View clinical trials related to Brain Injuries.
Filter by:Background: - Studies have shown that some people develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after being exposed to the trauma of military combat. They may have repeated thoughts, images, and dreams of the trauma; feel detached from others; have difficulty sleeping and concentrating; or be easily startled. Some studies have also shown that after having a blow or blast to the head, some people may develop post-concussive syndrome (PCS), which may include symptoms such as headaches, difficulty concentrating, and feeling moody or irritable. Researchers are interested in using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study combat veterans from Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom in order to evaluate possible changes in the brain that may be attributed to PTSD or PCS. Objectives: - To evaluate changes in brain function in recent combat veterans that may be related to post-traumatic stress disorder or post-concussive syndrome. Eligibility: - Combat veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom who are enrolled in Walter Reed Army Medical Center protocol 351030, have returned within the last 6 weeks from a deployment in Iraq or Afghanistan that lasted at least 3 months, and are able to have magnetic resonance imaging scans. Design: - This study involves between 1 and 4 outpatient visits to the NIH Clinical Center over the course of 1 year. The second, third, and fourth visits will occur 3, 6, and 12 months after the first visit. - At the first visit, participants will have a baseline MRI scan, followed by a functional MRI (fMRI) scan to see what parts of the brain are used while performing simple tasks and responding to images. Participants will complete questionnaires after the scan to report on their experiences during the MRI scan. - For the remaining three study visits, participants will have further MRI and fMRI scans and will complete additional questionnaires. Participation is complete after the 12-month study visit, or following a diagnosis of PTSD, major depression, or PCS at any time during the study. - No treatment will be provided as part of this protocol.
The purpose of this study is to assess if putative brain injury biomarkers have utility as blood-based traumatic brain injury (TBI) diagnostic and monitoring tools. This will be accomplished by examining the relationships between potential serum-based TBI biomarkers and clinical measures of injury severity, occurrence of complications, and outcome, in subjects with mild or moderate TBI. The assay will be evaluated in a sample population of subjects over the age of 18 who have been referred to the health care provider for closed head injury evaluation.
Background: - Many people who have traumatic brain injury (TBI) have low levels of physical fitness. Low physical fitness causes severe fatigue that reduces the ability to perform routine daily activities, and may also cause increased depression, anxiety, or sadness. Aerobic exercise, such as treadmill walking or running, improves physical fitness in most people and may also decrease fatigue and improve mood. However, more information is needed to determine if exercise improves these conditions in people who have TBI. Objectives: - To examine the effect of an aerobic treadmill walking exercise program on physical fitness, fatigue, and mood in people with TBI. Eligibility: - Individuals between 21 and 45 years of age who had a nonpenetrating traumatic brain injury at least 6 months before participating; able to understand oral and written English language, give informed consent and sign a consent form; are physically inactive (including activities related to both job and recreation); and are able to stand and walk on a treadmill safely without help. Design: - This study requires 4 testing visits and 36 exercise visits over 14 weeks. - The first and third testing visits will last about 4 hours and the second and final testing visits will take about 2 hours. - Testing visits will consist of a medical history and physical examination, completion of questionnaires (about fatigue, daily physical activity, sleep quality, mood, and overall quality of life), tests of thinking and a treadmill exercise test. - Participants will have treadmill exercise training 3 days per week for 12 weeks. Each session includes a check-in, warm-up, treadmill walking at the training heart rate, and cool-down. Thirty-two of the sessions will last for about 1 hour, and four of the sessions will include questionnaires to fill out and will last about one-and-a-half hours. - After completing the exercise training program, participants will have a final testing visit to complete the questionnaires (about fatigue, daily physical activity, sleep quality, mood, and overall quality of life), tests of thinking and a treadmill exercise test....
The investigators hypothesize that individual differences exist in resting-state cortical attention, control, sensory, and emotion networks prior to noise exposure and these differences predispose some to the development of bothersome tinnitus. Furthermore, the investigators hypothesize that these changes in functional connectivity of these vulnerable systems after noise exposure are responsible for tinnitus. The proposed study will use a case-control cohort study design. Cases will be those soldiers who develop tinnitus and controls will be those who do not. This will be the first prospective study of tinnitus and will provide important information about the neurobiology of tinnitus. If a cortical neural network etiology for bothersome tinnitus is confirmed, it will be an astounding, powerful, paradigm shifting model for the diagnosis, prevention and, most importantly, treatment of tinnitus. Furthermore, if a battery of neurocognitive tests can identify soldiers at risk for the development of tinnitus then appropriate primary prevention strategies can be introduced. There are three Specific Aims to this project. Specific Aim 1. To determine if soldiers who develop tinnitus display pre-deployment differences in a set of physical, functional, cognitive, vulnerability, perpetuating factors, pre-deployment neurocognitive scores, or neuroimaging features compared to soldiers who do not develop tinnitus ("control group"). Specific Aim 2. To determine if particular scores on neurocognitive tests or neuroimaging features of functional/structural connectivity networks are associated with the development of tinnitus. Specific Aim 3. To identify a set of pre-deployment physical, functional, cognitive, vulnerability, and perpetuating factors, neurocognitive responses, and neuroimaging features that are associated with the development of tinnitus. The investigators plan to recruit 200 soldiers, between the ages of 18 and 30 years who do not have hearing loss or tinnitus and have never been deployed to military theater. The soldier participants will undergo a variety of tests before and after deployment, which will include a hearing test, neurocognitive tests (i.e., brain function tests), and a variety of novel radiologic imaging studies of the brain. One of these novel radiologic imaging studies is functional connectivity Magnetic Resonance Imaging, a proven methodology that monitors changes in brain activity and connections based on blood flow between different brain areas and levels of consumption of oxygen. This information is used to describe the condition of important neural networks responsible for such things as attention, mood, sensation, vision, hearing, and introspection or self-contemplation.
Patients with mild to moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI) are at risk for secondary neurological deterioration. Their outcome within the first week after injury could be predicted by clinical signs, brain CT scan and transcranial doppler (TCD) on admission to the emergency room. The investigators aim to evaluate the diagnostic performance of TCD to screen patients presented with mild to moderate TBI and mild lesions on CT scan, i.e., Trauma Coma Data Bank, TCDB classification II. The principal outcome measure is the negative predictive value of TCD.
Background: - The Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine is working to improve physicians' understanding of brain injury. More information is needed on traumatic brain injury (TBI), especially how well a person recovers from TBI and how the brain changes over time in people with TBI. To conduct this research, the center is sponsoring a number of research studies on TBI and is interested in evaluating individuals with TBI or post-concussive syndrome to determine if they might be eligible for future studies. Objectives: - To develop a pool of individuals with traumatic brain injury and post-concussive syndrome for future research studies. Eligibility: - Individuals at least 18 years of age who have symptoms of or have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury or post-concussive syndrome and are willing to participate in future studies. Design: - Participants will be screened with an initial telephone interview, and will be asked to come to the National Institutes of Health for an in-person screening visit. - At the screening visit, participants will provide a medical history, have a physical examination and complete a study questionnaire on their TBI and its symptoms, including how the injury occurred, when it occurred, and any previous brain-related injuries. - Subjects may also return for a second visit at the NIH CC if eligible. - Each visit may involve blood samples, an MRI scan, and a series of tests to evaluate brain function. - Participants will also provide contact information to enable researchers to contact them for future studies.
Vibration therapy is used for different indications in rehabilitation and sports medicine. So far, vibration therapy has not been investigated within the ICU setting. The investigators created this setting to show safety and applicability of vibration therapy in ICU patients. 30 patients will be stimulated by vibration therapy on two separate days during their ICU stay. Three collectives of equal size will be observed: One with patients on mechanical ventilation without signs of infection or suspected intracranial pressure problems, a second one with patients on mechanical ventilation in addition to signs of systemic inflammation but absence of suspected intracranial pressure problems, and a third one with patients on mechanical ventilation, signs of systemic inflammation in addition to presence of controlled intracranial pressure problems. Typical parameters of hemodynamic status, intracranial pressure and energy metabolism will be recorded for a defined period of time before, during and after vibration therapy itself. Vibration therapy will be combined with protocol based physiotherapy. Our aim is to show the effects of vibration therapy in ICU patients and its safe applicability. ADDITION 06th of May 2011: Additionally we will perform euglycaemic hyperinsulinemic clamp and intervention on one day of ICU stay in 20 patients. Under clamp conditions we will perform a vibration therapy (ProMedVi Vibrosphere™) on patients' legs. On top we will perform electrical muscle stimulation (schwa-medico, MUSKELaktiv™) on one ventral upper leg, randomized chosen. Measuring the local skeletal muscle metabolism will be done by microdialysis in Vastus lateralis on both sides - comparing vibration therapy and vibration therapy combined with electrical muscle stimulation.
This study is being conducted to understand whether training in tasks that require perceiving and thinking about things, or cognition, can improve memory in veterans who have been exposed to a blast explosion and have TBI and PTSD. A primary goal of the study is to determine whether it is feasible for veterans who don't live close to a VA to perform this cognitive training at home.
The study will evaluate the benefit of Deep Brain Stimulation for subjects with severe disability due to Traumatic Brain Injury.
Intensive care unit (ICU) hospitalization saves lives but often does so at a high personal cost to ICU survivors who frequently experience significant cognitive impairment and an array of physical and functional disabilities that limit their recovery and quality of life. While the problems experienced by these patients are likely amenable to rehabilitation, few ICU survivors receive focused rehabilitation. Recently, early physical rehabilitation in ICU patients has shown to improve the chances a patient will regain their pre-hospital functional status. Early cognitive rehabilitation for these patients has not yet been explored. This pilot study will determine the feasibility of early cognitive rehabilitation in ICU patients. The investigators will perform cognitive and physical rehabilitation, beginning in the earliest phases of critical illness, to determine the effect of these therapies on cognitive and functional outcomes in ICU survivors. The investigators hypothesize that combined cognitive and physical rehabilitation, started in the ICU, will improve recovery of cognitive and physical function as well as improve quality of life of ICU survivors.