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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Research has shown that some people appear to make a full recovery after a brain injury because they score as well as healthy individuals on standard cognitive tests. But a new study finds that may not be the case. The research reveals that the patients brain may complete the task as well, but it has to work harder than the healthy individuals brain.
People who appear to make a full recovery from a brain injury often complain of being mentally fatigued or not feeling quite the same. Investigators from Baycrests Rotman Research Institute in Toronto conducted a study looking at brain images of patients who fully recovered from brain injuries and compared them to healthy individuals.
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Study authors say the recovered patients had diffuse axonal injury or DAI. DAI is the most common consequence of head injuries resulting from such things as a motor vehicle accident, falls or combat-related blast injuries. DAI is when the brain is rattled inside the skull causing damage to the brain cells.
Our imaging data revealed that the DAI patient brains had to work harder to perform at the same level as healthy, non-injured brains. Specifically, the brain injury patients showed a greater recruitment of regions of the prefrontal cortex and posterior cortices compared to healthy controls, Dr. Gary Turner, lead study author was quoted as saying.
SOURCE: Neurology, 2008;71:812-818
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