This week’s lead article, “Atypical psychedelic” ibogaine shows promise as a treatment for chronic disability following TBI, is in the Cannabis & Psychedelics category.

In this newsletter: Opportunities, Education, Cannabis & Psychedelics, Therapies Currently Available, Veterans & Service Members, Mental Health, Youth, and Women’s Health.

We appreciate the Concussion Alliance volunteers and staff members who created this edition:
Writers: Sravya Valiveti, Chelsea Ryan, Ella Gullickson, Nancy Cullen, Josh Wu, and Conor Gormally

Editors: Conor Gormally and Malayka Gormally

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Opportunities

Summer Internship Opportunity: The application cycle for our Summer 2024 Education & Advocacy Internship is open! It runs June 24 – August 16 and is open to undergraduate students. Our program is remote and open to any interested students who can attend our synchronous meetings. For more information about the program and how to apply, go to our Internship Program page.

Monday, March 18, 3:00 pm EST: A webinar, Health Literacy and TBI, featuring Monique Pappadis, Ph.D., and Angelle Sander, Ph.D., hosted by the Brain Injury Association of America. The presenters will characterize health literacy in a multicenter sample of individuals with traumatic brain injury and demonstrate its relationship to sociodemographics, injury characteristics, and health outcomes.” It is $50 to register.

Tuesday, March 19, 6:00 pm EST: A free webinar, Concussion: An Invisible Brain Injury with Consequences, presented by Dr. Carmela Tartaglia and hosted by The Canadian Concussion Centre. Register in advance.

Friday, April 5, 9:00 am PST: A free webinar, Child and Family Challenges After TBI: Developmental Considerations for Intervention Strategies, presented by Shari Wade, PhD, and hosted by The Center on Brain Injury Research and Training. Register in advance.

Thursday, April 25, 6:00 - 8:00 pm EST: A free Concussion Public Forum, How Do I Get Treatment for My Concussion?, hosted by The Canadian Concussion Centre. A dozen leading researchers and clinicians will present on various topics. Highly recommended! Register in advance.

Education

Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation special issue on chronic pain

Blog

The Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation dedicated its latest issue to chronic pain after TBI, featuring a series of ten papers. A press release by UW Medicine describes the team’s survey findings that about 60% of the 3,800 patients from the TBI cohort reported current or previous chronic pain.

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Cannabis & Psychedelics

“Atypical psychedelic” ibogaine shows promise as a treatment for chronic disability following TBI

Feature

A landmark study published in Nature Medicine found that ibogaine, an “atypical psychedelic” derived from the root bark of an African shrub, showed highly beneficial effects on emotional well-being and cognition in a group of Special Operations Forces (SOF) veterans with chronic illness relating to their military careers and history of traumatic brain injury (TBI), primarily mild TBIs.

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Therapies Currently Available

High-intensity training is better than conventional training for locomotion, cognition, and aerobic capacity in moderate-to-severe TBI

Blog

The Journal of Neurotrauma recently published a study comparing conventional rehabilitation to high-intensity training (HIT) in patients with moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury. Compared to rehabilitation, high-intensity training participants showed better outcomes in the physical tests used to measure locomotive outcomes (6-min walk test and peak treadmill speed). There were also more improvements in aerobic capacity and cognitive functioning after HIT.

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Veterans & Service Members

Concussion experts testify in Senate hearing on blast mTBI

Blog

On February 28, the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel held a hearing about traumatic brain injury from repeated blast exposure for U.S. service members. Senator Elizabeth Warren, Chairwoman of the subpanel, led the two-hour hearing in which senators questioned experts. Senator Warren said, “We need to do better for our troops, and we need to do it right now.”

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Mental Health

Acupuncture Has Been Found to Reduce the Severity of PTSD Symptoms

Blog

A recent study has found that acupuncture has a statisticcally significant effect on reducing symptoms of PTSD.

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Youth

Concussions associated with increased risk children developing behavioral and affective disorders

Blog

The Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics published a study that found a significant correlation between children who sustain mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBIs/concussions) and risk of developing affective disorders (anxiety, depression, OCD, or adjustment disorders) and behavioral disorders (ADHD or Conduct Disorder) within four years post-injury.

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Women’s Health

Male and Female athletes have similar recovery trajectories but different symptom burdens

Blog

A study published in Sports Medicine showed the recovery trajectories for both sexes to be quite similar. However, the study authors note that females have a greater overall symptom burden during their recovery period.

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