I am looking for solid info on the topic of Personality changes related to head trauma with brain damage. Subject displays distinct short term memory loss, sleep dysfunction, aggressive out bursts and mild anti-social behavior. Documented info is a lot more helpful then stories of one time you heard this or that, but all info is appreciated.
thanks in advance
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Mild anti-social come on step it up I thought you never half assed anything. I can help if you want I am really anti-social.
I might be able to help you out, as far as research on the topic I have no idea were to start only my knowledge. When trauma to the brain occurs, lobes can be damaged, when damaged certain functions may be lost.
Two examples where the loss of the control of emotions occurred:
A 20 year old man roller skating, jumped backwards off from around 15-20 feet high, he landed and fell backwards smashing the back of his head. After this occurred he no longer could control his emotions.
A younger man, driving drunk got in to an accident had brain trauma and lost control of his emotions also.
The change in personality could be caused by the event itself and onset repercussions on your daily life. Say you nearly fall off a bridge, ending your life. This would cause you to prioritize and rethink how you live. This would cause a large change in your personality. People generally change gradually over time, or from one large intense push.
Sleep dysfunction >> I don't know how to tie this in with my thoughts but will try >> Losing control of thoughts, memory, and subconscious behavior or not always functioning at 100% could be causing this.
The outbursts are caused by a lack of sleep, and the loss of control over your emotions. Mixed in, this could cause anxiety making your feel anti social.
Any Questions drop me an email, I emailed you about personal training but couldn't.
If you really want to know about this talk to doctors that specialize in it…. neurologists I'm guessing.
Take what you will from this comment, but remember I'm 15.
Another problem with this subject is the brain is so complex we are still figuring out how it works more then one opinion on this would be good if you do go see a doctor.
Hey Adam,
I think one area you should look at is the emotional lateralization of the frontal lobe of the brain. One of the many functions of the frontal lobe is emotion. Left frontal activation is associated with positive affect, whereas right frontal activation is associated with negative affect.
Example: let's say you you listen to happy music. EEG shows that the left frontal lobe will be activated in response to this stimulus.
Studies also show that people are genetically programed to have either relatively high left or right frontal activity (ever notice how some kids are easily sooth and some are the complete opposite?).
FYI, pretty much all of these studies have only been done on right-handed people. Us lefties have brains that work slightly differently.
Anyways, back to your original question about head trauma. Search for a man named Phineas Gage. He was a mild-mannered railroad worker until one day when a pipe blew up and blew off a chunk of his left frontal lobe. After the accident, he turned into an aggressive individual.
Sometimes doctors have to perform hemispherectomies (where they actually remove a cerebral hemisphere). In some cases, when the right hemisphere is removed, it can actually have a euphoric effect on the host. Not so much if the left hemisphere is removed.
Hopefully this info helps guide your research.
Eric
"Peters LC, Stambrook M, Moore AD, Esses L.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
Head injury frequently produces physical and psychological sequelae involving cognitive, behavioural, and personality disturbances which are chronic and perhaps even permanent. Clinically, it is apparent that the marital relationships of head injury patients face initial disruption as well as ongoing challenges in dealing with the physical, neuropsychological, and emotional changes post-injury. However, there is little empirical data to substantiate these observations. In this study, the marital relationships of 55 male head injury patients were assessed, based on the spouse's self-report obtained through interview and questionnaires. The sample was divided into three groups according to the severity of the injury: mild (N = 10), moderate (N = 25) and severe (N = 20). Based on a one-way multivariate analysis of variance, dyadic consensus, affectional expression, and overall dyadic adjustment were significantly lower for wives in the severe group than the moderate group. Affectional expression was also lower in the severe group than the mild group. Stepwise multiple regression analysis determined that 47% of the variance of overall dyadic adjustment could be accounted for by three variables (multiple R = 0.69, p less than 0.001). Dyadic adjustment was greater when wives reported a lower level of financial strain, perceived their spouse to have a relatively low level of general psychopathology or maladjustment, and when the injury was relatively mild based on GCS scores. The implications for intervention in rehabilitation at the marital level are highlighted.
PMID: 2297599 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]"
"Recovery from mild concussion in high school athletes.Lovell MR, Collins MW, Iverson GL, Field M, Maroon JC, Cantu R, Podell K, Powell JW, Belza M, Fu FH.
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. lovellmr@msx.upmc.edu
OBJECT: A computerized neuropsychological test battery was conducted to evaluate memory dysfunction and self-reporting of symptoms in a group of high school athletes who had suffered concussion. METHODS: Neuropsychological performance prior to and following concussion was compared with the test performance of an age-matched control group. Potentially important diagnostic markers of concussion severity are discussed and linked to recovery within the 1st week of injury. CONCLUSIONS: High school athletes who had suffered mild concussion demonstrated significant declines in memory processes relative to a noninjured control group. Statistically significant differences between preseason and postinjury memory test results were still evident in the concussion group at 4 and 7 days postinjury. Self-reported neurological symptoms such as headache, dizziness, and nausea resolved by Day 4. Duration of on-field mental status changes such as retrograde amnesia and posttraumatic confusion was related to the presence of memory impairment at 36 hours and 4 and 7 days postinjury and was also related to slower resolution of self-reported symptoms. The results of this study suggest that caution should be exercised in returning high school athletes to the playing field following concussion. On-field mental status changes appear to have prognostic utility and should be taken into account when making return-to-play decisions following concussion. Athletes who exhibit on-field mental status changes for more than 5 minutes have longer-lasting postconcussion symptoms and memory decline.
PMID: 12593614 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]"
"Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in Athletes: Progressive Tauopathy After Repetitive Head Injury.McKee AC, Cantu RC, Nowinski CJ, Hedley-Whyte ET, Gavett BE, Budson AE, Santini VE, Lee HS, Kubilus CA, Stern RA.
From the Departments of Neurology (ACM, BEG, AEB, VES, H-SL, CAK, RAS) and Pathology (ACM), Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy (ACM, RCC, CJN, RAS), Boston University School of Medicine, Boston; Geriatric Research Education Clinical Center, Bedford Veterans Administration Medical Center, Bedford (ACM, AEB); Sports Legacy Institute, Waltham (RCC, CJN); Department of Neurosurgery, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston (RCC); Department of Neurosurgery, Emerson Hospital, Concord (RCC); and CS Kubik Laboratory for Neuropathology, Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston (ETH-W), Massachusetts.
ABSTRACT: Since the 1920s, it has been known that the repetitive brain trauma associated with boxing may produce a progressive neurological deterioration, originally termed dementia pugilistica, and more recently, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). We review 48 cases of neuropathologically verified CTE recorded in the literature and document the detailed findings of CTE in 3 professional athletes, 1 football player and 2 boxers. Clinically, CTE is associated with memory disturbances, behavioral and personality changes, parkinsonism, and speech and gait abnormalities. Neuropathologically, CTE is characterized by atrophy of the cerebral hemispheres, medial temporal lobe, thalamus, mammillary bodies, and brainstem, with ventricular dilatation and a fenestrated cavum septum pellucidum. Microscopically, there are extensive tau-immunoreactive neurofibrillary tangles, astrocytic tangles, and spindle-shaped and threadlike neurites throughout the brain. The neurofibrillary degeneration of CTE is distinguished from other tauopathies by preferential involvement of the superficial cortical layers, irregular patchy distribution in the frontal and temporal cortices, propensity for sulcal depths, prominent perivascular, periventricular, and subpial distribution, and marked accumulation of tau-immunoreactive astrocytes. Deposition of beta-amyloid, most commonly as diffuse plaques, occurs in fewer than half the cases. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a neuropathologically distinct slowly progressive tauopathy with a clear environmental etiology.
PMID: 19535999 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]"
http://www.asiaone.com/Health/Wellness%2B%2540%2BWork/Story/A1Story20090209-120570.html
Personality and behavioural change after severe blunt head injury–a relative's view.
D N Brooks and W McKinlay
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1027357
that should be a good start. may need to break out a medical dictionary for some of the med line articles.
essentially they all say that personality changes from head trauma are verry common and wether they will resolve over time is unpredictable. i have heard good information about the B vitamins and neurological function. that might help but i have no research to back that up. hope this is what you wanted.
i suonds like you're describing "postconcussion syndrome" the symptoms are:
*headache with exertion
*dizziness
*fatigue
*irritability
*frustration
*dificulty in coping with daily stress
*impaired memory or concentration
*eating sleeping disorders
*behavioral changes
*alcohol intolerance
*decreased academic performance
source: national athletic trainers' association reasearch and education foundation. mild brain injury in sports summit proceedings. washingtonn DC april 16-18 1994.
"these symptoms may not always be easy to recongnize and can persist for days, weeks, and even months after neurocognitive functions have returned to normal.
Examination of musculoskeletal injuries second ed. Shultz, Houglum, perrin. ISBN: 0-7360-5138-4
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/post-concussion-syndrome/DS01020
PoplawSJ
a very detailed starting point, thank you
travis- Yes you could LOL
Christian your input is welcome, thanks for weighing in
Eric
I do not know if MRI is a valid approach to assess for more extensive injury, but your points with Poplawsi have helped my research jump in a better direction.
I have not found much in the way of treatment or cure, everything so far has been incidents and examples.
Hey man, check out http://www.emofree.com. The site seems to be stupid marketing crap – because it is – but the stuff is great. Download the free manual, give it a try 10mins daily for 2 weeks
I can find some studies if you like, but head trauma can cause all sorts of "weird stuff" to happen. Long term mobility in the head/neck are a potential solution.
If it involves PTSD, there are some very cool data on the off label use of beta blockers.
Erasing Fear Blog Post
Rock on and let me know what you need
Mike T Nelson
PhD(c), CSCS, RKC, ZMT