News & Headlines

Western University researchers are taking a unique global approach to finding an effective treatment for people living with long COVID. Led by Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry professor Dr. Douglas Fraser, the projects represent the first multi-continental research conducted on long COVID, with study sites in Africa and North and South Americas. The long-term effects of long COVID – including symptoms such as brain fog, fatigue and difficulty breathing – can be debilitating and greatly impact quality of life. At least 65 million people around the world are affected by the condition. 

The family of the Army reservist who committed the October 2023 massacre in Lewiston wants to bring awareness to traumatic brain injuries among military members.

A multi-institutional team of investigators has discovered that targeting a specific neural circuit through noninvasive neuromodulation may help reduce symptoms in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a recent study published in Nature Neuroscience. Jordan Grafman, PhD, professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and director of Brain Injury Research at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, was a co-author of the study.

A quick shake of the head after a hard hit could signal that a person has a concussion, a new study suggests, based on the experiences of young athletes. It’s an easily recognizable movement that could help significantly reduce the number of concussions that go undiagnosed if added to official evaluation guidelines, according to researchers from Mass General Brigham and the Concussion Legacy Foundation.

Genetic tests showed that certain patients were predisposed to brain injuries if they took the drugs. That information remained secret.

IT WAS GETTING late the night of Sept. 12, and Dr. Julian Bailes had settled in to watch a little football. The renowned neurosurgeon and concussions expert tuned in just as Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa sustained yet another head injury. There was Tagovailoa, lying on the ground with his arms outstretched and his fingers curled into the fencing response, an involuntary position that occurs after a brain injury. To Bailes, it looked almost like a replay from a previous Thursday night game, Sept. 29, 2022, with Tagovailoa on his back, his fingers splayed in front of his face in another automatic response to a concussion.

The blast shook the ground and its red flash of fire covered the doorway as U.S. special operations forces blew open a door during a recent training exercise. Moments later, in their next attempt, the boom was noticeably suppressed and the blaze a bit smaller, testament to just one of the new technologies that U.S. Special Operations Command is using to limit the brain injuries that have become a growing problem for the military.

A California veteran was booted off a Delta Air Lines flight because her T-shirt that featured a message about veteran suicide rates in the U.S. Catherine Banks was supposed to fly out of San Francisco on Wednesday, but instead she was forced off the plane by a flight attendant who found her shirt 'threatening.' The shirt read: 'Do not give in to the war within. End veteran suicide.'

It has been 24 years since a pharmaceutical was last approved for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The condition is notoriously difficult to treat, with up to 40% patients finding no relief from symptoms through psychotherapy or current medications. Many clinicians, advocates, and patients had pinned their hopes on the psychedelic drug midomafetamine with assisted therapy (MDMA-AT). However, in August, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rejected it. At this point, it’s unclear when the therapy will be available, if ever.

A research team led by Diane Hoffman-Kim, an associate professor of neuroscience and engineering at Brown, found a way to use cortical spheroids to study a type of brain injury that develops over time.

Robert Roberson could be the first person put to death in connection with shaken baby syndrome. The state’s highest criminal court ruled in another case that the science had changed.

Scientists have found that transcranial infrared light therapy may promote tissue repair after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). In animal studies, brief daily infrared treatments reduced harmful inflammatory activity and cell death in the brain post-injury. The therapy led to improved cognitive and balance function four weeks later, especially with 810nm infrared light. This research could pave the way for a new therapeutic option for mTBI, where treatments are limited. The team now aims to develop a medical device to deliver this innovative therapy to patients with brain or spinal cord injuries.