New imaging pinpoints deep brain wiring damages

Scientists have developed a new MRI-based technology for pinpointing damages that traumatic injuries may leave in the deep brain wiring. “We now have, for the first time, the ability to make visible these previously invisible wounds,” said lead researcher Walter Schneider of the University of Pittsburgh. “If you cannot see or quantify the damage, it is hard to treat it.” The new technique can detect very fine injuries caused by a mild concussion which brain CT scans fail to identify but cause unexplained problems such as memory loss and mood changes. The new scan processes high-powered MRIs through a special computer program to map major fiber tracts, and paint them in vivid greens, yellows and purples that designate their different functions. Studying the images help doctors define breaks in the fibers that could slow or even stop nerve connections from doing their job. Schneider and his colleagues are just beginning to test their experimental technique on a group of civilian and military patients with brain injuries. Scientists say their imaging technology may be significantly helpful in detecting very small damages caused by repeated mild concussion that people such as boxers and football players experience during a long period time. The possible accumulative damages caused by such concussions raise the risk of developing permanent neurologic problems later in life, the conditions which standard scans cannot detect in very early stages. “You can have a patient with severe swelling who goes on to have a normal recovery, and patients with severe swelling who go on to die,” said research team member Dr. David Okonkwo. Current testing “doesn't tell you what the consequence of that head injury is going to be.”