News & Headlines

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.

The Great British Bake Off star Georgie has said "there’s light at the end of the tunnel" to anyone struggling on World Mental Health Day.

"As someone who has struggled for a very long time with ADHD, PTSD, post-natal depression over the years, I know how extremely difficult it can be."

In the months that followed after losing against another fighter, Heather Hardy had lost almost 30lb in weight, was dealing with persistent headaches and was unable to sleep — all symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

A new study suggests that neurostimulation therapies targeting a specific brain circuit might work as a novel treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Research suggests that targeting a specific brain circuit with neurostimulation could offer a promising PTSD treatment. By analyzing veterans with traumatic brain injuries (TBI), the team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital discovered that damage to certain areas of the brain was associated with a lower likelihood of developing PTSD. The findings, published in Nature Neuroscience, could chart a course to more accurate therapeutic PTSD treatment.

A study has revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic has sped up adolescent brain aging, with the effects being more pronounced in females. According to NBC News, researchers from the University of Washington’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS) found that adolescent brain maturation has accelerated due to lockdowns. The study revealed that female brains aged an average of 4.2 years faster, while male adolescents’ brains aged 1.4 years faster. The research team analyzed MRI scans on the brains of 160 adolescents aged 9 to 17, taken between 2018 and 2021, focusing on changes in the thickness of the cerebral cortex. This region, which manages responsible, long-term memory, perception, and judgment, naturally thins with age.