News & Headlines

Researchers from Boston University’s School of Medicine have identified an inflammatory protein circulating in spinal fluid that may reflect the presence of CTE in patients’ brains.

Dr. Avindra Nath spends his days surrounded by brains. His goal: learning all he can about how SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, affects brain tissue, potentially leading to long-term symptoms of the virus. "The involvement of the brain is quite extensive," said Nath, a researcher at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. The brains he studies come from Covid-19 patients who died suddenly, and were all donated by family members.

For years, athletic trainers have comforted athletes with suspected concussions with an ice towel. It appears they were on to something. Researchers at Akron Children's Hospital — along with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, the University of Michigan, and Dayton Children's Hospital — found using a device that cools the brain helps to reduce the severity of concussion symptoms. It's known as hypothermic therapy.

African American veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are more likely to be re-hospitalized with stroke compared to those without PTSD, according to a data published in Stroke. Further, investigators of the study found that PTSD did not contribute to post-stroke readmission for White veterans.

The world’s most powerful MRI machine has started proving its worth, by scanning living human brains. The resulting images give an ultra high resolution glimpse into the brain, which will help us better understand the nature of consciousness and treat neurodegenerative diseases.

Vontae Davis, the former NFL cornerback who made two Pro Bowls with the Indianapolis Colts and memorably retired at halftime of his final game, was found dead by police Monday at his home in South Florida, according to authorities.

Abbott's i-STAT TBI cartridge has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be used with whole blood, allowing doctors to help assess patients with suspected concussion at the patient's bedside and obtain lab-quality results in 15 minutes. Previously, the tests to help with the assessment of TBI were only cleared for use with plasma or serum, requiring samples to be sent to a lab for processing and testing.

"I worry about it because we already have Alzheimer’s and dementia in our family, and those family members did not get whacked on the head a whole bunch,” Ronda Rousey, says as she considers a future shrouded by the consequences of concussion and a past where she broke so many barriers for women before a shattering fall.

Dogs can be trained to detect stress-related volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in human breath, potentially identifying the onset of PTSD flashbacks. This groundbreaking study utilized two dogs to distinguish between the breath of individuals recalling traumatic experiences and control samples, achieving over 70% accuracy. This finding suggests that assistance dogs could offer earlier intervention during PTSD episodes by detecting specific stress markers, highlighting the potential for more effective PTSD management. The study also opens avenues for further research into the biochemical signals associated with PTSD symptoms and how dogs can be trained to respond to them.

American athletic trainers are getting behind guidelines that could allow students who sustain a concussion to return to class and physical activity sooner. A statement published Tuesday in the Journal of Athletic Training encourages practitioners to consider the psychological effects on students if they are kept out of school while they recover.

A web of altered neurochemical pathways and physical brain changes result in post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. The interplay between cortisol dysregulation, heightened norepinephrine levels, and structural alterations in key brain regions make some individuals more susceptible to PTSD than others.

Black veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder were more likely to be rehospitalized after a stroke than white veterans and Black veterans without PTSD, a new study has found. The study, which reviewed data from more than 93,000 veterans, was published Thursday in the American Heart Association journal Stroke. Previous studies have shown that people with PTSD have a higher risk of heart disease and stroke and that they have strokes at younger ages than the general population. Studies also have shown that Black adults have a higher risk of rehospitalization after stroke. But this is one of the first studies to analyze how PTSD affects what happens after a stroke.