Gee, Andrew. Mild traumatic brain injury: bio-mechanistic consequences, evaluation, treatment and perspectives of TBI in athletics. Retrieved from https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-ttj9-ts27
DescriptionTraumatic Brain Injury particularly of mild severity (mTBI) is a common yet poorlyunderstood phenomenon on the molecular level. Connections between mTBI and chronic neuropathologies have been established, but the molecular and cellular changes caused by mild and/or repeated TBIs remain poorly characterized in their occurrence and significance. The core of this thesis will focus on describing the current state of mTBI research, with a focus on its significance in the field of athletics. Molecular mechanisms following a Traumatic Brain Injury occur in both the acute phase and chronically, in the form of primary injuries including hemorrhage and edema resulting from the impact producing the TBI, and secondary injury consisting of progressive demyelination and neuronal loss due to persistent inflammatory states and cellular microenvironments.
Current understanding of how and why recovery from single, or more commonly, multiple mTBIs may transition into a progressive disease state is poorly understood, with genetic and environmental factors almost certainly playing roles. Current diagnostic methods post-mTBI consist of subjective neurological evaluations which, while often correctly diagnose injury, lack the ability to provide insight into the biochemical changes occurring in the brain. Computed Tomography and Magnetic Resonance based imaging strategies provide more substantive structural information of the brain but their usage is limited in mTBI cases due to reasons including but not limited to cost, necessity and availability.
The significance of mTBIs outside the sphere of science has historically been very limited and only in the past few decades has a push been made for greater translation of TBI related cause and effect to the general population. Specifically, athletes, a majority of which are adolescents and young adults, are especially at risk due to the nature of sport itself, as well as the culture surrounding high level competition. Greater understanding of the molecular changes underpinning the pathophysiology of mTBI could lead to treatments shortening the recovery time post injury and reducing risk of chronic progressive neurological dysfunction.