New Brain Imaging Techniques Show Promise to Demonstrate Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries

One of the most frustrating aspects of representing brain injury survivors with mild cognitive deficits is the inability to objectively show the injury on CT scans or MRI scans.  These imaging devices simply cannot show the cognitive damages sustained by the individual and leads to much confusion in the courtroom.

Fortunately, there are now imaging techniques such as SPECT scans, PET scans and functional MRI studies that are able to objectively show the the injured brain.

These modern brain injury imaging techniques are discussed in an article in this month's issue of the Journal of Neuropsychiatry. 

Here is the abstract of the article:
"Mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) is characterized by acute physiological changes that result in at least some acute cognitive difficulties and typically resolve by 3 months postinjury. Because the majority of mild TBI patients have normal structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)/computed tomography (CT) scans, there is increasing attention directed at finding objective physiological correlates of persistent cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms through experimental neuroimaging techniques. The authors review studies utilizing these techniques in patients with mild TBI; these techniques may provide more sensitive assessment of structural and functional abnormalities following mild TBI. Particular promise is evident with fMRI, PET, and SPECT scanning, as demonstrated by associations between brain activation and clinical outcomes."

Good reading for anyone concerned with how to objectively show a mild brain injury.