Light Explosive Forces Cause Cerebral Pathology and Deficits Despite No Macroscopic Damage – ScienceDaily



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Nearly 300,000 US military personnel deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001 have suffered traumatic brain injury from explosions. The vast majority of these brain injuries induced by explosions, or vascular cerebral trauma, have been clbadified as mild.

In contrast to severe or moderate acute respiratory infections, a mild benign infection does not show any overt brain damage, such as bleeding, bruising or bruising, and people with mild tuberculosis infection do not lose consciousness and exhibit no symptoms of concussion. Nevertheless, these injuries can eventually lead to cognitive impairment, loss of attention capacity, substance abuse, and anxiety or depressive disorders.

James Bibb, Ph.D., a researcher at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, working with a rat model, describes how even moderate exposure to a single shock wave can induce minor pathogenic effects but potentially very important, which accumulate over time.

These effects, detected at the microscopic level, included microvascular lesions, nerve axon lesions, and signs of neuroinflammation in various brain regions. Brain function has also changed, as evidenced by the alteration of short-term synaptic plasticity.

The unique light breath has also activated the biochemical pathways badociated with stroke and neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease. These include the cleavage of a protein called spectrin that helps form the cytoskeleton of neurons and other cells.

"Significantly," said Bibb, "many of these effects were not detected immediately or during the first days following the injury, but developed over a longer period, up to 21 years. days after the outbreak of the explosion. "

"The consequences of these discoveries," he said, "are that serious brain damage is not necessarily the cause of detectable symptoms, and that this must be factored into any focused recovery plan. on the return of individuals, athletes or soldiers in risky environments, for secondary insults. "

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Material provided by University of Alabama in Birmingham. Note: Content can be changed for style and length.

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