New AUT Concussion Research Could Revolutionise Understanding And Recovery

AUT research offers new understanding of concussions and mild traumatic brain injuries

Newly published research from AUT has the potential to revolutionise the understanding of concussions and mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI), including the impact of brain inflammation and ways to predict improved chances of recovery.

AUT Associate Professor Mangor Pedersen first talked about the work and the need for further research at the Growing Connections event at AUT City Campus in April, and it’s now been published in acclaimed journal NeuroImage: Clinical.

The team, which includes PhD student Mayan Bedggood, have been able to go beyond traditional clinical MRI scans of sports players with a concussion, which most often show zero abnormalities. By using advanced statistical measurements, they have identified subtle brain abnormalities in individuals with acute concussion.

Dr Pedersen says the research is always timely in Aotearoa, with the country’s obsession with rugby and rugby league and the increasing awareness of the impact of mTBI on the long-term health of former players.

The new research showed that 95% of the study participants with acute sports-related mTBI had increased brain inflammation.

“We see this research as a step towards providing individuals with mTBI greater assurance of recovery while furthering the understanding of connections between acute and long-term brain changes,” says Dr Pedersen.

“Our findings indicate these brain changes normalise after clinical recovery, suggesting we are looking at an inflammatory mechanism of brain recovery.”

Bedggood says the team conducted a study comparing sports players who had a recent concussion and healthy individuals with no concussion.

“We scanned their brains using MRI within two weeks following their injury and compared the results,” she says.

“We found increases in brain-based T2 relaxometry for almost all of those with a concussion, compared to the non-concussed individuals.”

T2 relaxometry is an MRI technique that can measure the levels of fluid in the brain, and can uncover subtle brain abnormalities, not seen in standard hospital scans.

“We hope these results will contribute to a better understanding of what goes on in the brain following a concussion and this type of research will aid in more individualised and effective treatment of concussions so that individuals can return to sports, work, or education more efficiently and safely,” Bedggood continues.

“Going forward, we intend to extend our current research into this possible marker of brain inflammation.

“More research is needed in this space to validate these MRI measures with other types of data, such as saliva or blood markers of inflammation, so we can be more confident that the MRI results indicate brain inflammation.”

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