Active clinical trials for "Brain Injuries"

High rates of patients with frontal brain damage show serious cognitive functional deficits, which negatively impact their quality of life and are linked with poor clinical outcomes. Sulforaphane has shown significant antioxidant and cellular protective effects in animal models associated with oxidative stress, such as focal cerebral ischemia, brain inflammation, and intracranial hemorrhage. Preclinical research has shown that sulforaphane can significantly improve spatial localization and working memory impairment after brain damage. The primary aim of this clinical trial is to assess the efficacy of sulforaphane for improving cognitive function in patients with frontal brain damage.

In the present study the investigators aim to analyze the performance in a battery of social cognition tests of subjects with traumatic brain injury. On the other hand, the effectiveness of a computerized rehabilitation program designed to improve these deficits will be tested, as well as the relationship between social cognition and executive functioning.

The incidence of postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is high and POCD affect the life quality and the prognosis of patients. Geriatrics is the independent risk factor of POCD, and POCD is also correlated with many other factors such as type of surgery, the duration of anesthesia and the anesthesia drugs used et al. So, the prevention and treatment of POCD in geriatrics is important. Dexmedetomidine is found to have the effect of neuro-protection, but it is controversy whether Dexmedetomidine has the effect of neuro-protection in geriatrics, especially the prolonged surgery. The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of Dexmedetomidine to the cognitive function at prolonged surgery in geriatrics in geriatrics.

Injury to the brain can change the core of a person's being, affecting brain functions necessary to accomplish important goals in a complex world. Deficits in attention, working memory, and other aspects of goal-directed cognition affect a broad range of pursuits in everyday life, and are among the most prevalent and long-lasting consequences of brain injuries. The objective of this research is to develop remotely deployed training tools that target the most common, persistent and debilitating cognitive functions affected by traumatic brain injury (TBI); test the potential effects of the intervention and compare these effects to an active comparison intervention; and determine the neurocognitive and functional effects of computer-assisted remote training.

This feasibility study is being conducted to determine potential associations between a broad range of clinical neurological symptoms and magnetic resonance images (MRI), data, and clinical findings involved in mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). These associations will be examined over the acute and sub-acute period (approximately 3 months) following injury to provide information useful for optimization of MR pulse sequences for mTBI applications. Correlations exist over the sub-acute period in clinical neurological and MR data (images, image reads, and RAW data), which may indicate temporal evolution patterns. The intent of this study is to broadly generate potential biomarkers of temporal evolution of mTBI detectable in MR images and data ("MR mTBI biomarkers").

After a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) people often report balance problems. At Parkwood hospital we have noticed that balance is improved when patients with mTBI wear a weighted compression vest. This follow up pilot study looks at the immediate effects of weighted compression vests on participants with altered balance after mTBI. Participants will be recruited from the Ministry of Health Outpatient Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) Program wait list. Then each participant will perform a series of balance and walking tests under 2 conditions : 1) wearing a weighted compression vest , 2) not wearing a weighted compression vest. It will be randomized whether participants wear the vest on the first or second testing day. Participants will also be asked how confident they are about their balance and how anxious they felt performing the assessments after each testing session. We hypothesize that the weighted compression vest will improve fatigue and anxiety immediately and 24 hours after performing a complex task, and will improve static and dynamic balance, gait variability, and walking speed in patients with mTBI, during the tasks.

The aim of this study is to determine the effects of an acute session of physical exercise on cognitive functioning and humor of traumatic brain injury patients and to investigate whether different cognitive responses can be achieved with different intensities of exercise (moderate and vigorous). The investigators hypothesize that while moderate intensity physical exercise may be beneficial to cognitive functioning, vigorous intensity may be detrimental to TBI patients, as physical fatigue may impair alertness and other higher cognitive functions.

It is anticipated that the use of tissue oxygen monitoring to measure brain tissue oxygen and deltoid muscle oxygen will provide more precise information about focal brain ischemia and systemic hypoperfusion than current techniques and measures such as blood pressure, heart rate and intracranial pressure. Understanding the relationship between tissue oxygen tension collected from the brain and deltoid muscle in critically injured patients could lead to a broader understanding of the important metabolic and cellular events that occur following severe injury and the changes induced by therapeutic interventions. Furthermore, the use of interventions designed to improve tissue hypoxia, as measured by low brain or muscle tissue oxygen, may improve mortality or neurological recovery after systemic trauma or head trauma compared to current approaches that do not involve tissue metabolic monitoring.

The goal of this project is to develop a low-cost, user-friendly, portable telerehabilitation system for physical therapy of the upper limb after stroke or traumatic brain injury. The system is based on the use of a commercially available force feedback joystick and will work with an ordinary home PC and a standard high-speed internet connection. Using the joystick, the patient will perform exercises designed to aid in recovering motor function of the hand and arm. The joystick will be programmed to either assist or resist the patient's movements. The system will include sophisticated analysis of patient status and progress to provide the therapist and physician with detailed information. In the first phase of the study, we will develop the system in cooperation with the physical therapy staff and other rehabilitation specialists. The investigators will examine the usability, comfort, safety and therapeutic benefit of the system. In the second phase of the study, the investigators will employ the system in patients' homes, using the internet to connect to rehabilitation specialists in the clinic. The study hypothesis is that it is possible to adapt commercially available, low cost gaming equipment such as force feedback joysticks to provide therapy for patients in their own homes, and that patients will be able to work with this system and will find it enjoyable and helpful for recovering motor function.

The purpose of the study is to explore to what extent continuing the antidepressant medication citalopram (Celexa), after depression has responded to treatment, helps prevent the return of depressive symptoms in patients with recent traumatic brain injury (TBI).