Active clinical trials for "Brain Injuries, Traumatic"

In a worldwide context of accelerated demographic aging, traumatic brain injury (TBI) in older adults has become a public health problem. TBI incidence grows following an exponential curve as people get older, increasing the occurrence of TBI in ageing individuals. Rehabilitation programs used in clinical settings have generally been developed for younger adults, and their efficacy with older adults who sustain a TBI has not been evaluated. The investigators have tailored a modular cognitive rehabilitation program for individuals who sustain a TBI in older adulthood, the Cognitive Enrichment Program (CEP), by adapting approaches which have shown to be effective in normal ageing and with other neurological conditions. The aim of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the CEP in adults having sustained a TBI during later adulthood. Specific objectives are to evaluate the effectiveness on memory, executive functions, psychological well-being and daily life activities using psychometric tests, self-reported questionnaires, and daily life-like tasks. The investigators hypothesize that memory and executive functions training included in the CEP will result in an improvement in both psychometric and self-reported scores in a trained group of older individuals with TBI, whereas this will not be the case for a comparable TBI group who did not receive the CEP intervention.

The objectives of this VA SPiRE application are to develop a combined neuromodulation and yoga (iTBS+yoga) intervention for Veterans with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and chronic pain, assess the intervention's feasibility and acceptability, and to gather preliminary clinical outcome data on quality of life, function and pain that will guide future studies. This SPiRE project will directly benefit Veterans and VA Services by developing a new, non-pharmacological neurorehabilitation treatment for Veterans with mTBI and chronic pain in need of non-opioid treatment options. Neuromodulation is now offered at 30 VA hospitals and yoga is among the complementary and integrative health programs being rolled out as a part of VAs Whole Health implementation efforts. Thus, should iTBS+yoga ultimately prove to be efficacious, VA facilities will be well-poised to offer this treatment. A novel, activity-based, non-pharmacological treatment for Veterans with mTBI and chronic pain is of great need given the high prevalence of chronic pain.

Patients admitted to the ED with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury defined by GCS less than or equal to 10 and confirmed by head CT scan or MRI were randomized into 2 groups: one receiving animal assisted therapy (AAT) and one not receiving animal assisted therapy. Efficacy of AAT was measured by patient's progression in the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), Rancho Los Amigos Scale (RLAS), and ability to follow multi-step commands (LoCmds).

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an acquired insult to the brain from an external mechanical force. It is considered a major cause of mortality and of long-term disabilities in young adults, especially considering high-income countries. The TBI can cause a wide range of temporary and/or permanent brain's dysfunctions that can involve physical, cognitive, behavioural and emotional functioning limiting everyday life and social activities and leading to a lowers quality of life. a sequential preparatory approach (SPA), performed in aquatic environment, based on increasing difficulty and following a specific sequence of preparatory exercises (from the simplest to the most complex) could be an effective complementary training during post-acute intensive rehabilitation in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI).

This study's objective is to determine the safety, feasibility and efficacy of prolonged automated robotic TCD monitoring in critically ill patients with severe TBI across multiple clinical sites with varying levels of TCD availability and experience

The aging population and its accompanying burden from non-communicable chronic diseases predicts an increasing impact imposed by frailty on healthcare systems. This is due to a lack of normative data for older adults and reliable risk stratification methods to develop effective approaches to the prevention of frailty. In this study, the investigators plan to form a common dataset for phenotype identification, risk stratification of frailty and its targeted treatment plans in the at-risk and mildly frail population.

The design of the present study will be a multicenter prospective observational protocol. Approximately 100 patients will be recruited over the 24-month period with Acute Brain Injury (trauma brain injury, intracerebral hemorrhage, subarachnoid hemorrhage, ischemic stroke), who in their acute phase of intensive care unit require placement of a catheter capable of monitoring intracranial pressure (intra parenchymal catheter or external ventricular shunt). In addition to all the intensive care provided by the most recent guidelines, patients will undergo measurement of optic nerve sheath diameter through ultrasonography. At least, three measurements will be performed within the first 3 hours after admission, within the first 24-48 hours, and at each invasive intracranial pressure value greater than 18 cmH2O. Those patients with intracranial pressure values greater than 35 mmHg. At the first intracranial pressure measurement, patients with eyeball disease or trauma will be excluded. Measurements will be performed following the CLOSED bundle. Analysis of the results will include correlation between the invasive pressure values and the mean value of optic nerve sheath diameter measurements in the two projections (sagittal and transverse). In addition, the correlation of the absolute value of invasive pressure detected with the ratio of the optic nerve sheath diameter measurement to the eyeball diameter measured always ultrasound will be sought.

The purpose of this single-center, prospective, randomized (1:1), double-blind, sham-controlled parallel-arm pilot study is to provide initial evidence of use of the noninvasive vagus nerve stimulator for treatment in patients recovering from concussion and moderate traumatic brain injury to improve clinical recovery. The study compares the safety and effectiveness of an active gammaCore treatment against a sham treatment.

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) damages the connections between brain cells. This can lead to problems like memory loss. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) can help improve connections between brain areas in healthy people. Researchers want to see if it can be useful in patients with memory problems after TBI. Objective: To see how repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation can be used to improve the connections between parts of the brain and whether this will lead to changes in memory. Eligibility: Adults 18-50 years old with TBI who can speak and write in English. Healthy volunteers the same age and English ability. Design: Participants will be screened with a neurological exam and may have a urine pregnancy test. Participants with TBI will have 7-15 visits. Healthy volunteers will have 2-8 visits. At the visits, participants will have all or some of the following: MRI for about 1 hour. Participants will lie in a machine that takes pictures in a magnetic field. Participants will do some memory tasks. Memory and attention tasks with pictures and with a computer Questions about their mental state and well-being TMS: A wire coil is held on the scalp and a short electrical current passes through it. Participants will hear a click and feel a pulling or twitch. They may be asked to make simple movements. rTMS is repeated magnetic pulses in short bursts. They will have this for about 20 minutes. A week after the last visit, some participants will return for a memory test.

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a leading cause of sustained physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral deficits in OEF/OIF/OND Veterans and the general public. However, the underlying pathophysiology is not completely understood, and there are few effective treatments for post-concussive symptoms (PCS). In addition, there are substantial overlaps between PCS and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in mTBI. IASIS is among a class of passive neurofeedback treatments that combine low-intensity pulses for transcranial electrical stimulation (LIP-tES) with electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring. Nexalin is another tES technique , with FDA approvals for treating insomnia, depression, and anxiety. LIP-tES techniques have shown promising results in alleviating PCS individuals with TBI. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the effects of LIP-tES treatment in TBI are unknown, owing to the dearth of neuroimaging investigations of this therapeutic intervention. Conventional neuroimaging techniques such as MRI and CT have limited sensitivity in detecting physiological abnormalities caused by mTBI, or in assessing the efficacy of mTBI treatments. In acute and chronic phases, CT and MRI are typically negative even in mTBI patients with persistent PCS. In contrast, evidence is mounting in support of resting-state magnetoencephalography (rs-MEG) slow-wave source imaging (delta-band, 1-4 Hz) as a marker for neuronal abnormalities in mTBI. The primary goal of the present application is to use rs-MEG to identify the neural underpinnings of behavioral changes associated with IASIS treatment in Veterans with mTBI. Using a double-blind placebo controlled design, the investigators will study changes in abnormal MEG slow-waves before and after IASIS treatment (relative to a 'sham' treatment group) in Veterans with mTBI. For a subset of participants who may have remaining TBI symptoms at the end of all IASIS treatment sessions, MEG slow-wave changes will be recorded before and after additional Nexalin treatment. In addition, the investigators will examine treatment-related changes in PCS, PTSD symptoms, neuropsychological test performances, and their association with changes in MEG slow-waves. The investigators for the first time will address a fundamental question about the mechanism of slow-waves in brain injury, namely whether slow-wave generation in wakefulness is merely a negative consequence of neuronal injury or if it is a signature of ongoing neuronal rearrangement and healing that occurs at the site of the injury. Specific Aim 1 will detect the loci of injury in Veterans with mTBI and assess the mechanisms underlying functional neuroimaging changes related to IASIS treatment, and for a subset of Veterans with remaining symptoms, additional Nexalin treatment, using rs-MEG slow-wave source imaging. The investigators hypothesize that MEG slow-wave source imaging will show significantly higher sensitivity than conventional MRI in identifying the loci of injury on a single-subject basis. The investigators also hypothesize that in wakefulness, slow-wave generation is a signature of ongoing neural rearrangement / healing, rather than a negative consequence of neuronal injury. Furthermore, the investigators hypothesize IASIS will ultimately reduce abnormal MEG slow-wave generation in mTBI by the end of the treatment course, owing to the accomplishment of neural rearrangement / healing. Specific Aim 2 will examine treatment-related changes in PCS and PTSD symptoms in Veterans with mTBI. The investigators hypothesize that compared with the sham group, mTBI Veterans in the IASIS treatment group will show significantly greater decreases in PCS and PTSD symptoms between baseline and post-treatment assessments. Specific Aim 3 will study the relationship among IASIS treatment-related changes in rs-MEG slow-wave imaging, PCS, and neuropsychological measures in Veterans with mTBI. The investigators hypothesize that Reduced MEG slow-wave generation will correlate with reduced total PCS score, individual PCS scores (e.g., sleep disturbance, post-traumatic headache, photophobia, and memory problem symptoms), and improved neuropsychological exam scores between post-IASIS and baseline exams. The success of the proposed research will for the first time confirm that facilitation of slow-wave generation in wakefulness leads to significant therapeutic benefits in mTBI, including an ultimate reduction of abnormal slow-waves accompanied by an improvement in PCS and cognitive functioning.