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Second-year medical student Maksim Parfyonov has always had a keen interest in neuroscience. And art. When he was offered the chance to work with CONNECT as part of his Southern Medical Program studies at UBC’s Okanagan campus, it seemed like the perfect fit.

Parfyonov began his work with CONNECT, a residential rehabilitation program for people with acquired brain injury, in September as part of the MD curriculum’s Doctor, Patient, and Society course.

The invaluable learning opportunity has turned into weekly art lessons for CONNECT residents that will culminate in a public art show in Lake Country next month.

“I visited a weekly support group run by a psychologist, where […]

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A few weeks ago, I shared with my wife Sarah that I am getting tired of pretending. I often go to superhuman lengths to “appear” uninjured, struggling to speak, using precious and limited energy to make sure that I walk a straight line when vertigo strikes, working hard to do all I can to show the world that I am as uninjured as I look.

Trying […]

Jan. 15, 2015 – Vancouver – Margaret Trudeau, mental health advocate, famed Canadian speaker and former wife of  Pierre Trudeau, the 15th Prime Minister of Canada, says she has a vested interest in supporting the British Columbia Brain Injury Association’s Annual Fundraising Cocktail Gala, on February 5th.

“I will be sharing personal anecdotal stories to weave my message, which is about finding the courage to face your diagnosis or injury – whatever it may be – and going through the process of acceptance to find new ways of being,” says Trudeau.

Tickets are now selling for the Gala, which organizer Susanne Sherwood says will raise funds and awareness for the […]

The pilot study, conducted by doctors at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and scientists at Imperial College London, saw five stroke victims injected with stem cells directly into their damaged brain within seven days of a stroke.

The stem cells were taken from the patients’ own bone marrow.

The scientists said it showed “promising results”, with all the patients showing improvements in disability within six months – something that had only previously been shown in animals.

Four out of five patients had the most severe type of stroke, which only four per cent of people are expected to survive and lead […]

Dr. John Weber and his research team believe berry extracts may be beneficial, not only for cardiovascular health, but to help reduce the effects of some diseases and help people recover from traumatic brain injury.

Weber has been studying the effect berry extract could play in certain diseases.

During a recent telephone interview, he explained his research, saying that glutamate is the major neurotransmitter in the brain and is needed for normal brain processes.

However, glutamate levels […]

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This research was conducted by the Center for BrainHealth at the University of Texas at Dallas and was published Wednesday in the online open-access journal Frontiers in Neurology. While the fastest recovery occurs in the first six months following […]

Adolescents engaged in the highest level of mental activities take about 100 days on average to recover from symptoms of concussion, compared to about 20 to 50 days for those with lower mental activities, according to researchers from Children’s Hospital Boston.

• 6-step recovery plan for concussion
• Concussions: What to watch for
• Concussions in young athletes need ‘to be taken seriously’

A concussion is an injury to the brain resulting from a blow to the head.

Classic symptoms of concussion are confusion and amnesia. Others include headache, dizziness, nausea […]

In the small study conducted in 15 healthy young men, the researchers measured blood levels of certain proteins associated with brain injuries like concussions after the men slept eight hours in a sleep lab and then were kept awake all night playing board games and watching movies. The researchers found that the blood protein levels were 20 percent higher after the men pulled an all-nighter compared to when they had a full night’s rest.

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People who suffer concussions may be at a higher risk of developing plaques on the brain found in people with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study featured in the journal Neurology.

The new research released today examines the relationship between concussions and amyloid beta plaques in the brain. While the study couldn’t prove causation, it helps shed light into the possible long-term effects of traumatic brain injuries.

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The Smokefree Health Harms, launched by Public Health England, will warn smokers the chemicals they inhale move through the heart, the lungs and into the bloodstream, finally damaging cells in the brain.

England’s chief medical officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, said: “We know about the serious effect smoking has on the heart and lungs but smokers need to be aware of how much potential damage is being done to the brain and other vital organs through toxins in cigarettes entering the blood.

“Smoking is the major cause of premature death, with one in two […]

Many people in New Haven County, Connecticut, have had the experience of being hurt and not knowing initially whether the injury was severe. This can especially be a danger for people who have suffered a traumatic brain injury, which is often a difficult injury to detect.

The effects of a TBI can be devastating, and in some cases late detection can lead to even more severe effects. Now, a new and more effective means of detecting TBI may be able to help future victims of the condition.

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Researchers discovered that brain injured patients recalled a similar number of memories when played a song as those without a brain injury.

The study, by Dr Amee Baird and Dr Séverine Samson, was the first to investigate the power of music in evoking memories in people with brain injuries, rather than in those who are healthy or who have dementia.

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As a result, women are disproportionately affected by many of the health issues associated with brain aging. Yet studies exploring brain diseases like Alzheimer’s have focused largely on men, argues Lynn Posluns, founder of the Canada-based Women’s Brain Health Initiative, a nonprofit that raises money to address that research gap.

As researchers begin to tackle questions about how aging influences women’s brains, they’re learning more about what women can do to stay “brain healthy longer,” Posluns said. […]

Hearing
During our formative memory making years (about ages 16 – 21), it is common for many people to spend some amount of time near the ocean, forming memories in their hyper-relaxed state, according to […]

It uses a see-through version of the same material used for hip implants.

The team at University of California, Riverside, say it could allow lasers to be fired into the brain to treat neurological disorders.

The implant was reported in the journal Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine.

The researchers say emerging laser-treatments in stroke and cancer care and brain imaging require access to the brain.

However, they are limited as a part of the skull needs to be removed and replaced each time a treatment is performed.

Instead the team of scientists have devised a transparent implant that […]

For all its flaws, class-action litigation sometimes works. Yes, yes, already-wealthy plaintiffs’ lawyers are going to reap an as-yet unspecified windfall, probably tens of millions of dollars. And down the line there will be ugly disputes over which brain-damaged victims get precisely how much money. Still, the proposed settlement shows how grouping hundreds of lawsuits can force a deep-pocketed corporate defendant to realize that doing the right thing is the financially smart thing, as well.

Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at theUniversity of Oregon, […]