketing by the FDA. The blood test can accurately identify patients with brain tissue damage, or intracranial lesions, following a head injury without the need for an expensive & time-consuming CT scan.