Contributions of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury to Neurodegeneration Due to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy and Alzheimers Disease
Overview
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Intervention
- Not specified
- Conditions
- Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
- Sponsor
- VA Office of Research and Development
- Enrollment
- 800
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- To better understand the contribution of mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) to neurodegeneration with the intent of detecting early behavioral, physiologic, anatomic, and protein evidence of neurodegeneration due to AD and CTE
- Status
- Recruiting
- Last Updated
- 7 months ago
Overview
Brief Summary
This is a research study that aims to examine whether Veterans with mild Traumatic Brain Injuries are at risk for dementia by studying their memory, brain wave activity, brain structure and proteins that can be elevated after brain injury and in dementia.
Detailed Description
The specific aim of this project is to examine whether Veterans with mild Traumatic Brain Injuries are at risk for dementia by studying their memory, brain wave activity, brain structure and proteins that can be elevated after brain injury and in dementia. This study will recruit patients with a history of mild-moderate traumatic brain injury, mild cognitive impairment, as well as healthy controls in order to better understand how single or repetitive mild Traumatic brain injuries may contribute to the development of dementia. It will be prospective in nature. Participants will be asked to complete a series of 3 study sessions. During the first study session, each subject will be asked to complete a neuropsychological assessment. If the subject's testing scores fall under the study criteria, they will also be asked to complete a computer task. In the second study session, the investigators will measure the subjects brain waves using an EEG while they complete a computer task. During the computer task, subjects will be asked to study a list of words and the investigators will test the subjects on their memory for those words. During the final study session, the investigators will ask subjects to complete (1) an MRI scan, (2) a standard blood draw procedure, and (3) a lumbar puncture procedure. Clinical Implications: These studies will provide a better understanding of which individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury will develop dementia, and how many years in the future dementia may occur.
Investigators
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- •All Subjects:
- •Intact color vision
- •Visual acuity of 20/30 (or better)
- •Patients must pass effort measures on the TOMM
- •Patients must have intact decision-making capacity
- •Patients must have no contraindications to lumbar puncture including:
- •Being on a blood thinner
- •Aspirin or Plavix
- •Have no space occupying lesion on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
- •An International Normalized Ratio (INR) value \< 1.4 and platelet count \>50,000
Exclusion Criteria
- •All Subjects:
- •If the primary language is not English
- •Are unable to understand the informed consent process
- •Have a clinically significant problem with any of the following conditions:
- •A history of TBI within 1 year of study
- •Suicidal or homicidal ideation requiring intervention
- •Schizophrenia
- •Bipolar disorder
- •Active alcohol or drug abuse
- •Clinically significant neurological disease other than those stated in the inclusion criteria
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
To better understand the contribution of mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) to neurodegeneration with the intent of detecting early behavioral, physiologic, anatomic, and protein evidence of neurodegeneration due to AD and CTE
Time Frame: 5 years
The work proposed will allow exploration of the relationships between behavioral, event-related potential (ERP), MRI, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) measures at a variety of points along the disease continuum and will allow for future longitudinal studies in this cohort
Secondary Outcomes
- Cortical, quantitative MRI volume measurements(5 years)
- CSF Proteinopathy(5 years)
- Recognition Memory(5 Years)
- EEG peak amplitude and latency(5 years)