Active clinical trials for "Brain Injuries, Traumatic"

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) particularly affects the frontal lobes and patients often suffer from executive dysfunction and behavioral disturbances. These types of injuries often involve axonal damage to pre frontal brain areas, which mediate various cognitive and behavioral functions. Dorsolateral prefrontal circuit lesions cause executive dysfunction, orbitofrontal circuit lesions lead to personality changes characterized by disinhibition and anterior cingulate circuit lesions present with apathy. Patients who suffered traumatic frontal lobe damage often demonstrate a lasting, profound disturbance of emotional regulation and social cognition. Weak transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) induces persisting excitability changes in the human motor cortex. this effect depends on the stimulation polarity and is specific to the site of stimulation. Interacting with cortical activity, by means of cortical stimulation, can positively affect the short-term cognitive performance and improve the rehabilitation potential of neurologic patients. In this respect, preliminary evidence suggests that cortical stimulation may play a role in treating aphasia, unilateral neglect, and other cognitive disorders. Several possible mechanisms can account for the effects of tDCS and other methods on cognitive performance. They all reflect the potential of these methods to improve the subject's ability to relearn or to acquire new strategies for carrying out behavioral tasks. It was also found that Activation of prefrontal cortex by tDCS reduces appetite for risk during ambiguous decision making. In this tDCS study the investigator uses one anode and one cathode electrode placed over the scalp to modulate a particular area of the central nervous system (CNS). The stimulation is administered via the neuroConn DC.Stimulator Serial number 0096. The DC-STIMULATOR is a micro-processor-controlled constant current source. The DC-STIMULATOR is a CE-certified medical device for conducting non-invasive transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on people.Electrode positioning is determined according to the International EEG 10-20 System.

The purpose of the research study is to understand the effectiveness of a six-week course of light exposure on cognitive functioning, mood, activity, and sleep in people that have suffered a head injury leading to a concussion.

Interventions to help individuals with traumatic brain injury manage their healthy lifestyle behaviors have been limited. Thus, the goal of this project is to evaluate the efficacy of a telehealth lifestyle program on reductions in weight and improvements in health behaviors/lifestyle choices.

The specific aim of this proposed study is to compare the effectiveness of Vestibular Rehabilitation (VR) in patients with PTSD who have suffered combat related traumatic brain injuries in a randomized controlled trial in terms of PTSD symptom reduction.

The study is a "proof-of-principle" project to examine the safety and feasibility of implementing a 1-week aerobic exercise program in the post-acute phase after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). The study will define the extent to which the exercise program improves recovery from mTBI in terms of relevant functional outcomes (cognition, mood, and physical status) and biomarkers (peripheral brain-derived neurotrophic factor [BDNF] concentration).

The aims of this traumatic brain injury (TBI) study are: to evaluate the short and long-term efficacy of two structured outpatient intervention programs, Resilience and Adjustment Intervention (RAI) vs. RAI with follow up booster sessions (RAI+) on resilience to evaluate the short and long-term impact of intervention on emotional well-being and postinjury adjustment with the RAI vs. the RAI+ to evaluate the short and long-term impact of the RAI and the RAI+ on abilities including problem solving, communication, and stress management to determine if demographic, lifestyle, injury, or treatment response information can predict maintenance of gains

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is one of the leading causes of death. Severe TBT is correlated with an exaggerated stress response due to plasma catecholamine levels known as sympathetic storming. It is also autonomic dysfunction syndrome. This phenomenon is also associated with brain tumors, severe hydrocephalus and subarachnoid hemorrhage. Patients are presented by tachycardia, tachypnea hypertension, diaphoresis, dystonia, hyperthermia, and dilated pupils with elevated levels of plasma catecholamine and blood glucose .

Importance: The chronic consequences of TBI are established, but ongoing support for adults with TBI living in the community is limited. This puts undue burden on care partners, particularly during the transition from hospital to home. It often leads to adverse consequences among care partners, such as emotional distress and increased substance abuse. Currently, there are no evidence-based interventions for care partners of adults with TBI to prepare them for this role. Problem Solving Training (PST) is an evidence-based, self-management approach with demonstrated efficacy for care partners of individuals with disabilities, but it has not been delivered or evaluated during inpatient rehabilitation. Aims: Aim 1): To assess the feasibility of providing PST to care partners of adults with TBI during the inpatient rehabilitation stay; Aim 2) To assess the efficacy of PST + education vs education alone for improving caregiver burden, depressive symptoms, and coping skills Method: The investigators will conduct a randomized control trial of PST + Education vs Education alone during the inpatient rehabilitation stay of individuals with TBI. The investigators will enroll 172 care partners and conduct baseline assessment, with follow-up assessment at 1 month and 6 months post-discharge. For Aim 1, the investigators will measure number of sessions of PST completed and care partner satisfaction. For Aim 2, the investigators will compare differences in PST+Educaion vs. Education alone in measures of caregiver burden, depressive symptoms, and coping skills at 1-month and 6-months post-discharge. Conclusion: The investigators anticipate that care partners will be able to complete a minimum of 3 sessions during the inpatient rehabilitation stay and that PST + Education will be more effective than Education alone for reducing caregiver burden and depressive symptoms and improving positive coping among care partners. PST is an evidence-based, self-management approach with a strong theoretical foundation that has demonstrated efficacy for care partners of individuals with disabilities. Early work indicates that it is also effective for care partners of adults with TBI. However, there are no studies evaluating whether delivery of PST to care partners is feasible during inpatient rehabilitation. The proposed project builds upon this foundation of evidence to address this critical gap in the literature. It will provide evidence for effective ways to support and improve outcomes for care partners during the transition from hospital to home.

The current RCT is designed to: test the efficacy of the group based mSMT in persons with TBI on NPE, the current gold-standard for measuring memory functioning assess the effectiveness of the group mSMT on more global measures of everyday life, including an objective measure shown through our previous work to be sensitive to memory changes following the mSMT, as well as additional questionnaires to be completed by both the participant and a significant other evaluate the changes in brain functioning following treatment with the mSMT via fMRI and evaluate the long-term effects of the treatment protocol. To accomplish these goals investigators will conduct a double-blind, placebo-controlled, RCT, applying the group mSMT to a sample of 60 participants with moderate to severe TBI (30 treatment; 30 control).

The investigators will test the central hypotheses according to the following Specific Aims: Aim 1. Determine if an individually prescribed exercise program initiated within the first week of mild traumatic brain injury can reduce the risk of developing persistent post-concussion symptoms relative to usual care. The investigators hypothesize that the exercise group will have a lower risk of developing persistent post-concussion symptoms than the usual care group. Aim 2. Examine the effect of a two-month exercise program on psycho-social, pain interference, and sleep outcomes following mild traumatic brain injury. The investigators hypothesize the exercise group will report lower anxiety, depression, and pain interference ratings, and higher peer relationship and sleep quality ratings two months of exercise following mild traumatic brain injury compared to usual care.