Funcional MRI Helps Understand Concussions
This blog is now focused on laboratory specialties. This article is here for your information only, as jobs are longer provided for any radiation technician specialties.
A concussion is defined as any incident which causes the brain to shake in the skull and then causes any of the following symptoms: loss of consciousness, amnesia, confusion or disorientation. Concuss
ions aren’t well understood because each concussion is different with different symptoms. Concussions probably happen most often while playing sports, and it is difficult to know when the athlete can safely begin playing the sport again. Research has shown that after a concussion a person’s brain is more vulnerable to further injury than normal.
Functional MRI is a useful tool to aid in understanding the impact of concussions. MRI alone shows brain anatomy, but does not show brain activity. Functional MRI shows changes at a metabolic level as well as an anatomic level. Functional MRI can be used to show which parts of the brain are being used during certain tasks or when thinking about certain things.
A recent study completed by the National Institutes of Health used 28 high school athletes who had received concussions, and 13 high school kids who had not been concussed. The functional MRI was done a week after the concussion and then again after the subjects had recovered. During the functional MRI the subjects were asked to complete certain memory tasks. The subjects whose brains were overly activated by the memory tasks were also the subjects who took the longest to recover.
The results of this study are useful because it provides a better way to test those who have gotten a concussion to determine how serious the concussion is and estimate when the person could resume playing sports.
Learn about hiring a MRI Technologist.
Source:
- (August 8, 2007) Sports Concussion Research Using Functional MRI Provides Insight for Safe Return-to-play Decisions. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070806114252.htm
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