Cognitive and Neurobiological Research Consortium in Traumatic Brain Injury (CNRC-TBI)

Each year 1.74 million people sustain “mild” brain injuries. Victims of what has come to be known as “the silent epidemic” usually receive little or no medical care, particularly if they do not experience a loss of consciousness. Individuals presenting with mild brain injuries are often released from emergency rooms without any recommendations for medical follow-up. Sadly, mild brain injury often results in chronic cognitive impairment serious enough to derail a person’s life despite an absence of the signs of traumatic injury usually obtained by conventional diagnostic imaging. The symptoms reported post-injury include the diminished ability to remember, concentrate, and prioritize as well as problems with balance, dizziness, sleep, and coordination. At present there is no medical explanation for the persistence of these debilitating symptoms.

The collaborative team plans to investigate the novel hypothesis that the chronic disabilities attributable to mild brain injury result from disruptions of the connections between brain areas, particularly the cerebral cortex and the cerebellum, whose coordinated functioning is necessary for higher cognitive processes. The cerebellum, traditionally thought to be involved in motor coordination, is now known to contribute to a number of higher cognitive functions where timing is a critical element of performance.